2265.9.27, the final departure date.

The cold Calmede was empty, and the starry harbor was empty, without the busy scene of the past. All industrial ships will make way for the departure of the Earth Age.

If you look down from the astronomical observation room, you can see various industrial indicators on the surface. They are arranged in a variety of regular images, flickering and flickering.

This ancient language of aviation, which is not disturbed in any way by electromagnetic radiation, is something that every astronaut must learn.

Seeing that the time was approaching minute by minute, Captain Ma whispered, "I hope our future home planet is better than this one......

"Theoretically, that's how it should be." A nearby assistant responded, "Our home planet is brighter and gravity is more appropriate." ”

The mass of Gliese 581g is 3.1 times that of the Earth, the radius is 1.4 times that of the Earth, and the theoretical gravity is 1.08 times that of the Earth, which is not bad in short.

It's just that with the current means of observation, there is no way to know the specific state of the planet's atmosphere.

"In the solar system, are the results of astronomical observations out?" Captain Ma asked again.

"The results are out, and the risk of being attacked by meteorites in the solar system, which is about 0.7 parts per million, has been reduced to a minimum."

"So...... Let's go! ”

The order of the captain's office was quickly issued to the various departments.

"Ship's start countdown, ten, nine, eight ......"

"Main engine starts!"

Zhang Yuan watched with excitement as the nuclear engine slowly warmed up. One after another, high-energy microwaves began to heat the entire device, and the plasma soon emitted a bright light.

At this time, there is very little that they can do, and at most they can only pay attention to the changes in some parameters.

The artificial intelligence inside the spaceship was able to notice the error before they were humans.

Of course, Zhang Yuan didn't want any accidents to happen.

Soon, the core temperature of the engine compartment reached a high temperature of 500 million degrees.

The speed of plasma turbulence is also becoming faster and faster.

"Five, Four, Three, Two, One......"

He silently recited the countdown in his mind, staring at the screen without blinking.

As the last second passed, suddenly, 16 bright blue lights appeared on the tail of the ship!

This blue light is a powerful plasma pulse.

The nuclear engine will start at maximum power, providing the ship with acceleration of 3/1000th of a quadratic second. There was a very slight vibration throughout the hull, especially in the engine room.

Three hours later, as it moved away from the spaceport, Earth Age unfurled its massive light sails.

Large lasers from the surface of the earth shone on the light sails one after another, causing them to reflect a brilliant golden yellow like a mirror.

Never before has Europa's surface seen such a strong reflection of light. So much so that the staff on the surface saw another small rising sun.

Loud cheers erupted from the sea of people, and many staff members raised their heads with their hands held high to witness the great miracle in the sky.

At this time, Senior Brother Zhao, who was sitting on the side, said softly: "The speed of light of seven thousandths is a great achievement in my cognitive field, and it requires a lot of technical support. But for interstellar travel, it's still too slow. ”

"I can't help it......"

Zhang Yuan replied: "If the underlying theory is not broken, curvature navigation is still science fiction." If it is a small-mass spacecraft, it can accelerate to 10 percent of the speed of light by using the optical path and nuclear fusion. No matter how fast our materials are, there is no way to support them......"

"Do you think there will be a breakthrough in this area in the future?"

Zhang Yuan thought for a while, "I don't know." ”

After a while, he added, "Probably not." ”

Europa's gravitational pull was so small that in one day, the mothership broke free of its gravitational pull and headed in the direction of Jupiter.

The trajectory that followed was very complicated.

First of all, in the first stage, use Jupiter's gravity to make a gravitational slingshot benefit and make a turn.

The gravitational slingshot's ability to pick up wool is limited, but with Jupiter's average orbital speed of 13.07 km/s and an average orbital radius of 5.2 AU, it is not a problem to pick up a little wool from Jupiter at the current speed of the spacecraft.

Immediately after that, it enters the second stage, which orbits eight cycles in an elliptical orbit in the inner solar system, making full use of Europa, the moon's optical path device, and the light of the sun itself to accelerate the spacecraft.

During these 8 cycles, the speed of the ship will get faster and faster.

Finally, the third stage is to go straight to "Gliese 581".

It sounds complicated, but the ship's artificial intelligence is more than capable of this kind of computing task, so there's nothing to worry about.

After all, Earth Age is a new spaceship, and all the designs are fully considered for long-distance travel, and the probability of mistakes in the short term is not large.

……

Two months later, the sober population had shrunk to 20,000 and counting.

This part of the sober population is mainly the main staff of the spacecraft and the graduate students in the school.

Zhang Yuan has also become more and more busy, not having a lot of personal time like before, and working meetings again and again, which makes him dizzy.

The ship had already begun to enact the planned mission, and he needed to learn something new. For example, the operation of a nuclear power plant is mainly responsible for the normal operation of the unit, the supervision and control operation of the control interface of the main control room, and the local operation of the equipment and systems of the power station.

“…… The next time you wake up from hibernation, when the population is extremely sparse, you need to take on greater responsibility, which is equivalent to real leadership. ”

"Graduate students are trained for this purpose. Everyone needs to carry the burden on their shoulders. ”

By the end of this meeting, his work level had risen to level sixteen, which was considered a mid-to-high-level level in the ship. However, Zhang Yuan did not feel happy.

He saw that Li Zhendong was sullen on the side, and went over and patted him on the shoulder: "What's the matter, you're in a bad mood?" You're already level 11, and you're a middle-level cadre. ”

Li Zhendong smiled dryly: "It has nothing to do with the work level, it doesn't hurt to be a little lower than a pervert like you, it's just ...... My girlfriend is hibernating, and the next time we meet will be hundreds of years away, and I feel very bored. ”

Life partners do not have the right to hibernate at the same time, only the power to wake up almost at the same time, and the various assembly lines of the spaceship shrink and do not raise idlers.

Zhang Yuan joked: "It affects the mood, I just said that staying single is the best way to maintain high combat effectiveness." ”

"You're just envious, jealous!" Li Zhendong suddenly thought of something, and made a hippie smile: "Comrade Zhang Yuan, do you know what my greatest wish in my life is?" ”

"What?"

"That's it...... Before I can look away, you can find a wife. ”

"Get out!" Zhang Yuan's face was slightly red, "Can it be considered a matter of finding a wife?" ”