Chapter Summaries

Lu Zhou visited Li Gaoliang during his rehabilitation and explained the risks and limits of the neural-interface surgery, then reassured him that he could return to his unit. By June, the investigation into the attack remained stalled, while Lu Zhou appeared on the preliminary candidate lists for both academies.

• Lu Zhou visited Li Gaoliang in the rehabilitation room and learned that he was walking with the aid of parallel bars and recovering smoothly.
• Li Gaoliang asked whether other paralyzed people could receive the surgery, and Lu Zhou warned him that his own success had been unlikely and the technology still required testing.
• Li Gaoliang asked about leaving the military, but Lu Zhou told him he could return to his unit and have a chance at revenge.
• Lu Zhou learned from Wang Peng that investigators had not identified the organization behind the attack, though they believed its backers had considerable resources.
• In June, the Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering published preliminary academician candidate lists that included Lu Zhou.

The Heart of Gold reached Mars and began its landing with Jason, Jones, and Taiwei aboard. Back on Earth, Lu Zhou showed officials a YouTube video confirming the landing had succeeded.

• Jason, Jones, and Taiwei prepared for landing as the Heart of Gold approached Mars.
• Jason initiated the landing sequence, and the crew felt the spacecraft descend toward the planet.
• The FAST Project Team detected a ten-minute artificial signal from Mars and reported that the Heart of Gold had likely entered orbit.
• Lu Zhou told the briefing that the signal was probably a video of the landing and showed the crew’s video on YouTube.

After the Heart of Gold landed on Mars, Lu Zhou dismissed discussion of NASA’s success and kept the Moon Palace habitation module launch schedule unchanged. As the United States celebrated and announced plans for its Martian colony, Director Carson told the president that the colonists had run into trouble.

• NASA released footage of the Heart of Gold landing on Mars, and Lu Zhou ordered the next Moon Palace spacecraft launch scheduled for two weeks later.
• The United States celebrated the landing, while Space-X and NASA promoted the Ares Program and named the Martian colony New Virginia.
• NASA announced plans for the colonists to survey Martian resources and search for groundwater.
• Lu Zhou kept the Moon Palace habitation module schedule unchanged as the project faced renewed public and industry debate.
• Director Carson visited the president and reported that the Martian colonists had run into trouble.

Jason filmed the sixth episode of Mars Diary during a dust storm, showing viewers how the colonists passed their time inside New Virginia. As Jason tried to reassure a frustrated Taiwei, NASA Ground Control Center descended into chaos over the possibility that the global storm could last more than half a year.

• Jason described how New Virginia had weathered earlier problems and made Mars Diary popular by presenting an upbeat view of colony life.
• Jason filmed the colony’s communal area, showing Taiwei playing VR games and Jones reading beside the coffee machine.
• Jason ended filming beside the Mars rover, and Taiwei complained that the show did nothing to improve his mood.
• Jason comforted Taiwei and promised they could drive out after the storm, while recalling that Taiwei had requested an indoor assignment.
• NASA Ground Control Center descended into chaos as the dust storm threatened to last more than half a year.

A global dust storm trapped the Mars colonists without enough supplies or power, prompting the president to demand an emergency plan from NASA. Lu Zhou learned that Mars was facing a global dust storm after Hou Guang brought him the observatory’s new findings.

• The president berated Director Carson over the colonists’ lack of storm preparations and ordered him to produce a survival plan within twenty-four hours and execute it within seventy-two.
• The vice president reminded the president that he had demanded the space program establish an advantage quickly, no matter the cost.
• Lu Zhou read news about New Virginia and reviewed a decrypted communication between the Heart of Gold and NASA Ground Command Center.
• Xiao Ai told Lu Zhou that it had decrypted File No. 0001, which contained little useful information.
• Hou Guang told Lu Zhou that the Qianzhou Radio Astronomy Observatory had detected a global dust storm on Mars.

Lu Zhou learned that a global dust storm had struck Mars and ordered continued monitoring while Xiao Ai decrypted the newest communications file first. He then met ESA director Owens, who backed the Moon Palace era and proposed that Europe and Hua Nation jointly develop lunar resources and build a Moon Village.

