As the schedule of the Mars landing plan became more and more urgent, the atmosphere of the entire launch site also became tense and busy.
However, no one was worried about the prospects of the launch plan.
Two weeks ago, a number of national ministerial level and bureau level departments, as well as the China National Space Administration and the State Administration for National Defense, set up a command center at the launch site. Academician Lu personally served as the chief designer for the launch plan!
This was controlled by Academician Lu!
When the news was first announced, all of the participants in the Mars landing project were excited. Their morale reached a peak!
For Chinese astronauts, Lu Zhou was no longer just a name.
It was a symbol.
From the moment it was written on the front page of the launch plan, all of the problems no longer seemed to be problems. All of the difficulties became simple.
The days quickly passed by. Soon came the day of departure.
A majestic aerospaceplane slowly moved out of the hangar under the pull of an engineering vehicle. It stopped on the runway outside the command building of the launch site. Ground crews and forklifts rushed back and forth around the plane, doing the final check for the Starlight aerospaceplane that was about to take off.
In half an hour, the first batch of components for the Xu Fu colonial ship would take off from here and be sent by Starlight to geosynchronous orbit. They would then be taken over by the Magpie Bridge, finally arriving at the Moon Palace space station.
When all of the components had been launched, the colonists waiting on the ground would embark on the last flight to board the Moon Palace. From there, they would head toward Mars, which was tens of millions of kilometers away!
The preparations were finally ready.
The ground crew in front of the aerospaceplane quickly dispersed when they heard the instructions from the tower broadcast.
The signal lights on the runway lit up, forming a straight line.
“Hatch is closed!”
“Fusion engine on standby!”
“Preheating of the plasma heating chamber is complete!”
“Ready to launch!”
“Ignition!”
There was no countdown.
When aerospace launching had become the norm, people no longer regarded fusion ignition as a special event.
Just like the pilots of aircraft do not count down for their takeoffs, the astronauts who were accustomed to going back and forth between the ground and space no longer did the countdown for their takeoffs.
The pilot sitting in the cockpit pressed the switch to release the plasma in the engine heating chamber.
Under the magnetic field, plasma of tens of millions of degrees was released from the nozzle of the engine. The hot temperature seemed to ignite the air and distort time and space.
Driven by this huge force, the silver-white giant plane began to slide forward. It finally broke away from the runway, heading toward the clear skies.
Director Chang Hezhi watched the long and narrow plane trajectory in the air. It finally disappeared into the clouds. Director Chang Hezhi was standing in the control tower.
Ever since the day he visited the aerospace assembly center, where Academician Lu showed him the colony capsule for the Mars landing project, he had been in a fantastic mood.
Compared with Director Li and Academician Yuan Huanmin, who had been involved in China’s aerospace projects since the beginning of the Moon landing project, he was a newcomer appointed by the China National Space Administration to join the Mars landing program.
Prior to this, although he knew who Academician Lu was, he had only heard his name in the news and in the excited discussions of his colleagues.
What he saw and heard at the aerospace assembly center that day astounded him. The factory that assembled the colony capsule, which realized imaginations about technology, spaceflight, and the future, was contained in an area of only a few thousand square meters.
He wasn’t confident for the same reasons the astronauts were.
They were confident because of Lu Zhou’s name. But he was confident because of the amazing technology itself. With such sophisticated equipment, he really couldn’t imagine a reason for failure.
Forget about Mars.
Even traveling to a more distant world wouldn’t be a problem…
His thoughts were lost as he stared at Starlight disappearing in the sky. A staff member in uniform walked beside him.
“Director Chang.”
Chang Hezhi looked away from the control tower window. He turned to the staff member standing next to him and spoke calmly.
“Yeah, what?”
“Academician Lu is asking for you.”
Academician Lu?
A surprised expression appeared on his face. He already met with Lu Zhou in the morning, but Chang Hezhi didn’t think much of it.
The higher-ups sent him here to cooperate with Academician Lu. If Academician Lu needed him for anything, that was his highest priority.
Therefore, he immediately spoke.
“Take me there.”
“Okay.”
The staff member nodded before turning around and leading the way.
Chang Hezhi followed the staff member’s footsteps. They quickly walked from the command tower to the conference room on the first floor of the launch site main building. He saw Lu Zhou sitting at the conference table and staring at a document.
Obviously, Lu Zhou did not notice his arrival.
Chang Hezhi cleared his throat and broke the silence.
“Academician Lu, I heard that you wanted to find me?”
Lu Zhou noticed the voice coming from the door. He looked away from the document in his hand and looked up at Director Chang Hezhi. He smiled and stood up. He then made an inviting gesture.
“Oh, you’re here? Please sit down.”
Chang Hezhi pulled out a chair and sat down.
Lu Zhou sat back on the chair and put the documents in his hand aside. He looked at Director Chang, who was sitting across from him, and spoke in a serious tone.
“Regarding the launch plan at the end of the month, I have something to discuss with you.”
The expression on Director Chang Hezhi’s face suddenly became serious. He sat straight and spoke.
“Please speak!”
Lu Zhou nodded. He went straight to the point.
“I plan to change the number of people in the first batch of the Mars landing program from three to five.”
The conference room went silent for a second.
“F-five people?” Director Chang Hezhi was stunned and didn’t react for a while. He said, “Why five?”
Why five…
How should I explain?
Lu Zhou didn’t have an explanation. He decided to make up one.
“Because it is out of necessity.
“Three people is not enough. I have made detailed arrangements for the work of these five people. All of them are crucial!”
Chang Hezhi didn’t have any doubts; he was just a little worried. He frowned and hesitated before asking, “But… is five too many?”
“No.” Lu Zhou shook his head and said, “In terms of safety, the maximum load of our colony capsule is ten adult men, and five colonists are less than half of the maximum load. Having two additional personnel supplies is not particularly difficult for the Xu Fu colonial ship. Regarding the technical feasibility, I have already discussed with the experts from the China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation at a meeting just now. The conditions are undoubtedly met.”
“But if it fails—”
“That’s impossible,” Lu Zhou said without hesitation as he interrupted Director Chang’s concerns. “I won’t allow that to happen.”
Whether it was three people or five people…
As long as he was sitting in the position of the chief designer, he would definitely not let that kind of tragedy happen!
The room was full of tension.
Chang Hezhi suddenly understood why both the engineers and commanders of this space launch site believed in his orders. The worship of him almost became a kind of religion.
The doubts in his heart gradually dissipated. Chang Hezhi solemnly nodded his head slowly.
“If you think it is necessary, then I trust your judgment.
“I will sign the document.
“We’ll go with your plan!”
