Under the clear azure sky, a glimmering star flickered in the daytime, bringing about a noticeable change in this world that had never changed since ancient times.
However, he didn't know if it was an illusion, but as time passed, the star actually gradually grew larger, and it flickered with a unique rhythm.
It was like a meteor, but it also seemed like some kind of signal.
More than an hour later, finally, the star had become as big as a bucket. Its entire body was blue, and it was clearly visible even in the daytime. As time passed, it continued to grow larger.
Finally, a spacecraft with white flames flickering at the bottom slowly descended from the sky and finally landed on a relatively flat ground.
Boom...
A low sound of impact was heard, and the spacecraft successfully landed. Two nuclear-powered engines that were comparable to the size of the spacecraft automatically became the landing gear of the spacecraft, and it directly made intimate contact with the ground.
Then, there was a moment of silence.
"Ares has landed successfully."
However, at this moment, the previously electronically synthesized female voice sounded again in the silent spacecraft. "Level 1 alert lifted. Everyone is allowed to leave the escape capsule."
Following this sentence, located in the most central part of the spacecraft, which was also the sturdiest room in the spacecraft, the red light on the sixteen steel coffin-like devices quickly turned green, and then with a click, they opened.
Only then did everyone sit up one by one, laughing. They walked out of the escape capsule with the feeling of learning how to walk, and then jumped in unison, feeling the strange gravity coming from the ground.
"I haven't felt gravity for a week. Now that I feel gravity again, I'm still not quite used to it..."
Someone suddenly said.
"You will soon get used to it."
Another person continued, "But the gravity on Mars is only two-fifths of that on Earth. It may be easy now, but when you return to Earth in the future, you will feel better. At that time, you may need to adjust your breathing for half a year before you can get out of bed."
"Actually, there is a solution."
A third person responded, "That is to become a Martian."
"Hahahaha!"
Following the laughter of the crowd, some people breathed a sigh of relief, while others quickly took off their spacesuits and excitedly walked in the direction of the cafeteria.
"Where are you going?"
"To drink a glass of whiskey, of course!"
After all, there were only a few people who went to drink. At this time, Captain Zhou Xiong of the Ares sat up. He did not directly take off his spacesuit, but directly walked in the direction of the bridge.
"Captain Zhou!"
The group of people immediately followed. Everyone knew what they were thinking.
Zhou Xiong waved his hand, signaling for them to calm down. He first arrived at the bridge, and the first thing he saw was the scenery outside the window.
Outside the window was a boundless world of ice and snow.
Everyone rushed to the window curiously, only to see that the scenery here was not much different from the North and South Poles on Earth. It was all flat, and it was obvious that the ice sheet had firmly covered the ground below. Everything was pure white.
There were no snowflakes, nor were there any strange rocks.
No one was surprised by this. The reason why they chose to land at the south pole of Mars was to build a base. At the same time, only the north and south poles of Mars had water.
However, they knew that only a small part of the ice was actually water ice. Most of it was dry ice composed of carbon dioxide.
"Ji Zhe, how do you feel?"
In the crowd, a young female scientist from Mainland China asked her companion.
"Uh, at least from the outside, it doesn't look any different from Earth."
Another young researcher with a somewhat cynical expression replied, "In fact, I'm more interested in seeing the location where the Mars landing vehicles landed. It's a unique terrain."
"Unfortunately, we won't be able to see it for at least a few months."
A scientist from Northern America next to him responded, "When the base is built, we may have a chance to go there and take a look, but not now."
When everyone heard this, they immediately began to discuss in whispers.
"Alright, everyone, quiet down."
At this moment, Zhou Xiong suddenly spoke, and suddenly everyone fell silent. Then, he raised his head and looked at a rectangular camera above his head. "Moss, release the landing vehicles and drones. I want them to explore the surroundings and send all the data they find over."
"Understood."
The female synthetic electronic voice came again, and then a huge virtual screen opened up in front of everyone again. The screen showed four images at the same time. Those images were black at first, then quickly expanded in a burst of white snowflakes. The images were black-and-white images used for night vision.
The images seemed to be of a narrow "room", and at the same time, the four images slowly rotated 360 degrees. Then, everyone only saw that the room in front of the screen slowly opened a door, and at the same time, light seeped in.
Suddenly, the black-and-white image was automatically converted to a color image. At the same time, the carrier of two cameras slowly moved directly out of the "room", and the other two cameras slowly floated up and flew out together.
These four cameras were impressively two landing vehicles and two drones.
Next, the landing vehicles and drones drove out of Ares one after another. The landing vehicle was a metal caterpillar vehicle with solar panels on top. As soon as it drove out, it immediately left a shallow trail on this ice field.
The landing vehicles began to drive in a circle on the ice field with the spacecraft as the center, trying to not miss any open space around the spacecraft.
Meanwhile, the drones quickly rose and flew in two directions at the same time. Their goal was to fly as far as possible to draw a nearby topographic map.
"The external atmospheric pressure is 7.5 millibars. The air composition is 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% hydrogen, 0.2% oxygen, 0.1% water vapor, carbon monoxide, neon, krypton, xenon, etc."
At this time, the preliminary detection results were also out. They only heard the synthetic female voice saying, "The external temperature is -85 degrees Celsius, and the wind strength is level five."
"Landing vehicles, sampling the surface."
Zhou Xiong ordered again.
