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

The canyon is breathtakingly wide, with the rock walls on the opposite bank appearing and disappearing in the distant mist.

The cliff edge nearby is riddled with jagged ravines. Looking down, the steep slope formed by faulted rock blocks plunges straight into the abyss, a sight that is both dazzling and mesmerizing.

Song Xingye estimated that the vertical drop here was as deep as two hundred meters. The gravel only began to tilt and scatter outwards at the bottom of the valley. The geological layers of the cliff were vaguely visible in the distance, but they were indistinct on the side where they were.

This abyss stretched endlessly to both sides, like a terrifying scar on the earth, reaching the end of sight before finally disappearing into the distance.

"Wow," Sergei exclaimed sincerely, "I never dreamed that the Valley of Mariners would be so magnificent, it's just like the Grand Canyon."

Song Xingye turned and stared at him for a long time before suddenly bursting out laughing.

"I don't quite understand," Sergei said, feeling a little uneasy about the laughter. "What's so funny?"

"You think this is impressive?" Song Xingye shook his head with a smile. "Kid, you're still a long way from being truly impressive. This is just the opening act. The real spectacle is yet to come."

"Does this place have a name?"

Before they knew it, Commander Sheng Tianhong had stepped down from the "Rock Jumper" and quietly came to their side.

He explained in a deep voice, "We've only just approached the borders of Mariner Valley. It's just a little-known fissure in the Martian crust, about 500 kilometers long, and then it just ends."

"So, are you planning to take a detour?" Song Xingye asked.

Sheng Tianhong shook his head decisively. "No, going around this crevice would waste at least two days, and we simply can't spare that time. Besides, we'll have to face this kind of terrain anyway, so let's just start rappelling from here."

Sergei looked down again at the bottomless canyon, and a chill involuntarily ran through his body.

"Are you kidding me?" he suddenly turned to the crowd. "You must be kidding me, right?"

However, the other two showed no sign of a smile.

Song Xingye turned around and walked back to "Rock Jumper" to retrieve the pulley system for rappelling.

The accompanying cable is made of an ultra-high-strength fiber called "Spectra 10K," a cutting-edge material that tightly weaves buckyfullerene nanotubes into a polyethylene matrix. Its fineness is comparable to spider silk, and although the surface is coated with a reflective fluoropolymer coating, it is still negligible to the naked eye and almost invisible.

The entire 50-kilometer-long ultra-fine fiber cable was wound around a silicon carbide spool, which was only slightly larger than Song Xingye's fist.

Although as thin as a hair, this cable is incredibly strong. It can not only support the weight of the entire team, but also steadily lift the "rock jumper" himself, which weighs several tons.

Sheng Tianhong carefully tested the rock strata at many points along the edge of the canyon and finally identified an area connected to the underlying bedrock. It was at least a massive rock mass that even the "Rock Jumpers" couldn't move.

This bedrock is composed of dark, dense basalt with an exceptionally smooth surface and no weathering cracks.

Sheng Tianhong drilled the first anchor hole in the hard rock, and Song Xingye followed closely behind, using high-strength epoxy resin expansion plugs to firmly anchor the titanium alloy bolts in the hole.

To ensure absolute safety, he not only installed a second main load-bearing bolt, but also set up a separate set of spare safety ropes, and specifically installed a third and fourth independent anchor points for this purpose.

While Sheng Tianhong was installing the cables, Song Xingye kept a close eye on every detail, supervising the entire process. After the installation was completed, he called Han Jing over, and the two of them went through all the safety inspection procedures again, their eyes never leaving the load-bearing system.

Getting Mira out of the "Rock Jumper" was no easy task. Although her sprained ankle had been taped in place and barely managed to fit into the boot of her Mars suit, her arms were so swollen that even with the piezoelectric fabric completely loosened, she couldn't fit into the tight sleeves.

In a moment of inspiration, Han Jing used tape to firmly fix Mira's left arm to her chest, making it look as if she were covering her chest. This way, the breastplate could close smoothly, directly encasing the arm inside the hard shell.

Mira said that as long as you don't take deep breaths, it's fine. In the end, they sealed the opening that was originally connected to the sleeve with an airbag patch.

"That should work," Song Xingye said.

