The video had been filmed and transmitted by the portion of the spacecraft remaining in orbit. It was only one minute and fifty seconds long.
In the video, a hemispherical landing capsule separated from the Heart of Gold and fell toward Mars's thin atmosphere, trailing flickers of flame. Finally, it dwindled to a dot and vanished at the edge of the Martian atmosphere...
Just as Lu Zhou had predicted, immediately after the successful Mars landing, NASA announced the news on its official website and uploaded an edited version of the footage captured by the Heart of Gold.
What happened next was also entirely predictable.
In just ten minutes, the video, which ran less than two minutes in total, rocketed up the view rankings and reached the top three trending videos on YouTube.
After watching the footage, everyone in the conference room fell silent. Not a single person spoke.
After a long while, Chen Yunhai gave a light cough and broke the silence.
"We need to discuss a response-"
"There's nothing to discuss. I said from the beginning that all we need to do is focus on our own work."
Closing the notebook on the table, Lu Zhou turned to Academician Yuan Huanmin. After a moment's thought, he continued, "How much longer until the Moon Palace spacecraft's habitation module is ready?"
Academician Yuan hesitated before answering.
"It's already ready. The inspections will take another week."
"Then schedule the next launch for two weeks from now!" Lu Zhou stuffed his notebook into his bag and rose from the conference table. "Everyone, get back to work. Meeting adjourned!"
The Heart of Gold's successful landing won the United States enormous international prestige, and all of North America erupted in celebration.
The comment sections beneath the video NASA had posted on YouTube and its