Reborn in 2011, I am the chief designer of aerospace.

Just before impact, the heat shield slid off the rear of the spacecraft, and the landing pad rose up like a mushroom. At the moment of impact, a cloud of orange dust rose into the air, staining the bottom of the spacecraft yellowish-brown. The spacecraft began to tilt, teetering on the edge of its fall, but as the gasbags gradually depressurized, it jolted backward and regained its upright position.

Engine shut down, fuel tank pressurization stopped, APU status indicator is green, all systems are functioning normally. We have landed. Navigation system, have you confirmed your location?

In progress... Looks like we've run into 'kewpie'. Shouldn't we write something about it in the history books?

No, I don't think anyone will record the speeches from this Mars exploration mission.

Tell me, this isn't how it works, is it? You're saying we can't even hold a parade after we come back?

You understand. Welcome to Mars.

……

Sheng Tianhong, Song Xingye, Mira, and the others met up with the three crew members of the second dispatch team on Mars.

Through the porthole, all that could be seen was a thin mist of yellow and pink. As the mist gradually dissipated, the plains of the Felisdorsa ridge emerged from the haze. At first, the mist was indistinct and colorless, but as the landing dust gradually dispersed, the outlines became clearly discernible.

Sheng Tianhong gazed into the distance, where he saw stretches of sand dunes gently undulating under the pale brown sky.

He wanted to cry, he wanted to laugh, and he wanted to let out a thunderous cheer. However, he couldn't express any of these emotions. As the mission commander, he had a responsibility to maintain the objectivity of the mission. Decades of experience as an astronaut had taught him that even showing emotion during such a momentous event as landing on Mars would later label him as emotional and therefore unreliable, so he chose silence.

Sheng Tianhong was the most senior and experienced member of the crew. He was thin with barely defined muscles, and his gray hair lay tightly against his scalp. The years had dulled his eyes, but he remained focused on the task at hand. However, his gaze would frequently sweep around the cabin, scrutinizing every detail, afraid of missing any tiny flaw that might cause trouble for the mission.

With the mission imminent, and as the commander, the other five crew members were counting on him to complete the mission safely and bring them home, so he had to act immediately.

The crew was busy completing the landing mission, shutting down the flight systems, activating the ground operations systems, and finally confirming that all parameters met the standards. He knew everyone wanted to stop working and crowd to the porthole to watch, but even Sergei Petrov was too busy to do anything else, so he had to guard the porthole alone.

Looking southeast, the short, stout silhouette of the Darwin was almost clearly visible through a pinkish mist.

This field of view consists of a flat, rectangular lens, roughly the size of a paperback book. Its design ensures it functions correctly whether or not a spacesuit helmet is worn. He held the lens up to his eyes, and the computer adjusted the focus to match his vision, resulting in an effect similar to viewing a magnified landscape through a window.

Just as Sasha Popov had said, they had reached the landing point precisely; the Darwin was only half a kilometer away. This was crucial for them. He carefully inspected the probe, then checked the ground between the Xihe's landing site and the returning probe. This sandy land, sculpted by millions of years of wind erosion, formed a series of undulating dunes. Scattered among them were rocks of various shapes, some as large as boulders, half-buried beneath the sand, but these did not hinder their progress. Everything went smoothly.

He shifted his gaze from the porthole to the co-pilot's control panel. The floor was tilted at an unusual angle; the lander must have landed on a slope, and he had to move carefully to avoid crashing. He carefully reviewed the sequence of images taken during the landing, including visual and radar images, and plotted them as a topographic map. He breathed a sigh of relief after confirming again that no obstacles were found.

As he stood up, he saw Sergei, Mira, and Sasha crowding around the porthole, jostling to get a glimpse of Mars. He smiled slightly; they were surely waiting for the moment he left that spot.

"Why stare out the window when we can actually go out and see for ourselves?" he said. "Guys, pack your bags, it's time to go out and have some fun. Let's get moving; we have to go home in six weeks, and we have a full schedule before we leave."

The lander remained stationary at a noticeable tilt, while the ladder unfolded at an skewed angle. The descent itself wasn't difficult, but a graceful landing would be quite a challenge. 'Whatever!' Sheng Tianhong thought, and leaped, only to lose his balance and land on the dusty ground.

