Chapter 47: Space Civilization_1

Jiang Yu gazed into the profound depths of the universe and suddenly gained a new understanding of the development of a civilization's space endeavors.

Most of his knowledge in physics came from "A Brief History of Time."

This popular science book, although profound and thought-provoking, mainly provided theoretical and philosophical knowledge.

However, the space industry was tangible and an application of cutting-edge industrial and technological advances.

When Jiang Yu heard Yang Dong's description of the Moon, he felt as if he had stepped down from the clouds to solid ground.

Humanity's last voyage to the Moon had been over half a century ago.

In that half-century, aside from The East's steadily advancing space program, humanity had retracted the step it had taken off Earth in the previous century.

Just like Yang Dong said, it was as if someone had passed a ladder under humanity's feet, and humanity didn't know to step on it.

Jiang Yu let out a long sigh and did not continue to complain, knowing the situation was caused by multiple factors, not just a decrease in humanity's desire to explore.

After all, the prerequisite for having the desire to explore was to first have a full belly.

Yang Dong said, "The conditions for developing our space industry are exceptionally favorable.

"We just need to build a few spaceports in low Earth orbit, and we can move all the ground infrastructure to the Moon.

"The Moon has resources, fuel—it's a natural ground base!"

Jiang Yu said, "That day will come."

Yang Dong was not as optimistic as Jiang Yu and did not continue the topic. Instead, she pointed to the exterior of the spacecraft: "That is a small ship the Trisolarans use to transport ice blocks."

Jiang Yu saw only a massive ice asteroid, which he estimated to be over a hundred kilometers long.

It was only after circling to the rear of the asteroid that Jiang Yu saw a cubic-shaped small ship docked in the exact center at the back and on the upper, lower, left, and right sides of the asteroid.

When compared to the asteroid, the ships' size was minuscule, measuring just over a dozen meters in length, width, and height, nearly invisible if one didn't look closely.

Yang Dong explained, "The 'Ice-supply Ship' calculates the asteroid's trajectory, then docks at the rear of the asteroid, altering its course.

"After initial acceleration, the ship's engine is shut down, and afterward, only minor adjustments to the asteroid's trajectory are needed, which doesn't consume much fuel.

"An asteroid this large would need to be blasted in low Earth orbit to be sent into the atmosphere in smaller pieces."

She paused then added, "I've tried, but we cannot enter these ships. We can only communicate with the NPC crew via communicators to roughly understand their operational methods."

Jiang Yu nodded, and once again, while feeling the Trisolarans were stingy, he understood why Yang Dong said the cost of transporting ice from space was lower.

The ice transportation process involved only the wear and tear of the ships themselves, along with fuel and supplies like food. He didn't know if the Trisolarans paid the crew wages, but if they did, wages would be an additional cost.

Whereas mining ice and snow on the Eternal Night Side would at least require building railroads, airports, roads, and similar infrastructure.

Building such things on the Eternal Night Side, as cold as a midwinter day, seemed daunting.

Yang Dong speeded up the game time, and in the blink of an eye, two months of space travel had passed, and they were close to the Trisolarans' "Distant Space Fleet."

Yang Dong introduced, "Here is a dense cluster of asteroids where the Trisolarans plan to build their new advance base.

"Suffering from a lack of other planets, it would be better if there were a dwarf planet here. Setting up industries would be much easier.

"Now, they must place all their industries in space. Mining and forging are still manageable, but some delicate processing in space is much more difficult than on a stable ground base.

"Compared to that, transporting materials from Trisolaris here is more cost-effective. However, my advice to them was to use local resources instead of transporting resources from Trisolaris over such a long distance.

"They asked me why, and I didn't say. Do you know why?"

Jiang Yu nodded, "You're afraid that in the near future, the Trisolaran Civilization might be destroyed again, and they will have already sent a large amount of aerospace resources deep into space."

"The development of aerospace industry by later civilizations will definitely be affected."

Yang Dong nodded, "Maybe it's because of my frequent contact with the Trisolarans, I've also started to be careful, and for the first time, I had the idea that a planet's resources are limited."

Jiang Yu laughed, "That idea isn't wrong. Resources are indeed limited."

"But this limitation is relative," Yang Dong explained, "In the context of the Solar System, Earth's resources are limited."

"For us on Earth, although they are limited, the base is so huge that we won't use them up in a short period of time."

She paused, then added, "It's different for Trisolaris. The galaxy is so barren, with only one planet."

"If the resources from Trisolaris are used excessively in space, and this civilization hasn't managed to fly out of its own galaxy, what will future civilizations use?"

"That would be the ultimate checkmate!"

Jiang Yu, following Yang Dong's words, said, "This is another difficulty in the development of aerospace industry for Trisolaris."

In the middle of the conversation, as the spacecraft approached the asteroid belt. Jiang Yu saw the Trisolaran "Distant Space Fleet" and the framework of the New Space City that was being constructed.

Small transport ships shuttled back and forth between the spacecraft and Space City, presenting a scene of bustling activity.

Jiang Yu asked, "Now that the Trisolarans have managed to build such a large-scale space fleet, do they have any thoughts of colonizing outer space?"

"Not at this moment," Yang Dong said, "The Trisolaran ships are fine for intra-system travel, but they are insufficient for the scale of interstellar systems."

"The ships they currently use are Nuclear Fission Ships. In the process of interstellar travel, they can't refuel.

"The ships' speed will get slower and slower over the long journey, preventing them from reaching another star system."

Jiang Yu nodded. At present, this wave of civilization doesn't possess the capability to colonize other star systems.

Yang Dong pointed at the spherical iron frame in front of them, "It is said that this Space City will have fields, factories, and communities, not much different from the 'Twilight Belt'."

"Meanwhile the Space City in Trisolaris' near-orbit, to this day, still hasn't achieved self-sufficiency in food. I suppose that most of the space within that Space City is reserved for space industry."

"Only after this New Space City is completed can the Trisolarans be considered to have stepped into the threshold of a space civilization."

After saying this, Yang Dong sped up the progress of the game.

The exterior of the Space City was gradually completed, while Jiang Yu and Yang Dong only saw materials being transported into the interior of the Space City, without knowing what kind of construction was going on inside.

After a decade, the Space City was finally completed.

In the vast emptiness of space, this Space City appeared so tiny, yet at the same time so magnificent.

After a brief celebration, the Trisolarans started being busy again.

Jiang Yu asked, "What are they going to do next?"

Yang Dong spread her hands, "I don't know, they don't have any plans for the next step."

Jiang Yu marveled, truly the Trisolarans leave no stone unturned, not even willing to reveal information that's only of referential importance.

Just then, near the New Space City, a cluster of asteroids, like a herd of uncontrollable horses, charged towards the New Space City.