December 2029, Rocket City, Sazhou, Bright Country
For decades, the Bright Country Space Administration had launched countless spacecraft and probes. Its exploration goals had gradually shifted from visiting every planet in the Solar System to focusing on celestial bodies with greater potential for development and utilization, such as the Moon, Mars, and the asteroid belt.
As early as 2023, when the Lingguang probe was launched toward Lingshen Star, plans to explore other asteroids in the belt were already underway.
This August, after the Lingguang was accidentally destroyed, members of the project team, including Daphne Braun, persuaded the space agency's senior officials to modify a probe originally intended to visit other asteroids and redirect it to Lingshen Star. The probe was named Lingguang II.
The Acebe Company, led by Michael Max, also adjusted and improved its new rocket to support the launch of Lingguang II.
Michael claimed that his new rocket had greater thrust, allowing the Lingguang II probe to enter orbit more accurately and quickly, and to achieve a higher initial velocity.
The launch site was packed with people. A VIP lounge had been set up on the second floor of the control center, and Prince Harufa had traveled a great distance with Irene to experience the allure of aerospace technology up close.
As expected, the launch of Lingguang II was a great success. Once the probe had entered orbit, Michael's mission was complete.
Daphne Braun was brimming with anticipation for Lingguang II, as happy as a child. Excitedly, she went with Michael to meet Prince Harufa.
"Mr. Max, congratulations on the successful launch! This is my first time witnessing a rocket launch in person. It's completely different from watching it on TV—it really is spectacular," said Prince Harufa.
Irene didn't know much about astronomy, but she too had been awed by the roar at the launch site. Remembering the Enceladus spacecraft Michael had mentioned before, she asked,
"What's the Enceladus spacecraft you mentioned last time doing now? Can we see any images of it?"
At her reminder, Prince Harufa also turned to Michael with a curious look.
"The spacecraft has reached the Saturn System and is conducting an experiment above the Saturn Ring." Michael smiled at Professor Braun's daughter, Daphne, then continued, "Next month, it'll land on the surface of Enceladus and begin preparations for another experimental program."
"What experiment? When will it begin?" Daphne remembered Martha telling her that Michael's experiment might destroy the Saturn Ring.
"The experiment is scheduled for August 22, 2030," Michael replied.
"Such a precise date? Is there anything special about that day?" Irene asked.
Daphne Braun had a solid grasp of astronomy. Her colleagues said it was as if she had a celestial globe spinning in her head: give her any point in time, and she could quickly tell you where the major planets were in the sky.
August 22, 2030, Daphne thought. That was the date of a special celestial alignment. With the Sun at the center, Saturn would be in the four o'clock direction, Regulus in the ten o'clock direction, Jupiter in the sixteen o'clock direction, and Earth in the twenty-two o'clock direction.
In other words, Jupiter and Saturn would be in opposition, as would Regulus and Earth. Daphne had given this celestial alignment a name: "Four Feet Up."
Daphne had read a paper arguing that solar activity intensified when Jupiter and Saturn were in opposition, and that disasters such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions on Earth increased accordingly.
Jupiter and Saturn came into opposition roughly every twenty years. The last time was March 11, 2011, when Fusheng Nation was struck by a devastating earthquake measuring nearly nine on the Richter scale.
Daphne didn't know that her father, Professor Braun, had commissioned Michael to measure the angular velocities of the different rings by scattering markers across the Saturn Ring. The experiment would determine whether the law of universal gravitation or Nikola Tesla's theory of gravity was correct.
What she knew even less was that, after the spacecraft landed on Enceladus's equator, Michael planned to aim a counterweight device at Saturn's center. A Carbon Fiber Tube more than 170,000 kilometers long would connect the device to the spacecraft.
Stretched taut directly above multiple rings of Saturn, it would absorb the full wavelength of Superluminal waves. As it heated up, it would continuously absorb water vapor from the melting ice in the rings below, which would then condense on its surface.
The heat absorbed by this intricate structure, more than 170,000 kilometers long, and the water vapor it accumulated would continuously increase in a self-reinforcing cycle. The Carbon Fiber Tube would grow "thicker and thicker," and the first Superlight Wave Power Station in human history would be built on distant Enceladus.