As the mission commander, he needed to deliver a few timeless quotes to the audience in front of the camera. These lines were already memorized, and the brilliant impromptu remarks, crafted by a team of public relations experts, would be remembered forever.

I am taking this step for all humanity. In the name of all the peoples of the earth, with the spirit of scientific exploration and the eternal courage of human adventure, we return to Mars and bring with us the call for peace for all mankind.

Song Xingye left the Challenger and followed the spaceship's shadow westward until he entered the sunlight.

On the rocky surface in front of him, the shadow of the landing module was stretched into a cone shape.

He crossed the edge of the shadow and stepped into the light.

He turned around, and the sunlight shone on his face, reflecting off the surface of his helmet.

Sunrise on Mars...

The sky here is unique, and the way it scatters light is also quite special...

The sun rose from the shoulder of the Challenger, bathing it in a golden glow.

It floats in the sky, giving it an unreal feel.

This sun appeared small and dim, looking only about two-thirds the size it would appear to be when observed from Earth.

Even though he knew that his body temperature inside the spacesuit hadn't changed, Song Xingye still shivered.

The shrunken sun and the dark sky made Mars appear exceptionally cold.

He turned around, letting the camera lens sweep across the entire landscape.

The Martian dust felt sticky underfoot.

He drifted further and further away from the Challenger, his footprints extending all the way to the weathered layer.

The radio communication that connected him to Earth was growing weaker and weaker, or perhaps had already disappeared, leaving him all alone on this plain.

As the light gradually intensified, he discovered that this land was not flat.

To the west, he spotted some low sand dunes.

But they are more irregular than sand dunes on Earth, he speculated, because the surface particles are extremely small; to be precise, these dunes are more like floating dust.

He looked to the west and saw a shadow on the sand, like a mountain ridge with its back to him.

He continued walking forward, getting further and further away from the Mars landing module MEM.

After walking about fifty meters, he arrived at the ridge.

It turns out that this is the edge of a meteorite crater, about tens of meters in diameter, buried deep in the earth's surface.

The pit walls were worn down, and there was a small hill behind it.

This mound was formed by erosion and closely resembles a braided riverbed on Earth.

He even thought he could see the stratification on both sides of the hill, since it was exactly the same as the characteristics of crusted land.

With his numb legs, he moved deeper into the crater.

Dust swirled around him, clinging to his spacesuit.

His helmet fogged up, making it difficult to breathe, so he had to lean forward slightly.

On the leeward side of the crater's edge, a faint light flickered.

"I guess I've finally ended up in the history books."

Frost has formed on Mars.

Song Xingye leaned against the rock wall and bent down to touch the bottom of the meteorite crater.

Fingers moved through the dust, effortlessly digging into the ground and leaving grooves.

At this moment, he was like a child digging in the sand, except that this was a beach that covered the entire planet.

No matter where he dug, he saw the same soft, powdery soil, the same texture, and those seemingly pebble-like powders.

He held the gloves up to his mask, examining the layer of dust closely, and a sense of frustration welled up inside him.

This weathered layer is so light that you can hardly feel its weight.

Because the protective suit was so thick, he couldn't even feel its texture.

The intense sunlight through the glass mask made it difficult for him to see, while the sounds from the life support pumps and the radio also isolated him from the noises coming from the Martian wind.

He felt a strong sense of unreality.

Although people are here, they are still isolated from Mars, which doesn't feel like an on-site investigation at all.

He pinched a sample with his fingers, and the small "pebbles" crumbled into powder; they were just fragments resembling pebbles.

He flicked his hand lightly, causing the crushed dust to rise again. Most of the dust stuck to his palm, coating his glove with a rusty color.

He took a marker from the sample bag of the spacesuit.

Holding this small coin in my hand, the sunlight reflecting off it against the red background of Mars looks exceptionally beautiful.

A sense of absurdity welled up inside me.

Song Xingye felt that perhaps this expedition, these days on the surface of Mars, was ultimately just a bureaucratic absurdity.

However, if some catastrophe wipes out life on Earth before humanity returns to the moon, this flag-bearing symbol will still stand here.

