Traveling on Mars in a spacesuit is no easy task. Zhang Fan was exhausted and thirsty. Because he had not eaten for two days, his hands and feet were sore and weak. Walking on the sand was even more painful, and every step felt like pulling a radish out of the ground.

In the afternoon, Zhang Fan stopped at a flat open space and leaned against a rock to rest for a while.

He felt like he wasn't on Mars, but rather like he was hiking alone across the Taklamakan Desert during the summer vacation to release his depression after unexpectedly failing his college entrance exam in his senior year of high school.

Unlike the Taklamakan Desert, the sand here is light blue. In this magical place, the sand contains iron and magnesium, giving it a unique blue hue, adding a mysterious touch to the reddish landscape.

It was quiet and beautiful here, without high technology, concrete jungles, car exhaust pollution, or crowds. There was only an endless expanse of orange-red wasteland. This gave Zhang Fan an urge to take off his helmet and shout at the distant mountains to see if there would be an echo.

But Zhang Fan knew that the Martian atmosphere was thin, and no matter how loudly he shouted, there would be no echo. He wouldn't be foolish enough to actually take off his spacesuit helmet.

Zhang Fan's mouth was parched, and he felt his body starting to hallucinate due to dehydration. Otherwise, he wouldn't have felt like he was walking in the Taklamakan Desert and had the urge to take off his helmet.

This won't do; we need to replenish our fluids.

But where can you find water in the Martian wilderness?

That actually exists!

Moreover, it's both far away and right before our eyes.

There is a water source inside the spacesuit.

Professor Su had explained to him that when astronauts are active outside the spacecraft, their urine is stored in a special water bag inside the spacesuit; there is a straw on the left side of the spacesuit helmet that connects directly to that water bag; the straw contains a filter material with super strong adsorption capacity.

According to Professor Su, in terms of cleanliness, the water flowing out through the straw is about the same as the tap water flowing out of the tap at home.

Therefore, this "water bag" also serves as an emergency drinking water supply for astronauts.

Zhang Fan has always refused to drink that stuff, mainly because he can't get past his own mental hurdle.

But there's nothing that can be done now.

I'll die if I don't drink it.

Zhang Fan reluctantly twisted his neck and lowered his head to bite the straw protruding from the left side of the helmet.

Warm...

Damn it!

It just came out of the bottom outlet and went back in through the top inlet, so it was warm, of course.

Zhang Fan tried his best not to think about where the water came from. If you put aside the psychological burden and just look at the taste, it really was no different from the tap water at home.

Earth itself is a large-scale water circulation and purification device, and the spacesuit contains a small purification device. The water purified by Earth was once mixed with the excrement of 6 billion people, so the water inside the spacesuit is at least kept separate from the excrement.

Thinking about it this way, the psychological burden doesn't seem so heavy anymore.

Southern foothills of Mount Olympus.

The sun has already set.

Zhang Fan stopped in his tracks; it was time to say goodbye to his friends.

Once the solar panels lose sunlight, the Mars rover becomes a burden, only wasting the spacesuit's power.

Zhang Fan unplugged the connection cable from his spacesuit, and the indicator lights on the rover immediately dimmed.

He was truly grateful to this friend.

Going a step further, the ridge-shaped lava tube cave system of Mariners Canyon was discovered by the Opportunity and Spirit rovers and included in popular science books about Mars; otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to find shelter for the night so easily.

Now, as he recharges his spacesuit and accompanies him all the way, Zhang Fan tenderly and affectionately pats his companion's head. (Camera:)

"Bye now……"

"Zeijiba Yong".

Zhang Fan continued his journey alone. The map on his arm indicated that there were still 20 kilometers to go. Night had fallen, and the temperature was starting to drop below 0°C.

Zhang Fan had already turned on the helmet's spotlight, and the spacesuit's heating system was activated. When he parted ways with the "Zeiji Bayong," the spacesuit's battery was still fully charged, enough to support the heating system running at full power until they reached their destination.

The location of the destination is very clear.

Zhang Fan saw a light in the distance, on the southern slope of Mount Olympus, at the location of the "Peace Station".

When he was in junior high school, he saw a news report on TV: a serious accident had occurred at the "Peace Station" Mars base.

It is said that the fire was caused by a wiring malfunction, which led to a serious fire in multiple compartments. Although the fire was eventually extinguished by the base's fire suppression system, it also caused the compartments to be filled with flammable and explosive gases such as carbon monoxide, which could easily cause secondary combustion or explosion due to a spark or external pressure.

More seriously, this accident also resulted in the leakage of hazardous chemicals.

The only good news is that there were no astronauts on Mir Station when the accident occurred.

During its second year of missions to Mars, the United Nations Office for Space Cooperation (UNOS) also launched a small, stationary detector near Mir Station.

Nuclear radiation was detected near the Peace Station.

Although the radiation levels have not exceeded safe levels, the international community has lodged serious protests with Milos and Mars regarding the question of "why there is nuclear radiation on Mars." However, Milos and Mars have consistently responded with "no comment" and maintained a tough stance.

As a last resort, the United Nations later designated a 10-kilometer radius around the Peace Station as a restricted area, prohibiting entry into the area for Mars exploration missions.

Zhang Fan had already entered the 10-kilometer restricted area designated by the United Nations as a "peace station," but he did not feel that it was any different from other places.

We walked past the famous Strasten Rock, through a cobblestone valley, and across a sand dune...

Just like the path he had taken before, he arrived at a cluster of metal buildings exuding an industrial atmosphere.

This is the Mir Mars base.

The entire base resembles an octopus clinging to Mars. The tallest building in the center is the main control room. The main control room is surrounded by a circular glass curtain wall, through which one can overlook the entire base in a panoramic view.

Normally, the protective panels of the glass curtain wall would be lowered to protect the main control room, but now it is clear that the protective panel of one glass curtain wall is broken and has fallen to the ground, and light is shining through it.

"Mercy Station" was the previous generation of Mars bases, when the concept of modular construction had just emerged. Unlike the technological feel of the "Bird's Nest" base, this Mars base, designed and invested in by the United States, built by Ross, and jointly maintained and operated by both sides, exhibits more of a violent aesthetic of heavy industry.

Although the appearances are different, the methods of use are largely the same. Zhang Fan walked to the decompression chamber of the "Peace" base, unlocked the hatch safety, grabbed the handle on the hatch with both hands, took a deep breath, and turned it forcefully.

Snap! Sizzle—

The hatch opened, and a gust of wind blew out, stirring up dust around the entrance. Zhang Fan stood at the hatch and peered inside, the scene inside giving him a strange feeling.

The scene before me didn't look like a Mars base that had been abandoned for 10 years, nor did it look like a base that had suffered a serious fire.

If he had to give a figure, Zhang Fan felt that the area would be out of use for no more than a year.