Chapter 231 Martian Thoughts
The night was deep.
The entire base had fallen into a deep slumber, with only the light in Lin Mo's office still shining.
He sat at his desk, staring at that bottle of Mars soil. The dark red sand shimmered slightly under the desk lamp, like a clump of solidified flame.
There were three other gifts on the table—a Mars globe, a signed notebook, and a military knife. The four items were lined up together like a small altar, commemorating the past and foreshadowing the future.
Lin Mo picked up the small bottle and shook it against the light. The sand slid against the glass wall, emitting a faint rustling sound, like an echo from ancient times.
He remembered what Chen Xueming had said:
"Once we actually land on Mars, this bottle will be a historical artifact."
Landing on Mars.
He had heard these four words countless times, thought about them countless times, and written them countless times. But today, holding this bottle of soil, these four words suddenly felt different.
They were no longer abstract, distant, or sci-fi.
They had become concrete.
As concrete as this bottle of soil.
As concrete as that dark red sphere on the Mars globe.
As concrete as the eighty-seven names on the signed notebook.
Lin Mo set down the bottle and walked to the window.
Outside the window, the night sky over the Gobi Desert was clear and pristine. The Milky Way spanned the horizon like a glowing river. In the low sky to the southeast, that dim star was still twinkling—a greeting from 4.37 light-years away.
But he did not look there.
He looked toward another direction.
It was the direction of Mars.
At this moment, that red planet was moving to the other side of the sky, invisible to the naked eye. But Lin Mo knew it was there—on the other side of the sun, tens of millions of kilometers away from Earth, at the shore that humanity had dreamed of for thousands of years.
He remembered what Wang Zhenguo had said:
"Go and see it for me."
The "space" the teacher spoke of was low Earth orbit, the place the space elevator could reach. But deep down, the teacher must have also harbored a more distant dream, right?
The Moon. Mars. Even more distant stars.
It was just that he didn't have enough time.
Lin Mo took a deep breath and said in his heart:
Teacher, don't worry.
I will go.
Not just low Earth orbit, not just the Moon.
Also Mars.
I will go see it for you.
He walked back to the desk, picked up a pen, and wrote a line on a blank sticky note:
"Within my lifetime, carry out a manned landing on Mars."
After writing it, he stared at the line of words for a long time.
Within my lifetime.
He was thirty-five years old this year. If everything went smoothly, twenty years later, the space elevator would be completed; twenty-five years later, the lunar base would have taken initial shape; thirty years later, preparations for the Mars mission could begin.
He would be sixty-five then.
At sixty-five, would he still be able to go?
He didn't know. But he knew that even if he couldn't go himself, he had to make this happen. Let younger people go. Let Li Xiao, Chen Xueming, and those children who hadn't even been born yet go.
Just as the teacher had entrusted his dream to him.
He should also entrust the dream to those who would come after.
Just as he was thinking this, a blue light suddenly lit up before his eyes.
【System Notification】
Lin Mo was stunned.
He looked at the screen—the system interface popped up automatically, and lines of blue light text were emerging:
【Milestone detected: Establish manned Mars mission goal】
【Achievement reward: research points +5000, current balance 16550】
【Prerequisites detected: Nuclear Fusion (completed), Carbon Nanotubes (completed), space elevator design (unlocked)】
【Technical requirements detected: Manned Mars mission requires high-efficiency propulsion system】
【New technology unlocked: Plasma Propulsion system complete blueprints】
【research points consumed: 8000】
【Current balance: 8550】
Lin Mo stared at the text, his heart skipping a beat.
Plasma Propulsion system.
He had discussed it with the Aerospace Group before; it was the core power for future deep space exploration. Its specific impulse was over ten times that of chemical rockets, capable of shortening Mars travel time from half a year to two or three months.
But at the time, it was just theoretical discussion; there wasn't even a preliminary design.
Now, the system had directly provided the complete blueprints.
He took a deep breath and clicked "View".
On the screen, a complex structural diagram slowly unfolded—the structure of the plasma engine, the distribution of the magnetic field, the flow of the propellant, the matching of the power supply, and the thermal management scheme; every item was clearly labeled.
Next to it was a detailed parameter table:
Thrust: 10-100 N (adjustable)
Specific impulse: 5000-8000 seconds
Power requirement: 5-50 MW
Propellant: Xenon/Argon/Hydrogen
Lifespan: Over 10,000 hours of continuous operation
Lin Mo's hands trembled slightly.
