The meme of "such a big Martian rock" finally became the most cokely word at the dinner that day, and not only Tang Feng encountered countless requests, but even the other eleven astronauts also received such requests.

However, this word also somewhat diluted some of the sorrow and worry of parting.

The next day, Tang Feng didn't even care about the launch center, and directly poked a stainless steel plate with a length of eight meters in width and height in front of the mountain next to his villa with Sam and Sam.

Everyone who saw this piece sprayed these four words laughed happily

The launch time of the expedition to Mars was at 22:13 that night, so after dinner in the evening, Tang Feng took the other eleven astronauts, with the blessing of relatives and friends, into the specially modified launch module in spacesuits.

This launch module is specially designed, because this moon landing will send twelve astronauts to the "Prince Barnett" at one time, and before, human beings have never sent as many as twelve astronauts into space at one time, so this launch, the launch module carrying astronauts must be specially modified.

Twelve astronauts were fixed to their seats in a semi-recumbent position in the launch capsule and began to wait quietly for the launch time to come.

According to Dr. Schmitz's suggestion, if the Starry Sky 5 heavy carrier rocket can be successfully launched and recovered, then this rocket will forever stand at the Princess Belle Island Space Center as a commemoration of mankind's first expedition to Mars.

After all, it is the first human expedition to Mars, and its sensational effect is more attractive than Armstrong's first moon landing operation.

Thousands of media reporters are waiting near the Princess Belle Island Space Center to record the beginning of the greatest space journey ever made by mankind with their cameras.

At the same time, a total of 23 military ships from eight countries around the world are stationed in the sea with a radius of 2,000 kilometers near Princess Belle Island, all of which are equipped with the most advanced testing equipment and will monitor the rocket throughout the lift-off.

In China, the United States, Russia, Europe, Oceania, South America and Africa, one monitoring station after another is also aimed at the outer space where the "Prince Barnett" is located, and these monitoring stations will monitor the entire journey of the "Prince Barnett" to Mars.

Because this is the first time that human beings have carried out an expedition to Mars, almost all countries in the world have moved, and those space powers have invested in this operation, whether it is personnel or equipment, it can be called the largest operation in the history of human spaceflight.

Because the launch compartment has been transformed, the "Xingkong V" heavy-lift launch vehicle, which was originally 70.8 meters high, has "grown" three meters taller at this time. Now the heavy-lift launch vehicle, which bears the expectations of countless people around the world, is quietly standing on the sixth launch pad of the Betlese Princess Island Space Center, waiting for the order of the commander-in-chief on the ground.

"Five minutes to prepare!" After the cold electronic prompt sounds, the gas connector and filling connector on the rocket are automatically disconnected, and the connecting plugs of the telemetry system and external test system are automatically taken off.

And this voice, through the live broadcast footage, was heard by the people around the world who were watching this live broadcast. According to rough statistics, at this moment, more than 3 billion people around the world watched the live broadcast of the launch in front of their TV or computers, which can be called the highest rated live broadcast in the history of live broadcast in the world.

"Ready in a minute!" The electronic sound sounded again, and the hearts of all the viewers around the world were lifted by this sound.

With the start of the one-minute prepared countdown, the system on the arrow is switched from ground power supply to battery power supply on the arrow, and after 10 seconds of self-test normal, the cable connector automatically falls off, and the cable pendulum leaves the launch vehicle and swings to the predetermined position. At this time, except for the cable at the bottom of the launch vehicle that is connected by a detachable plug, which is still connected to the ground, all other plugs connected to the ground have been completely disconnected.

"Thirty seconds ready!"

The TT&C system at the launch site and the TT&C tracking stations in various localities were activated.

"Ten Second Countdown, 10, 9, 8, 7"

Seven seconds before launch, high-speed cameras around the launch pad started filming and began to record the rocket's ignition and takeoff.

At this time, almost more than a billion people in the world also opened their mouths at the same time to say the last ten seconds countdown, as if only this kind of loud shouting countdown can relieve some of the tension in their hearts.

"6, 5, 4, main engine start 2, 1, ignition!"

When the last second came, in an instant, the engine nozzle that had begun to shoot flames outward, suddenly spewed out a large number of blazing flames, under the surging power erupted by a total of twelve space engines, the Xingkong-1 heavy carrier rocket with a total weight of 2,700 tons began to slowly leave the ground, and at the same moment, nearly half of the world's eyes were fixed on this heavy carrier rocket that was rapidly rising into the air.

In the roar of the rocket engine with a total thrust of up to 29,000 N, the bottom of the huge "Star No. 5" heavy carrier rocket erupted hundreds of meters of flames, pushing the big guy to start rising at a very fast speed, and the people who are watching this live broadcast in the world are also in the mood of this heavy launch vehicle, agitated and worried

Fortunately, there were no accidents in the "Starry" series of heavy-duty launch vehicles, which have been very mature in technology, and with their excellent technology and materials, they steadily ensured the success of this launch.

As the speed of the rocket became faster and faster, all the people who watched the live broadcast around the world secretly clenched their fists, and it was not until the first stage of the core rocket and the bundled booster were successfully separated that these people who watched the live broadcast breathed a sigh of relief.

The most dangerous phase in the rocket launch process is the period from ignition to the separation of the first stage of the rocket. Although this period is only a short period of more than a hundred seconds, it is the most problematic stage of the rocket. And once the first-stage rocket is successfully separated, it already means that the main launch compartment has crossed the height of the Kármán line, and the probability of further accidents will be much lower at this time.

Next is the stage of the second-stage rocket work, after the second-stage rocket is sprayed for more than 80 seconds, the rocket body at this time is more than 200 kilometers away from the ground. At this time, with the light of sight, it is almost impossible to see the rocket, and only the flame of the rocket vent can be seen by music.

As soon as the fairing was disengaged, the three-stage rocket ignited, sending the launch bay with twelve astronauts to the distant Prince Barnett, where the massive Prince Barnett was waiting for its first trip to Mars (to be continued). )