In all his years in the Astronaut Corps, Liang Youcheng had attended countless mobilization meetings, but this was the first time he had felt so stirred.
"...Turn the wilderness there into fertile fields, and the deserts into oases!"
Academician Lu's words had struck him straight in the heart, setting the blood coursing through his entire body on fire.
It was as though something etched deep into his bones had been awakened by that voice.
That innate sense of purpose urged him to spread order and prosperity to places even farther away!
Clearly, Liang Youcheng was not the only one whose heart was surging.
Academician Lu had barely left Biosphere A when the news that the Mars landing plan would begin within the month spread throughout the research base.
It was not that anyone had leaked the news. There had never been any deliberate attempt to keep it secret. In fact, long before Lu Zhou arrived in the desert, media outlets such as Renren Daily had already begun laying the groundwork and building publicity for the plan.
CCTV's science and education program, in particular, had produced a three-episode special titled Humanity's Future Home. They had invited Academician Yuan Huanmin of the Aerospace Science Research Institute to explain to the general public Hua Nation's blueprint for space exploration over the next twenty years, as well as the practical significance and promising future of building a scientific research station on Mars and a space base at the Lagrange Point.
Thus, almost on the very afternoon Biosphere A opened, reporters stationed in the Gurbantunggut Desert spread the news to every corner of the country through their cameras and microphones!
Almost every newspaper in sight carried a headline about the same thing!
Beijing Evening News: [Biosphere A Opens! Artificial Biosphere Research Enters a New Era!]