Strategic Shift

August 8, 2018.

Far side of the Moon, Mendeleev City.

It was currently the lunar daytime on the far side of the Moon. An 8,500-ton Vanguard-class Spacecraft shot into the sky from here.

This was the third spacecraft of its class. It had originally been intended for next year's crewed Mars landing program, to transport supplies to the Mars base.

However, after the Federation readjusted its space development strategy, Mars's importance in the new strategy had declined considerably.

Venus and the Asteroid Belt, on the other hand, had risen greatly in priority, essentially reaching the same level as Mars.

Therefore, Vanguard-class No. 003 had been reassigned to the Venus exploration program.

Venus was actually the planet closest to Blue Star. The minimum distance between them was only 41 million kilometers, more than ten million kilometers less than the minimum distance between Mars and Blue Star.

In the early stages of exploring the Solar System, humanity had also regarded Venus as a key target.

But after numerous probes, Venus's harsh environment had caused humanity to abandon the planet and focus its efforts on Mars instead.

Just how harsh was Venus's environment?

Its average temperature was 462 degrees Celsius. Its average atmospheric pressure was 92 times that of Blue Star, while carbon dioxide made up a staggering 96% of its atmosphere.

In addition, Venus's atmosphere contained a dense layer of sulfuric acid clouds.

Volcanic eruptions within the planet were extremely frequent. Together with the dense carbon dioxide atmosphere, they created a terrifying greenhouse effect, which was why Venus's surface had remained so hot for so long.

Did this environment sound somewhat familiar?

That was right. The surface of Venus was like hell itself.

The Federation had not paid much attention to Venus before, but its aerospace transport capacity was immense. Even if