Great Country Academician

In the boundless universe, the Hanhai space shuttle soared in the sky of Mars like a small boat.

In the crew cabin, after having "breakfast", the captain of the Mars landing team, Zhai Zhigang, came in with a communicator.

After fixing the communication device that looked like a tablet on the cabin with a buckle, he looked at the other team members and said with a smile.

"Come on, what do you want to say before leaving?"

It can be said to be a commemoration, or a "last words". They are about to start the Mars landing operation. As the first manned Mars landing in human history, there is no experience before.

Even with a new space shuttle that is ahead of its time, this is an extremely dangerous operation for everyone.

No one knows whether they can return to their hometown after the Mars landing operation begins.

Maybe they won't even have the chance to say goodbye to their families.

In order to avoid regrets, it is better to leave some commemorations before the Mars landing begins.

In the crew cabin, the few people gathered together looked at each other, and they were embarrassed to be the first to come forward.

Seeing that no one expressed their opinions, Zhai Zhigang smiled and shook his head, looked at Gui Haichao and said, "Haichao, you are the youngest, you go first."

Gui Haichao, who was wearing a pair of glasses and looked a little thin, waved his hand and said, "Why don't we let Captain Liu go first?"

Liu Yang glanced at him and said, "I'll come if I want to. What's there to be afraid of? Can I lose a piece of meat?"

Gui Haichao smiled awkwardly. He was not afraid, but there was something inexplicable.

Taking a deep breath, he walked to the communicator fixed on the wall of the cabin. Looking at the screen in front of him, Liu Yang suddenly fell silent again, not knowing what to say.

For them, this is not just a message before landing on Mars, but also represents an extremely heavy responsibility.

Because, on another blue planet tens of millions of kilometers away from here, there are countless people waiting for their news.

Looking at the tablet in front of him, for a while, Liu Yang didn't know what to say.

Standing beside her, the others did not urge her, but just watched quietly, with some wandering thoughts on their faces.

After a long silence, Liu Yang took a deep breath. She finally made a decision, reached out and clicked on the communicator, and started recording the video.

"Report to the motherland! We have arrived on Mars and will complete the mission!"

When everyone finished recording the message, everyone in the cabin returned to their posts.

At nine o'clock, the miniaturized controlled fusion reactor inside the Hanhai space shuttle started again.

The deuterium and tritium stored in the fuel tank were transported into the fusion chamber along the pipeline, and turned into plasma as the temperature rose.

As the temperature in the chamber rose, the movement between the deuterium and tritium plasma became more and more violent. Particles that could not be seen with the naked eye continued to collide and fuse under the constraints of the magnetic field, releasing energy comparable to that of stars.

As the power output of the fusion reactor continued to increase, finally, when enough energy was input into the aerospace engine at the tail of the space shuttle, a dazzling blue-white arc of light shone in the dark night.

The aerospace engine restarted, pushing the Hanhai space shuttle towards Mars.

For the first manned landing on Mars, the landing method they adopted was still the more mature landing capsule equipment.

Although the second-generation space shuttle has the function of vertical takeoff and landing on a planet with a lower gravity environment, this has not been tested in the practice of landing on Mars. Whether it is really stable and reliable is still unknown.

In contrast, both the Zhurong Mars rover launched in the early years and the unmanned Mars exploration operation of the Xiashu Space Base have rich and sufficient experience in landing on Mars.

For the first manned landing on Mars, stability is more important.

If the landing capsule is to be launched, the current orbit of the space shuttle is still too high. They need to adjust the orbit of the Hanhai and lower it to the launch orbit to ensure the smooth launch of the landing capsule.

For the second-generation space shuttle, which is much larger than any spacecraft in the past, it is extremely difficult to achieve this step.

It can even be said to be the biggest test in the entire manned landing process.

Of course, the premise is that after the landing team lands on Mars, the two astronauts who stayed behind docked and transferred to another space shuttle, and then conducted a landing test of the second-generation aircraft.

Yes, one of the most important tests in this manned landing experiment is to test whether the second-generation aircraft has the ability to take off and land vertically on Mars.

