"I didn't expect to be able to see such a beautiful scenery on such a desolate planet. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info" Looking at the picture on the screen, Zhou Xin said with emotion.

Now there was a heavy snow that Zhou Xin had never seen before, so big that it almost covered the footage sent back by the probe. Of course, it wouldn't be strange if it was just a normal heavy snowfall. But what if this snow is colored?

That's right, the snowflakes falling in the picture at this time are not the pure white that everyone remembers, but with colorful colors. As the snowflakes fall, the colors continue to alternate. Such a beautiful view appeared in front of a probe that had just landed in the shadow zone of the planet.

"Because of the gravity on the planet's surface, the water vapor in the air can only condense into smaller, simpler snowflakes. These simple snowflakes act like prisms, refracting the light emitted by the detector into what we see now. As the crowd stared at the screen, Atlas explained.

Although after listening to the little girl's explanation, everyone knew that the color of the snowflakes was not a natural formation, but the result of the lighting fixtures on the detector, it was undoubtedly very surprising, and everyone watched with interest the changing light and shadow on the screen.

After staying in place for a while, the landed probe began to move slowly. As the probe moves, the picture changes on the screen even more. At the same time, the small snowflakes that adhered to the detector lens from time to time distorted the picture exaggeratedly, presenting a bizarre scene in front of everyone.

I don't know how long it took, but the heavy snow in the picture slowly decreased. However, the surprise of the crowd did not disappear, because after the heavy snowfall, another scene appeared on the screen that they found incredible.

This time, the scene that surprised everyone was not in the sky, but on the ground. As the probe turned the camera downward, Zhou Xin and the others saw a large continuous ice lake and glacier on the screen.

Without Atlas's explanation, many people have already guessed how the picture they see in front of them came to be. Although it was not unheard of a frozen lake or river before, everyone couldn't help but be amazed by what they saw.

Because before that, all they saw was a single lake or river, but now they were also in front of a huge system of water. Along the naturally formed terrain, these lakes and rivers made of ice are naturally distributed on the ground, forming a picture that cannot be described in words.

Naturally, seeing such a magnificent view, the probe inevitably had to go down to investigate. Slowly descending from the ground to the surface of one of the glaciers, the details of that glacier appeared little by little. It seems that the glacier must have been frozen quickly as it flowed, because people could still vaguely distinguish the splashes and waves formed by the original liquid water as it flowed on the ice. These splashes and waves formed by ice have different shapes, and they also reflect various strange light and shadow effects under the light of the detector, adding a lot of artistic color to this cold and dead world.

It's a river that's completely frozen, which is obviously very normal in such an extreme environment. But to the surprise of everyone present, after the probe cleaned a small patch of powdery snowflakes covering the glacier, they saw that the bottom of the glacier was very transparent, and there were hardly any bubbles or other impurities, and they could even clearly see the reddish-brown riverbed below through the glacier.

"If people's analysis is correct, maybe the reddish-brown streaks we see on the sunny side of the planet correspond to these areas of dense water." As everyone watched the screen carefully, Atlas spoke.

The little girl's voice brought many people back to their senses, and then Spred spoke, "This reminds me of the ice and snow planet I saw before. ”

"Same as I thought." Zhou Xin nodded, then smiled, "But that's just here, you can't find so much water on such a big planet that can cover all of its surface." ”

"Even if there really is a water volume that can cover the entire planet, there is no way to be tied to this planet." Atlas explains, "The high temperature on the planet's sunny side will allow a lot of water vapor to escape directly into space, making the planet's surface less and less water. According to people's calculations, the amount of water on this planet is just right, and the strong gravitational pull just binds them to the surface of the planet, even if it turns into water vapor, it is difficult to escape from the vicinity of the planet, but can only land in the shadow zone, thus forming a unique water cycle pattern on this planet. ”

At the same time, the probe had completed its survey of the glacier and flew towards a nearby glacial lake. In contrast, the surface of the lake is relatively calm, and there is nothing special except for the occasional frozen ripple.

No matter how peculiar the picture is, it will not be strange after seeing too much. After following the probe to investigate two or three glaciers, many people, including Zhou Xin, felt a little visual fatigue, so Zhou Xin decisively switched the screen of the probe.

However, in the following picture, Zhou Xin and the others did not see a more noteworthy scene than Binghe. According to Atlas's analysis, because the gravitational pull of this supergiant planet is so strong, there is no way to form a mountain range on the surface of the planet with a height of more than 3,000 meters. Once this height is exceeded, there is only one result of collapse under the influence of gravity. Also for this reason, it is difficult to form too steep terrain on the planet. The scarcity of unique terrain, coupled with the fact that the surface area of the planet is dozens of times that of ordinary rocky planets, it is not surprising that the probe could not find a place worth caring about.

