At this time, the "Prince Barnett" orbited around Mars at a rate of 1 hour and 54 minutes per circle 135 kilometers from the surface of Mars, and at the same time used the high-definition footage carried by the "Prince Barnett" to conduct the most detailed survey of the Martian surface.

The two ultra-high-definition cameras on the "Prince Barnett" with a resolution of up to 5 centimeters can clearly distinguish the difference between a cigarette case and a cassette tape on the ground at an altitude of 160 kilometers in outer space. The orbit around Mars is closer to the surface of Mars, and the flags on Mars are thinner, so the actual resolution of these two high-definition cameras will appear higher on Mars.

Before the actual landing on Mars, Tang Feng and his team had to conduct a close survey of the intended landing site to confirm the safety of the landing site.

Back in the time of the construction of the "Prince Barnett", Neo. Dr. Schmitz's team began surveying the landing site of the Mars spacecraft. After more than two years of discussions, it was finally determined that the exact location of the "Prince Barnett" landing on Mars was the Tarsis Plateau on Mars.

The Tarsis Plateau, also known as the Tarsis Uplift, is located on the west side of the Martian equator and Mariner's Canyon, and is a vast volcanic plateau with a height of 9 kilometers and a width of 3,000 kilometers. Her name comes from the Bible, a place in the far west of the known world. The Tarsis Plateau is home to five major volcanoes, of which Mount Olympus is the highest mountain in the solar system.

This huge uplift is a vast plateau area on Mars, gently decreasing from the center to the periphery, resembling a dome, with lava flow layers of different ages widely spread over the plateau, and many trenches extending radially from the center to the periphery, one of which splits into a huge Mariner Canyon system. There are several volcanoes on the plateau, five of which are huge.

Dr. Schmitz also had far-reaching considerations for choosing to land on the Tarsis Plateau. Because of the complex terrain of this huge uplift, which has both volcanoes and canyons, it is of great help for the study of the crustal structure of Mars.

In fact, according to previous human observations on the Tarsis Plateau, there are two theories about the formation of the Tarsis uplift, the first is that it is uplifted by the underlying upwelling, and the second is that it is caused by the continuous accumulation of erupted lava flows, and the weight of the lava layers will bend and sink the earth's crust, making the second theory more consistent with observations.

However, there is another theory about the first theory of geofunctional upwelling, which is the hot column: the hot column is located below Tarsis for a long time, forming hot spots, which do not uplift the earth's crust, but provide sufficient heat energy and magma to cause the Tarsis region to erupt for a long time, accumulating layers of lava and trenches, and forming various volcanoes at different hot spots in different periods. The hot column is part of the geoconvective system, and the presence or otherwise of the convection column is not yet understood.

Anyway, in any case, the previous human judgment on the Tarsis uplift was based on the observation of the unmanned rover around Mars, and the specific reason will not be able to draw a final conclusion until humans actually land there and conduct investigations.

The Tarsis Uplift is home to five huge Martian volcanoes, of which the Olympus Volcano, with a height of more than 27 kilometers, is the largest mountain ever discovered in the solar system, and is slightly larger than the large Tamu volcano on Earth.

And to the east of the Tarsis uplift, there is also the largest canyon in the solar system - Mariner's Valley. The Grand Canyon, named after the Mariner 9 Mars rover, is currently the largest canyon ever discovered in the solar system.

When the Mariner 9 unmanned probe arrived on Mars, it found this Grand Canyon in the orbit around Mars, which is a distance from New York to Los Angeles, like a huge scar lying across the belly of Mars.

The Grand Canyon is 4,500 kilometers long, more than 600 kilometers wide at its widest point, and about 8 kilometers deep below. The Great Rift Valley on Earth pales in comparison to that

Overall, it makes perfect sense to choose the Tarsis bulge as the landing site for this landing on Mars. Not only can you study volcanoes and canyons, but you can also learn more about Mars by studying the geothermal heat.

Based on the observation and understanding of Mars by human scientists over the past few decades, human scientists believe that the huge size of the Tarsis uplift has a great impact on the geology of Mars.

For example, the Tarsis Plateau is surrounded by radial grooves; For example, it may be that the weight of the Tarsis Plateau itself caused the Tarsis Plateau to sink and cause other parts of Mars to deform and uplift, so that there is another smaller uplift at the other end of Mars - the Arabian Plateau; For example, the numerous flowing water canyons that formed in the Late Noahic are also closely related to these topographical features.

At the same time, scientists estimate that the carbon dioxide and water vapor released by the lava flow generated by the Tarsis volcano group are important factors in the warm and humid period of Mars. Volcanism in Tarsis could produce an atmosphere of about 1.5 atmospheres dominated by carbon dioxide and a 120-meter-thick ocean covering flat Mars.

Although these are all speculations and calculations by scientists, these data should be very close to reality. Therefore, the study of the Tarsis Plateau is extremely important for the study of the whole of Mars.

If human beings want to gain a firm foothold on Mars, they must first have a thorough understanding of this planet, so one of the most important missions of this landing on Mars is to conduct a detailed scientific survey of this extremely important uplift on Mars.

Therefore, the landing site was set at a relatively flat site of 8.27 degrees north latitude and 236.12 degrees east longitude of Mars.

Next to this landing site is Mount Alsia, the third largest mountain on Mars, which is an extinct volcano with an altitude of 17,781 meters above sea level and a crater with a diameter of 475 kilometers and a diameter of 110 kilometers.

About 200 kilometres north of the landing site is Mount Paphnes; And about 500 kilometers northwest of the landing site is Mount Olympus.

As for Mariner Canyon, it is about 700 kilometers east of the landing site.

And near the Alcia Mountain, near the landing site, human scientists have also discovered seven strange caves, which have openings ranging from 100 meters to 252 meters wide. Since the bottom of the cave is largely unobservable, scientists can only estimate that the holes are at least 80 to 130 meters deep.

The discovery of these caves is of great significance. First, if primitive life forms ever existed on Mars, these may be the only natural structures on Mars that could provide protection for life. Second, if conditions are right, these caves may serve as settlements for humans after landing on Mars in the future.

Therefore, the landing site was chosen here more for the most detailed survey of these caves. (To be continued.) )