Earth, tens of millions of kilometers away.
Chen Yushan sat on the sofa in her living room, staring at the TV screen intently.
When she saw the landing module descend steadily from the air and landed on the surface of Mars, she could finally relax.
The news began to play, and the commentary from the host came from the TV.
“… According to the latest news from the Mars landing office, the second batch of boarders has successfully arrived at the scientific research base on the surface of Mars.
“According to the plan, they will take a rest at the Mars base, then set out to the ruins below The Gates of Hell mountain range in 24 hours to have a second contact with the extraterrestrial civilization…”
Han Mengqi was also sitting on the sofa. She was leaning on Chen Yushan’s shoulder and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned her face to her sister and spoke with a smile.
“Sis, I told you, Lu Zhou will be fine.”
“I hope so, but… I feel a little worried.” Chen Yushan smiled embarrassedly and continued, “Speaking of which, has your movie finished filming?”
Chen Yushan had been looking forward to the movie very much.
According to the director, there would not be too many scenes of Lu Zhou’s personal life, but seeing a character based on her appear on the screen still made her excited.
Especially since her cousin was playing as herself.
This made her look forward to it even more.
Han Mengqi scratched the back of her head and spoke vaguely.
“The filming is finished. It has been finalized and submitted for review. If the progress is fast, it should be done before the end of the year. The crew said that it would be released during the Chinese New Year, but it may be advanced or postponed… I am not very sure.”
“Is it all finished?” Chen Yushan curiously continued to ask, “How did it feel? Are you interested in being a movie star?”
“No.” Han Mengqi sighed. “I can’t relate to the people on set at all. It’s like we’re not on the same wavelength… The laboratory and library are more suitable for me.”
Maybe it was because of her relationship with Lu Zhou, she always felt that the people in the crew, from the leading actor to the craft services, were trying to please her. Because of this, it made her even more uncomfortable.
Every time she finished shooting her own scenes, she didn’t want to spend another minute with the crew. She didn’t even attend the celebration party after the filming.
Han Mengqi asked in a quiet voice embarrassingly, “Why are you laughing?”
“Nothing, this just sounds familiar.”
Han Mengqi was slightly stunned. Her cheeks turned red.
Chen Yushan grabbed her cousin’s hand and spoke with a smile.
“At the end of the year, will you come and be my bridesmaid?”
Han Mengqi snapped back to reality. The expression on her face was still a little stiff, but she still reluctantly spoke with a smile.
“Bridesmaid? Okay, okay…”
…
As the news of the success of China’s second manned boarding program was transmitted from Mars back to Earth, the three functional colony capsules deployed next to the Mars scientific research base station were approved by the staff of the research station. The silver-white titanium alloy pipes were connected together.
The scale of China’s colonial outpost on Mars had been expanded by four times. The maximum capacity had increased from 10 to 25.
As the Mars landing plan continued to develop, this number would be further expanded. When the Mars colony became the same size as the current Guanghan City, the entire Mars colonization plan would enter the next stage.
In the future, China would build a fully sustainable ecological base on Mars. This was also the ultimate goal of the road map made by Lu Zhou.
Lomonov walked past an alloy door with a transparent window. He was following Dr. Ming Wenzhe to visit around the base station. He suddenly stopped and looked inside the door.
He saw an extremely spacious greenhouse behind the door.
He could see the bottles of water tanks filled with liquid neatly displayed inside. Through the translucent shell, he could vaguely see the roots of plants soaked in the liquid.
He asked out of curiosity, “What is this?”
Ming Wenzhe explained, “Inside is the planting area, which mainly grows vegetables, potatoes, and corn.”
Lomonov showed a surprised expression on his face. He looked at him in disbelief.
“Can these crops survive?”
“Of course, why else would we spend so much effort to grow them?” Ming Wenzhe smiled and said, “These seeds are not ordinary seeds. They have undergone special breeding techniques at the lunar research base. Using an organic fertilizer, they grow very well. Although it is far from being completely self-sufficient, at least we can solve the supply of fresh vegetables by ourselves.”
Lomonov stared at the bottles and cans in the greenhouse, he went silent for a while before speaking.
“This is incredible… Achieving self-sufficiency on Mars. I always thought that this is a science fiction concept, only seen in movies.”
“This is nothing, it’s just the beginning. If you have seen the Mars colonization plan road map announced by the Mars landing office, achieving self-sufficiency is just the beginning. Our ultimate goal is not only to be self-sufficient but to also export food products. Academician Lu even mentioned in the work conference that, one day in the future, this place will become the second barn of Earth.”
Earth’s barn?
Lomonov spoke with a smile.
“How is that possible?”
“Freshwater resources, sufficient light and air… None of that is here, except dangerous cosmic rays!
“You plan to cultivate this area into ten thousand acres of fertile land? Stop kidding around, that is more difficult than turning the Sahara Desert into an oasis.”
Ming Wenzhe saw the disbelief on the Russian aerospace engineer’s face. He just smiled faintly and spoke casually.
“It is not impossible to transform the Sahara into an oasis. It is technically possible. In fact, since the breakthrough in controllable fusion technology, we have been trying to transform the deserts of the central and western regions into man-made livable areas. After the establishment of Houyi, this process has entered the fast lane. It is expected to see results in the middle of the twentieth century.”
He paused for a moment and continued, “As for Mars, of course it is possible. We don’t plan to solve all problems in the 21st century, but looking at it in a century or even two centuries… Who knows what can happen?”
Lomonov was shocked by Dr. Ming Wenzhe’s statement. He spent a long time thinking before he slowly spoke.
“If you can really do it, it will be a miracle in the history of human civilization.”
Ming Wenzhe said with a smile, “Of course we can do it. In fact, we are already doing it.”
Just as the two were talking, the signal light of the wrist-mounted computer on Lomonov’s right arm suddenly flickered.
Dr. Ming Wenzhe cast a questioning look at him.
“What’s going on?”
“Academician Lu asked us to have a meeting, probably to discuss tomorrow’s action plan… Where is the meeting room?”
Dr. Ming Wenzhe smiled at Lomonov and spoke.
“We were just there. I’ll take you.”
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