• Hou Guang told Lu Zhou that Mars was experiencing an unusually early global dust storm, and Lu Zhou ordered the Qianzhou Radio Astronomy Observatory to keep monitoring it.
• Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai to prioritize cracking the communications file with the latest serial number.
• Lu Zhou met European Space Agency director Owens at the Jinling Aerospace Launch Center for a public discussion of lunar cooperation.
• Owens described the coming Space 4.0 era as the lunar and Moon Palace era, explaining that Europe was not yet able to participate in the Ares Program.
• Owens proposed that Europe and Hua Nation jointly develop lunar resources and build a Moon Village, and Lu Zhou agreed that their sides were ready to reach a consensus.

Lu Zhou met with Owens to discuss lunar development as Hua Nation and the European Union announced a consensus, while New Virginia’s worsening Mars crisis remained hidden from the public. Back at the Jinling Institute, Lu Zhou received a decrypted file containing a distress signal.

• Lu Zhou and Owens discussed the future Moon Village and space resource development, and Owens invited Lu Zhou to a symposium in Bragg.
• News spread that Hua Nation and the European Union had agreed on lunar resource development, including recognition of Hua Nation’s law protecting its domestic companies’ interests.
• SpaceX suspended Mars Diary and Elon Musk announced that a BFR rocket would carry an experimental module and selected letters to Mars.
• NASA Director Carson considered sending supplies to New Virginia or moving the colonists to the orbiting BFS, but neither option could reach them before their resources ran out.
• Xiao Ai decrypted file number 0021, and Lu Zhou opened it and found the word “Help.”

Lu Zhou and Chen Yunhai discussed using the SOS signal from Mars to pressure the United States into rescuing the New Virginia colonists. The chapter ended as the U.S. president learned that news of the colony’s danger had leaked through Renren Daily.

• Lu Zhou told Chen Yunhai that they had deciphered an SOS signal from Mars and suggested it could create an opportunity for Hua Nation.
• Chen Yunhai warned that the United States would likely refuse outside help, but Lu Zhou proposed leaking that the astronauts could still be saved.
• At NASA headquarters, Director Carson told the president that a rescue mission would take at least three months and had only a fifty percent chance of success.
• The president ordered Carson to reassure the colonists that NASA was working to rescue them, concealing their slim chances of survival.
• A White House secretary informed the president that the New Virginia crisis had leaked, and the president saw Renren Daily’s front-page report on the Martian dust storm.

A Mars-wide dust storm threatened to cut off power to the New Virginia colony, and news of NASA’s concealment sparked public outrage and diplomatic pressure. As Director Carson faced the crisis, Lu Zhou called with orbital-transfer calculations and asked whether he had heard of an Electric Propulsion System.

• The Renren Daily reported that the Martian dust storm could reduce sunlight and leave the New Virginia colonists with only about two months of oxygen, triggering public anger and a steep fall in Ares Program applications.
• Director Carson faced reporters outside NASA and insisted that the colonists were safe, though the public doubted his claims.
• Carson’s secretary told him that the Netherlands and France were pressing NASA for answers, while Carson realized there was no practical rescue plan.
• Carson entered NASA’s command center and received a video call from Lu Zhou in Jinling, Hua Nation.
• Lu Zhou told Carson that the available orbital-transfer window had passed, pointed him to his calculations on arXiv, and asked whether Carson had heard of an Electric Propulsion System.

Lu Zhou confronted Carson with intercepted SOS signals from the stranded New Virginia astronauts and pressured the United States to authorize a rescue. After Carson went to seek the president’s decision, Lu Zhou prepared Hua Nation’s rescue mission and dealt with an attempted Trojan attack.

• Carson refused Lu Zhou’s offer to rescue New Virginia, but Lu Zhou revealed that Hua Nation had intercepted the astronauts’ SOS signals.
• Lu Zhou warned Carson that the distress calls could be made public and ended the call, forcing Carson to go to the White House for a decision.
• Lu Zhou planned to release the communications data and have the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee announce a humanitarian rescue if the United States did not respond.
• Xiao Ai alerted Lu Zhou to a Trojan attempt, and he told it to handle the attack and teach the sender a restrained lesson.
• Lu Zhou ordered Hou Guang to calculate a fast Moon-to-Mars transfer orbit and prepare Rosy Glow for the rescue without waiting for the United States.

After the White House requested help rescuing the stranded Mars colonists, Hua Nation dispatched the Rosy Glow within fifteen minutes and publicly reported the operation. The rescue drew praise for Hua Nation and scrutiny of NASA, while Director Carson received a $1.7 billion bill and learned that Hua Nation had released a documentary called Mars Rescue.