Eight thousand seconds of specific impulse.
Chemical rockets only had about four hundred seconds.
This meant that with the same amount of fuel, one could fly twenty times the distance. Or, for the same distance, only one-twentieth of the fuel was needed.
Mars was really getting closer.
He continued reading down.
Behind the blueprints was a detailed development plan—material selection, manufacturing processes, testing methods, and verification steps. Every page was densely packed, every page precise down to the numbers.
Finally, there was a line of small text:
"The Plasma Propulsion system is the core of the manned Mars mission. It is recommended to prioritize the development of a prototype, launch it for verification within five years, and achieve practical application within ten years."
Launch for verification in five years, practical application in ten years.
Lin Mo did a mental calculation—ten years later, he would be forty-five. The space elevator would be nearing completion, the lunar base would be under construction, and the Plasma Propulsion would come in handy just right.
The timing was just right.
He closed the system and looked again at that bottle of Mars soil on the table.
The dark red sand lay quietly in the glass bottle.
But this time, he felt that the bottle of soil was no longer distant.
Because next to it, there was one more thing—the road leading to it.
Early the next morning, Lin Mo gathered the team for a meeting.
After everyone arrived, he got straight to the point:
"Last night, I made a decision."
Li Xiao blinked: "What decision?"
Lin Mo said: "Within our lifetime, achieve a manned landing on Mars."
The conference room was silent for a second.
Chen Xueming was the first to react on the other end of the video call: "Old Lin, are you serious?"
Lin Mo nodded: "Serious."
Li Xiao widened her eyes: "Senior Brother, our space elevator hasn't even been built yet, the lunar base is nowhere in sight, and you're already thinking about Mars?"
Lin Mo looked at her and smiled:
"It's not just thinking, it's starting to think."
He stood up, walked to the whiteboard, and wrote a few words:
Plasma Propulsion system
"Last night, the system unlocked this," he said. "This is the core technology for the manned Mars mission. The specific impulse is twenty times that of chemical rockets, which can shorten Mars travel time to under three months."
Chen Xueming's eyes lit up: "Three months?! That means a round trip would only take a little over half a year!"
Lin Mo nodded: "Yes. If we add the low-cost launch of the space elevator and the fuel supply from the lunar base, a manned Mars mission will no longer be a dream."
Li Xiao counted on her fingers: "space elevator twenty years, lunar base twenty-five years, Mars mission thirty years... Senior Brother, you'll be sixty-five then."
Lin Mo smiled: "Yes. But what about you all? You'll be fifty-six, Chen Xueming sixty-six, and Brother Zhao sixty-eight. Everyone will still be alive."
Li Xiao was stunned for a moment, and then her eyes turned red.
Chen Xueming said on the other end of the video: "Old Lin, are you trying to send us all to Mars?"
Lin Mo looked at him: "What? Don't want to go?"
Chen Xueming laughed: "Want to! I dream about it!"
Zhao Gang had been silent the whole time, but suddenly spoke up:
"Dr. Lin, I might not be able to go."
Lin Mo looked at him.
Zhao Gang said: "I'm the oldest, sixty-eight. My health might not permit it. But you all go, and I'll watch from the ground."
Lin Mo was silent for two seconds, then said:
"Brother Zhao, whether you are in the sky or not, it's all the same. As long as you are watching from the ground, we will dare to go."
Zhao Gang's eyes turned red.
In the evening, Lin Mo stood alone by the window again.
On the table, the bottle of Mars soil was still there. Next to it, the blueprints for the Plasma Propulsion system had been printed out, a thick stack.
He picked up the bottle of soil and shook it in the moonlight.
The dark red sand was like solidified time.
He remembered Wang Zhenguo's words:
"Go and see it for me."
I will, Teacher.
Not just to see it.
It is to stand there.
Standing on that red planet, looking back at Earth.
When that day comes, he will take this bottle of soil and scatter it on the land of Mars.
And then tell those who come after:
"Look, this is what we brought from Earth. That place is our home."
Outside the window, the starry sky over the Gobi Desert was still brilliant.
He looked toward the direction of Mars—the red planet had not yet risen, but he knew it was there.
It was waiting.
Waiting for humanity to take the next step.
Lin Mo said softly:
"Wait for me."