<br/><div class="floatleft">(http://elliquiy.com/elluiki/images/c/cd/Professor_Dr._Alon_Gadi.jpg)</div><table class="bbc_table"><tbody><tr><td><strong>Character name:</strong></td><td> Professor Alon Gadi</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Location:</strong> </td><td> Second Level</td></tr><tr><td><strong>With:</strong> </td><td> Robert Daniels <strong>(NPC)</strong>, Dr. Amy Hill <strong>(NPC)</strong></td></tr><tr><td><strong>Doing:</strong> </td><td> Finishing with details and taking inventory</td></tr></tbody></table><br/><br/><hr/><br/><br/>Alon came into the science block from the maintenance and engineering block. (http://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=148833.msg6752693#msg6752693)<br/><br/><br/>Before he got to work though, there was one thing that he had to do. He went over to where his office was, and removed his suit quickly so as to take out the nameplate that he had kept in his jacket pocket. After putting the environment suit back on, he slid the nameplate into the empty slot set out specifically for that purpose. He gave the welcoming speech. He set out his plans for what he was going to do here. And now there was an office specifically set out for<em>Professor Alon Gadi, Head of Scientific Staff and Department.</em>He briefly glanced inside noting only a desk, a chair, and a blackboard with chalk which appeared to have been made from mars dirt. He would check that out later though, he had to take inventory.<br/><br/><br/>After arriving at the main labs, Alon brought up the inventory list he had created back on Earth of both the items that had been brought by the M<sup>3</sup>missions, and the items that had been brought on their recent journey. Because of the implanted computer chips, the list had been shared already among the entire scientific staff, and the items could be checked off by any of them. By the time that they had finished checking, quite a number of items that were supposed to have been brought hadn't, including two important lasers, as well as other electronics equipment. As to why the items hadn't come could be solved later, right now Alon had to focus on making suitable items that they didn't have, seeing as they wouldn't get a replacement any time soon.<br/><br/><br/>He quickly went upstairs to the hydroponics fields, where he found the agronomist and botanist Robert Daniels, and briefly filled him in on the terraforming reports to submit on the status of the crops and plants. Robert seemed thrilled to be included in the terraforming process, even though the process really wouldn't begin for another few years. Alon then went back downstairs to the physical chemistry lab, to find out about fabricating materials that were needed for the construction of the missing items. He was then directed to Amy Hill when he explained what he needed.<br/><br/><strong>"Listen, Amy. We're missing items that we need for the labs. Now, I'm pretty sure that there are enough spare parts in the compound to make suitable replacements for the items for at least a few years, with the exception of large amounts of steel, or at least iron. Now, the good part is that this planet is full of iron. The bad part, is that it's in the form of rust, meaning that we have to reduce the ferric oxide before it's of any use to us. Now, I know that the engineering department will be separating the oxygen out from dug-up portions, however because of the energy intensity in doing so, it will happen in relatively small quantities, and quite slowly, taking several months to a year to get the amount that we need. The "normal" way of separating out the oxygen, is of course to have the oxide react with a metal of higher activity than iron, such as aluminum, which would oxidize the other metal. This unfortunately can't work, seeing as we don't have a massive amount of unused zinc or tin lying around to reduce the iron oxide.<br/><br/><br/>"What I need you and your team to do is to develop a reducing agent for ferric oxide that will work on an industrial scale. Do you think that you and your team can do that?"</strong>