After having dinner at the Mars Graphene R&D Base, Chen Mengchuan received a message from Toni.
Europa's ice shell is almost broken.
After clearing away the dishes neatly, Chen Mengchuan quickly rushed to the Edge of Sui Star No. 1 remote control center.
As soon as I entered the control center, I noticed that something was wrong with the atmosphere in the entire control center.
Everyone looked excited.
"Have you eaten yet?" Chen Mengchuan walked up to Zhang Dongyu and asked him.
"Brother Chuan." Zhang Dongyu was startled and shivered.
"What's wrong with you?" Chen Mengchuan asked.
Zhang Dongyu took two deep breaths before slowly speaking, "Brother Chuan, come and see something."
He said and waved his hand to summon a gravity tablet.
Above is a geological wave penetration analysis image of the ice layer.
The first time Chen Mengchuan looked at it, my heart skipped a beat, and my whole body couldn't help but tremble.
"Are these freezing points hollow ice?" Chen Mengchuan asked him immediately.
In the picture, many irregular white lines like ant nests were found along the straight pipeline. The conclusion drawn from the data shows that if simulated, they are irregular ice tunnels. The diameters of these ice tunnels are very uniform, the small ones are about 15 centimeters, and the large ones are about 25 centimeters.
"The meeting room inside was already in turmoil. Many biologists thought it was some kind of clawed creature that lived in the ice shell... similar to a pangolin or a mole with large claws."
Chen Mengchuan can almost clearly feel his heart beating faster.
"The area where these white lines are found is already at a depth of 10,000 meters under the ice shell. The surrounding temperature is minus 165 degrees Celsius. At a depth of about 9,000 meters, a vertical fault of about 120 meters was hit. The data of the fault is here." Zhang Dongyu pulled the gravity plate and pointed it to Chen Mengchuan.
"There is no image data yet. We can't put down a separate imaging and shooting gravity device yet. The temperature is too low. Without continuous warming, it will freeze quickly. However, we have begun to arrange manpower to prepare."
Chen Mengchuan carefully looked at the wave analysis image. The picture was like a relatively sparse ant cave. The ice tunnels seemed to have no regularity, but there was a vague pattern.
Many ice tunnels have some irregular ice void areas, just like lairs.
"How long will it take to break through the ice shell? Where are Toni and the others?"
"They are all in the conference room inside. As soon as you walk in, you will know that it is going crazy inside. Toni has issued a hush order, temporarily prohibiting the transmission of information to outsiders. Achen has already cooperated with emergency information blocking actions." Zhang Dongyu said.
Chen Mengchuan nodded, and after communicating with him for a few more words, he asked him to continue watching the drilling progress. He walked to the door of the conference room and pushed in.
In the noisy conference room, a large group of people gathered in groups, all discussing something intensely. Chen Mengchuan's entry hardly attracted much attention.
Chen Mengchuan saw Toni not far away and walked straight over.
When they got closer, several people noticed Chen Mengchuan approaching. Toni smiled and stepped forward to give Chen Mengchuan a firm hug.
"Congratulations. This will be the best news in a while." Toni's face showed a rare excitement.
"I didn't expect you to be so happy and excited." Chen Mengchuan smiled.
"Isn't this worthy of joy and excitement?" Toni asked back.
Chen Mengchuan shrugged and affirmed. "Of course."
Although he said that, in his heart, this matter was not a big deal. Europa discovered life, and he knew something about it, so when he faced the news now, apart from being shocked at the beginning, he calmed down afterwards.
Now Toni's words made him unable to pay much attention to them.
After all, we just discovered an extraterrestrial life. This is not a big discovery. As long as Tenzhi Technology continues to explore outside, it will be discovered sooner or later.
He was more interested in finding out what kind of ice-resistant life would have dug this ice tunnel.
There is no such creature on earth at least that can dig out such complex ice tunnels in an environment of minus 165 degrees Celsius.
To take a step back, it is difficult to find an environment of minus 165 degrees Celsius on the earth.
Could it really be a creature like a pangolin or a mole?
Chen Mengchuan I don't know. If it is such a creature, then at least it is definitely not at the level of microorganisms, but in the category of mature small organisms.
"We actually discovered the Possibility of Life's Existence outside the earth. I really didn't expect it." Toni shook his head slightly, his whole mood seemed a little abnormal.
The last time Chen Mengchuan saw Toni like this was when she was about to complete her first Space-time Traversal.
"Toni, this will only be the beginning for us." Chen Mengchuan smiled and reassured him.
Obviously Chen Mengchuan's words had an effect, and Toni seemed to calm down quickly.
Only then did Chen Mengchuan notice that they had more data and information. The structural diagram of the ice geological wave transmission analysis imaging was also more three-dimensional, and the picture and content were obviously more substantial.
After these white lines are magnified on a larger gravity screen, the slightly twisted irregular tube shape they appear looks strangely beautiful.
"What do you think of these things?" Chen Mengchuan asked.
There are several people with Toni that he is not familiar with, but there is no doubt that they must be cutting-edge scientists or scholars.
"We were all discussing, and we even had a fight just now." Toni said with a smile.
Chen Mengchuan was stunned, but he didn't expect to start a fight. These guys were engaged in scientific research, but he didn't expect them to be so direct.
Toni nodded. "The fight wasn't very violent, but the argument was fierce. Everyone has different opinions on these ice channels, but most people already believe that these are ice channels dug by living creatures, and the reasons are very reasonable. There are also many people who believe that these are irregular sodium channels, and they have also put forward some very credible theories. Similar ones have been found in the Antarctic ice, but there are only some relatively backward picture data."
"Comparison can provide a certain reference, but it is not easy to draw conclusions."
Chen Mengchuan smiled. The irregular sodium channels that appear in the Antarctic ice have never been found under 10,000 meters of ice.
Humans have never been to the depth of 10,000 meters in the Antarctic ice.
Obviously there won't be much support for this argument.
"It doesn't matter. After all, we haven't reached the goal we want. The data are still a little lacking. When the ice geological wave penetration analysis and imaging equipment is further placed in the space below 10,000 meters for testing, we will be able to obtain more intuitive and accurate data."
"You mean to use a space shuttle to get the equipment down? This is of course a good idea, but there is only one space shuttle on top of Edge of Sui Star No. 1, and the temperature below is even lower, so it may not be easy to operate." Toni's eyes lit up and he began to think seriously.
"Didn't you say that the spatial difference of the fault is more than 100 meters? Isn't that enough?" Chen Mengchuan clicked on him and stopped talking.
After Toni's eyes flickered for a few times, a smile appeared on his face, obviously he had a corresponding solution in his mind.