Exploring the Ice World

After more than a month of preparations, Su Xiaoyu finally concluded discussions with the Ministry of Aerospace headquarters and chose an ice field on Europa's far side as the landing site.

Once the landing site had been set, Su Xiaoyu issued the landing command. What happened afterward could only rely on the lander's own intelligent system.

That was the damned frustration of communication delays.

At an altitude of 286 kilometers above Europa, when the Pieris orbited to the designated position, the probe's intelligent system immediately activated the landing thrusters.

Pale red flames propelled the lander toward Europa's far side.

Fortunately, Europa's gravity was low. Even after being captured by its gravity, the lander's speed did not rapidly increase, instead gliding slowly and diagonally toward the surface.

The auxiliary engines also activated three times in succession during the descent, constantly adjusting its flight attitude and speed.

One absolutely could not rush a landing on Europa, because the closer one got to its surface, the higher the oxygen concentration became. In an oxygen-rich environment, even the tiniest spark could set metal ablaze.

Although the Pieris lander had accounted for Europa's oxygen-rich atmosphere before it was designed, abandoning its previous hydrogen-oxygen engines in favor of nitrogen-based fuel.

Its protective layer had also been made with a series of flame-retardant materials, but the oxygen-rich environment was still far too troublesome, and thorough preparations were essential.

Finally, after braking with the auxiliary engines for the fourth time, the lander reached a point 200 meters above the ground.

At that moment, the lander released a large amount of powder. The powder reacted with the surrounding oxygen and rapidly formed a vast mass of aerogel foam, wrapping the entire lander inside.

With the aerogel foam cushioning it, the lander safely touched down on the ice.

Before long,