• Xu Zhenghong and Liu Biao prepared the Rosy Glow to change course and wait for further instructions about the Americans.
• The White House formally requested rescue assistance, and the Rosy Glow departed for Mars after refueling at Moon Palace.
• The Lunar Orbital Construction Committee held a press conference, and Hua Nation's rapid response contrasted with NASA's delays and shifted public opinion.
• The White House announced it would pay the rescue costs, and NASA received a $1.7 billion bill.
• Carson learned that Hua Nation's official media had released a documentary called Mars Rescue.

Lu Zhou learned that the United States had paid one billion dollars toward the Mars rescue, and Director Li proposed claiming Hua Nation had covered the remaining costs. At NASA, the president ordered plans to destroy the BFS spacecraft after Rosy Glow reached Mars orbit so Hua Nation could not obtain its technology, despite the risk of losing contact with New Virginia.

• Director Li told Lu Zhou that the United States had transferred one billion dollars instead of the quoted 1.7 billion, and Lu Zhou admitted he had expected them to bargain.
• Lu Zhou said the rescue had cost only two or three hundred million dollars, but Director Li suggested claiming Hua Nation contributed 713 million dollars and made the total cost appear more precise.
• At NASA headquarters, the president asked Director Carson about New Virginia and learned the colonists remained stable and were preparing the return capsule.
• The president agreed with Boeing's proposal to deliberately crash BFS after Rosy Glow reached Mars orbit to keep Hua Nation from accessing its advanced equipment.
• Director Carson warned that destroying BFS would cut communications with New Virginia, but the president dismissed the concern and invoked the colonists' sacrifice.

After arriving at Mars, Xu Zhenghong and Liu Biao discovered that the American BFS spacecraft was falling as the stranded crew's supplies ran out. Just as the Americans feared they would die, Xu Zhenghong established contact with them.

• The Rosy Glow reached Mars orbit, and Xu Zhenghong prepared to recover the Americans from their Life-Support Unit before heading home.
• Xu Zhenghong spotted the BFS spacecraft falling and reported the emergency to Ground Command.
• With their crops dead and energy nearly exhausted, Jones, Jason, and Taiwei argued over whether anyone would rescue them.
• A fireball appeared outside the Life-Support Unit, the BFS connection failed, and the crew feared they were doomed.
• The terminal received a connection request, and Jason answered Xu Zhenghong, who asked whether the crew was all right.

After the BFS spacecraft crashed near New Virginia, Lu Zhou arranged for the Rosy Glow to offer the stranded colonists a way home in exchange for recovering the spacecraft’s black box and collecting samples. Jason reluctantly accepted the mission, deciding that cooperating with the Hua Nation was their only chance to return to their families.

• Lu Zhou learned that the BFS spacecraft had plunged into the Martian atmosphere and asked Hou Guang to estimate its crash site relative to New Virginia.
• Hou Guang marked the likely crash zone about thirty kilometers from New Virginia, and Lu Zhou ordered the Rosy Glow to contact the colonists and offer them passage home for a fee.
• Xu Zhenghong contacted Jason, asked him to activate the data transmission system, and instructed the colonists to recover the BFS black box and collect designated samples.
• Jason objected that a dust storm made the trip dangerous, but Xu Zhenghong warned that their return capsule's recovery might depend on their cooperation.
• Taiwei urged Jason to accept the Hua Nation's demands, and Jason ordered the rover prepared because he needed to get home to his wife and children.

Xu Zhenghong’s crew sent Jason to retrieve the BFS black box in exchange for rescue, and Jason returned with it so the stranded colonists could launch their return capsule. The Rosy Glow recovered all three astronauts, and the rescue’s success was announced in Jinling City.

• Above Mars, Xu Zhenghong told Liu Biao that the Hua Nation crew would still rescue the colonists even if they failed to find the requested item.
• Jason traveled to the BFS crash site, collected spacecraft samples, and recovered the green black-box case from the wreckage.
• Jason returned to the Life-Support Unit and told Jones and Taiwei that they had obtained their ticket home.
• The three colonists launched the return capsule, which reached orbit and was captured by the Rosy Glow.
• The Lunar Orbital Construction Committee announced that the rescue had succeeded and all three astronauts had survived.

