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

At this moment, he was watching Song Xingye slowly release the rope.

This superfiber rope is extraordinary. Its surface is coated with a layer of Teflon monolayer fluoropolymer, which has an extremely low coefficient of friction. This means that it is difficult to get caught on protrusions on the rock face or cut by sharp angles. However, it also means that only specially designed brakes can engage its surface.

Song Xingye's rappelling movements were very steady and neat. Sergei preferred the kind of bouncy rappelling, where he would forcefully kick the rock wall with both feet, leap backward, and the rope would swing back to the cliff like a pendulum, which was exciting and fun.

But the commander was very cautious. He released the rope at a steady speed using the brakes, keeping his eyes fixed on the rocks beneath his feet, and retreated step by step.

Only after the commander safely arrived at the Mars rover and issued the order to lift the protection was heeded. Song Xingye finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The real test was what followed. Mila's arm was useless, and her ankle couldn't bear any weight, making it impossible for her to rappel down the cliff on her own.

Song Xingye secured Mila firmly in the full-body harness and fastened the safety rope.

"Saint Lucia," Mira whispered prayingly, "be careful, okay?"

Song Xingye connected this special fiber rope to the winch.

"I will do my best," he said.

……

This launch using the space station's tethering system was flawless, like a life-or-death "whip-cracking" game. Sheng Tianhong sat alone in the return capsule, like the barb at the end of a long whip, being violently flung into space along a perfectly accurate trajectory.

As he traversed the edge of the atmosphere with breathtaking speed, he didn't even touch the control stick once. Human nerve reflexes simply cannot maintain that kind of precise "dancing on a blade" attitude control at extremely high hypersonic speeds.

All of this is accomplished by the computer navigation system, which relies on its ruthless logic and perfect mathematical calculations. The system performs thousands of comparisons every second to verify the predictions of the theoretical model with the actual dynamics of the spacecraft, and makes real-time fine adjustments to cope with the subtle fluctuations in the density of the exosphere atmosphere and the errors between reality and the model.

At this moment, the return capsule serving as CRV-1 is quietly floating in space. Apart from patiently waiting for orbital mechanics to slowly send it to the predetermined rendezvous point, Sheng Tianhong can do nothing else.

The spaceship seemed to have come to a complete standstill, with only the Earth below turning silently like a slowly flowing giant river. He waited alone in this boundless space, and it was in this helpless moment that he truly felt the emptiness and powerlessness deep within his heart.

He felt lost in a void, a powerful realization constantly assaulting his mind: in the face of this vast universe, he was nothing more than an insignificant speck of dust.

This feeling gave him both a strange sense of peace and a chilling dread.

Focus your attention, first look at the control panel, then check the remaining fuel; this is the hundredth time already.

Check the battery voltage, monitor the radio equipment, and keep an eye on the radar. Have you detected any signals from the R-country spacecraft? No, it's too early.

He found his breathing becoming short and weak, so he forced himself to take deep breaths to avoid hyperventilation.

I stared at the dial, breathing evenly. Had a signal been detected?

Yes, when the carrier signal was received, the indicator light came on, and then a call came over the radio: "CRV-1, we see you on the radar screen."

"Your current flight posture is perfect."

"Received, this is CRV-1," Sheng Tianhong replied. "Thank you for the data update. How long do you expect it will take to receive a response signal from the Mirusha?"

The mission control center was rather indifferent to this unauthorized rescue mission. They probably still harbored resentment over the mess left by the R country when they withdrew from the space station project, but they did not issue a direct order for a forced return.

On the contrary, the European Space Centre in Nordwec was full of enthusiasm and did its best to provide technical support. Although the data from the ground radar only verified the parameters that the return capsule navigation system already knew, he was already very satisfied to hear human voices.

"CRV-1, you should be able to receive their transponder signal now."

Sheng Tianhong frowned; the channel was deathly silent. No, the rendezvous radar was already showing it, but where was the transponder signal?

He was approaching the target from the rear in reverse, and according to the counterintuitive laws of orbital mechanics, because he was in a higher orbit, the Mirusha was actually approaching from behind him.

At that moment, he finally caught sight of the metallic object shimmering in the sunlight with his naked eye—a metallic lump covered with antennas and interfaces.

