In space orbit 20,000 kilometers away from Blue Mercury.
Space city.
The first settlement area, inside the temporary imperial palace.
It took Levi two or three days to adapt to the gravity environment here, which was only half of that on Blue Mercury.
Other aspects are basically the same as on the ground, with not much difference.
There is another awkward thing: since the settlement zone is a ring structure with a diameter of 100 kilometers and a width of only 500 meters, the curvature of the surface is very high and the ground is greatly curved. I always feel like I am living at the bottom of a U-shaped zone, which is very uneven.
To use a more vivid metaphor, it is like a hamster living in a drum, with its vision being curved.
The broad vision I had before is gone now.
Although the surrounding starry sky is more dazzling and brilliant.
In addition, obtaining some daily necessities is not as convenient as on the ground.
Overall, life on Blue Mercury is definitely more comfortable and convenient.
But after lowering the quality requirements in a few aspects, Levi gradually got used to it and got rid of the idea in his heart that it would be better to return to Blue Mercury to live for a while.
…
October 15th.
Levi changed into a protective suit and inspected various functional areas of the space city.
Farming Factory No. 1.
In a microgravity environment, nutrient solution containing all nutrients flows through transparent cylindrical water pipes, and then through tiny infiltration holes on the surface, green plants grow.
After three expansions and additions, the number of "standard growth rooms" in the farming factory, which are 18 meters long and 5 meters wide and high, has increased to 2,095. Each growth room is equipped with an average of two staff members. Together with the astronauts providing related services, there are nearly 5,000 humans serving the agricultural construction of the space city.
And don’t be fooled by the fact that the internal volume of each “standard growth room” is only 450 cubic meters and the effectively utilized space is about 400 cubic meters. However, the agricultural output of such a “standard growth room” is at least equivalent to three acres of land on the surface.
Even no matter what is grown, the unit yield of the "standard growth room" is higher.
Take rice for example. A single standard growth room can produce more than 4 tons of rice in 12 months, enough to meet the food needs of 20 people.
That is, on average, every cubic meter of space can grow 10 kilograms of rice in one year.
The legendary myth of producing 10,000 kilograms per mu has become a reality in the space farm.
Why is it so exaggerated?
An agricultural expert named Song explained the specific reasons:
"First, in the microgravity environment of outer space, plants reduce a lot of unnecessary energy consumption. The rate of cell division increases by 20%, and the growth rate is 25% faster than on Earth. It is possible to grow an extra crop of rice every year."
"Secondly, we grow rice indoors, providing ample sunlight every day for 24-hour photosynthesis. Furthermore, the five-meter-high interior allows for five layers of rice to be planted, so the growth density is five times that of a flat space."
"Finally, the environment in a standard growth room is completely sterile and clean. The nutrient solution provided is comprehensive and contains sufficient essential elements. There are no viruses or bacteria competing for nutrients with the rice, and there are no pests or diseases. The rice varieties used are high-yielding, and we can harvest and sow at least four times a year."
"Thus, thanks to these multiple advantages, our standard rice growth room can produce 4 tons of rice per year."
"The only downside is the taste and texture of the rice. It's not as good as rice grown above ground. It's not as fragrant, and after steaming it's not sticky or chewy enough... The flavor is definitely weaker."
"Similar things also happen with green vegetables, peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins... and some fruits when they're ripe, but overall the difference isn't particularly significant. They're all edible and you can get used to them over time."
I listened to what expert Song said.
Levi nodded. He really didn't want to have too high a requirement. As long as he could fill his stomach and provide enough nutrition, that would be enough.
"How many space immigrants can our current 'farming factories' meet? How much food can we fully supply even if we completely lose ground supplies?"
"A ration-type 'standard growth chamber' can provide the food needs of approximately 20 people; a vegetable-type 'standard growth chamber' can provide the vegetable needs of approximately 30 people; and a fruit-type growth chamber can provide the fruit needs of approximately 20 people... As for the space fish farm for raising fish and the artificial meat factory for growing meat, they are currently under development and construction. The technology is not yet fully mature, and we mainly rely on imports from Blue Mercury."
"So, excluding fish and meat for now, feeding a single space colonist would require at least 0.13 'standard growth chambers'."
"We currently have a total of 2,095 standard growth chambers, which can only support a maximum of 16,000 space colonists."
"And this doesn't include the consumption of cooking oil, or cash crops like cotton used in clothing production... If these also require self-sufficiency, our current space farm can only meet the needs of around 10,000 space immigrants at most."
"That means one standard growing room can barely provide food and clothing for five immigrants, which means one standard growing room is needed for an average household."
"Therefore, our space city currently only allows the migration of 2,095 households!"
"If we're going to migrate at least three million humans in the future, we'll need to prepare more than 600,000 'standard growth chambers'... That's an incredibly massive workload."
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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