Of course, this test needs to wait until they complete the manned landing operation and put all the experimental equipment they brought on Mars.

Compared with the current landing work, that is the most severe test.

However, whether this test is successful or not will not affect the astronauts' landing on Mars. Even if the second-generation aircraft accidentally crashes and is damaged on Mars, they still have two other first-generation space shuttles as spacecraft to respond.

So in the entire manned landing project, the most difficult thing is to stably control the Hanhai to enter the launch orbit.

Because the launch orbit is far below the low-Earth orbit, if a mistake occurs, they may miss the launch node, or even the entire space shuttle may fall directly onto Mars, causing the worst space accident in history.

In the cockpit, Gui Haichao and Tang Shengjie, who were controlling the space shuttle, both stared intently at the space shuttle's instrument panel, sensing the status and altitude of the spacecraft through the indicators and lights on it.

In the core area of ​​the cabin, under the stable control of the adaptable small supercomputer, the power output of the fusion reactor has exceeded 65% and is still rising.

The huge energy generated by the deuterium and tritium plasma is continuously transmitted towards the aerospace engines deployed at the bottom and tail of the Hanhai.

In the working medium tank, the massive amount of liquid xenon stored in the tank is continuously ejected under the acceleration of the magnetic field, transforming into a huge power, pushing the space shuttle to fly towards the designated coordinates.

At the same time, in the launch bay of the space shuttle, Zhai Zhigang, who had already put on the Mars spacesuit, looked at his teammates standing with him, took a deep breath, and spoke seriously and calmly.

"Everything is ready!"

What answered him were the firm and powerful voices of the other three companions who were on board the fire together.

"Ready!"

"Then! Let's go!"

A powerful order was announced from Zhai Zhigang's mouth. Immediately, he took the lead and walked towards the fire cabin.

This time they landed on Mars, four people, two launch modules, carrying various supplies and equipment. They will conduct a three-day scientific research expedition on Mars before returning to space.

As the four members of the mission team entered the landing module, the manned mission has entered the most critical period.

As early as two or three months ago, the unmanned mission to conduct a comprehensive exploration of Mars established a comprehensive coordinate network for the planet.

In order to ensure that subsequent relevant scientific research experiments can be carried out stably, the Hanhai space shuttle will immediately climb back to low-Earth orbit after reaching the coordinate point of the launch orbit and releasing the two launch modules.

On the one hand, this can save fuel and working fluid. Even if the energy provided by a small fusion reactor is enough for them to use or even squander, the number of high-efficiency xenon propulsion working fluids is limited.

On the other hand, it can serve as a relay station to receive and maintain signal communication between the landing team and the earth.

The door of the launch cabin slowly closed, and the launch teams divided into two teams each entered the much narrower cabin.

"Group 2, please answer after receiving it!"

In the No. 1 fire landing cabin, after completing the inspection work related to the normal operation of the equipment, Zhai Zhigang pressed the headset to call the other fire landing cabin.

"Got it, this is the launch cabin of Yinghuo 2!"

Vice-captain Liu Yang's voice soon came through the headset.

This time they landed on Mars, the names of their landing modules were 'Yinghuo 1' and 'Yinghuo 2'.

Its name contains the ancients' profound observations and thoughts about Mars. They believed that the brightness of Mars is like a glowing fire, and its trajectory is often confusing, so it was named "Yinghuo".

This title with a strong Chinese flavor not only reflects the unique light of Mars in the night sky, but also reflects their unremitting curiosity and exploration of the mysteries of the universe from ancient times to the present.

"Report your situation!"

"The equipment is operating normally, the spacesuit and landing module oxygen reserves are 100%, and the life support system is operating normally."

A series of reports sounded, and Zhai Zhigang nodded, smiled and said: "Come on!"

In the headset, a reply accompanied by a deep breath came: "Have a safe journey!"

When the last sound fell, the cabin was so quiet that it was as if you could hear your own heartbeat.