Sure enough, as Voyager said, over the next seven days of investigation, a large number of probes explored about one percent of the planet's surface, but found very little valuable information. Aside from its sheer size, this planet was nothing unique compared to the other rocky planets they had visited, and it might even be more ordinary. The strong gravitational pull makes the surface of this huge planet not overly undulating, and the planet's rotation speed is extremely slow. According to the probe's calculations, the diameter of this planet does not even exceed one thousandth of the average diameter, which can be said to be the most "round" planet of all the planets visited by Voyager. In view of this, Zhou Xin and the others only paid attention to the probe's investigation of the planet's surface on the day they arrived here. Over the next few days, he handed over all of the investigation to Atlas, while he took the others to conduct a detailed examination of the Voyager.

This is, of course, a preparation for leaving here, although a similar inspection had only been carried out more than two months ago. However, the star system they will be going to next is not a galaxy that can be reached in less than two months, and it is about five light years away from the star system where they are now, and there are no transit galaxies in between. In order to ensure the safety of the whole voyage, therefore, not only Zhou Xin, but everyone was not afraid of trouble to check the Voyager again.

On the tenth day of Voyager's arrival on the supergiant planet, Zhou Xin and the others completed another inspection of Voyager. After repairing some minor problems, the ship completed its pre-departure preparations. Although the probe did not finish exploring the surface of the supergiant planet, the investigation in the past few days has long shown that there is not much special about this planet, and Atlas has calculated that it will take nearly half a year to fully explore the surface of this planet. If they really want to stay near this barren planet for nearly half a year, this is obviously impossible for Zhou Xin and them, and even many people are not willing to stay here anymore. Therefore, after a brief discussion, Zhou Xin made the order that he would leave the next day.

Before the Voyager left, there was also a small episode. Because the strong gravitational pull of this supergiant planet was not taken into account at first, when Voyager was recovering the probes that went to the planet's surface to investigate, it was unexpectedly found that the engines installed on the probes were not able to propel the probes into space. Later, after Voyager's calculations, it was found that not only the thrust of the probe engine was insufficient, but also that once any other small spacecraft or exploration equipment on Voyager reached the surface of the planet, it was basically difficult to break free from the shackles of the planet's gravity, and at most it could only fly at low altitude.

Hearing this result, after weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Xin finally decided to abandon those probes on the surface of the planet. Because even if Voyager can overcome the constraints of the planet's gravity, if it does make such a trip, it will still need to consume a lot of energy, which is not suitable for Voyager in this star system without refueling and is about to go on a long-distance voyage.

The day passed quickly, and it was about to come when Zhou Xin and the others were about to leave this star system.

At this time, everyone in the command cabin was busy preparing for departure. Now on the big screen directly in front of Zhou Xin and them, the star map of Atlantis that everyone is very familiar with is displayed, on the star map, a green line is connecting the symbol representing the Voyager and a symbol of a galaxy not far away.

Looking at the star map with a frown, Dart confirmed to Zhou Xin, "Are we really going to travel to such a distant galaxy all at once?" Isn't that a bit too reluctant for us now? Then he suggested to Zhou Xin, "I don't think that galaxy is only three light-years away from here is also pretty good." The distance between us is moderate, and the star chart also marks the signs of possible life, isn't it similar to the target you chose? Why would you choose a galaxy farther away as our next target? ”

Shaking his head, Zhou Xin replied, "This is completely different, the star system you chose was not something I hadn't considered before. However, there is only one planet in that star system that is barely on the edge of the habitable zone, and the probability of life is much lower than the target I chose, so I naturally chose a more likely target. And, while the galaxy you're talking about is closer to us, if there's no life there, then there's only the target I've chosen. Coupled with the fact that these two star systems are located on opposite sides of the star system we are in, it means that we will have to waste a lot of time on the road when the time comes, which is obviously not worth the loss for us. Although there is a possibility that I will not find any life in my chosen target, it is relatively small, and if I really don't find anything, I will go to the star system you are talking about. ”

"Well, I agree." Spred agreed, "While both methods may end up taking the same amount of time, the captain's choice is significantly more efficient. ”

Zhou Xin nodded, and then said to Spred: "As for the distance, as long as there is no problem with the warp engine, the difference of two light years will not have much impact on us. If you change your goal just for the sake of getting closer, as I said, you're likely to lose more than you can lose. ”

"Well, I'm a little bit ill-considered." After listening to Zhou Xin's explanation, Dart agreed with him.

Next, Zhou Xin turned his attention back to the preparations for the Voyager's departure. At this point, the preparations are almost complete, and all that remains is the work of confirmation. While listening to the reports from the Voyager, mixed with reports from other people in various parts of the ship, Zhou Xin marked the checklist in front of him. Nearly half an hour passed, and after Zhou Xin confirmed the last inspection item on the checklist, the Voyager completed all the preparations before departure.

After letting out a sigh, the expression on Zhou Xin's face became serious. Glancing at the supergiant galaxy on the screen, he spoke, "Get ready to go." ”

As soon as his words fell, the command module, which had just finished inspecting the spacecraft and had quieted down a little, became busy again. After a while, after the warp engine was fully charged, Zhou Xin gave the order and the Voyager left the place......