It will join the wreckage of the Challenger and the landing stages of the three lunar landers on the lunar surface to witness humanity's past glory and jointly commemorate this history.

Consider that humanity almost failed to reach this place, and consider that after the Apollo program, humanity almost completely shut down its space program.

He carefully placed the marker down, letting it drift into the shallow pit he had dug under the influence of gravity.

At this moment, it is shining brightly, lying quietly at the bottom of the crater.

Then, he silently reached into his pocket and laboriously pulled out a small silver brooch.

This pin has a tacky design; a shooting star is rising into the sky.

For all mankind.

He dropped the pin into the small hole, where it landed behind the marker.

Then, he kicked up some dust and stomped on the ground to bury it.

Armstrong's footprints on the moon are still clearly visible today, and these marks will remain for millions of years until they are erased by a meteorite bombardment.

However, the situation on Mars is quite different.

The footprints he left behind may last for months or even years, but they will eventually be buried by the Martian winds and sand.

In a few years, his footprints will be blown away by the wind, and the small pit he dug at the beginning will be almost nowhere to be found.

Song Xingye...

He realized he hadn't said anything.

He turned around and looked at the Challenger.

The spaceship, coated in white, appears like a miniature model due to its distance, and the sky behind it shimmers in the sunlight.

He could still make out the gray hatch in the center of the landing module MEM, with a thick cylinder visible above it, around which propellant tanks clustered.

A series of crisp footsteps came from the direction of the Challenger, stepping over the gravel, over the dust kicked up by the landing module's descent stage rockets, and straight to where he was standing.

The footsteps were like footprints appearing on a beach after the tide has receded, yet they were the only sound on this planet at that moment.

"Oh my god," he thought, "we've finally arrived."

We went to the wrong place and used the wrong methods at first, but we've finally arrived, and that's the most important thing.

We found soil, sunlight, air, and water.

He began by saying, "We succeeded."

……

Two weeks later, the second-tier Xihe spacecraft quietly approached Mars.

Compared to the earlier advance team, one end of this spacecraft is the living quarters—a cylinder built on a heat shield.

It is connected to the main rocket engine and the now-empty fuel tank by a long microfiber cable.

This almost invisible thin rope pulls the spaceship and fuel tank together, causing them to rotate around the system's axis.

"Cantilever separation".

"The traction device is ready to be separated."

"Navigation status?"

"Navigation is locked."

"System status?"

"System is ready."

Mars appeared intermittently in the sky, shaped like a crescent moon, its surface covered with craters, and thin veils of clouds were faintly visible.

"Check the preheating status of the terminal descent engine (TDE)."

"TDE preheating complete."

"Check the parachute deployment (PD) preheater."

"PD pre-launch promotion has begun."

The flames were blazing, and the cables were taut.

Three, two, one, that's now.

The spaceship suddenly shook violently, and the cable snapped abruptly, lashing backward like an enraged viper.

The engine, solar panels, and fuel tank slowly drove away and disappeared into deep space.

They will pass by Mars and continue to drift along endless interstellar orbits.

"Umbilical cord separation has been confirmed, and the spacecraft is ready to land."

"What's your stance?"

"We are analyzing the data, and things are going well so far."

"Instrument check."

"The instrument is showing green."

"All indicators are green, and we are progressing smoothly."

"Alright, everyone, fasten your seatbelts, we're getting off."

The spacecraft rubbed against the Martian atmosphere as it traveled through it, leaving a dazzling trail of fire against the pink sky.

The parachutes bloomed one after another, first the first, then the second, and then the third.

In the sky, it was like golden petals falling like rain.

Just a second before it was about to touch down, the thermal shield detached from the bottom of the spacecraft, and the landing cushion below inflated like a mushroom.

The moment it touched down, a cloud of orange-red dust rose into the air, turning the bottom of the spaceship yellowish-brown.

The spaceship began to tilt, teetering on the brink of capsizing, but as the airbags gradually depressurized, it jerked backward and regained its upright position.

"Engine shut down, fuel tank depressurization stopped, APU status indicator is green, all systems are functioning normally. We've landed. Navigation system, have you determined our location?"

The next chapter is even more exciting: Chapter 129 For all mankind, we look forward to your visit.