262 Iron Ore

Such a precious thing is not enough for practicing, let alone using it as the energy core of a robot.

The reason why low-grade spirit stones are rampant is entirely because Xiao Ai can also refine them, and there are more elementary weapon spirits that can do it. Its materials can basically be industrially produced, so it has the qualification to become a basic energy source.

Near each small base, there is usually a small fusion reactor, and dozens of square kilometers of solar panels are added to produce aura, which is used as the energy source for the mining robots.

The solar cells at the Moon Palace Base, plus those from other countries, especially those countries that have not achieved controllable nuclear fusion and whose energy sources are entirely concentrated on solar energy, have built even more solar panels.

Now when people look at the moon from Blue Star, they can not only continue to see the lunar surface, but also dots of stars, like mirror-like light spots. If you don't know the inside story, you will definitely think that those are the lights of the lunar civilization. Just like the lights of the blue star city at night.

It's just that such lights are too small and sparse, but they also mean that the flowers of human civilization have bloomed on an alien planet, even if this alien planet is just a satellite of Blue Star, only three miles away from Blue Star. 180,000 kilometers.

Not to mention neighboring galaxies calculated in light years, even other planets calculated in astronomical units are not comparable, but after all, it is a big step for mankind to take a step into the universe. Without Yang Qing, this step may have been even longer. It takes a long, long time to open it.

Xiao Ai did not intend to build such a small base for people to garrison it. Although these bases, if used well, can accommodate the survival of hundreds of people, and can also establish a small ecological circle for farming here.

In fact, among the small bases all over the moon, there are only a few bases that can accommodate thousands of people. Several people are stationed in turns to operate and maintain them here.

Others are mainly used for mineral mining and simple refining locally. The personnel stationed are mainly robots. Of course, large-scale excavation machinery is also inevitable for mineral mining.

Outside is a deep mine, and inside is a large spirit gathering array used to replenish the spirit energy of spirit stones. The humanoid robots that keep shuttling will hold the spirit stones and replace the spirit stones for the giant excavation machinery that has exhausted its spiritual energy, just like Blue Star. Refueling the excavator is no different.

Probably the only difference is that these spiritual stones have a higher energy level and the excavation machinery can last longer.

In other countries, due to energy constraints, smelting on the moon is basically limited to laboratory conditions.

Because of vacuum, metal smelting in a low-gravity environment is a brand new topic for all countries in the world. Heating is not a problem, but heat dissipation is a huge problem. They don't have Yang Qing's frost array to cool down the furnace. Vacuum is A huge thermos flask that will melt together with the furnace if not careful.

The current mainstream solution is to add a liquid-cooled water jacket to the furnace and use the convection circulation of water to take away the heat.

It's just that this way of dissipating heat can only be done by burying it deep underground and taking advantage of the eternal low temperature below the moon's surface.

However, not every place has metal mines that are conducive to heat dissipation, and most of the lunar rocks and lunar soil are poor conductors of heat, which requires a large area, and because of the lunar environment, the depth cannot be too shallow. , at least fifty meters below.

However, such a large project is extremely difficult on the moon. Unless the furnace is very small, it can be completed quickly.

However, except for the Moon Palace Base and China, other countries actually do not have a very urgent need to obtain minerals from the moon.

The reason why China lacks minerals is entirely because the scale of China's industry is so large that a buyer can actually be manipulated by the seller to control the price of raw materials.

Because except for a few of their companies, there is almost no country in the world that can meet China's needs.

But since the Moon Palace Base opened three consecutive spacecraft flights to and from Blue Star, transporting iron ore or preliminary refined crude iron from the moon has become a profitable thing.

Because the spacecraft uses spiritual stones as its energy source, there is also a protective shield on the outside that can resist rays and meteorites in the universe, as well as the high temperature caused by the friction of the Blue Star's atmosphere.

Because there is no oxygen, many of the iron ores on the moon exist in the form of simple substances. The iron ore with higher content has an iron content of more than 80%, especially in several large lunar maria. The area where mantle material pours out.

In addition to iron, there are also a large number of various heavier alloys in the lunar mantle material, especially there is a lot of uranium ore in it.

According to scientists' speculation, there must be a lot of radioactive materials in the core and mantle of the blue star. Their continuous emission is the reason why the mantle and core remain liquid.

This may also be a proof of this hypothesis.

With such a content of lunar iron, there was no need for an iron-making furnace in ancient times. It only required simple forging to obtain suitable iron tools.

Although the surface load capacity of the three Luna spacecraft will not exceed 20,000 tons, don't forget that Yang Qing still has space technology, otherwise the carrying capacity of only 20,000 tons will not be cost-effective, even for every round trip of the spacecraft , except for slight mechanical wear, there is almost no consumption.

Spirit stones can be filled multiple times. Although the number of refills is only about fifty times, the cost of making spirit stones is actually not high. All the materials can be found on the moon. The only consumption is the excavation by the robot. Just cost.

Yang Qing specially made a batch of storage equipment for them, which are charged with spiritual energy. When they reach the ground and stop the spiritual energy, the goods can be squeezed out by themselves.

So now, the raw iron shipped to Blue Star in a month has exceeded 500,000 tons.

China's average monthly steel production exceeds 60 million tons. These 500,000 tons are actually just a drop in the bucket.

But it cannot stand up to its high quality.

The iron produced on the moon, due to the different refining methods, is almost pure iron, with a purity exceeding sixteen nines. And because of the use of deep mining, it is no different from the iron from Blue Star, and its radioactivity is also almost the same. .

Such pure iron ore, combined with equally pure alloy elements transported from the moon, can be matched to produce extremely precise alloy steel.

You must know that in many cases, it is not that scientists cannot research the material formula, but the gap in industrial capabilities makes it impossible to carry out precise production. We can only use experience to conduct research after the materials come out. In many cases, even we cannot Know what will come out.

Nowadays, such pure elements are a major benefit for materials research, because you know what has been added, and there will never be too many impurities to cause trouble.