After the Rosy Glow returned from Mars, a documentary about the rescue sparked widespread praise for Hua Nation and the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee. Lu Zhou and Director Li discussed the recovered BFS black box and agreed on a way to handle it, while Lu Zhou wondered whether something he had dropped into Mars orbit had landed.

• Before the Rosy Glow departed Mars orbit, Xu Zhenghong used a key beneath the control console to eject a black dot toward the planet, and Liu Biao glimpsed something outside.
• The Rosy Glow recovered the return capsule, and cameras recorded the rescue for a documentary that CCTV later aired and released online.
• The documentary drew public praise for the rescue and the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee, along with debate about the rescue’s cost.
• Lu Zhou told Director Li that Hua Nation needed to seize the high ground of public opinion, and Director Li agreed that change would take time.
• Director Li asked about the BFS black box, and Lu Zhou suggested copying its data and returning the original; Director Li proposed sending it with an accident assessment report.
• After Director Li left, Lu Zhou checked his phone and wondered whether the object he had asked the Rosy Glow’s captain to leave in Mars orbit had landed.

Lu Zhou activated the Crawler all-terrain survey vehicle on Mars and sent it into the ruins of New Virginia’s Life-Support Unit. After it retrieved the waiting laboratory data, he examined the files and found something surprising.

• Lu Zhou asked Xiao Ai about the Crawler and ordered it activated for a survey of New Virginia.
• The Crawler awakened on Mars and drove through a sandstorm toward the Life-Support Unit while Lu Zhou monitored its delayed camera feed.
• The Crawler entered the damaged Life-Support Unit and traveled through its storage and experimental areas.
• The Crawler connected to the laboratory console and transmitted the packaged research data back to Lu Zhou.
• Lu Zhou reviewed the files, became serious, and remarked that they were interesting.

Lu Zhou explored the New Virginia Life-Support Unit and used its rock samples to map nearby resources, finding methane vents and a suspected shallow underground ice deposit. He then contacted Professor Hu about data he needed to hand over in person, confirming that it concerned the Spark Plan.

• Lu Zhou downloaded the Life-Support Unit data and unlocked the sample storage room.
• Lu Zhou directed Xiao Ai to scan the rock samples and generate a resource map around New Virginia.
• Lu Zhou found two intermittent methane vents and a suspected shallow underground ice deposit on the map.
• Lu Zhou instructed Xiao Ai to investigate the suspected ice deposit after finishing the colony ruins survey.
• Lu Zhou copied the Life-Support Unit data and called Professor Hu at the Shangjing Hua Academy Space Research Institute.
• Lu Zhou invited Professor Hu to the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study and confirmed that the information concerned the Spark Plan.

Lu Zhou gave Hu Yang data from Mars to help restart the stalled Spark Plan, while the Queqiao spacecraft began a new era of cargo transport between Earth and the Moon. The Rosy Glow continued its return journey from Mars, and the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee considered using the International Space Station as a transfer hub.

• Lu Zhou handed Hu Yang Mars data for the Spark Plan, warning that taking it could put him on the CIA's list.
• Hu Yang accepted the data and returned to Shangjing, where he formed an independent team to study it.
• The Rosy Glow entered its return trajectory from Mars to Earth, and public discussion of the rescue operation began to fade.
• Six astronauts took up residence in the completed first phase of the Moon Palace spacecraft.
• The Queqiao spacecraft launched aboard a Long March 9 rocket, increasing cargo capacity along the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.
• The Lunar Orbital Construction Committee considered leasing an International Space Station node to serve as a supply-transfer hub.

Lu Zhou proposed a lunar mining project to support Moon Palace construction and meet the Earth-Moon Control mission’s resource goals. After experts backed a feasibility study, the Elder Council approved the project.

• Lu Zhou presented Hou Guang with a proposal for automated mining of shallow lunar deposits, and Hou Guang agreed to study it with specialists.
• Lu Zhou explained that lunar mining would support the Moon Palace spacecraft’s next phase and help fulfill a mission to produce titanium alloy and collect rare-earth ore.
• Lu Zhou said the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee had begun feasibility studies and that Shenyang Machine Tool and major aerospace groups would join the project.
• Hou Guang accepted responsibility for overseeing the work and assured Lu Zhou that his institute could handle the research team.
• Director Li reported that Academician Yuan and Academician Yang Zhongquan supported trying the project, and the elder signed and stamped his approval.