Back home, Zheng Riqiang turned on the computer and went to "Mars".

Going to "Mars" before going to bed is a habit that Zheng Riqiang has developed for many years.

At the top, he saw, was a long essay titled "When will humans land on Mars?" 》。

As for Mars, it is known that Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system from the inside out, with a diameter of about half that of Earth, a volume of 15%, and a mass of 11%, and Mars was once considered the most likely planet in the solar system to have extraterrestrial life.

Mars has two natural satellites: Phobos and Phobos. It is said that there is a large amount of water ice under the Martian South Pole ice cap and mid-latitude surface.

The main components of Mars are carbon dioxide, accounting for 95%, nitrogen accounting for 2~3%, argon accounting for 1~2%, carbon monoxide and oxygen accounting for about 0.1%, in addition to a very small amount of ozone and hydrogen, water vapor only accounts for about 0.01% on average.

Mars is much smaller than Earth, with a volume of only 0.15 and a mass of only 1/9 of Earth, and there are also four seasons on Mars, due to its orbit around the Sun for about 687 days (Earth time).

Mars has a diameter of 6779 km, a surface temperature of -63 °C (210 K), and an escape velocity of 5.027 km/s. On Earth, Mars is visible to the naked eye and can reach a magnitude of -2.9.

Mars is about 55 million kilometers away from Earth, and its farthest distance is more than 410 million kilometers.

Mars is basically a desert planet, with sand dunes and gravel on the surface, and dust storms occur frequently every year.

On July 31, 2008, NASA scientists announced that Martian soil contains water. On April 19, 2014, scientists discovered that there is a huge amount of water in the interior of Mars. The average atmospheric pressure on the surface of Mars is only about 7 millibars (less than 1% of Earth's).

Can humans land on Mars? The more reliable statement in the industry is around 2034.

Even NASA, which is more authoritative, only conservatively estimates that the Martian samples collected by Perseverance (which landed on Mars in 2020) will be transported back to Earth around 2031.

But Elon Musk, the CEO of private aviation company and CEO of SpaceX, is convinced that SpaceX could send a man to Mars in 2026.

Or even earlier.

He said in 2020 that the goal of landing on Mars would be achievable "about six years from now" and "maybe four years if we're lucky."

That is, between 2024-2026.

Of course, landing on Mars in 2024 and 2026 is very unrealistic.

Sure enough, by the beginning of 2028, there was still no progress on this matter.

Space exploration has greatly stimulated the interest of scientists.

Not only is the development momentum of state-owned rockets violent, but many private enterprises see huge business opportunities.

The most famous of these is the American private space company SpaceX.

State-owned rockets rank high for reliability, but the low price is a huge advantage for private companies.

Compared with state-owned companies, private companies are even bolder. It is designed to be able to take off vertically, land horizontally on ordinary airfields, and recover them.

Private scientists have many advantages, such as that they don't have so many rules and regulations.

In addition, the biggest difference between the private sector and the state is risk-taking. Generally speaking, if the probability of a successful launch is not 99%, then state-owned scientists are not willing to take this risk; As long as there are 50%, sometimes even 30% or 20%, they are willing to give it a try.

The rising stars in rocket launches are BIPU, MOMO.

BIPU companies, in particular, have been in the spotlight since 2027 when they launch the "Mars Project" (which we will highlight below).

In that plan, companies with no space experience recruited people with no space experience, conducted training, and carried out Mars landing missions.

Zheng Riqiang sighed and opened his email.

Over the years, due to living in different cities, his mobile phone number has changed many times, but this mailbox has not changed.

He received a mess of mail:

Urgent Notice: Your account is in a dangerous environment, please deal with it immediately.

What are the reasons for poor emotional and work luck?

And one more that shouldn't be spam:

re:Space exploration project registration form.

He remembered that six months ago, when he had just quit his job from the hospital and was looking for a job aimlessly day and night, he had signed up for the "Mars Project."

In fact, this "Mars Project" is a bit similar to the "Mars 1" project in 2013.

That year, an agency based in the Netherlands released a recruitment plan for permanent residents of Mars.

According to this plan, in 2023, through a series of selection and training, they will finally select 2 men and 2 women, a total of 4 people, among the applicants, to be sent to Mars to become the first inhabitants of Mars.

According to the budget, the budget for two men and two women to go to Mars will be as high as $6 billion, which is $3.5 billion more than NASA's Curiosity Mars exploration program.

The agency said it plans to raise the funds needed for the Mars settlement project through individual donations, corporate sponsorships, endorsement rights, rights sales, sale of broadcast rights, and more.

Candidates must be at least 18 years old, but not limited to ethnicity, gender, nationality, and educational background.

However, their registration fees have been widely complained about.

For example, the application fee for Chinese is $11, Qatar needs to pay $75, and Congo in Africa needs $5.

In fact, the registration fee is hundreds of thousands of dollars at best, which is a drop in the bucket compared to the billions of dollars required for the event.

But the unexplained fees did not dampen the enthusiasm of the people, and the program attracted enthusiastic participation, with more than 20,000 people from more than 100 countries signing up.

However, the matter is not settled.

Now, a company called BIPU has issued a recruitment order again: it is calling for astronauts to explore the universe.

This is the "Mars Project".

The solicitation order said: If you are in good health, understand science, know software, and dare to contribute, please join our team.

The candidates recruited must also be at least 18 years old, and there is no limit to ethnicity, gender, nationality, marital status, educational background, and this plan does not require a penny from beginning to end!

The important thing is said three times: it doesn't take a penny! It doesn't cost a penny! It doesn't cost a penny!

And!

Say the important thing three times: they still have subsidies! They also have subsidies! They also have subsidies!

To become a prospective astronaut, you will receive a grant of $500,000.

500,000!

USD!

BIPU is a well-known private enterprise in country A, involving P2P, online shopping, medicine, real estate, film and television and other businesses, with a market value of more than 1.6 trillion US dollars.

It is said that they have a controlling stake in one of China's largest online shopping platforms, Urala.

He has a lot of positive stories and a lot of negative stories. Legend has it that it bought a patent for a cure for cancer, and then the $142 per box turned into $5,180, which made it controversial.

This time, the "Mars Project" cost a lot of money, and most people were not optimistic about this "money-burning" project, and after the company proposed this plan, the company's stock price fell by 4% at one point, losing more than $64 billion in market value.

Thankfully, though, it rose back three months later.

The recruitment order also said that the agency will select some reliable ones as free inspection objects among the people who have signed up, enter the first phase of 48 people for intensive training, and get the second batch of 24 people, and then after intensive training and comprehensive examination, 12 reserve astronauts will be obtained.

Finally, in the first phase, send 2 or 3 people to explore Mars. These 2 will be produced out of these 12 people.

The most admirable thing about the solicitation is that it has never been shy about the difficulties of space exploration, unlike the "Mars-1" plan, which is as simple as going to Mars.

Finally, he said, many people may die in space exploration, and you need to be cautious when signing up.

But for those who want to escape the planet, death is not a problem at all.

Zheng Riqiang signed up without thinking about it.

In fact, he also looks at money, and it also means "one more way" and "seeking medical treatment in a hurry".

At that time, most of the cover letters sent out did not reply, and he was mistaken.

He didn't have much hope, but there was also a bit of luck, a bit like buying a lottery ticket, knowing that he wouldn't win, but he fantasized about it: "What if he wins".

What will be the result? Zheng Riqiang thought.

So, with trembling hands, I clicked on this mysterious email.

After a rough glance, suddenly he jumped up and shouted loudly: Yay!