Great Power Heavy Industry: Rise

Chapter 383 Landing on Phobos
As for the method of restoring the magnetic field of Mars, the astrophysicists on the Star Reacher proposed two options: planetary impact or placing a magnetic satellite.

They believe that since the Mars magnetic field disappeared due to the impact of the asteroid, then letting the asteroid hit Mars at a suitable position and at a suitable angle may make the "dynamo system" inside Mars work again.

Or place a magnetic satellite in a suitable place to apply an artificial magnetic field to Mars from the outside, which may also shield the impact of the solar wind on the atmosphere of Mars.

In fact, this is the current general view of the astronomy community on Earth, but this is just a guess tens of millions of kilometers away.

When Zhong Cheng was on the earth, he organized experts to discuss it many times. At present, Red Star Company already has the technological level and strength to implement the restoration of the Martian magnetic field.

Whether it is to capture an asteroid or place a magnetic satellite, no problem.

But in order to restore the Martian magnetic field, it is necessary to go to Mars for field investigation.

……

2035 10 Month 22 Day.

The Star Reacher followed the reddish light in the sky to Mars.

After deceleration, it entered the Mars synchronous orbit more than 1 kilometers above the surface of Mars.

Mars is the fourth closest planet to the sun and the second smallest planet in the solar system, only larger than Mercury. It is one of the four terrestrial planets in the solar system.

Whether in the ancient East or the West, the red planet believed that it would bring war and disaster out of prejudice against unknown things.

In ancient Europe, Mars was called "Mars", the "God of War" in ancient Roman mythology, also known as the "Red Planet".

In ancient Chinese, it is called Yinghuo because it glows like fire, and its position and brightness often change.

In fact, the orange-red appearance of Mars is simply because the surface is covered with hematite (iron oxide).

The diameter of Mars is about half that of the Earth, the inclination of its rotation axis and the period of its rotation are similar to those of the Earth, and its revolution period is twice that of the Earth, so it has obvious day and night changes and four seasons.

And Mars, like the earth, is also in the "habitable zone" of the solar system, with sufficient but not too strong sunlight.

Mars has an atmosphere, an ocean frozen in the soil, and a large amount of key life elements such as carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and nitrogen.

In particular, the four elements carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen are not only the basic elements of food and water, but also important components of plastics, fertilizers, wood, paper, and clothing.

Mars has experienced volcanic and hydrological movements similar to those on Earth, and such movements have produced a large amount of mineral sand on Earth, and Mars must do the same.

All this shows that Mars is the most suitable planet for human immigration in the solar system. Compared with the desolate moon, it is really different, and it must become the second home of human beings.

Zhong Cheng and the others stood excitedly in the command center and looked down at Mars below.

Although humans have sent a large number of unmanned probes to Mars for decades, they are the first humans to come to Mars.

The Asian Federation has sovereignty over Mars. They have an additional task this time, which is to clean up the artificial satellites left by various countries in Mars orbit many years ago, and send them back to the museum on Earth.

Of course, if they can find those dilapidated unmanned probes on Mars, someone will buy them at a high price.

Although everyone wants to go to Mars now, according to the plan, the first step they have to do is to land on Phobos and establish a transit station for Mars exploration.

Mars has two natural satellites: Phobos and Deimos, which are irregularly shaped and may be asteroids captured by Mars.

Phobos is in the shape of a potato, orbits Mars three times a day, and is only about 3 kilometers away from the surface of Mars.

So from the surface of Mars, Phobos would be seen rising in the west and setting in the east across the sky in 4 hours and 15 minutes or less.

Due to the short orbital period and the effect of tidal forces, the orbital radius of Phobos is gradually decreasing, and eventually it will hit the surface of Mars, or break up to form a Martian ring.

It is the larger of the two satellites of Mars and the one closer to Mars. The distance between it and Mars is also the shortest among all the satellites in the solar system and their main star.

The geometric dimensions of Phobos are roughly 27 kilometers long, 22 kilometers wide, and 18 kilometers high. Although it is one of the smallest satellites in the solar system, it is still a giant.

Compared with Phobos, Deimos is much smaller, with an average radius of 6.2 kilometers and a distance of 23460 kilometers from Mars, which is not suitable for establishing a transfer station.

Star Reacher stayed in Mars-synchronous orbit for only two hours.

After Hu Bo and Li Qiwei calculated the intersecting orbit of Phobos, the Star Reacher began to accelerate its descent, and caught up with Phobos in its orbit.

There is a huge impact crater on Phobos, called the Stickney impact crater, with a diameter of about 8 kilometers and a depth of about 1 kilometer. It is the ideal landing location selected in the plan.

The gravity on the surface of Phobos is close to zero, and there is no atmosphere. Asterisk flew into the Stickney crater with ease.

After adjusting the speed of Star Reacher to be relatively stationary with Phobos, it stopped on the uneven ground at the bottom of the pit.

Zhong Cheng solemnly handed over a five-star red flag of the Asian Federation to Zhao Wei, and Hu Bo would assist him in planting the flag on the high ground protruding from the edge of the impact crater.

Three personnel from the Propaganda Department of Red Star Company will also accompany them to report and take pictures.

Zhong Cheng and Ye Wenhao led the engineering personnel to go down to fix the Star Picking, survey the topography and geology, and determine the construction location of the transfer station.

A dozen people put on engineering mechs and entered the decompression chamber.

After the gas in the decompression chamber is evacuated, it is opened through the airtight door outside.

Zhao Wei jumped down excitedly, but instead of falling to the ground, he screamed and flew straight into the sky.

Zhong Cheng flew out with a smile, grabbed him, and drove the mecha to the ground of Phobos.

Zhao Wei explained embarrassingly that he was too happy and forgot that there was no gravity on Phobos.

In fact, he has also worked hard on the operation training of the engineering mecha for a while. Although he is not very proficient, it is not so embarrassing.

Hu Bo and others followed, and Zhong Cheng handed Zhao Wei to Hu Bo, and the five of them flew to the periphery of the impact crater.

These veterans have long-term experience in working on the zero-gravity surface of asteroids, Zhong Cheng is very relieved.

As soon as Zhong Cheng and his men fixed the four sets of wheels of the Star Reacher on the ground of Phobos, cheers came from the communicator.

He turned his head and saw that on the high ground on one side of the impact crater, a huge five-star red flag was "waving in the wind" over Phobos.

Phobos has no gravity and no air, and the national flag is supported by carbon fiber brackets.

Ten minutes later, Zhong Cheng's happy mood had not subsided, and another exclamation came from the mech communicator:
"Zhong Dong, there is something going on underground!"

(End of this chapter)