"I think you'd better lend a hand," Mira said.

Han Jing and Song Xingye supported her from both sides, lifting her out of the "rock jumper" and placing her on the rock frame so that she could see her surroundings clearly.

Sheng Tianhong connected the "Rock Jumper" to the system, bound the control device to the remote control unit, and then sealed the hatch.

"Everyone knows that you should never touch the cable directly with your hands," Sheng Tianhong instructed.

Although these points had been covered in training, he clearly wanted to make sure everything was perfect.

"If you absolutely must do it, use a cable reel or a specialized tool, and it's best to keep your distance." He glanced at everyone, and only after seeing them all nod did he say, "Okay."

Fixed to the anchor cable is a winding device specifically designed for fullerene superconducting fibers. One control device on it is used to adjust the friction brake tension of the unwinding drum, while the other can rewind the fiber at a gear ratio of one-thousandth.

In addition, there are separate anchor points for suspending safety ropes.

Commander Sheng Tianhong used the remote control to slowly move the probe vehicle to the edge of the cliff. The front of the vehicle tilted slightly downwards, and he hesitated for a moment.

He then maneuvered the "Rock Jumper" off the cliff, with only a thin fiber cable trailing behind it.

……

Sheng Tianhong had come into contact with this kind of microfiber cable as early as ten years ago. At that time, it was used to dispose of waste on the space station.

Sheng Tianhong believes that in the 21st century, the status of astronauts is even lower than that of truck drivers.

Expensive, high-tech satellites are transported by unmanned space boosters. These inexpensive and reusable vehicles are too small to carry people, but they have made venture capitalists who invest in low-cost transportation systems and build a swarm of satellites around the Earth.

As an astronaut, Sheng Tianhong's responsibility is to transport scientists to and from the space station and supervise them throughout their stay in space to ensure they follow safety protocols and do nothing foolish that could endanger the space station or their own safety.

When he first visited the space station, he was first shocked by its enormous size. While training in the weightless water tank, the various modules looked relatively small, but once he was actually in orbit, and all the modules, trusses, external experimental modules, solar arrays and auxiliary equipment were put together, the magnificent size was simply breathtaking.

The wildly popular novel "Reborn in 2011, I am the Chief Designer of Aerospace" by Space Pioneer is available on Cola Novels.

Upon entering the cabin, what shocked him most was the deafening noise. He had thought that space would be quiet and still, with at most some low humming of ventilation fans, but the cabin was filled with all sorts of sounds: the clicking of machinery, the whistling of fans, the buzzing of computers and experimental equipment, and conversations coming from a distant section of the cabin.

He then noticed how cramped the interior space was. To be precise, it wasn't just cramped, it was crammed full. Every wall was piled high with supplies, and in the space station, there was no real distinction between "floor" and "ceiling"—everywhere was filled. Unless you had a list of the items' locations beforehand, you couldn't expect to find anything.

His job may seem ordinary, just dealing with daily chores, but he knows that his true mission is to respond to emergencies at any time.

However, before the accident occurred, routine tasks were always piling up: cleaning air filters, calculating waste disposal volume, arranging ignition maneuvers for track maintenance, and performing preventative maintenance on tens of thousands of valves, fans, and pumps that kept the life support system running.

……

They slowly lowered the "rock jumper," with Song Xingye keeping a close eye on the cable the entire time, afraid of any jamming or friction.

The cliff face was as smooth as a mirror and almost vertical. Even wearing a Mars suit with a temperature control system, Song Xingye was still drenched in sweat.

The operation was extremely dangerous. He was afraid that the cable would break and cause the vehicle to fall, and he was also afraid that his own mistake would cause the probe to crash into the rock wall.

It took them more than an hour to lower the "Rock Jumper" 200 meters down to the top of the scree slope. When the six-wheeled exploration vehicle finally came to a steady stop on the scree slope, Commander Sheng Tianhong immediately ordered the brakes to be applied, which relieved Song Xingye.

Song Xingye let out a long sigh of relief, collapsed onto the ground, and stared at the boundless sky above. He finally felt relieved, no longer having to worry about the rope getting stuck or the car falling off the cliff.

