Chapter 299 - 292: Zero Plain_1

"East longitude 73 degrees, south latitude 69 degrees, radius 40 kilometers."

Xie Liaofu quickly pulled up the high-resolution color images of Mars released by NACA and found that location, zooming in to observe it closely.

It was near Mars’ southern polar ice cap, though still at some distance. Nothing unusual could be discerned from the map.

Of course, this was expected. If something abnormal could have been discovered by a cursory satellite pass, this site would have been found long ago, and there wouldn’t have been a reminder from the system.

A radius of 40 kilometers meant an area of about 5000 square kilometers, roughly the size of a medium-sized city—definitely not a small place.

Xie Liaofu stared for a while before muttering to himself:

"Non-natural phenomenon, non-natural phenomenon, this term does have implications."

"What implications? Shouldn’t non-natural mean caused by human factors... or perhaps by intelligent beings?"

Lin Ju didn’t quite understand—non-natural should only be used to describe intelligent beings, he thought.

Xie Liaofu shook his head: "Non-natural can also describe the process in modern physics where systems transition into a quantum condensed state during quantum processes.

It includes the interference of intelligent beings but is not limited to just this possibility."

Lin Ju: "..."

Whenever quantum topics were brought up, Lin Ju’s expression would turn puzzled. Although he could understand every word, and there was nothing grammatically wrong, he just couldn’t grasp any meaningful information.

Xie Liaofu stood from his leaning posture, pacing back and forth in front of his desk with a furrowed brow, deep in thought. After a while, he stopped and refocused on the marked point on the screen.

"We definitely must go there, and we must bring people with us. Machines are unreliable; an astronaut must go and explore firsthand.

However, what exactly constitutes a non-natural phenomenon and how to research it requires a professional group. Isn’t there a legendary A+ scientist? Have him come over as soon as possible, the more hands on deck the better, and his expertise may be more relevant."

Lin Ju nodded. He had already played the A+ level personnel card, and they were probably on their way now. There was no 15-day notice this time, so perhaps it would be quicker?

Xie Liaofu: "There are no named features near the system-provided coordinates, just a small plain. Let’s call it... Zero Plain. No special phenomena have occurred there before, so it’s unlikely any crisis will happen immediately. We have plenty of time to explore and no need to rush there recklessly.

This month, we will launch the Departing Fire Detector. We can have it pay extra attention to the area, though it’s unlikely to yield much."

Lin Ju: "I suddenly feel like I’m carrying a mission for all of humanity on my shoulders."

Although that sounded a bit overdramatic, it was hard not to feel compelled to investigate when Mars itself indicated something was waiting to be discovered, despite the potential for unforeseeable consequences.

The existence of Zero Plain had to be kept secret, and the exploration needed to be as discreet as possible. Why was there always a sense of being the lone sober person in a world of inebriation, like in a science fiction movie?

But Lin Ju would rather not play the role of a savior. If this really led to an alien invasion, that would be playing with fire on a grand scale.

Instead of building space battleships to fight aliens in a battle to the death—a concept that didn’t even exist yet—he would much prefer to bring back a block of ice from the Martian south pole to brew tea.

But Xie Liaofu obviously had different thoughts. In his time, searching for aliens was a popular topic, and with his level of clearance, he knew many secrets.

"From the very beginning, we have been shouldering the mission of humanity. That’s what astronautics is about. But I thought Venus would be first, not Mars. I’ll hurry Xiao Okada along; the Departing Fire’s thrusters should have completed ground testing by now."

Well, the Departing Fire Detector wasn’t launched during the 2018 window, but in January of 2017. Earth had just passed the point where Earth, the Sun, and Mars aligned, and it was now at its maximum distance from Mars. Conventional space technology would take twenty months to cross that distance, nearly two years.

However, the thruster prepared for Departing Fire was equipped with a nuclear reactor and a 50N super-thrust Hall Thruster, which could be operated throughout the entire journey to Mars. There was no coasting phase—only acceleration and deceleration—taking only 292 days to arrive, about 10 months.

This meant that if launched in mid-January, it would reach Mars by November 2017.

In contrast, if taking advantage of the May 2018 window using conventional propulsion, without the fission-Hall thruster, it would still arrive at the earliest in November to December 2018.

Of course, the speed of Departing Fire came at a cost. The detector itself weighed 10 tons, with a reactor power of 40KW, while the propulsion part also weighed 10 tons, with reactor power of 90KW.

The power of that 50N Hall Thruster reached 127KW, meaning the two reactors had to be combined to provide enough energy. The 20-ton combination, the reactors, and cooling systems accounted for nearly half its weight.

But the 50N Hall Thruster was already energy-efficient enough. As a product of the system market, it saved 80% of the power per 1N compared to the Hall Thrusters currently used in the world. The fundamental design principles were vastly different and incomparable.

The 10-ton propulsion system was relatively cheap since there were no research and development costs for the Hall Thruster part. There was a technical reserve for the nuclear power unit, but R&D costs had to be included. The total cost was 1 billion yuan, which was quite expensive.

In the plan, after the propulsion part sent Departing Fire to Mars, it would have to fly back on its own. Although the power would drop to 90KW, it would actually be faster since it was half the weight. Considering it would also align with the Earth-Mars window, the return to Earth could be completed in about 3 months—a remarkably fast journey.

By that time, it would roughly be February 2018, and other detectors could be mounted to travel elsewhere. The speed would be impressive.

However, the specific flight time of Departing Fire was classified. The Aerospace Development Committee was unaware that New Yuan had a Hall Thruster with an extraordinary 50N thrust. The official statement was that Departing Fire would travel for 20 months and was expected to arrive in October 2018.

This was 11 months later than the actual arrival time. Departing Fire could study Mars without anyone’s knowledge, utilizing various on-board detection equipment for an all-around inspection.

Originally, this program aimed at starting planetary exploration plans as soon as possible, and a separate budget was allotted specifically for the nuclear propulsion part. It turned out to be a serendipitous alignment.

The Departing Fire Detector had already been manufactured, with half of the three-month production period spent rushing domestic optical equipment manufacturers. Their production speed for qualified, oversized, ultra-clean mirror pieces was too slow. If not for New Yuan’s "international technical support" guidance, there would have been another month of delay.

With the imminent launch of the Departing Fire Detector, Lin Ju felt more at ease. Moreover, Xie Liaofu’s reasoning was sound: Zero Plain was unlikely to present an immediate problem.

While the two were gathering senior engineers at the base to form the "Plain Zero Response Team," in a Rong City intensive care unit, Ye Changsi, his head wrapped in bandages, slowly regained consciousness.

As the monitors detected changes in his body and sounded an alarm, doctors and nurses hastily came to check his condition.