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Chapter 381 Dragging the Asteroid

The discovery of organic matter on the asteroid was truly an unexpected one. Although the amount of organic matter in the soil was extremely low, organic matter was indeed found.

Organic matter is the material basis for the production of life. All living organisms contain organic compounds, such as fats, amino acids, proteins, and sugars.

Metabolism and biological heredity within living organisms both involve the transformation of organic compounds.

The discovery of organic matter on this asteroid also proves that life can exist on other planets in outer space besides Earth.

If organic matter exists in the universe, coupled with a suitable environment, life may well arise, just like the super-Earths that Earth scientists have previously discovered in the universe.

The environment there is almost a carbon copy of Earth's environment, as observed. With an environment not much different from Earth's, plus the presence of organic matter, the emergence of life has become inevitable.

In such a vast universe, there are countless planets with environments similar to Earth. Even with the smallest probability, we can conclude that humanity is not alone in the universe.

It is highly possible that life has already arisen on the super-Earths observed previously, and that civilizations may even exist on these super-Earths, with their level of civilization possibly being more advanced than that of Earth.

The discovery of organic matter gave scientists a lot to think about, and even created a strong sense of urgency for them.

This moment led them to discover the existence of organic matter on the asteroid. If this asteroid were to fall onto a suitable planet by chance in the future, the emergence of life would be inevitable under various circumstances.

This conclusion would have a huge impact on the world. If there really is a highly advanced civilization in outer space, and they discover Earth, the existence of such a habitable planet could very well arouse their covetousness.

Just like the Dark Forest Theory described in The Three-Body Problem, if Earth wants to survive in the vast universe, it must be extremely careful about everything on Earth.

After discovering various rare earth resources and organic matter on the asteroid, the astronauts immediately held a discussion about what to do next after returning to the spaceplane.

During their discussions, they also decided the ultimate fate of the asteroid they were on.

Ultimately, these asteroids will be guided to Earth by their spaceplanes. Of course, this will not happen immediately; they will conduct tests to ensure that they can safely control the asteroids before the landing.

After finally arriving at this solution, they emerged from the spaceplane again and began gathering more detailed information about the asteroid.

After they had collected all the information about the asteroid beneath their feet and recorded its coordinates, they flew away from the asteroid in a spaceplane.

In the vast universe, the number of asteroids is extremely large, just as a person cannot count how many hairs they have.

Based on its previous understanding of the universe, the spaceplane flew toward yet another known target asteroid.

The asteroid they chose this time is actually not much different in appearance from the one they just left; both are irregular celestial bodies with a diameter of over one kilometer.

In terms of size, the asteroid they are now targeting is larger than the previous asteroid.

They will then land on their next target, just as they did on that asteroid before. After a successful landing, they will also collect information on these asteroids to see if there is anything particularly useful to Earth.

If there are no major discoveries or resources that Earth needs, they will try to guide the asteroid to Venus, their nearest planet, and conduct an experiment there.

That is, whether their spaceplane can completely tether the asteroid. Their ultimate goal is to control the asteroid to land safely on the planet within a controllable range.

If they can control this asteroid and land it safely on another planet, then the asteroid they previously discovered, which contains a large amount of rare earth elements and organic matter, can also land safely on Earth under their control.

When an asteroid with a diameter of one kilometer has a final volume of 523.58 million cubic meters, such a massive volume is very likely beyond the control of a single spaceplane.

Moreover, that previous asteroid contained a large amount of rare earth elements, which are substances with a density greater than soil. Its total weight was considerable, and it would not be ordinary.

It's not something that a single spaceplane can control, so to be on the safe side, it's still necessary to continue this kind of experiment.

If we don't conduct the experiment, it would be like a reckless fool dragging an asteroid with a diameter of one kilometer back to Earth. If the spaceplane fails to hold onto the asteroid, the consequences would be far beyond what humanity can bear.

Long ago, dinosaurs were the dominant species on Earth. While there is no definitive answer as to why they went extinct, the theory of an asteroid impact is surprisingly popular.

If an asteroid with a diameter of one kilometer were not caught by a spaceplane and were to collide with Earth, Earth would face annihilation.

The impact would send a large amount of dust into the atmosphere, blocking sunlight for up to a year. It would also cause a large amount of sulfuric acid to exist in the stratosphere as an aerosol, reducing the amount of sunlight reaching the Earth's surface by 10-20%, ultimately hindering plants from photosynthesizing.

The complete settling of these aerosols in the stratosphere will take up to ten years, during which time a large number of plants and phytoplankton will disappear, resulting in a particularly significant impact.

Furthermore, after the impact, a large amount of infrared radiation will penetrate the atmosphere, causing damage to exposed organisms. The impact will also cause global firestorms.

