With the last piece of alloy plate being welded, the mechanical arm extending outward from the Moon Palace finally retracted, and the true capacity of the entire Xufu colonial ship was finally displayed in front of the world.

On the whole, it looks like a heavy-duty dumbbell.

The larger end is located at the front end, which is the core area of ​​the entire colonial ship-that is, the part of the colony cabin that has not yet been unfolded. The smaller volume is located at the back end, which is mainly composed of a series of complex and precise aerospace components such as power systems, interplanetary communication systems, and energy units.

When the colony ship enters the orbit of Mars, the bulky front-end structure will be separated from the entire colony ship, and with the help of chemical thrusters, it will pierce the surface of Mars.

The remaining part will remain in the orbit of Mars, as a communication satellite and meteorological observation satellite, to provide ground colonizers with at least two decades of interplanetary communication, meteorological observation, positioning and navigation services, and so on.

Although this design does not conform to aerodynamic principles, naturally there is no need to consider these things in space. But because of this unique design, it looks quite like a cyberpunk.

Looking at the towering spaceship, Professor Pearson, who was standing beside the porthole, had lost his speech in surprise, and murmured in a difficult tone after a while.

"How many tons do you get ..."

"I don't know ..." Professor Yan Xinjue's face was also filled with shocking expression, and he swallowed his mouth before he said. "But looking at this volume, it has to be twice the size of the bridge, and the tonnage must be at least twice All right? Forget it, I still don't guess ... wait to see the news tomorrow. "

It wasn't just the staff on the Moon Palace.

There are also astronomical observers from the Arizona Astronomical Observatory, as well as astronomical observatories located in other countries who are ordered to follow the China Landing Plan.

Since the establishment of the Guanghan Special Economic Zone, in order to learn from the successful experience of the moon landing project from China, almost all countries and organizations that have made achievements in the aerospace field have upgraded the lenses of optical observation satellites.

Even if you can't go up temporarily, you must first find a way to learn something from Guanghan and Yuegong.

It is for this reason that the actions on the Moon Palace naturally did not escape their eyes.

Whether it was the flexible robotic arm or the giant ship named Xu Fu after it was assembled, they were deeply shocked.

This is probably the largest spacecraft capable of long-distance navigation in human history. If the Apollo spaceship and the bfs spaceship are compared to Galen ships and sail warships during the big voyage, then the Xufu is like the same An aircraft carrier sailing in space.

If anyone else had doubts about the success of the ascension plan before ...

Almost no one now doubts that this expedition with a total range of more than tens of millions of kilometers will have any possibility of failure.

Just when those space agencies who were fortunate enough to witness the scene were shocked by the stunning operation on the Moon Palace, the atmosphere on the side of Jinling Space Launch Center was also in full swing.

Almost as soon as the news of the successful launch of the Xufu colony ship back to Earth, excited cheers erupted in the ground command center.

Whether it was the staff standing in front of the console or the CCTV and CCTV reporters waiting by the side, everyone's faces were filled with excitement and joy.

Many people waved their fists in excitement, unable to control the excitement in their hearts, and even took off their hats and threw them on the ceiling.

"Xu Fu" colony ship successfully assembled!

The first stage of the manned ascent plan was successfully completed!

Although this is only a small step towards Mars, it is also the most difficult step. In the future, they only need to load the astronauts and the materials needed for the production and life of the colony on the colony ship, and then light the engine of the colony ship, and they can wait for the good news from tens of millions of kilometers away.

"Everything is ready, it's just Dongfeng."

With a reassuring smile on his face, Lu Zhou looked at the towering spacecraft on the large-scale landing screen in the command room, nodded with a smile and said, "The next step is to send our astronauts up."

Staring intently at the towering starship on the screen, Director Li's face had an inexhaustible expression, and he couldn't help saying.

"How heavy do you say this stuff is?"

"Almost five hundred tons."

Hearing this number, Director Li took a sigh of breath and said with a stun.

"Five hundred tons ... This is almost faster than the low earth orbit payload of our Long March series rockets, all of which are even greater!"

"The tonnage doesn't explain anything, and there is no comparability between chemical rockets and starships. For Xu Fu, these five hundred tons are just net weight. When our astronauts board the ship, the spacecraft is replenished and the weight exceeds 1,000 There is no problem, "

Having said that, Lu Zhou smiled, looked at the screen of the command room, and continued to speak in a fascinating tone.

"... But it doesn't take long, and the kiloton is not much."

"In the future, two situations of spacecraft scoring will be discussed. One is an aerospace-designed aerospace aircraft sailing between low-Earth orbit and the surface of the planet. "

"The former, our Jinling High-tech Park, has already taken the lead in the world. In the latter case, when our Guanghan Special Economic Zone develops, let alone a thousand-ton class, even a 10,000-ton and million-ton giant No matter what!

Tens of thousands of spacecraft ...

When he heard this sentence, Director Li opened his mouth and closed his chin for a while.

Even the so-called Saturn V, the largest rocket in the history of mankind, weighs only 3,000 tons from head to toe. And this rocket, when it stands upright, that huge volume is already comparable to a 100-meter high building!

A 1,000-ton spacecraft has approached the boundaries of his imagination. As for a tens of thousands of spacecraft, he simply cannot imagine what kind of picture it would be.

As for the million-ton class mentioned behind Lu Zhou ...

He ignored it completely.

Looking at the ground command center that had fallen into the jubilant ocean, Lu Zhou did not manage Director Li who was so surprised that he could not speak, but instead looked at Director Chang standing aside and said.

"The last launch mission can begin."

"If a CCTV reporter intends to interview for a while, you can help me cope, or let them go to my office and wait for me for a while."

"I'll go to the bathroom."

Having said that, Lu Zhou turned and left the ground command center.

However, when he had just reached the first floor and was about to turn to the bathroom for convenience, he saw Director Li rushing upstairs.

In the beginning, Lu Zhou didn't take it seriously. When the old man wanted convenience, he didn't care about him.

However, when he came out of the bathroom, he found out where he had gone, and the old man followed closely behind him.

Finally couldn't help it, Lu Zhou stopped and turned to ask.

"Are you doing anything?"

I didn't realize how bad the level I was tracking was.

The director Li was arrested and wanted to try to quibble and pretend to be silly.

"Ah? What ... what? I just walked--"

"You're almost a mile away with me. This is just walking around?"

Seeing that he could not hide it, Director Li finally gave up his sophistry and said with a cough.

"That, Academician Lu ..."

"what happened?"

"Have you been going well lately?"

"It went well."

"What about the relationship? No conflict with your ... subject, right?"

"No."

"What's the mood? Any thoughts?"

Hearing this sentence, Lu Zhou's expression suddenly became serious.

"I'm in a bad mood. If you go around with me again, I may never think about it."

Hearing this sentence, Director Li finally seemed to realize how bad his behavior was, his expression on his face gradually became awkward, and he said embarrassedly.

"I don't really have anything on my side ... just a while ago, I heard Director Chang said that you have adjusted the number of the first colonists from the ascension plan from three to five?"

"... So what's the problem?"

After reading the speechlessness in Lu Zhou's expression, Director Li quickly waved his hand and said with a smile.

"No, no, no problem! I definitely support you! That is ... the conditions on Mars are difficult, and the most important thing is insecurity. You also know that only astronauts who have undergone strict screening and training can be competent This is a dangerous task. Even if you might be interested in it, my advice is to wait until the time is right to consider it. "

Having said that, the old man changed his tone of consultation.

"Why ... you think about going to the moon first? It's also fun there."

Lu Zhou: "...?"

What the hell?

Light pen