Chapter 238: Chapter 238: Twists and Turns
In the Martian crater, the mont Zhang Kai looked up, he saw the storm in the distance rapidly approaching.
It wouldn’t be long before the edge of the storm would reach him.
"Faster! Faster! Even faster!"
At this mont, alone on the desolate Mars, Zhang Kai desperately wished that the sample collection device could spin like a drill.
Watching the collection progress on the display, Zhang Kai felt imnsely anxious.
Ti is life.
At this mont, it was truly felt.
Perhaps due to the storm’s constant movent, in space, Qian Zhubin and Li Haiyan, who kept calling Zhang Kai, reconnected communication with the Martian lander.
"Zhang Kai, that’s great, we finally contacted you again."
"The ground command center has issued new orders, instructing you to return imdiately, return imdiately."
"Please respond if received."
Seeing the progress bar has reached 90%, Zhang Kai decided to take a gamble.
If he gave up now, even if he returned alive, he would regret it for life.
Zhang Kai clearly understood that neither his age nor his physical condition would allow him to embark on another journey to Mars.
"Zhang Kai, please respond if received."
...
Li Haiyan repeated her calls over and over, but there was no response.
Seeing that the Martian lander was still connected, unable to reach Zhang Kai, Qian Zhubin and Li Haiyan had to send so important information in text form to the main computer of the Martian lander.
100%
!!!!
Soil sampling complete! The final task was finally completed.
However, at this mont, Zhang Kai was not in the mood to be happy at all.
Because... the wind had started.
Dust was flying in the distance, resembling sandstorms on Blue Star.
The difference was that the sandstorm on Blue Star was the color of desert sand.
But in front of him, it was red.
It revealed an eerie feeling everywhere.
Zhang Kai didn’t have ti to take another look; if he didn’t return to the Martian lander now, with his small body, he feared he would be blown away by the storm.
On the other hand, at the ground control command center on Blue Star, all they could do was pray.
Due to the ti difference, 96 million kiloters away on Blue Star, they were destined to be of no help.
Ti passed by every second, with each second, receiving information from the Firefly spacecraft transmitted five minutes ago.
The command center fell into a heavier silence with each piece of information received.
According to standard procedures, the Martian lander should conduct a self-check before takeoff.
On this desolate Mars, there was only one Martian lander. If it had a problem, Zhang Kai would be stuck on this planet forever.
In the face of crisis, Zhang Kai’s potential was fully unleashed, with large amounts of adrenaline flowing to every corner of his body through his circulatory system.
In such a state, even though his heartbeat had reached 180 beats per minute, Zhang Kai’s mind was exceptionally clear.
The alarm continued to sound in his ears as his heart rate accelerated.
Zhang Kai, with his seatbelt fastened, manually silenced the alarm.
Zhang Kai glanced at the operation manual and decided to skip the lander’s self-check process.
There was simply no ti!
At the next mont, without any hesitation, Zhang Kai pressed the engine ignition button.
Afterwards, he left everything to fate.
In the instant Zhang Kai pressed the button, pale blue flas burst out of the bottom of the Martian lander.
The imnse and powerful force propelled the lander off the bottom launch pad, ascending slowly and gaining speed.
Zhang Kai had barely begun to feel a hint of happiness when a piercing red alarm sounded inside the lander.
The display screen showed that at the very mont, the Martian lander was sent off course by the suddenly enlarged storm.
The lander, resembling a rocket, fell in an arc.
Fortunately, the lander’s balance system tily adjusted its attitude, allowing it to continue its rapid ascent.
However... the lander had deviated significantly from its original course.
Looking down from above the space, the imnse storm was already visible to the naked eye.
On the spaceship, Qian Zhubin and Li Haiyan only knew that the Martian lander had taken off.
However, when the ti ca, the lander hadn’t erged from the clouds.
"Did it fail?"
Although deep down they hoped for a miracle, reality was often harsh.
Inside the spacecraft, both Qian Zhubin and Li Haiyan fell silent.
Yet the next second, a beep sounded inside the spacecraft.
"Communication successfully reconnected."
For just a mont, Qian Zhubin and Li Haiyan were stunned, then indescribable joy surged in.
At this mont, even a man like Qian Zhubin shed tears of excitent.
"The Martian lander has deviated from its intended trajectory, recalculating."
The computer aboard the spacecraft quickly provided the calculation results.
Faced with the results displayed, Qian Zhubin and Li Haiyan broke into a cold sweat.
The lander, having deviated from its intended trajectory, had barely enough fuel to reach a high-altitude orbit.
This was at the cost of sacrificing directional control, reserving the attitude control engine’s fuel for the main engine.
All of this was due to the design oversight, although they had allocated a 20% fuel reserve, they neglected to account for the astronaut’s weight gain.
Yes, the extra dozen pounds nearly cost Old Zhang his life.
Who knows, maybe once Old Zhang learned the truth, he would consider losing weight.
"Requesting ground control command center’s authorization for manual piloting of Firefly spacecraft to actively dock with the Martian lander."
"Understood."
The fact that the lander made it to high-altitude orbit was already a trendous blessing.
Expecting an unpowered Martian lander to dock with the Firefly was simply a fool’s dream.
"How do you feel?"
"It feels great to be back in space."
"You need to lose weight."
No retort: even Zhang Kai agreed wholeheartedly.
"Yeah, I really should lose weight."
"This extra dozen pounds almost kept
from ever seeing my wife and daughter again."
"I’ve already had Li Haiyan apply to ground control for accelerating the spacecraft to manually dock with you."
"Alright, the battery on the lander is limited, I’ll maintain radio silence for now."
"Communication over."
Blue Star gave a prompt response, authorizing astronauts to rescue the Martian lander.
During the action, they would make decisions based on the actual situation.
Watching his teacher and a team of staff mbers cheer and dance like children, Mo Jingchun couldn’t help but smile too.
Earlier, the atmosphere was so oppressive that it suffocated everyone.
------------
As the docking hatch opened, Zhang Kai first pushed a cylindrical container into the spacecraft.
This cylinder contained the soil from Mars.
Upon reuniting, Zhang Kai, after removing his spacesuit, gave his two teammates a hearty hug.
"You’re really lucky!"
Qian Zhubin gave Zhang Kai a punch and said with a laugh.
"Let’s report to ground control that we’re safe first."
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