Age of Cosmic Exploration

Chapter 411: Search

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The meeting ended with a 2/3 majority vote for the future development of the Hope and humanity... that was the Home Base Creation White Manifesto.

The contents of the book were numerous and varied, including the development of many different sections. The first step was to search for an isolated but not barren solar system. There were, of course, many criteria to the selected solar system. For one, it shouldn’t be too close to the center of the galaxy, because that would be the congregation of civilizations, and that might pose danger to humanity.

The sun of the solar system had to be a healthy sun. In other words, it had to be stable and not something like a red giant. It had to be stable and wouldn’t lead to any cosmic catastrophe in the next hundred or thousand years.

The number of planets within the system had to be more than five and at least two or more had to have meteorite belts. These would provide the materials needed by humanity for innumerable years.

The white manifesto was separated into many different sections, such as the plan for the building of Kun Lun, the building of Space Combat Jets, the expansion of the Defense Unit, increase of population, specialization of work, new education policy, cultivation of arts, and much more.

This manifesto was the collective work of relevant experts. It took almost a month to be compiled. In fact, most of the contents had been brought up years ago and this was merely a categorization process to make it official. The manifesto was demarcated into five big categories: selection of solar system, construction of military, construction of politics, construction of civilian technology, and the last category was confidential, as in it was something hidden from normal civilians.

The fifth category was... the New Solar System defense plan.

Of course, these were far-fetched plans for humanity. According to current situation, completing the first step would take at least 10 years. That included selecting the appropriate solar system, building a simple Shelter, and creating the first of humanity’s spaceship fleet.

After the manifesto was passed, it was time for the crucial first step, selecting a suitable solar system from the ones near the Hope.

"If the star path is 0, and horizontal as X, vertical as Y, 3D depth as Z, our current location is X31-Y17-Z42. We are at the fringe edge of the galaxy, so there are extremely few solar systems around us. From the result of the surveillance, the next closest solar system is about 0.32 light years away.

"Other observable systems are at least 50 light years away. We can still reach them using warp drive, but we’ll be threatening the ship’s supplies. Our surveillance also found out that three of the solar systems have some issues. One of them has a red giant, another is in an unstable state, and the third has a binary sun. Other than these three, the remaining solar systems fit our criteria.

"We conducted more detailed analysis and 8 solar systems remained, but unfortunately... the solar system closest to us only has 3 terrestrial planets even though it has 5 asteroid clusters. Other than that, since this solar system is closest to us, the surveillance result came back to be the most complete... One of the planets is very interesting, I believe everyone here will be interested in it."

On the fifth day of the manifesto, the Hope had scanned all the nearby solar systems and had gathered for a result-sharing meeting.

In the meeting, Alan was giving his report. A 3D image was projected behind him.

It was a planet that seemed to have a red surface. Using electromagnetic resonance technique, the Hope had captured all of its grandeur.

Alan pointed at the planet and said rather excitedly, "If compared to our old solar system, this planet will be between Earth and Mars. The general temperature of the planet’s equator in the morning is about 30 degrees and it is negative 30 degrees at night. Everyone, do not be alarmed by the low temperature because in reality, for such a lifeless and dry planet, such a temperature is already quite sustainable for life to be born.

"At the same time, the electromagnetic resonance detected that the planet has an atmosphere. The air contains a large amount of carbon dioxide and trace amounts of carbon monoxide, noble gases, as well as oxygen and water vapor. In fact, we found small regions of ice layer at the planet’s opposite poles. Granted most of it is dry ice, according to the prediction of the Academy, this is a sign that the planet has underground water. In fact, this planet has the conditions to be a life-preserving planet, but whether it is one is still unknown. Perhaps we’ll need to land there to find out."

Alan could barely suppress his excitement at this point. He continued, "Instead of quantity, we should be focused on quality. You asked for a solar system with more than five terrestrial planets, but if most of them are at the edge of the solar system, like our Neptune, what is the point? Honestly, with the asteroid clusters available in the solar system alone, it can sustain humanity for more than 1,000 years. Therefore, isn’t transforming a planet into a life-preserving planet a better option instead?

"For example, this planet, after we confirm that it has no life, we can start the transformation at its equator by creating one or even more cities. By introducing green to the planet and diverting the underground water to create lakes or mini oceans, we’ll slowly transform the planet’s weather and atmosphere...

"We’ve lost our home, but does this mean we cannot rebuild a new home?!"

Alan’s plea resounded with the room and he was rewarded with a thunderous applause. Indeed, creating a new home and ending the aimless wandering through space... wasn’t that the dream of most human beings?

Yao Yuan, who was also present, smiled. He leaned to Bo Li beside him and said, "Who would have thought that Alan had such a talent in giving speeches... By the way, how is the Academy’s inspection coming along?"

Bo Li shook her head emotionlessly. "There’s nothing out of the ordinary, but this planet is actually not as good as he made it out to be... Well, it’s not objectively bad, but it isn’t fit for human habitation. This is because the gravity of the planet is 1.7 times Earth’s gravity. Those with weak constitution will feel the extra weight. In fact, many would end up indisposed. He was clever not to bring that up, and transforming the planet into a place suitable for humans to live is going to be more difficult than it sounds."

Yao Yuan smiled. "Perfection doesn’t exist in the world. If there is really such a perfect planet for human habitation, then at most we will be able to stay there for 3 years. In that case, I’d rather we terraform a new planet. It is extremely difficult to find a suitable planet for the purpose of terraforming, but we humans are truly lucky. For those with a weak constitution, we can have them undergo months of training in the space station first before allowing them to land on the planet. After all, it is a poor man’s dream that we will have a perfectly wonderful planet handed to us just like that!"

Bo Li didn’t reply and sat there listening to him. Yao Yuan scratched his nose helplessly before saying, "Since the Academy already has some ideas, then they should bring them up at the House of Representatives. No matter the result, we will still enter this solar system, even just for supply mining. If the place is truly not suitable, we will move onto another solar system."

Due to the united front put on by the Academy, the criteria in the manifesto where the solar system needed to have more than 5 terrestrial planets was overruled. The Academy suggested that they use this closest solar system instead and rebuild humanity’s home on this planet itself. This kind of opportunity couldn’t be missed. They wished to make this solar system the New Solar System.

Alan’s presentation lit up the fire among the citizens of the Hope. They didn’t care about a solar system having more than 5 terrestrial planets, they only knew that the chance of finding a suitable planet for terraforming was less than one over one million. Therefore, the civilians were leaning towards the Academy.

The will of the people was reflected in the House of Representatives. Since the representatives were voted in by the people, they had no choice but to submit to the will of their constituents...

The solar system closest to the Hope was 0.32 light years away, so they would reach there in days using warp drive. Whether it was suitable to be the New Solar System or not would have to be seen when they were there. Thus...

The Hope entered warp drive, heading towards the solar system!