Chapter 152 - 148 Culture_1

"Your robot is really something..."

Although the Chang’e 4 project was a joint effort between two companies, Shen Zuozhou couldn’t help but criticize upon seeing the Explorer robot.

For the space agency, the purpose of Chang’e 4 was originally to continue the Chang’e 3 mission, and there wasn’t much difference in the level of technology or mission content. However, due to New Yuan’s intervention, it underwent some radical modifications.

The lander’s weight reached 2.8 tons, more than double the originally planned 1.2 tons.

Thanks to the lander’s weight, Lunar Rover 2 went from 135 kilograms to 150 kilograms, but it was still the world’s smallest lunar rover...

Even the 420-kilogram Explorer robot seems small in comparison, as the previously launched "Lunar Rover 1" and "Lunar Rover 2" by the Union approached roughly 800 kilograms.

America’s lunar rover was 210 kilograms, but that was made for astronauts on the Apollo mission.

Of course, it’s incorrect to judge capabilities solely on weight. Lunar Rover 2 is still quite impressive, it’s just that the Explorer next to it is so high-tech.

To move on the Moon by hopping, and with eight mechanical legs?

The Explorer’s eight legs are differentiated; the front two are "auxiliary feet," more flexible and carrying a lot of equipment, whereas the six "main feet" behind are used for walking or heavy lifting.

The pair of "auxiliary" front feet and the middle pair of the six main feet can be used to clamp or transport objects. Don’t be fooled; each pair of mechanical legs has a maximum output force of only 50 kilograms, which equates to a lifting capacity of 300 kilograms on the Moon, where gravity is only one-sixth of Earth’s.

In case of an encounter with aliens, two pairs of legs could grab two astronauts and run for their lives.

Each "spider leg" has a full extension length of 1.6 meters. Explorer is undoubtedly a big toy, so it can indeed be used as a vehicle. The only drawback is that there’s no place to sit, only stand, and it might be a bit bumpy.

The Explorer’s posture system can support movement on at least three legs but is more stable on four.

However, this comes at a cost. Of its 420-kilogram weight, 240 kilograms are batteries made of nickel-hydrogen spread all over, 50 kilograms for scientific equipment, and the remaining 130 kilograms for the body of Explorer. With an average of just over 10 kilograms per leg, it has been made quite light.

But to have a probe where nearly 60% of its weight is devoted to batteries... the chief engineer from the space agency, Shen Zuozhou, didn’t like it, thinking it wasteful.

If it were up to him, he’d allocate a maximum of 80 kilograms for batteries and bring more solar panels instead, as this big spider can clean its own dust.

The engineers at New Distant Factory were quite satisfied, though. Unlike the slowly patrolling vehicles, Explorer was designed for hard work. More batteries meant longer operation times per activity. Just charge it a bit longer time if need be.

The space agency has always worried about the reliability of such highly motor-dependent multi-legged robots. This is cold space we’re talking about, with low temperatures. Can such high-speed mechanisms really be relied on?

Regardless, at least in terms of its sci-fi level and designed functions, Explorer is much more powerful than Lunar Rover 2. At first glance, it’s a product of science fiction.

Or rather, it looks particularly suited to being a movie prop.

"Wow, this is really going to run on the Moon and hop along the way? That’s amazing; I won’t even need special effects. I can just shoot the Explorer and add a filter,"

said Guo Fan excitedly as he touched Explorer 2. It was a backup for Explorer 1, which had already been transported to Qiongzhou in preparation for launch.

Just last month, "The Wandering Earth" officially started production.

With the strong support of the super-generous parent company New Yuan Aeronautics, the production team of The Wandering Earth possessed ample funds, technology, and talent, and thus began their work officially.

Unlike Guo Fan from the previous timeline who ran himself ragged, the well-funded version of him needed only to lift a finger to have people come running to him, solving 99% of problems with money.

The confidence of the entire movie’s investors was strengthened as a result. With Liu’s IP combined with the powerful support of a true high-tech company, recovering costs seemed to be no problem from a BUFF standpoint.

Moreover, those investing in this sci-fi movie at this time were also somewhat supportive of domestic sci-fi films, more forgiving than they might be with ordinary commercial movies.

The rough script had already been reviewed by Lin Ju, who felt it was not too different from the previous life, except for the varied casting. Still, he trusted Guo Fan’s judgement.

Lin himself wasn’t greatly moved by The Wandering Earth; it was more about pushing this project to accelerate the maturity and development of domestic science fiction. The gap between China and Hollywood in this regard was still quite substantial.

Pursuing authenticity, Guo Fan had assembled what might be China’s strongest prop department for a science fiction crew after securing ample funding. He began designing various sci-fi props.

But as soon as Chang’e 4 was announced, he realized the Explorer robot had more science fiction elements than any of the props they had designed...

So Guo Fan brought a few people to the B-level Base looking for sci-fi inspiration, among them was a special individual.

A certain electrician named Liu, over 50 years old, blended in with the film crew without standing out. He was originally just visiting the set to check things out, but he was taken along to the B-level Base as an incidental.

Even though he was China’s most imaginative science fiction author, Liu found New Yuan’s base quite novel and couldn’t resist touching everything he saw within the accessible area.

When Lin Ju heard of his visit, he made a special trip to meet with him.

Liu: "I once thought chemical rockets were like a group of people constructing rocket components bit by bit by hand in a workshop-like space, creating exquisite but expensive, complex yet inefficient products. But here at New Yuan Factory, I don’t get that feeling."

Lin Ju: "But the era of rockets is coming to an end. We all understand that. Even though rockets are still indispensable now, we are working on some epoch-making projects."

Liu was quite astonished, and then he saw the surface parameters and conceptual images of the XN90 spacecraft.

This is something humans can make now?!

Lin Ju smiled, then left as if brushing dust from his sleeve. Liu had lost much of his passion for writing after Three Body, and this wouldn’t do; he needed a jolt of inspiration. Perhaps then he might burst with new ideas and write a "Four Body."

Entertainment works are very important; they represent the characteristics of a social environment and can influence the thoughts of one or several generations.

Even though the rewards from the "Soaring Higher" yearly mission were laughable, the enterprise still needed to be pursued, for arousing public passion for space could greatly aid subsequent plans.

Previously, Hua Ying had approached Lin Ju to discuss the possibility of adapting the Oriental Action rescue mission into a film. It wouldn’t be too costly, and it had a wide audience. He had already granted permission for another crew to film it.

The film’s title would be "Oriental Action," with some characters portrayed by their real-life counterparts, such as the personnel from Qiongzhou Launch Center and the Unity spacecraft itself shot on location. It was just that actual space shootings were impractical. This was a Spring Festival blockbuster, and there wasn’t enough time to schedule a launch, unlike The Wandering Earth crew, who had more time.