"Sampling in progress... Sampling complete, beginning analysis..."
"95.7% of the surface is dry ice, 2.2% is water ice, and there are other components such as iron oxide and silica. No trace of microbial activity has been found for the time being."
Following MOSS's words, everyone looked happy. Although there was enough evidence to prove the existence of water on Mars in the previous unmanned detection, now that they had seen it with their own eyes, everyone's heart was overflowing with joy.
"Captain Zhou, let me go down and investigate!"
At this moment, finally, someone in the crowd could not wait any longer and spoke up.
"I'll go too!"
"Let me go too!"
"Me too!"
The group of people shouted loudly.
"Everyone, calm down!"
Zhou Xiong hurriedly pressed his hand down, silencing everyone's pleas. "Everyone, don't worry. If the environmental detection results are correct, in the next few months to a few years, we'll be living here, so there's no need to be anxious.
"However, it's also necessary to conduct preliminary investigations. In this case, the four continents can each select one person to go out and explore the outside world. This is already the limit. After all, the situation outside is unknown and I have to be responsible for everyone's situation. “
Following Zhou Xiong's words, everyone agreed and chose their own team of three to go out for investigation.
Among the remaining four researchers representing Blacklight Biotechnology, Zhou Xiong, as the captain, had to deal with a series of sudden changes. Naturally, he could not be the first to go out for investigation, so he handed this opportunity to a blond young man.
He was a biologist, and his name was Hannibal Caesar.
Yes, he was the top genius in biology who had followed Chen Chen since the establishment of Eco Science City. At the same time, he was also a professor-level member of God's Forbidden Zone and had high authority in Blacklight Biotechnology. Hannibal.
This exploration to Mars this time was Hannibal's own request because he had a dream of interstellar travel. Moreover, this operation had been prepared for a long time and the probability of failure was extremely low, so Chen Chen arranged for him to be on this manned spacecraft, becoming the first batch of researchers to go to Mars.
At this time, instead of staying with the others, he went to the laboratory of the spacecraft and took out a metal can from a row of biological display racks.
This metal can contained a special plant — the protoplast of "Tardigrade Moss".
"Tardigrade Moss" was a type of genetically modified moss of the order Bryophyllales. Its body was derived from a type of moss called "Bryophyllales".
Since the DNA structure of the moss was relatively easy to repair, and by replacing the genes of the moss with genes that produced desirable compounds, a variety of compounds could be produced in large quantities. Therefore, at Chen Chen's request, Hannibal cultivated this independent plant of "Tardigrade Moss".
The general process was as follows: Hannibal used the genes of the tardigrade to modify the "Bryophyllales". After all, the tardigrade was the most resilient creature in the Earth's biosphere that Hannibal could find.
They could withstand pressure six times that of the deepest ocean floor and could withstand radiation that was hundreds of times that of a human. They could also withstand temperatures that were close to absolute zero. There were many experiments in which a batch of tardigrade was exposed to a vacuum at near-absolute zero for as long as ten days. In the end, many of them did not die.
The ultimate trick of the tardigrade was the so-called "cryptobiosis". It slowed down the metabolism of life to a near standstill. When in a dormant state, the water content of its body could be reduced to less than 3%, literally "dehydrated". However, once water was added back to the body, the tardigrade would "rise from the water" like a phoenix.
Therefore, Hannibal strengthened the tardigrade with the black goo. After a series of enhancements, a "monster" as thick as a human finger and covered in hard chitin appeared in reality.
This kind of mutant tardigrade was very adaptable. It could survive for three to five years without food or water. It could even survive in boiling water. It could even withstand a low temperature close to absolute zero. Even in a vacuum, it could only enter a dormant state. As long as the temperature rose, it would recover.
In this cryptobiosis state, the mutated tardigrade could live for more than a hundred years.
Therefore, after Hannibal had successfully cultivated a mutant tardigrade worm that he was satisfied with, he used its genes to graft onto the genes of the Potamoeba Minor. Although this genetically modified moss did not have the insane survivability of the 'mutant tardigrade worm', it could thrive even in a freezer with a temperature of minus a hundred degrees Celsius. Its lifespan was longer than that of its earthling counterparts.
According to experimental tests that simulated the Martian environment, this plant known as the tardigrade moss had a high probability of being able to withstand the harsh Martian weather and become a unique species of moss that could survive on Mars.
The Martian atmosphere did not have much of anything other than carbon dioxide. After genetic modification, this type of moss could survive in the severe cold of minus ten degrees Celsius. At the same time, it only required the existence of a very small amount of water. If this cultivation was successful, then it meant that there was a possibility that the Martian environment could be modified.
When that time came, as the moss released more and more oxygen, the Martian atmosphere would also become thicker. Following this, the temperature would rise, causing the large amount of carbon dioxide buried under the Martian surface to continue to evaporate, which would then lead to an even higher greenhouse effect...
When the temperature of Mars reached a certain level, there would even be space for more vegetation to grow, until even animals could begin to survive on Mars. At this point, the entire Mars would enter a virtuous cycle.
Of course, dreams were beautiful, but to achieve this step, there was still a long way to go. Now was the beginning of everything.
After obtaining the jar of moss, Hannibal followed the group to the spaceship's isolation cabin. At this time, everyone had already selected the first batch of exploratory personnel. The group shouted excitedly, some even made bets to see who would be the first to rush out of the spaceship and become the first person in history to set foot on Mars.
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