If such a possibility were to arise, humanity would face its end. Humans might very well disappear from the earth like the dinosaurs, possibly becoming fossils and oil just like the dinosaurs in 10,000 years!

Therefore, when considering bringing the asteroid back to Earth in its entirety, all possible consequences must be carefully considered. If an accident were to occur, humanity would be wiped out from this world.

Ideally, after the tests, the asteroid should be towed back to Earth in a controlled manner. If it cannot be towed back to Earth in a controlled manner, then they will have to implement the second plan.

The second option is definitely not as good as the first: building a large number of spaceplanes and space mining equipment to complete the smelting and purification on asteroids and transport a large amount of useful finished materials back to Earth via spaceplanes. This would undoubtedly be much more expensive.

Or perhaps they used particle weapons to bombard and pulverize the entire asteroid, ultimately obtaining countless fragments, which they then transported back to Earth.

There are many options, but transporting the entire asteroid back to Earth is the most cost-effective one. Just think about it: if a complete asteroid were brought back to Earth, wouldn't people be able to mine it however they wanted?

The asteroid they were targeting was not far from their current location. They drove their spaceplane at maximum speed and, after about a week, returned to the asteroid.

After going through a series of steps, similar to the process on that asteroid, they finally landed on this asteroid.

After landing, they began a series of intense and well-organized tests, gathering information on the asteroid's various terrain features and composition.

Under rigorous testing, the asteroid they were on was thoroughly examined, and everything on it was collected.

The composition of this asteroid is vastly different from the asteroid they previously examined, or rather, this asteroid is utterly useless to humans.

The above is composed of some very ordinary rocks. They drilled into the ground in the lowest part of the terrain, going down more than 500 meters. According to the factory, this depth should have reached the core of the asteroid.

However, even after hitting the core, the material they detected was no different from the material detected on the ground, meaning that the entire asteroid was the type that was consistent inside and out.

The final test results indicate that this asteroid is completely useless and has no value to Earth or humanity whatsoever.

This left the exploration team in disbelief, considering the vast difference between this asteroid and the one they had previously reached.

The previous asteroid was a treasure trove from top to bottom, while the asteroid they are on now is practically useless; the difference is simply too great.

What they didn't know was that this kind of asteroid was the norm in the universe, while the one they had encountered before was not so normal and was not very common in the universe.

When they obtained the second asteroid they had reached, which had absolutely no use for them, everyone looked at each other and made a decision.

The asteroid beneath their feet will serve as a tool for them to test the traction technology of spaceplanes.

After the astronauts made the decision, they immediately began to pull the asteroid using the anti-gravity technology of the spaceplane, with the engines running at maximum speed.

The asteroid's orbit in space began to slowly change under the traction of the spaceplane. The group piloted the spaceplane, pulling the asteroid, which was one kilometer in diameter, towards the planet closest to them.

Their landing planet is Venus, the closest planet to Earth and the second planet from the Sun. It is an inner planet located inside Earth.

Venus is also a terrestrial planet very similar to Earth, often referred to as Earth's sister planet. It has the thickest atmosphere among the four terrestrial planets. Venus and Earth are also very similar in gravity; Earth's gravity is 1g, while Venus's surface gravity is 0.903g.

In terms of gravity, Venus is more like Earth than Mars.

Therefore, Venus is undoubtedly the most suitable experimental subject in this traction experiment.

Of course, there are still big differences between Venus and Earth. First of all, Venus has an average temperature of 462 degrees Celsius, making it the hottest planet in the solar system, even hotter than Mercury, which is closest to the sun.

At such average temperatures, it would be a pipe dream for Venus to have advanced life forms. It is very likely that there are some microorganisms on it, but apart from these microorganisms, no higher level of life would exist.

Returning to the topic of traction landing, as spaceplanes continue to develop and expand in space, asteroids are also experiencing increasing speeds under their traction.

They are approximately 4000 million kilometers away from Venus, and at their current speed, it is estimated that it will take them more than a month to reach Venus and finally enter its orbit.

Once they reach Venus's orbit, they will control the asteroid to slow it down. At that time, they will be able to derive the desired theoretical results based on the performance of the spaceplane.

Whether they need support from other spaceplanes or space fighters, they will find out when the time comes. As for the high temperature of Venus, which is close to 500 degrees Celsius, the high temperature will not be a big problem at all, given that the spaceplanes have particle energy shields.

The month-long flight brought another period of boredom to the astronauts on board. Fortunately, like the Mars exploration team, they had brought many entertainment options before departure, which prevented them from getting too bored.

Aside from piloting the spaceplane, the five astronauts had no other missions, but the scientist accompanying them was lost in endless contemplation.

The two asteroids they landed on in space yielded incredibly valuable data, and even though the scientist was just an astronomer, it didn't stop him from studying and reflecting on the detected data.

(End of this chapter)