Two months later.
To be precise, it will be 65 days later.
Mars is the fourth planet in our solar system.
Three landers slowly flew in a Mars synchronous orbit.
"Calling Houston, this is Pathfinder 1. We have successfully entered orbit. Please respond!"
Radio waves were emitted from the foremost landing module, traveling 82 million kilometers toward the blue Earth!
(I searched for a long time but couldn't find the data, so I'll just ignore the relative movement of Mars and Earth over the past two months...)
...
Earth, Houston, United States Ground Command Center.
Chris, dressed in a white lab coat, stood nervously on the command platform, his eyes fixed on the large screen in front of him.
"Has there been no news from Pathfinder One yet?"
Chris asked in a deep voice.
The researcher standing nearby shook his head and quickly replied, "Not yet!"
"Damn it..." Chris's eyes twitched slightly, and a bad thought flashed through his mind.
Will something bad happen?
According to the original calculations, Pathfinder 1 should have successfully entered Mars synchronous orbit five minutes ago!
A manned spaceflight that spans 82 million kilometers is unprecedented in human history.
Putting everything else aside, the communication delay of several minutes alone is enough to cause a lot of trouble!
A distance of 82 million kilometers means that it would take an electromagnetic wave signal 546.6 seconds to make a round trip.
In other words, it takes more than 9 minutes for a message to travel from Pathfinder 1 to Earth and back to Pathfinder 1, not considering the response time in between!
What does 9 minutes mean?
Simply put, if an emergency were to occur during the landing, by the time the ground control center responds, it is estimated that the ashes of the three astronauts would have been evenly scattered on the Martian surface!
"Professor, is the Pathfinder okay?"
A hesitant question came from the side.
Professor Chris's eye twitched again, and his anxiety intensified.
But facing the NASA administrator, he forcibly suppressed his anxiety and slowly shook his head, saying, "Administrator Morton, please be patient."
"The distance between Earth and Mars is too great, so it is normal for there to be some errors in the calculations."
Morton sighed deeply and said with a wry smile, "Professor, if the Pathfinder Project fails this time, I doubt Mr. Albert will let me off the hook."
"Who isn't?" Chris shrugged slightly, looking helpless.
What a joke! The US has spent an unknown amount of money on Project Pathfinder. If it fails... not to mention them, even Albert would probably be forced to step down to appease public anger.
Just as the two were looking at each other and sighing, Andrew's voice came through the radio.
“Calling Houston…”
Professor Chris was slightly taken aback, and then a look of joy flashed in his eyes!
"Nice!"
A cheer and applause erupted!
Seeing this scene, Morton breathed a slight sigh of relief.
It seems he can hold onto his position as NASA administrator for a couple more days.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, then made a cross in front of his chest and clasped his hands together with a devout expression.
It seems that God is still looking out for America!
"Ahem! Everyone, calm down." Professor Chris picked up the microphone, a slight smile playing on his lips, and said softly, "The main event is about to begin, so pay attention!"
Chris's words brought the researchers back to their senses.
That's right, successfully reaching Mars orbit only means that 20% of the entire plan has been completed.
Next, they will face an even greater danger—landing on Mars!
Chris switched on the radio and said calmly, "Houston received!"
"Everything is proceeding according to plan. Initiate the landing procedure after reaching the designated position!"
Because of the long communication delay, Pathfinder 1 has a high degree of autonomy; it can be said that, except for some necessary situations, it can make decisions autonomously in most events.
All of this also puts astronauts to the test in terms of adaptability.
Therefore, Andrew became the captain of the Pathfinder Project based on his excellent performance in training.
...
Three landers are slowly orbiting at a speed of 3.55 km/s in a geosynchronous orbit, km above the Martian surface. (Mars orbital speed)
Andrew gazed silently at the crimson, desolate planet outside the porthole, a hint of worry creeping into his eyes.
"It's been 10 minutes, why hasn't NASA responded yet?"
Bruno's voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence inside the landing module.
The worry in Andrew's eyes grew stronger.
After a moment's hesitation, he said softly, "Let's wait a bit longer. Perhaps there's a delay in Houston..."
Although he said that, Andrew unconsciously reached for the microphone, preparing to call Houston again.
"Hiss... hiss..."
Suddenly, a noisy electrical sound came through the radio.
"Houston received... pfft... proceeding as planned..."
Because of the distance, Professor Chris's voice sounded particularly muffled.
But this did not prevent the three astronauts from understanding what was inside.
"Alright everyone, cheer up!" Andrew was the first to put on his spacesuit helmet and sit back in his chair.
"20 minutes to the designated location, prepare to release the satellite!"
After fastening his seatbelt, he gently pressed a button on the control panel in front of him.
A signal was sent to the Pathfinder III landing module, which was following at the rear.
A few seconds later, a satellite mounted on the periphery of the landing module was released.
This satellite, which combines communication and remote sensing functions, will serve as their bridge for future communication with Earth.
"Satellite launch successful!"
"Propulsion system successfully activated!"
"Satellite operational signal received!"
Joey's voice came from the side.
As the deceleration point on the screen drew ever closer, Andrew swallowed hard, his expression growing increasingly serious.
"Bruno, how are Pathfinder II and III?"
A few seconds later.
"The situation is good, and we can slow down at any time!"
Andrew nodded, watching the predetermined deceleration point getting closer and closer, and said in a deep voice, "Prepare to initiate the landing procedure!"
A tremor came from the soles of their feet, and the three Pathfinder landing modules began to adjust their attitude, pointing the thruster nozzles at the bottom towards the direction of travel.
With a blue plume of flame, the landing module began its deceleration process!
The expressions on the faces of the three astronauts grew increasingly serious.
Three hours later, they would face the most dangerous time of the Mars landing.
The legendary "seven minutes of terror"!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