"I have established visual contact."

He glanced at the rendezvous radar; the distance was eight kilometers, and the relative approach speed was 1.5 meters per second.

He fine-tuned the spacecraft's pitch angle, briefly ignited the orbital maneuvering engine for three seconds, slightly raised the perigee to synchronize the orbits of both, and then reconfirmed the radar data: a distance of five kilometers and a relative approach speed of 52 meters per second.

Looking through the porthole, the Mirusha looked like a bloated insect with blue solar panels on its wings. The other side should have called him by radio long ago; they couldn't possibly not know he was coming.

"Mirusha, please respond."

The Milusa did not respond.

The entire space station was lifeless and dark. Sheng Tianhong carefully piloted the return capsule closer. Since the crew of Country R did not respond to his calls, it was no longer possible to dock directly with the space station as originally planned.

This became a big problem. Although he was wearing an intravehicular pressure suit, this thing was only for emergency decompression in case of a cabin leak, and it was not the spacesuit that EVA was used for extravehicular activities. However, since things had come to this point, there was no point in giving up now.

He drove the CRV as close as possible to the Mirusha. He only had a 20-meter-long safety rope, which he secured one end to the CRV and the other end to the buckle on his pressure suit.

After completing the final airtightness check, he pushed open the hatch and leaped into the void.

The docking hatch of the R country spacecraft was only a few tens of centimeters wide. Sheng Tianhong crashed heavily into the outer shell of the space station. In his panic, he tried to find a gripping point but found nothing. He was thrown away and began to tumble in space.

In a split second, he grabbed blindly and luckily managed to grab a metal handrail in the outdoor activity area. He steadied himself, calmed down, and slowly pulled himself toward the airlock hatch.

The hatch is unlocked.

When he crawled into the airlock, the safety rope had reached its limit, and he could not close the door while maintaining his connection with the CRV. He had no choice but to untie the safety rope.

According to the standard operating procedure, before disconnecting from the spacecraft,

He was supposed to secure himself to the Milusha with the second safety rope, but he didn't have a spare rope.

He gritted his teeth, untied the safety rope, and fastened it to the handrail outside the cabin. He could only blindly pray that the metal buckle was strong enough to prevent the CRV from drifting away and leaving him trapped here.

He crawled into the airlock and closed the inner hatch.

Logically, a light should have come on when the hatch closed, but the surroundings were still suffocatingly dark. He turned on the tactical light on his helmet and, by the faint beam of light, groped for the handwheel to open the main hatch inside.

The handwheel spun freely without any resistance, and there was no pressure difference on the other side of the door.

In that long and desperate struggle against the space gas leak, the two R-country astronauts on the space station ultimately lost. There was no Hollywood-style heroic rescue; the pitch-black, deathly silent space station and the complete loss of air pressure ruthlessly declared: there were no survivors inside.

Their time was up.

Throughout his long life, Sheng Tianhong will forever remember this lesson: humans can be incredibly intelligent and come up with wildly imaginative ideas, and sometimes these ideas can even create miracles.

But sometimes, all your wisdom, effort, and courage seem insignificant in the face of reality; the universe is cold, empty, and ruthless.

It doesn't care about human joys and sorrows, it doesn't care about your heroic sacrifice in the face of danger, and it ignores your superb driving skills.

Sometimes, you just run out of time.

……

The first lesson Sheng Tianhong learned from the failed rescue of Mira was that although Song Xingye was intelligent, he was impulsive and must be kept at a constant vigilance.

The second lesson he learned was that sometimes, even if you give it your all, a mission can still fail, and some people may even pay the ultimate price.

Sheng Tianhong silently reminded herself that she didn't have time to dwell on past failures.

The rock formations at the bottom of the cliff were extremely treacherous. He was standing on a loose, scree slope, with rocks that had broken off from the cliff above pointing straight into the depths of the canyon at a steep 45-degree angle.

He cautiously tested the ground beneath his feet. The angular pebbles varied in size, from as small as a dinner plate to as large as a freezer, and there were even boulders as big as small cars.

