I live in the Martian wilderness!

Gu Yu closed the communication interface, but he did not rush to the huge engineering vehicle immediately. Instead, he sat back down at the command console.

After the initial excitement subsided, the engineer's rationality regained its footing.

"Xuan, the pledge has been made, and now it's time to fulfill that promise. Let's talk about that well."

Gu Yu's voice was calm. "I know there's ice 18 meters underground, but how to turn it into flowing liquid water and pump it up is a thermodynamic problem."

"We need a detailed mining plan by retrieving the parameters from the Tanlong drilling module."

"Loading solution model..."

"Captain, although we have drills, we face three physical deadlocks in obtaining a stable source of liquid water."

On the holographic screen, three key points of a drilling model were highlighted in red.

"First, the phase transition problem. The atmospheric pressure on Mars is only about 600 Pa, far below the triple point of water (611 Pa). This means that ice will not melt into water when heated, but will directly sublimate into gas and escape."

"Second, the energy trap. To turn ice at -50°C into water, it is necessary not only to overcome the specific heat capacity, but also to overcome the enormous 'latent heat of fusion.' This requires an astonishing amount of energy."

"Third, there's the risk of refreezing. The surrounding rock around the drill pipe is permafrost, a natural super-cold storage facility. If our melted water stays in the pipe for more than 5 seconds, it will refreeze."

Gu Yu stared silently at the three red knots, his fingers tapping unconsciously. "So, we need to create a high-pressure, high-temperature artificial environment in this well."

"Yes, Captain. My suggestion is to use the 'deep well pressurized thermal melting method'."

"We need to install a high-pressure sealing valve at the wellhead to artificially increase the downhole gas pressure to a level sufficient to suppress sublimation."

"Then, the key is the heat source. We need to continuously inject a large amount of heat into the bottom of the well."

Gu Yu immediately grasped the key point: "Heat source...is there anything usable on the supplies list?"

"Yes and no," Xuanjian's answer was somewhat contradictory. "We carried two disposable nuclear thermal cores, which can release terrifying amounts of heat. But their power is not adjustable."

"Reject it." Gu Yu rejected the plan without hesitation. "You can't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. What we need is a scalpel that can precisely control the temperature, not a cleaver."

"Xuan, what if we use electricity?"

"Let's do the math. Suppose I can put a high-powered electric heater at the bottom of the well. I want to know, how many liters of water can I get in return for every kilowatt-hour of electricity I use?"

[Thermodynamic calculations are in progress... Considering the heat loss from the porous carbon well wall, the final thermal efficiency is calculated at 60%...]

Xuanjian concluded: "Approximately 4.8 liters of liquid water can be obtained."

"If 10% of the Tissot battery pack's power, or 48 kWh, is used for heating each day, the theoretical daily output would be approximately 230 liters."

"230 liters..." Gu Yu quickly calculated in his mind.

This number gave him boundless hope; it was enough to support the first phase of spirulina cultivation, and even allowed me to take a luxurious bath.

"This deal is extremely lucrative! What about the pipeline?" He pointed to the third dead end on the screen, "to freeze the risk again."

"The most dangerous part is pumping the water up. The pipe, which is more than ten meters long, passes through the permafrost layer at -65°C. If the water flows slowly in the pipe, it will freeze and block the pipe immediately."

"Xuan, pull up the supplies list. I remember we brought the 'DW-IV type electric heat tracing insulation hose'."

"Yes, Captain." Xuanjian immediately pulled up the pipeline's parameters. "This pipeline integrates active electric heating and a nano-aerogel insulation layer."

"It's strong enough to keep the internal fluid from freezing even at -100 degrees Celsius. But it will continuously consume about 100 watts of insulation power."

"100 watts?" Gu Yu laughed. "For the nuclear power core of the Tiansuo, this consumption is negligible. Very good, the water pipe issue is also approved."

"The plan has been approved." Xuanjian tied all three red knots with green checkmarks.

"But the solutions to these three problems are all based on one core premise."

A large red warning box popped up in the center of the screen, displaying only one line of text: [Missing Core Component: Deep Well High-Power Heating Rod]

"Captain, that makes sense. But you don't have a heating rod."

"The inventory list of the Zhulong-1 does not include industrial-grade resistors with a power of up to 20 kilowatts that can be immersed in high-pressure water for extended periods."

Gu Yu was stunned.

All the logic made sense, and all the problems were solved, but in the end, he found that he didn't have the most crucial "key" in his hand.

This is like having prepared everything for braised pork, only to find out you don't have a pot at home.

He slowly turned his head and looked out the porthole. As far as the eye could see, there was only a crimson, desolate wasteland.

"If we don't have guns or cannons, then we'll make our own."

After a brief moment of disappointment, Gu Yu's eyes sharpened once more.

"Mysterious, is Martian soil rich in iron oxide?"

"Yes, it has an extremely high content of hematite (Fe₂O₃)."

"That 'miracle' 3D printer at the rear of that shuttle car, did it have a high-temperature electron beam that could melt rocks?"

"Yes, that's its basic function."

"That completes the process! We don't need any sophisticated nickel-chromium alloy heating wire. We just need a conductor that can conduct electricity and has resistance!"

"I will use Martian soil to smelt iron!"

"Captain, your idea is very bold. But iron smelting requires reducing agents." Xuanjian immediately raised the obstacle of chemical principles.

"Even if the divine craftsmanship can provide a temperature of several thousand degrees, if there is no carbon element to remove the oxygen atoms in the iron oxide, what you will end up printing is just an insulating ceramic rod."

"reducing agent?"

Gu Yu slowly raised his right hand, activating his [Carbon Solidification Breathing] ability at full power.

A wisp of extremely fine black carbon powder, with a purity of up to 99.99%, fell from his fingertips like living quicksand.

"Xuan, have you forgotten?"

"I am the most efficient 'human-shaped carbon-generating machine' on this planet!"

"Mars produces minerals, I produce carbon, and the Sky Shuttle produces fire. Right here, with the soil beneath our feet, we'll print out the heating rod we need!"

After a brief calculation, Xuanjian gave an encouraging answer: "Logical, Captain."

"Although the lifespan of the iron core heating rod printed with in-situ materials is far shorter than that of precision components manufactured on Earth, and there is a risk of hot spot failure, it is indeed the only feasible solution at present."

"To prevent leakage and corrosion, it is recommended to simultaneously melt and print a layer of ceramic insulating shell using Martian silicate powder (quartz sand) while printing the iron core."

"That is, an iron-core ceramic-clad heating rod."

"Perfect!" Gu Yu clenched his fist. "When we get back, we'll go dig up the earth and smelt iron!"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Sorry for leaving a comment in the main text. Thank you to all the readers who have followed the latest chapter. If you have any good ideas or suggestions, please leave a comment below. You can also vote with your monthly tickets if you have any!

Thank you for your support! This book has a reading threshold, but I didn't expect that the number of readers would actually be quite good.

This proves once again that not everyone who reads online novels is just reading mindless, wish-fulfillment stories.

Although my previous book had already sold over 10,000 copies per day, I will definitely continue to write on that theme.

However, I had a story about Mars in my mind 6 years ago, a story about what would happen if Chinese aerospace workers did XX.

Please look forward to what happens next! Right now, it's 8 parts hard and 2 parts soft. As the story unfolds, the balance will be 5 parts hard and 5 parts soft.

Mars is just the beginning. Chinese aerospace engineers will never limit their goals to a small Mars.