Titan Outpost Project
Eight large characters floated in front of everyone.
"That's the situation," Lü Yongchang said, shrugging as he stood in front of the conference table.
"Due to the depletion of hydrocarbons, we need to travel to Titan to collect various hydrocarbons."
"Everyone, do you have any comments?"
As he spoke, he glanced around at everyone at the conference table.
A few seconds later.
"Very good, it seems everyone agrees, so this matter is settled."
"Zero, are there any pilots available in Mars City right now?"
A holographic image unfolded in front of Lü Yongchang.
"Zhao Zijie... he's the one."
"Tell him to pack his bags now," Lü Yongchang immediately decided. "Zero, send one Luan Bird Type I starship."
...
One day later.
Zhao Zijie and Gao Yang, dragging two large suitcases, walked onto the [Seeking Wood] space elevator with bewildered expressions.
"Zijie, are we going to Saturn?" Gao Yang was still a little confused.
"To be precise, it's Titan."
A helpless and weary smile appeared on Zhao Zijie's face.
Three days ago, the two of them brought back the asteroid and were preparing to enjoy a week-long vacation.
However, a holographic image shattered all their plans.
"My God... the Titan outpost project is getting more and more insane," Gao Yang muttered to himself.
As Zhao Zijie dragged his suitcase to his side, he said, "I guess it's another project proposed by Professor Lü."
"By the way, have you finished packing your luggage?"
"I estimate it will be at least a few weeks before we can get back."
Gao Yang patted the suitcase next to him forcefully.
"rest assured!"
The next second, he leaned close to Zhao Zijie's ear and whispered, "Snacks are plentiful!"
Zhao Zijie's eyes lit up, and he nodded in satisfaction.
...
Interstellar travel is extremely tedious and boring.
"drop!"
Just as Zhao Zijie and Gao Yang were deciding who would get the last bag of spicy strips by playing rock-paper-scissors, a clear reminder rang out in the cockpit of the Luan Bird.
Zhao Zijie quickly turned his head to look at the holographic image in front of the control panel.
[Approaching our destination. The Luan Bird Type I is about to begin deceleration. Please enter the deep-sea chamber immediately.]
He subconsciously glanced at the portholes around him.
A planet with a yellowish hue and a wide ring of stars came into view.
That's Saturn.
...
"Cough cough cough!"
As the deep-sea compartment door opened, Zhao Zijie coughed and looked up at the porthole.
A small, entirely orange planet came into view.
The image shows a pseudocolor image of Titan (actually orange) synthesized from data transmitted back by the Cassini spacecraft.
"Ahem! Is this Titan?" Gao Yang's voice came from the side.
Like Zhao Zijie, he was also struggling to cough up some deep-sea fluid that remained in his trachea.
Although these deep-sea fluids can be absorbed by the human body, the feeling of them sticking to the trachea is indescribable.
Therefore, every starship pilot developed the habit of coughing as soon as they exited the cabin.
Zhao Zijie gazed at the small satellite through the porthole and nodded slightly.
"If the navigation is correct, that should be it."
"What are these yellow things?" Gao Yang looked at them carefully for a moment, then frowned and said, "They look a bit like smog."
"Isn't it said that Titan's atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and hydrocarbons?"
Faced with Gao Yang's question, Zhao Zijie shrugged.
"I heard it's a kind of organic deposit similar to tar, called tholin."
"Torlin? What is that?" Gao Yang's eyes showed even deeper confusion.
Zhao Zijie turned to look at his teammate helplessly: "What was your score on the astrochemistry exam?"
"...just barely passed."
"No wonder you didn't know." Zhao Zijie looked relieved.
"Torin, a substance that exists on cold celestial bodies far from their parent star."
"A mixture formed by simple organic compounds such as methane and ethane under ultraviolet light."
"It is usually light red or brown. There should be a small amount of torin in Titan, which is why it has this color."
Gao Yang nodded, looking confused.
At that moment, three ultimate questions about life flashed through his mind.
Who am I? Where did I come from? Where am I going?
"Alright, I'm not going to argue with you about this anymore." Zhao Zijie turned and walked towards the locker room. "Get ready, we're about to land."
...
Titan's upper orbit.
The 800-meter-long Luan Bird Starship slowly glided by.
"Land directly?" Gao Yang glanced back at Zhao Zijie, who was sitting in the captain's seat, with concern. "The Luan bird has never landed on the surface of a planet before."
"Don't worry." Zhao Zijie stared intently at the holographic image in front of him, adjusting each parameter.
Without the involvement of zero, the entire landing process became more risky.
Although weak AI exists, it is absolutely incapable of solving problems in extreme situations.
"Zero conducted a simulation before coming here."
"Titan is different from planets like Mars and Earth; it is, after all, just a satellite."
"According to tests, its gravity is similar to that of the moon."
"In addition, the dense atmosphere makes landing much easier."
As he spoke, Zhao Zijie entered the last parameter into the onboard computer: "Alright! We should land now!"
The moment the words fell, the nose of the Luan Bird Starship dipped slightly, and a feeling of deceleration instantly followed.
The Luan Bird Starship, which had been transformed into a streamlined fuselage, slowly descended in height.
At the moment of contact with the atmosphere, a violent shudder came from the fuselage.
The weak AI One strictly followed the program, rapidly adjusting the power of each Hall thruster to maintain the starship's balance as much as possible.
As the altitude continued to decrease, the orange color outside the porthole became increasingly intense.
When the starship was more than 10,000 meters above the ground, the ship gradually regained its stability.
Propelled by Hall thrusters, the 800-meter-long Luan Bird Starship, with its streamlined hull, tore through the dense atmosphere and glided smoothly at an altitude of 10,000 meters.
"Holy crap..." Gao Yang muttered to himself as he looked at the footage from the camera, "This isn't much different from the structure of Earth!"
The holographic image displays a picture of Titan's surface and various parameters.
Surface temperature: -179.15 degrees Celsius.
Countless lakes of varying sizes, meandering rivers, and land with relatively indistinct elevations...
"Where did we land?" Gao Yang asked in a low voice, gazing in amazement at the otherworldly scenery before him.
"ocean!"
As Zhao Zijie's voice rang out, the Hall thruster's power increased slightly, and a feeling of being pushed back came from the seat.
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