This experimental power station would give Michael's team invaluable construction experience, serving as a prelude to Michael's ambitious Mars terraforming plan.
Of course, persuading potential investors—such as Prince Harufa, who stood before him—was just as important to Michael. Once the Enceladus station was built, some of its heat would be channeled into the core beneath Enceladus's icy crust. The liquid water inside would heat up and erupt as water vapor in the form of ice volcanoes.
Enceladus already had the highest reflectivity of any body in the Solar System, with a geometric albedo of up to 138 percent. On August 22, 2030, when Saturn and Jupiter were in opposition, Superluminal wave diffraction would intensify behind Enceladus's orbit. Its ice volcanoes would erupt more violently, enveloping Enceladus in an even larger cloud of water vapor. Its extraordinarily high reflectivity would make it look like an "Ice Lantern" lit up in the Solar System.
When the time came, Michael would invite his investors—including Prince Harufa—to view the "Ice Lantern" with ordinary amateur telescopes. If Superluminal waves were powerful enough to light up an icy moon, then they could surely reshape Mars in a similarly astonishing way.
Lighting up the "Ice Lantern" was one of the reasons Michael had chosen to build the first Superlight Wave Power Station on Enceladus. It was essentially a roadshow to raise the astronomical sum needed for the Mars terraforming project.
Michael and Daphne had a wonderful evening. Even on the drive back, they couldn't stop talking excitedly.
Michael sat in the back of the self-driving electric car made by his own company, a Nikola. He reached out to gently stroke Daphne's long blonde hair and said tenderly,
"Do you know? We spent just a few short months fine-tuning the rocket for the launch of Lingguang II. In my heart, it was the most romantic gift I could give you."
Daphne was overjoyed. After hesitating for a moment, she turned to look Michael in the eye and said,
"Michael, you know me so well. Lingguang II really is the best gift you could have given me. I have a gift for you, too. I'm pregnant."
Michael was overcome with delight. He instinctively loosened his tight embrace around Daphne and cried out happily,
"Wow, that's wonderful! Looks like I'll have to give you special protection from now on."
Daphne pressed her lips together, unable to hide her happy smile. As if remembering something, she asked,
"Michael, Martha told me that your Enceladus experiment might destroy the Saturn Ring. Is that true?"
"Darling, I signed a confidentiality agreement. I can't tell you the details of the experiment. Our team has run multiple computer simulations. There are risks, but the probability of anything going wrong is very low. It should be fine."
"Michael, I want to make this absolutely clear: no one has the right to destroy the Saturn Ring. I don't care how low the risk is. Even a one percent chance—or one in ten thousand—is unacceptable."
Daphne's phone vibrated. She opened it and saw a message from Martha. It read:
"Please pass this interview outline on to Michael. Before publishing anything, I'd like to confirm a few questions with him first."
Michael Max looked over the interview outline Martha had sent. It read: Is the purpose of the Enceladus spacecraft launched by your company to test Nikola Tesla's theory of Superluminal waves?
Are you planning to build a Superlight Wave Power Station suspended above the Saturn Ring? After parts of the Saturn Ring melt from the heat, is there a risk it could collapse?
Michael withdrew his arm from around Daphne, crossed his arms over his chest, and leaned back against the seat, his face tense.
"What is Martha talking about? Are you really going to conduct that so-called Superluminal wave experiment? Could it partially melt the Saturn Ring—or even blow it apart?" Daphne asked.
Michael sighed helplessly. "These reporters really do leave no stone unturned. I have to stop her from publishing this, or the secrets involved could cause an uproar. It looks like I'll have to suspend my experimental plans."
Daphne didn't know what to say for a moment. She thought it over, then asked,
"So what are you going to tell Martha?"
Michael pondered for a moment, then composed a message:
"Hello, Martha! I assure you that the so-called experiment you mentioned will not be carried out for the time being. Please make sure not to publish anything about it. In return for your help, I promise to give you exclusive access to the results of another experiment related to gravitational theory."
A poem pieced together from lines:
At first sight, the heavens formed a cross, Song dynasty, Zhao Fan
A rainbow bridge curled across the long waves. Qing dynasty, Xuan Ye
Such grandeur is the way of all things, Yuan dynasty, Liu Jiangsun
Strange sights abound in the reflections of water and starlight. Tang dynasty, Zhou Tan
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