They seemed to be held together by some kind of resinous substance unique to the desert, and appeared to be fairly stable. So he decided to give it a try. He stepped on a loose rock about the size of a guitar, pushed off hard, and watched it bounce and tumble down the slope, plunging into a five-hundred-meter abyss.

Although a few loose rocks were knocked down along the way, it did not cause a large-scale landslide, so we can rest assured now.

These rocks were light yellow, much lighter than the dark rock layers they had traversed before. He noticed that the entire cliff face was almost entirely this light color, except for a dark rock band about 100 meters wide that stretched across the top of the cliff.

After driving expansion bolts into the cliff and securing the "Rock Jumper" rovers, he untied the winch rope. Now, he had no choice but to wait for Song Xingye to lower Mira down.

Even though they were extremely reluctant to relinquish control to others, they had no choice at this moment.

He carefully inspected the "Rock Jumper" again to make sure it wouldn't slide down the slope. The vehicle was already solid and there was no need to add any more bolts. The loose rocks at the base of the cliff had just piled up to form a natural platform, so Sheng Tianhong sat down on it.

Sitting idly was pointless. He was currently on high ground, with a clear view of the valley below. He raised his binoculars and began to scan the terrain below.

From this vantage point, the base of this ring-shaped mountain range appears more rugged than predicted by orbital observations, with sloping rock slabs piled together haphazardly like jagged teeth.

Sheng Tianhong was completely focused, racking his brains to find a way out.

……

"I'm sweating," Mira complained.

"Good heavens, then turn on the cooling system!" Sheng Tianhong shouted sternly.

"It's already turned up to the maximum."

After lowering the "Estrela", Song Xingye and Han Jing disassembled the winch and were slowly lowering it to Commander Sheng Tianhong.

This operation was quite tricky, and they could only do it by hand. If Mira forgot how to adjust the temperature control system inside the spacesuit, Sheng Tianhong wouldn't have the hands to help her with the control panel, so he simply ignored her complaints.

As Mira crawled into the "Rock Jumper," she was still muttering about the heat. Because she could only climb with one arm, her movements were a bit clumsy, but she eventually managed to crawl in and closed the hatch behind her.

Sheng Tianhong's attention was entirely focused on the winch, and he barely paid any attention to her.

Sergei, Han Jing, and Song Xingye descended from the cliff face one by one using ropes. Song Xingye had to teach Sergei how to rappel quickly, as the young man always liked to jump around on the rock face instead of sliding down smoothly to reduce the weight on the safety rope.

However, the team landed safely on the scree slope at the bottom of the cliff.

They simply left the microfiber cable used for cliff rappelling behind, since there were plenty of spare cables available, and it was better to discard it than to go through the trouble of retrieving it.

The slender ropes hang precariously from the cliff face, almost invisible against the light-colored rocks, and completely disappear into the shadows.

Within a few weeks, the unobstructed ultraviolet radiation on Mars will completely erode the outer protective layer of the cable. Once the fluoropolymer sheath begins to peel off, the entire cable will rapidly degrade.

In the end, all that remained were the few titanium alloy anchor bolts driven into the rocks at the top of the cliff, as witnesses to their passage through this place.

They finally made it through the evacuation, although the process was more dangerous than expected, but thankfully everyone arrived safely.

Perhaps they really will be able to turn the tide in the end.

……

The scree slope at the bottom of the valley was very steep, but apart from a few small landslides caused by the wheels crushing loose boulders, the overall rock strata remained very stable. Sheng Tianhong drove the "Rock Jumper" along the slope, making his way to the bottom of the mountain without any major incidents.

Just as he had anticipated from his earlier observation, the terrain at the bottom of the valley was indeed rugged and difficult to traverse, with sharp-edged rocks scattered everywhere, about the size of refrigerators.

Upon reaching the bottom of the slope, he decided to set up camp there for the day.

The group found a reasonably flat open space and began inflating the bubble-type living pods. The rolling mountains stretched out on both sides, with sheer cliffs rising into the clouds like giant arcs, enclosing the group within.

As dusk settled, the color of the cliff gradually changed from golden yellow to a deep reddish-orange.

The living quarters were filled with the distinctive smell of Martian dust, a pungent metallic odor, like the lingering scent of a distant thunderstorm, or somewhat reminiscent of freshly cut aluminum.