Chapter 721: Facing the Dilemma of Mars
Mars is the second planet closest to the Earth. Compared with Venus, which has a thick atmosphere, the surface atmosphere of Mars is stripped away by the solar wind due to the cooling of the core and the disappearance of the planet's magnetic field.
Because there have been signs of life on Martian meteorites, Mars should have had a thick atmosphere in the past, but now it has become a desolate planet.
Compared with the Earth, the atmospheric concentration is only one percent, and due to the lack of magnetic field and atmospheric protection, it is directly attacked by solar wind and cosmic rays. It can be said that the difficulty of survival on Mars today is absolutely hellish.
If there is life on Mars today, it most likely exists underground.
Compared with the negative buffs of Mars such as dryness, radiation, storms, thin atmosphere, etc., the deserts and seabeds on Earth can be said to be paradise-like environments.
The difficulty of transformation is much simpler than that of transforming Mars.
However, if there are enough silver mines on Mars, it would be a natural thing to complete the mining and build a pioneer base.
And now, this Zerg egg case has also fallen on Mars...
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In the dark and cold space, 'Starship II' has stopped the chemical acceleration process, and has also turned on the solar panels. It occasionally adjusts its direction with the help of Hall thrusters and starts to slow down, and its size has also shrunk a lot.
Because it uses high-power rocket engines for propulsion in space, and its mass is smaller after discarding several sections, the speed of the 'Starship II' at this time actually exceeds that of the huge 'Alchemy I'!
Thanks to the connection with the ground control room, we have now entered the deceleration process.
In the ground control room of SX Space Exploration Company, all staff are monitoring various data with great concentration.
Positioning in space is also quite cumbersome, especially when there are not enough satellites to position the location, it is even more difficult to judge.
Fortunately, NASA also has satellites on Mars, and with multiple points of control, the situation is now completely under control.
"Boss, our initial design was to land on and drill into an asteroid. Given the gravity of Mars, it's no problem for us to get the starship into Mars orbit, but it's almost impossible to complete a precise bombing."
The researchers who were recording various parameters of the starship and making predictions also gave back some regrettable news.
The initial preparation for landing on an asteroid is completely different from the current landing on Mars!
Intercontinental ballistic missiles are important weapons of all countries. Even without satellite positioning, they can rely on gyroscopes to physically complete approximate "positioning".
Because strategic nuclear weapons are used for the attack, although the error will not be small, it is completely sufficient.
Many cruise missiles also use this physical guidance method in the mid-course to reduce the possibility of being detected.
But the reason why the gyroscope can be successful is that humans have a good understanding of the various parameters of the earth. The principle of the gyroscope used by ballistic missiles can be regarded as knowing the corresponding physical parameters, and the missile can land if it is fired in a certain direction.
After all, the targets of strategic bombing are mostly cities that do not move, so it is enough to ensure that direction.
It is so difficult to achieve this level of precision on Earth, and it is undoubtedly even more difficult given the current control over various parameters of Mars.
What's more, when it was first launched, no one expected that it would eventually choose to bomb Mars, and the equipment and design plans carried were not prepared for this, which resulted in terrible accuracy.
Mars' gravity alone would be enough to cause enough tearing and destruction.
Fortunately, the European Space Agency's satellite captured the image of the falling asteroid, and it can be roughly determined that it was in the approximate area on Mars. By comparing the photos continuously sent back by several existing Martian satellites, the direction can be roughly determined.
Otherwise it would really be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
"We have to try even if it's not accurate. For a one-million-ton nuclear bomb, the error is acceptable. But don't we also carry a probe? Can the probe complete the landing on Mars?"
Because it can be launched into space, Starship II is reserved for carrying a lot of things.
There are unmanned probes, nuclear bomb drills and so on.
Moreover, there are three probes alone, and they even have mobile mechanical legs for reaching the asteroid, as well as cushions for when they collide with the asteroid at high speed.
"Indeed, there was, but the situation on Mars was not taken into consideration at the time. Although the protection was large enough because of the impact speed, it was not certain that it would land safely. In addition, the landing position would deviate significantly due to the influence of Mars' gravity."
The researcher sighed. After all, it was not a specialized Mars exploration equipment.
"It doesn't matter if there are deviations. We can just go down and make a sample to determine the position. They all carry detectors, so the situations should be similar. As long as the number of detectors increases, relying on Umbrella's data link sharing technology, our subsequent bombings can also increase the accuracy."
Masla didn't care about the gains and losses of the detector, he just wanted to achieve his goal!
"Let's contact each other and see what Umbrella is going to do..."
But he knew clearly who was the big brother this time.
The rest combined are less than the size of Umbrella's spacecraft.
Although they seem to be faster, it is actually just because they have a larger mass and accelerate more slowly.
Moreover, compared to their one-time chemical combustion, where the mass becomes smaller as it burns, their thrusters use plasma thrusters similar to Hall thrusters, assisted by solar sails, and their efficiency is completely different.
There is an obvious technological gap!
To put it bluntly, we are still using the old rocket thinking, while they are now using the real starry sky thinking!
It's not that he doesn't know the benefits of these structures, but Umbrella has already made corresponding plans based on its own technology, and he has to make temporary adjustments.
It would be nice to be able to tinker with Starship II...
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"We agree with SX's suggestion. The enemy this time is very troublesome. Those who arrive in orbit first can try to drop bombs first without waiting for us."
Umbrella publicly responded and made some arrangements afterwards.
The first few companies that arrive can deploy detectors!
No matter what, let the probe land first, and then share the signals with each other. Relying on Umbrella's satellite data connection technology, the connection between the probe and the spacecraft can be directly completed.
With the detector as a positioning device, subsequent bombing can be more accurate.
"Our spacecraft has an atmospheric maneuvering vehicle, but because the Martian atmosphere is too thin, the vehicle cannot last for long if it relies solely on jets. We can arrange for a robot to land and check after the attack is completed... "
However, after Umbrella's response, some twists and turns that had occurred before due to information leaks reappeared, and some self-funded white left saints began to leave messages to plead for mercy.
He said that since the visitor was not an abyss creature, they could communicate with each other first.
This spontaneous behavior of the Virgin Mary speaking up is really a bit funny...