After a short rest, the team members began to prepare for the rappelling. At this time, the "rock jumper" was still trembling on the scree slope, only being held back by the taut cable.

"I have to lock the cable holding the 'rock jumper' first, so that the reel can be freed up to let people down," Song Xingye said.

Sheng Tianhong shook his head.

"Secure the cable securely," he said, "but we can't leave the winch up here; we have to rappel down directly."

Sheng Tianhong was the first to put on his safety harness and fasten the main lock of the descender into the swivel. He repeatedly checked the safety harness and all the connecting parts, and finally confirmed the anchor point again.

"When we were hoisting the two-ton 'rock jumper' just now, none of these anchor points malfunctioned," Song Xingye said. "I think supporting you will definitely not be a problem."

"We still have to check it according to the rules," Sheng Tianhong said, leaning back and putting all his weight on the superfiber rope.

The anchor point was indeed as stable as Mount Tai, and then he fastened the second safety rope into the safety belt.

"Prepare for protection..." he commanded.

Song Xingye walked to the main axis of the laying area.

"Protection is complete," he shouted in response.

Then he turned to Sergei and said, "Watch my moves from the side; you might need them later."

"I used to do downhill running, you know?" Sergei said with a hint of sarcasm. "I don't think you can teach me anything new. It's pretty simple."

"Okay," Song Xingye countered, "Have you ever used microfiber rope without an outer sheath?"

Sergei shrugged, a movement so subtle that it was barely noticeable unless one looked closely, as he was wearing a heavy spacesuit.

"I don't think there's any difference."

While microfiber ropes are widely used in rock climbing on Earth, they are usually wrapped in a woven sheath.

This outer layer not only makes it easier for climbers to see the rope, but also increases friction and reduces operational risks.

"Just keep a close eye on me," Song Xingye said firmly. "If I make a mistake anywhere, just point it out to me."

"I'm going down," Sheng Tianhong said, looking back at the edge of the cliff before leaning back.

He gripped the descender tightly with one hand, leaned back until he was almost parallel to the ground, and then calmly and smoothly slid down the nearly vertical cliff face.

……

Recalling his time as the space station commander, Sheng Tianhong would inspect the entire space station every day before leaving get off work, checking all sealing devices one by one to ensure that safety equipment was in standby mode and that all pressurized hatches were not blocked by cables or equipment.

One day, he ran into Song Xingye in the electronics laboratory section. The engineer was fiddling with a circuit board with a microwave antenna attached to it, which was stuck tightly to a small porthole.

Judging from its rough appearance, it was clear at a glance that this was definitely a homemade device that Song Xingye had put together himself.

"A C-band transmitter?" Sheng Tianhong questioned. "Do you have a license to use this frequency band?"

"Come on," Song Xingye said without looking up, "Apart from the Japanese, who still uses this kind of outdated low-frequency microwave? Applying for a license is just a formality. Besides, this thing has extremely low power and can't do anything other than intra-orbit communication."

Sheng Tianhong actually quite admired this young engineer, but his attitude of ignoring management regulations was really a headache. Who could guarantee that the precise experiments being conducted by the scientific team wouldn't be ruined by this uncontrolled electromagnetic interference?

However, Song Xingye might actually have a good idea. He usually keeps a close eye on the research trends of scientists and seems to know all the schedules and timelines of experiments.

Song Xingye stared at the timing terminal in his hand: "They should have already circled around from the horizon."

He then activated the homemade transmitter. "Milusha, this is 'Mars.' Calling Milusha, can you hear me?"

"Roger that, this is Mirusha." A voice with a very heavy accent came through the channel. "Is this Song Xingye?"

"Yes, it's me. How's the situation over there?"

Is there any chance of being rescued?

There was a long silence on the other end of the communication line. "I'm afraid there aren't any left."

"Can't you use the return capsule?"

"no."

The Milusa docked with an old Soyuz spacecraft. According to the design specifications, the Soyuz was supposed to be a lifeboat for astronauts to return to Earth in the event of a serious malfunction of the space station, but this spacecraft was designed to have an on-orbit lifespan of only one year.

"We've been using it as a dumping ground," the R-country national sighed. "Recently, we've been desperately cleaning out the trash inside, trying to reboot the system. But it's no use."