Even though the people who will carry out this manned mission are elites selected from astronauts and have carried out countless space missions, everyone is still nervous and nervous in the face of this new historical record that is about to be created for mankind.

Sitting opposite Zhai Zhigang, Jiang Xinlin clenched his palms nervously. He could feel that his palms were already a little moist.

After taking a few deep breaths of oxygen, discarding the distracting thoughts in his mind and calming down, Jiang Xinlin looked at Zhai Zhigang opposite and asked with some nervousness.

"team leader."

"What's wrong?"

"We're going to make it, right?"

Zhai Zhigang smiled and said in a firm tone: "Of course! We will definitely stand on Mars and open up new territories for our motherland!"

After a slight pause, he took on a somewhat joking tone and tried to relax Jiang Xinlin's nervousness before speaking.

"No matter what, don't you still believe Academician Xu Chuan? This is a project for which he personally serves as the chief engineer."

Hearing this familiar name, Jiang Xinlin's nervousness dissipated a lot. It seemed that just hearing the name was enough to make people feel at ease.

Nodding, he grinned and said, "That's right, this is Academician Xu's project."

After easing some of the tense atmosphere, the launch team continued to wait for the arrival of the drop node.

This mission is not only a test for the space shuttle, but also a test for them.

About ten minutes passed, and finally, a familiar electronic broadcast voice sounded simultaneously in the ears of the four fire climbing teams.

"The separation process will start in one minute, please prepare, Team Yinghuo!"

As the sound of the radio sounded, the mood that had eased a lot became tense again in the launch cabin.

In the long and rapid passage of time, there is tension and anticipation.

"10."

"9."

"8."

"."

"3"

"2"

"1"

"The separation program is activated. The current Mars landing module of Yinghuo No. 1 has separated from the cabin, and the Mars landing module of Yinghuo No. 2 has separated from the cabin. The landing program is activated."

As the electronic broadcast sounded, Jiang Xinlin, who was sitting in the Mars landing module of Yinghuo No. 1, felt a tremor coming from under his buttocks.

Immediately afterwards, the feeling of weightlessness of falling rapidly spread to every muscle and every cell in his body.

The continuous increase in acceleration made him feel that his heartbeat was constantly increasing, blood was constantly pouring into his brain, and his cheeks were flushed.

Holding the armrests of the seats tightly, both Jiang Xinlin and the other three astronauts were gritting their teeth nervously and constantly taking deep breaths to relieve their emotions.

Just like the early manned space flight, when the space capsule returned to the earth, they needed to pass through the atmosphere hundreds of kilometers thick.

At this time, the gravity of the earth would constantly pull the return capsule and continuously increase its speed.

The same is true when the Mars landing module lands on Mars. Although the gravity of Mars is much weaker than that of the earth, it is not zero.

The uneven atmosphere on the surface will cause constant shaking of the space capsule's posture.

The entire landing process is like an elevator that suddenly loses control and falls from a hundred-meter-high building. The strong sense of uneasiness fills the hearts of everyone standing in the elevator.

Even astronauts who have been trained and have performed many space missions cannot avoid this nervous mood.

Fortunately, this situation did not last too long. When breaking through the atmosphere of Mars and officially entering the Martian ecosystem, the landing program of the Mars landing module was activated.

The small chemical thrusters installed around the Mars landing module ejected flames and continuously adjusted the posture of the Mars landing module under the control of the intelligent system.

The bumpy feeling began to slow down with the decrease in acceleration. In the Mars landing module of the Mars II, Liu Yang held the armrest of the seat tightly and looked outside through the high-strength transparent porthole.

The airflow stirred by the landing of the Mars landing module was visible to the naked eye in a ripple shape, just like the waves you can see when you look at a hot fire on Earth.

Compared to the previous return capsules from space to the earth's surface, this landing was much shorter.

As the flames ejected by the small chemical thrusters slowly slowed down, the landing speed of the Mars landing capsule also slowed down.

The mechanically controlled support legs were automatically opened when landing.

With a violent shake, it was like stepping on the beach. After a slight sinking, everything stabilized.

They are here!

They have successfully arrived on Mars!