Central of the Jungar Basin.

On the road that runs through the Gurbantunggut Desert, a column of heavy engineering equipment is carrying billowing dust, and it is fighting into the depths of the desert.

With the completion of the site selection of the Tinder plan, the funds from the Ministry of Science and Technology were quickly put in place, and almost at the same time as the bidding work was completed, the equipment of the construction unit was driven to the construction site from the nearest Wushi.

At this moment, on the construction site near the barracks, rows of mobile houses have been built. Workers wearing small yellow hats quickly completed the loading and unloading of equipment and materials, and set up basic living facilities near the mobile house, and the open space not far from this, the heavy equipment that went to the site has begun to work in the construction area.

Any great project starts with the foundation, and Biosphere A is no exception.

Before erecting the reinforcement supports, the construction company will first hollow out the area, dig a large pit three to four meters deep, and then drive the steel bars into the ground, pour cement and finally lay stainless steel plates.

Looking at the engineering equipment working in the open space not far away, Professor Hu, who was wearing a hard hat, was meticulously looking at the engineering drawings and construction plans in his hand, and listened to the person in charge of the construction site next to him.

“…… This is our construction plan, starting from the first phase of the project, now is to lay the foundation, you see what the problem is, if there is any, you can mention it now, I want to solve it. ”

After carefully reading the drawings and construction plan and confirming that there were no omissions, Professor Hu nodded.

"Basically, there is no problem, when will it be built at the earliest?"

Squinting at the rolling yellow sand of the horizon in the distance, the person in charge said: "The first phase of the project is enough for three months, and all three phases of the project are completed, six months if it is fast, and about seven or eight months if it is slow, it depends on the weather here." If there were sandstorms every once in a while, the construction period would definitely have to be delayed. ”

It's not just sandstorms.

There are also sudden high temperatures and so on.

There are many uncertainties in the construction of the desert, any accident may happen, and the construction period is uncertain.

"Speed is secondary, it doesn't matter if it's slow," returning the engineering drawings in his hand to the person in charge, Hu Yang instructed with a serious expression, "Please be sure to put more effort into quality, any small omission may lead to the failure of the entire experiment." ”

"Don't worry," flicked the cigarette ash on the cigarette butt, and the person in charge joked with a relaxed smile, "The quality is certain." This is a national-level project, and I can't joke about the rest of my life, right? ”

If he dares to cut corners on this kind of project, he will simply be tired of it.

Even if no one says it, he will take it with 120 points of attention.

At the same time, just when the Tinder project was on track, the news of Biosphere A also spread.

Although the Gurbantunggut Desert is located in a forbidden area for life, it is almost impossible to achieve complete secrecy for such a huge project.

In fact, Project Tinder is not a secret project, because there is no need for it. After all, it does not involve any national defense technology, and many studies involving biology, ecology, meteorology and hydrology, etc., all belong to the category of natural sciences, and also need to cooperate with other international research institutions.

Just after the official start of the construction of Biosphere A, the news that China is building an artificial biosphere quickly spread throughout the international academic community, and caused a huge sensation in related research fields and ecological conservation public welfare organizations.

Since the failure of the Biosphere 2 program in the United States, the call for the construction of Biosphere 3 has never stopped, but no one has been willing to invest in such high-cost, high-risk, low-return scientific research projects.

At the very least, it is absolutely impossible to expect the Americans to jump into this big hole one more time.

Now that China is willing to pay for this "Biosphere 3", that is, Biosphere A, which is being built in the middle of the Junggar Basin, is undoubtedly a shocking news for scholars and philanthropists who are committed to promoting the study of artificial ecosystems.

After all, China's investment in the field of natural sciences has always been extremely limited, and this time it is willing to invest so much capital in the research of natural sciences, which has won the favor of many scholars in the world.

However, it is interesting to note that, unlike the positive comments of the academic community, the comments of the major international media outlets are quite subtle.

Some people believe that this is another brave challenge launched by mankind to control nature, while others analyze the background of this plan in light of Huaguo's recent actions in the field of space, and believe that it is very likely to pave the way for China's "space expansion".

In particular, well-known newspapers in North America, led by the New York Times and the Washington Post, have used some "military background" and "opaque projects" and other news as a cover to give the awesome title of "outpost of China's space colonization" to Biosphere A, which is under construction, and called on scholars in relevant fields to participate in the project cautiously.

Although these ideas may sound absurd, they still attract the attention of NASA.

Or rather, the importance of the NSC.

As early as about three years ago, after the United States announced its return to the moon, a president with a cool hairstyle signed a decree to rebuild the National Space Council, also known as the NSC, for the third time.

Unlike in the past, the reorganized NSC is directly subordinate to the Executive Office of the President and is headed by the Vice President, which is on par with the National Security Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Council of Intelligence Advisors, and so on.

Clearly, the United States has shown its determination to re-emerge in space.

Somewhere in a conference room at the White House.

Summoning his own staff team, as well as senior officials from relevant departments, the president clapped his hands on the table and said with a serious expression.

"The Chinese have shown a considerable degree of ambition in the development of outer space resources, and we have to look at our own space program. No matter what we have achieved, it will be meaningless if we cannot maintain our superiority in the field of astronautics! ”

At this moment, a voice came from the conference room.

"Can I say two words?"

Looking in the direction from which the voice had come from, the president nodded.

"Of course."

Looking at the eyes that fell on him, the NASA administrator slowly stood up and spoke.

"Huaguo is still catching up with us, and I don't think there is any need to worry about it. Of course, I don't mean to let our guard down, we just need to pick up our own pace and stay ahead of the curve. ”

After a pause, the NASA administrator continued.

"I propose, while keeping the 'Return to the Moon' program moving forward, to move our front line in a further direction. For example, Mars. ”

The president frowned.

"Mars?"

Whispers rang out in the conference room.

Ignoring the chatter, the NASA administrator nodded and said seriously.

"Yes, you heard it right, we already have the capability to explore Mars, we have a lot of good space companies that are up to the task, we just need to give them a little help and bring their forces together."

At this point, he paused for a moment, raised his voice and continued.

"I propose to launch the 'Ares' program to curb Huaguo's ambitions on the moon!"

"If they think they can surpass us by putting footprints on the moon, then we'll send our people farther to Mars at the same time as they footprints!"