"Noah is expected to arrive at the third near-Earth orbit of the Nix star in one minute. The countdown begins: sixty, fifty-nine, fifty-eight..."
On January 17, 2009, in the New Human Calendar, humans have been flying in the endless space for nearly five years, and the external relativistic time is about 22 years.
It is now 9:28 in the morning, and the Noah spacecraft has officially arrived in the outer space orbit of the planet Nix!
Distance from the solar system... 21.4 light years!
This is a space expedition that humans have never imagined!
Many people happily rushed to the astronomical observatory, full of enthusiasm, to observe the gray planet that was about to land at close range.
According to the endless news reports in the past month, ordinary people have basically understood a general idea: Nix is an Earth-like planet with a dense atmosphere, and there is even a large amount of oxygen in the atmosphere!
Through this, people are almost certain...that there is life on the planet!
Wherever there is life, there is life. Anyway, human beings have already made such psychological expectations.
A lot of preliminary work is to combat alien microorganisms, including various anti-virus potions, high-temperature sterilization boxes, strict isolation measures and... broad-spectrum immune drugs!
Another point, the existence of life does not mean the existence of "intelligent life"!
The "universal law of life" may apply in this universe, and the emergence of primitive life may be relatively easy, but "intelligent life" or "civilization" may not necessarily!
Such a harsh planetary environment cannot give birth to large-scale intelligent life, right?!
This is not just a common thought among ordinary people, but also among scientists.
Difficult, too difficult!
The average temperature on the planet's surface is minus 120 degrees, which is not an environment in which large-scale life can reproduce normally.
The most critical thing is that there is no stellar illumination on the surface of Nix, and there is no stable energy source. Does it mean that the heat of large-scale life only relies on volcanoes to maintain it?
What if a volcano erupts? It can kill all living things within the area covered by the magma!
Under such circumstances, it is difficult for large organisms to have the conditions to grow, and it is even more difficult for intelligent life.
But microorganisms don't matter. They have strong vitality. Even if the volcano erupts, it is impossible to kill all the microorganisms... After the eruption is over, they can reproduce quickly.
Scientists speculate that this planet may have a type of cyanobacteria that thrive on geothermal energy.
They absorb geothermal energy, synthesize carbon dioxide into organic matter, and metabolize oxygen. Over a long period of time, this planet has produced so much oxygen...
"30 global satellites have been successfully launched, and the global positioning system is officially launched!"
"The unmanned detection system officially begins!"
Because this planet is likely to be where people will stay within a few years or decades, various astronomical and geographical teams have spent a lot of effort. They have tried their best to find a suitable landing area with rich material resources.
The automated detection took more than two weeks in total. The entire observation operation has made good progress, giving people a preliminary understanding of the geological features of the Nix star.
The only thing that makes people speechless is: there are so many volcanic eruptions!
The geological activities on this planet are so intense that volcanoes of various sizes are erupting almost every day!
Thick volcanic ash floats in the atmosphere almost all the time, causing certain problems for satellite detection systems.
"The current geological exploration situation is roughly known: 80% of the ocean is covered with thick ice, and we don't know how deep it is. About 20% of the land is still unusable due to a large amount of volcanic fog. Satellite detection is clear.”
"However, unmanned detectors and drones have inspected some areas on the surface and found no traces of large-scale biological activities. They only found the presence of some microorganisms... consistent with our expectations!"
"...We have discovered an extinct volcano area. According to analysis and calculations, this volcano has been completely silent and has not erupted for nearly tens of millions of years. It is safe enough! Moreover, this area has sufficient mineral resources due to volcanic eruptions. It’s a good base location!”
"The mission of your group is: to explore the specific geological composition of the area, capture different microbial samples, and... establish the first small base!"
Yu Yifeng looked at the row of people standing in front of him, including Zhao Yao, Shen Jie and other soldiers. They were wearing X-003 power armor, followed by more than sixty soldiers.
Next and behind were more than thirty engineers, more than thirty biologists, and several reporters. And...a big black dog wearing power armor!
People have been preparing for this work for so long, and it is impossible to abandon the landing because of some microorganisms or active volcanoes. Compared with the large amount of resources that will be obtained, these are nothing!
Yu Yifeng looked at them carefully and said seriously: "We will send three A-type spacecraft this time. Among them will be a manned spacecraft, a cargo plane and a base-type spacecraft."
"This landing is very important. If the location is really suitable, it means that a large number of excavation machinery will continue to follow up!"
"Zhao Yao, you have the right to press the nuclear button! If you encounter any uncontrollable danger, you can abandon a large amount of equipment and escape, but... you must bring it back to me!"
"clear!"
"Shen Jie, lead someone to be responsible for specific biochemical control! No matter whether indoors or outdoors, everyone must wear power armor! Everyone has their own compartment, and eating and drinking must be done in their own compartment. Also Yes… I’ll leave the raising of Dahei to you!”
The big black dog seemed to understand and barked twice. As a super individual other than Yu Yifeng, it now assumes the important task of resisting microorganisms.
"clear!"
"Dr. Nakatamura, I leave the microbial control work to you... You can also use broad-spectrum immune reagents when necessary!"
Yu Yifeng gave orders one by one, and he felt like a talkative woman.
However, he couldn't help but take this kind of work seriously! He wished he could go there in person, but obviously, sitting in this position, it was impossible!
Finally, after finishing all the work tasks, he nodded and said: "Then you go prepare, we will set off in half an hour!"
At the same time, he added another sentence: "If you really encounter any danger, I will allow you to return to the Noah! Even if you lose some things..."
In this way, it was not until more than ten minutes later that a group of people boarded the electromagnetic train and entered the circular track.
A soldier patted his chest and said with a sigh: "Mr. Yu is usually very serious, but now..."
"Very long-winded, isn't it?"
Captain Zhao Yao held the armrest on the train and checked the condition of the power armor: "If it was possible...he would really like to get on by himself! But if he says something verbose now, he might save your life! Everyone knows that he
Mission?"
"clear!"
While everyone was talking, the train stopped and nearly 130 people boarded an A001 spacecraft.
Everyone stopped talking, but sat in their respective positions, fastened their seat belts, and waited for the spacecraft to take off.
It is impossible to say that you are not nervous at this time!
Zhao Yao's dark face was slightly red, and he was obviously in extreme excitement, even with some fear. But for people like him, opening up a planet means supreme glory and being remembered in history.
This instinctive fear is nothing, just do it well no matter what.
"The spaceship door is about to close, please make preparations for takeoff. Please fasten your seat belts!" a soft electronic voice sounded.
"The particle engine detection program is started...the spacecraft's adaptive orbit is being calculated...ready!"
"The circular orbit docking work has started... The orbit is 100% smooth. The spacecraft is expected to start in thirty seconds, and the countdown begins twenty-nine, twenty-eight..."
At this time, 60,000 people on the entire Noah were staring intently.
The astronomical observatory was already crowded with people, and in order to cause unnecessary disturbances, there were even soldiers maintaining order.
The first batch of colonists from the solar system are about to land on the planet Nix!