For the academic community of Hua Nation, June was the month when the preliminary list of candidates for academy membership was announced.
Meanwhile, June also marked the third month since the Heart of Gold had launched...
In deep space, tens of millions of kilometers from Earth, a silver-white spacecraft moved steadily forward.
Against the backdrop of the distant sun and the fiery red planet close at hand, its steady progress seemed as slow as a snail's crawl. In reality, however, it was traveling at nearly four kilometers per second.
Four days earlier, it had been traveling even faster. Its current speed was the result of nearly ninety hours of active deceleration after being captured by Mars's gravity.
Floating inside the cabin, Jason stared at the fiery red planet beyond the window for a long time, a triumphant smile curling his lips.
"Mars! God, we finally made it!"
Holding a digital camera, Jones took a picture of the fiery red planet. Beside the window, she let out an awed sigh as well.
"...It's absolutely beautiful!"
Four days earlier, the BFS spacecraft carrying the Colonial Module had successfully separated from the BFR rocket, entered Mars's gravitational field, and begun orbiting the planet along an elliptical trajectory.
Now, after a long period of active deceleration and several complex orbital maneuvers, the BFR crewed spacecraft named the Heart of Gold had finally approached the upper reaches of the Martian atmosphere.
This was the end of their journey.
It would also be the starting point for human civilization's march toward the stars!
"When are we landing?" Taiwei glanced at the planet outside the window and muttered, "Floating up here gives me the creeps."
Unlike Jason, who dreamed of becoming another Columbus, and even more unlike Jones, who had signed up for the Ares Program simply