I live in the Martian wilderness!

"We could even start planting those luxury items from the Seed Bank that have huge nitrogen requirements—radiation-resistant potatoes and dwarf wheat!"

This last sentence, like a bombshell, caused a well-intentioned stir in the hall. For those in the aerospace industry, it was more alluring than any grand strategy.

Zhang Zixuan smiled slightly and pulled up the last item on the supplies list.

On the screen, a huge, silver-white cylinder resembling a space station module appeared, its surface covered with white heat-insulating tiles, exuding a sense of power and technology.

"And this... the foundation of all of this. The Tiangong III Expansion Module—Outpost!"

Looking at this huge thing, everyone's breathing became rapid.

"Everyone should know this; it's a 'deployable pressurized living pod' that integrates a complete environmental control and life support system, a medical station, and a research laboratory!"

"Its main structure uses the latest flexible metal fabric technology, which allows it to be folded up like an accordion during transport."

"Once deployed, it can expand to over 300 cubic meters of living space through internal pressurization, enough for our remaining five astronauts to live safely inside for several years!"

Academician Song, with his white hair, finally spoke. As one of China's first generation of rocket experts, he had a deep-seated awe of the risks involved in the "landing" process.

"Xiao Zhang, let's talk about the landing. I think the landing plan for the Long March 9 must be completely redone."

His words stunned everyone.

Academician Song pointed to the screen: "The initial Spark Program was based on the miracle of Mars jumping to 100 million kilometers."

"At that distance, the communication delay is only 3 seconds, and there is also the assistance of the Vega relay satellite."

"Therefore, our initial task for Captain Gu Yu was simply to sinter four landing bases, each five meters in diameter, arranged in a square within two days of his arrival."

"Then, the Earth flight controller remotely controlled the Long March 9 to precisely place its four legs on these four 'plum blossom stakes.' This was the fastest and most convenient solution at the time."

"But now Mars is 60 million kilometers away, and Vega has lost contact. Question 1 has too much delay, making real-time remote control impossible."

"The final stage of landing will rely entirely on manual operation by the astronauts. No matter how advanced the technology, under such extreme pressure, there will inevitably be a landing error of tens of meters."

"If we let them step on those few small plum blossom stakes again, the consequences would be catastrophic collapse if they stepped on any one of them."

Zhang Zixuan immediately stood up, his face showing no worry but rather full of ultimate confidence.

"Mr. Song, you're right. The old plan is obsolete."

"Therefore, our new plan is to upgrade the plum blossom stakes into a football field!"

He brought up a simulation animation of Tissot operation on the screen.

"In the last two months before the Long March 9 arrives on Mars, Captain Gu Yu's core mission will no longer be farming."

"He will activate the Divine Craftsmanship Module to sinter a 20cm layer of ceramic crust over a 60-meter diameter area, specifically a 40-meter by 40-meter section!"

On the screen, Zhang Zixuan placed a 3D model of the Long March 9 rocket, with a diameter of 10 meters and a landing leg span of more than 30 meters, in the center of the circular landing pad.

The edge of the model is nearly 15 meters away from the boundary of the plaza.

Academician Song Canjun looked at the number and nodded: "A 40-meter redundancy demonstrates confidence in Qin Manying's technology while maintaining absolute engineering safety. It's very reasonable."

Zhang Zixuan explained, "Our ace astronaut doesn't need a football field. She just needs a sturdy enough landing pad."

"This 60-meter-diameter safety zone will provide her with nearly three times the size of the rocket itself in terms of margin of error. As long as she can land the spacecraft within the designated area, she will be absolutely safe!"

"At the same time," Zhang Zixuan added, "this will also greatly reduce Captain Gu Yu's time and energy consumption during ground construction."

"Captain Gu Yu can deploy a microwave landing guidance beacon. It will provide the Long March 9 with centimeter-level passive navigation signals, helping Colonel Qin to correct the final attitude."

"At that time, the Long March 9 will no longer be gambling in an unknown wasteland."

"It was a flawless precision landing, guided by an impenetrable airport and navigation towers!"

Academician Song looked at the proposal, a startling light flashing in his cloudy eyes, and he nodded after a long while.

"Great...great solution...using infrastructure to completely eliminate the errors of manual operation. This solution is excellent!"

Academician Song Canjun raised his head and looked at him, his eyes filled with a complex and heavy sense of recollection.

"Xiao Zhang, you remind me of the tragedy of Starship."

On the screen, the AI ​​automatically displayed a piece of long-forgotten historical video footage.

That was the time between 2035 and 2045, the darkest decade of what is known as the "Great Space Age," and the footage of SpaceX's Starship attempting a manned landing on Mars.

In the scene, one after another, huge stainless steel spaceships, roaring with their reverse thrust engines, charged toward the red wasteland.

Academician Song's voice was deep: "Musk is a genius. He believes that technology can solve everything. He believes that the adaptive leveling of intelligent landing legs and the hovering and purging of engines can overcome the complex terrain of Mars."

"He believed in probability and even publicly declared that the crashes of the first few spaceships could be used to clear the way for the later ones."

"And the result?" Academician Song's voice carried a hint of sternness.

"From SN-35 in 2035 to SN-48 in 2045, all three starships were destroyed without exception."

Zhang Zixuan nodded and continued, "Yes, Elder Song. We won't risk the lives of heroes to make mistakes."

"The change in the weather is an opportunity, and Captain Gu Yu is our chosen one! His special abilities give us more confidence in entrusting him with this exploration mission."

Zhang Zixuan then switched the scene to the interior cargo hold of the Long March 9 rocket.

"Comrades, let me continue. After the Long March 9 lands safely, this outpost living quarters will be slowly unloaded from its cargo hold."

He dissected the model, revealing the internal structure, which resembled a giant cylinder.

"Its key feature is that it integrates a 'short-arm gravity centrifuge.' This is the only solution to the problem of gravity readjustment!"

He turned to the medical experts in the conference room.

"Colonel Qin and her team members experienced a severe decline in physical function after months of weightlessness in space."

"Once the Spark Team arrives on Mars, they will be five patients who need to stay in bed. And this centrifuge will serve as their rehabilitation center and gym!"

"They have to go into this high-speed rotating drum every day for several hours of artificial gravity rehabilitation training."

"Step by step, we're helping their bones, muscles, and cardiovascular system relearn how to function in a gravitational environment."

"Without it, it might take them six months to return to normal. But with it, they can fully recover in three weeks and become true warriors again!"

Just then, the communication screen representing Ma Guoliang, the chief commander of the lunar mission, lit up again.

"The Guanghan Palace Station has backup redundancies for everything Chief Engineer Zhang mentioned; we can equip the Fire Seed Team with them all this time!"

"In addition, since Colonel Qin and the others are coming to visit our Guanghan Palace, we should bring some local specialties as gifts."

As he spoke, the large screen behind him switched to display a 3D printing device that was even larger than the Divine Craftsmanship Module on the Tissot.