Although Mars is close at hand, it's still a little too early to start celebrating victory.

Soon, at the moment of contact with the gravitational field of Mars, Xu Fu ushered in its most severe test since its launch.

Unlike other small and delicate spacecraft, this large, complex colonial ship is not an easy task to accelerate or decelerate.

Especially deceleration.

If the speed is not enough, it may not be able to catch up with Mars, and if the speed is too fast, it may pass directly through the gravitational field of Mars, leaving a very short window for Xu Fu to slow down, and they must reduce their speed to a size that can be captured by Mars' gravity in a relatively short time.

In particular, Mars does not have an atmosphere yet, and the method of leapfrogging and decelerating at the edge of the atmosphere like on Earth will not work here. They can only achieve the deceleration of the spacecraft by means of thruster reverse injection.

Fortunately, this is not a very difficult thing for Star Technology's electric propulsion technology.

When the portable controllable fusion core is activated, the temperature in the heating chamber begins to rise in a straight line, and the propulsion fluid fed into the heating chamber is instantly vaporized and ionized into an active plasma.

The temperature in the reaction chamber and the heating chamber is getting higher and higher, like a miniature sun.

As the power of the reactor continued to increase, and finally at the moment when it broke through a certain critical point, the plasma engine that was ready to take off suddenly shot out a blue arc light, lighting up the No. 2 annular area at the tail of Xu Fu!

Pushed by the azure arc light, Xu Fu briefly accelerated forward for a short distance.

However, this situation did not last long, and soon with the deployment of the rectifier, the plasma ejected outside the cabin began to turn under the adjustment of the magnetic field, and gradually tilted forward from the angle of the original straight rear, like an open parachute, dragging Xu Fu, who was running towards Mars, began to slow down.

After about ten hours of waiting, Xu Fu, which had changed orbit several times, finally completed its deceleration when it entered the Martian gravitational field for the last time and was successfully captured by Martian gravity.

At the same time, a clear announcement was heard above the heads of the people sitting in the cabin.

"Xu Fu has successfully entered the Mars system, and the assisted landing mode will be activated in half an hour, please put on the spacesuit in the cabin and go to the No. 1 ring area to standby."

Unbuckled the seat belt on the space chair, Liang Youcheng, who was wearing a spacesuit in the cabin, stood up from his seat.

Looking back at his teammates who had stood up with him, he spoke in a serious tone.

"It's all ready."

He was answered by four voices in unison.

"Ready!"

Nodding approvingly, Liang Youcheng ordered loudly.

"Everyone, let's go!"

The journey has entered its final stage.

Probes previously deployed on Mars have scanned the basic topography into the Jinling Space Launch Center database, and the landing site has been decided long before they set off.

The Xu Fu will not stay in orbit for too long, and will start the colonization process as soon as it reaches the target area.

The Ring 2, including the propulsion system, and the main structure of the spacecraft will remain in orbit around Mars as a temporary space station and communications relay satellite, while the Ring 1 will separate from the spacecraft and fall towards the Martian atmosphere as planned.

The group unhurriedly walked through the narrow passageway, along the corridor on the outside of the ship, from the cabin at the front of the ship to the first ring area.

This is the centerpiece of the entire colony ship.

At the same time, it is also their future home on Mars.

Looking at the hatch slowly falling behind him, Liang Youcheng silently raised his right arm and gave a farewell military salute.

After doing all this, he turned around and continued with the other four astronauts to the buffer chamber on the outer edge of the Ring One.

This is the entrance and exit of the colony, with the strongest shell and the most complete set of tools in the entire colony module, and it is also the place where they wait to land in space.

"Find a nearby seat and connect the health protection system to the spacesuit."

"Raise your hand once you're making sure it's working properly and let me know you'll survive for a while."

The joking voice eased the tense atmosphere in the cabin a little, and many people's tense brows soothed a smile.

Looking at the four raised right hands, Liang Youcheng nodded, then reached out and pulled out the movable seat leaning against the wall and sat down, and then methodically connected the seat belt and life protection device to his cabin spacesuit in turn.

If it is said that the previous deceleration was a test for the Xu Fu.

Then their test will soon come.

After waiting for ten minutes in a quiet atmosphere, Liang Youcheng, who adjusted the rhythm of his breathing, even heard his own heartbeat.

Finally, a series of slight tremors came from the seats, and the astronauts sitting in the buffer room were all in high spirits.

Putting his hands on the armrests of the seat, Fan Tong said nervously and loudly.

"Captain, are we coming soon!"

Trying to make himself look less nervous, Liang Youcheng smiled and said in a relaxed tone.

"What's the hurry, I just separated from the spaceship, and the free fall is just about-"

He was halfway through his sentence when the familiar sound of the radio interrupted him.

"The separation procedure is initiating, the colony module will be separated from the Xufu colony ship in one minute, and the landing procedure will be started one minute after the separation procedure is over......"

"Have a great trip, everyone."

The moment the words fell, the shaking under the seat became more and more intense.

With a clicking sound, there was a sound along the alloy wall, and the connection between the ring-shaped colonial cabin and the Xu Fu completely lifted the last line of insurance.

At the same time, four small chemical thrusters mounted on the outer walls of the annular structure spewed flames, propelling the Colony Module away from the Xufu with weak power and sending it towards the turbid and thin atmosphere.

Like a baby with an umbilical cord cut, the colony pod, detached from its mother's body, spewed flames as it slowed down towards the fiery red planet.

Soon, the hardest part of the day came.

The bumpy feeling was like bungee jumping up and down, which made the astronauts sitting in the buffer room tense their nerves to the extreme.

Staring straight at the turbid atmosphere outside the porthole, Liang Youcheng clutched the armrest of the seat, although this did not make him sit more stable, but at least it brought him a little comfort.

The outer periphery of the atmosphere broke through, and the power of the engine jet suddenly rose a step!

For a brief moment, Liang Youcheng even felt that the nostalgic gravity of the earth seemed to return to him.

However, the familiar feeling was only for a moment.

Soon it gradually diminished as it continued to decline in altitude, until it was reduced to less than half of its original size.

It was as if something had hit the sand, and with the last violent tremor, all the uncomfortable sensations went away in an instant.

Looking at the flying yellow sand outside the porthole, as well as the outline of the horizon buried in the haze, Liang Youcheng suddenly wanted to cry.

An indescribable excitement filled every corner of his chest.

Mars!

This is Mars!

They've finally arrived!