In the midst of endless darkness.

A pitch-black skyplane slowly approached from the edge of the starscreen. Silent radios echoed through the vast depths, communicating with ground command centers tens of millions of kilometers away with delays of hundreds of seconds.

"This is the 'Messenger', and we are close to the 'New World'."

"Get closer to the past."

"Roger."

The Xiaguang is a ship type.

As for the "Courier", it was the code name of the aerospace aircraft in this operation.

Since the space industry has moved from elite to large-scale, not to mention the early model Xiangrui, which has been gradually discontinued, the Xiaguang, which is now sailing in outer space, has maintained more than five ships, and there are even more Queqiao.

If you continue to use the ship model, it will be easy to get confused, so now it has been changed to a code name.

Xu Zhenghong, who was sitting in the main driver's seat, reached out and pulled the lever on the right-hand side and pressed the button to lock the track.

With the assistance of the autopilot, co-pilot Liu Biao carefully monitored the speed and distance parameters, and cooperated with Xu Zhenghong to drive the Xiaguang towards the intersection of the Mars transfer orbit and the MOI3 orbit.

"Turn on the high-gain directional antenna, and there is a laser calibration device."

"Roger."

The most critical moment came.

There is only one chance, and only when the three main parameters of speed, angle of entry, and distance are met, can the orbit be successfully launched.

And if they miss it, they will have to circle Mars for an extra week, or at least half a cycle, to correct their orbits.

A minute is as long as a century.

Finally, the moment the words [Successful Orbiting] appeared on the screen, Xu Zhenghong and Liu Biao, who were tense and nervous, breathed a sigh of relief.

"This is the 'messenger', and we've cut into the MOI3 orbit."

"This is the ground command center, and we've heard from you. From now on, the ground navigation is over, and the rest is up to you. ”

"Roger, please wish us the best of luck."

The answer is over.

Compared with the communication delay of hundreds of seconds, it has become unrealistic to guide the Xiaguang through the ground command center to complete the remaining complex orbit switching.

The rest of the voyage was up to them.

However, although there is no navigation from the ground command center, for Xu Zhenghong and Liu Biao sitting in the cockpit, they are relieved.

Unless it is a meteorite collision or other accident, there are very few steps that need to be manually operated.

It can even be said that if all goes well, they only need to press the button to open the hatch after reaching the predetermined orbit, and throw the Z-particle clock in the cargo hold like an egg, and the mission of this voyage is completed.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Nope."

"Then I'll have to order it myself," grinned, Liu Biao unbuckled the life protection device, left the co-pilot's seat, floated to the freezer in the living area, and took out the refrigerated coffee from it.

Actually, he wanted to drink beer more, but he was still on a mission, so naturally it was impossible to drink that thing.

Returning to the cockpit with the bag full of coffee, Liu Biao, who reattached himself to the seat, fixed the bag with cold brew coffee to the chest of the spacesuit, and then pulled out the straw and brought it to his mouth.

In a gravity-free environment, whether it's a drink or something else, the taste of any liquid food changes wonderfully. The liquid that flowed became like jelly, and it was a strange feeling to drink that I couldn't put into words.

But the good thing is that the taste is still the same taste.

Looking at the planet outside the cockpit that seemed to be burning, Liu Biao, who was squinting, took a straw, stared at the beautiful scenery for a long time, and suddenly said with emotion.

"It's just beautiful."

Xu Zhenghong, who was sitting in the driver's seat and waiting quietly, also nodded gently in agreement.

"yes."

After the exchange of two sentences, the two fell into a silent silence, completely immersed in the beautiful scenery that they had no time to enjoy before.

No matter how many times you see it, you won't get tired of the magnificent waves, and every time you see it, you can't help but be fascinated.

It's hard to describe the feeling.

It's like......

A new world is just around the corner.

About an hour or two has passed, and after glancing at the orbit data on the cockpit instrument, Liu Biao estimated that the time was about the same, reached out and turned on the optical sensor for deep space navigation, aimed at the direction of Mars' geocentric, and corrected the scale data on the star map twice.

After the next orbit change, they will enter the lowest orbit.

With any luck, they should be able to see the BFS ship's return capsule there.

"Sooner or later, we'll widen our borders here."

"I don't know if I can see it that day in my lifetime."

"It's okay if you can't see it, someone will see it for us...... Ready to work. ”

"Roger."

Almost at the same time as the words fell, the spacecraft had successfully cut into the lowest orbit after one last slowdown.

Quietly listening to the countdown in his ears and looking at the virtual beacon getting closer and closer on the helmet eyepiece, Liu Biao, who was sitting in the passenger seat, pushed open the safety on the joystick with his thumb and put his thumb on the green button.

The moment the countdown is completed.

His thumb pressed almost reflexively.

With a slight electric current, a metal ball framed by two black rings was thrown from the back of the cargo hold. Like a pushpin nailed to a blackboard, firmly bitten into the orbit of Mars.

After confirming the orbital parameters of the Z-particle clock that had been left behind him from the laser calibrator, Xu Zhenghong switched the communication channel to the ground command center and said in a calm voice.

"The package has been successfully put into orbit, and the first phase of the mission has been completed!"

It takes about four minutes to answer, and during that time, their task is to maintain their current flight trajectory and wait quietly for instructions on what to do next.

The task in hand finally came to an end, Xu Zhenghong's expression finally relaxed a little, untied the lock of the cabin health protection system, and moved his somewhat sore shoulders.

Sitting next to him, Liu Biao looked at the black dot on the aft camera that gradually faded away and disappeared, and suddenly smiled and said.

“…… It's like putting a ring on the bride. ”

The corners of his mouth were grinned, and Xu Zhenghong said with a smile.

"It's kind of romantic to say that."

"I've always felt that spaceflight itself is a romantic thing...... Speaking of which, what about the rest of the work? ”

"Wait for news from the ground command center, return to the MOI3 orbit without incident, and wait there quietly." Looking at the metal ball that was so far away that it had disappeared, Xu Zhenghong narrowed his eyes, "Wait until the end of the experiment to confirm the state of the Z-particle clock." ”

"Then, we can go home."

At this time, a distant "received" came from the communication channel of the ground command center.

The two people sitting in the cockpit invariably lifted their spirits.

At the same time, the space ground command center is tens of millions of kilometers away.

Lu Zhou, who was standing in the command room, slowly raised his left hand and glanced at the silver watch he was wearing there.

The time was on the hour.

Estimating that the preparations were almost over, Lu Zhou raised his head, his gaze crossed the heads of the people in the ground command center, and landed on the two-person high floor-to-ceiling screen.

In a voice that everyone could hear, he spoke.

"It's our turn."