Chapter 2, Mo Yu

Lunar calendar

"Wait for the weather to improve," Mo Yu replied, "Anyway, it is extremely large and always only in one direction"

Ya Xiang and Mo Yu lay side by side on the bed, gazing at the ceiling of the room. The soundproofing effect of the Cassini wall was excellent; the thunderstorm outside roared deafeningly, yet not a single sound could be heard indoors

Yaxiang wa let out a cry.

Imagination is romantic, but reality is stark, isn't it? You have yet to experience worse weather; the changes in this corner are far more drastic than those in your hometown. When the rainy season arrives, the clouds above us will resemble an inverted ocean, and the rain will pour down like a dam releasing floodwaters... not to mention the storms, where the winds can lift a locomotive.

This is also the only inhabited research station located outside the asteroid belt, and people have not yet had the opportunity to establish a second one, followed by the collapse of the space development economic bubble

Hmm... who knows?" Mo Yu thought for a moment, "This place has had this kind of weather for years; you've only been here for a few days? I've been at Cassini Station for several months, and the heavy rain hasn't stopped.

A silence fell over the room

"It is lightning." Mo Yu's fingers lightly swiped across the tablet, switching the pages of the book, and casually remarked, "There is a very intense thunderstorm above us, the atmosphere is ionized, emitting a very bright orange-yellow light, resembling a blurred Saturn. In reality, Saturn is not in that direction, and it cannot be seen in such weather."

She pressed her hand against the glass of the observation window, which was small and oval-shaped, resembling the porthole of an old-fashioned passenger aircraft from the last century. Just a few centimeters away lay liquid alkane at a temperature of minus one hundred seventy degrees Celsius, and the girl's pale, delicate fingers would instantly shatter in such low temperatures, yet the inner layer of the glass felt warm to the touch

"Has the little girl lost track of time?" Mo Yu stood up and tapped the other person's forehead, "What is the date today? What day is tomorrow?"

They all say so. Yaxiang replied, "It is said that the costs are too high, and the results achieved are not proportional to the investment made. NASA no longer wishes to continue. If the Americans withdraw, then the European Space Agency will certainly also withdraw; it is impossible for just China, Japan, and Russia to support such a massive plan.

A young woman sits on the edge of the bed, one hand holding a tablet, the other supporting her head, with a strand of black hair falling down over her forehead

Yaxiang was taken aback, "Is there any other work?"

Sister Mo Yu, what do you usually eat

Why

Who said that?" Mo Yu turned her head and asked, "Jiang Zi? Old Hu? Chef Wan?"

"Ah, Sister Mo Yu, do you know? Before I came here, I imagined that the Cassini Station would be like this: in a crystal-clear, pitch-black starry sky, the enormous Saturn rises from below the horizon, occupying half of the night sky. Standing here, we could see the massive storms on the surface of Saturn, that giant planet so close it feels within reach." Ya Xiang gestured with her hands in the air, forming a large sphere, her expression radiant.

The girl rested her chin on her hand while sitting by the window, and through the small observation window, she saw flickering orange-yellow lights in the dim night.

I am already 23! 23, Sister Moyu," said Yaxiang. "At this age, development has already concluded, and I will not grow any taller. I will never grow up again in this lifetime.

Yaxiang was once very curious about the window glass; she always wanted to understand the principle behind this object

Moyu is slightly taller than Yaxiang, with her hair casually tied up

"Sister Mo Yu, just think... where are we? We are on Titan, on a planet completely different from Earth, in a wondrous world." Ya Xiang said, "The Cassini mission represents humanity's most noble ideals and the relentless spirit of exploration and advancement."

Mo Yu stepped out of the room, turned around, and made a finger gun gesture at her, winking.

However, this is the law of historical development; people's thoughts advance through repeated cycles of closure and openness. Mo Yu smiled, glanced at the time, and patted the little girl's back, saying, "Don't lie in bed any longer; the stationmaster and the others should be back soon, and we still have some work to finish"

"Hey, be careful, be careful, the gravity is too low, don't fall..." Mo Yu threw away the tablet and reached out to hold her, "Hey, hey, hey, where are you putting your claws, Yaxiang?"

Do you know why I still need to ask

Mo Yu was in a daze, as she did not pay much attention to these matters. Every day, Dabai would receive a vast amount of information from Earth's network. These digital signals were sent from Earth to Mars, which is one hundred million kilometers away, and then relayed from Mars to Saturn, located one billion two hundred million kilometers away. Even at the speed of light, this immense distance would take over an hour to traverse, and by the time the signals reached the Cassini station, the power of the radio waves had diminished to a negligible level.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear, Sister Moyu, do you need to paste couplets? I can write in calligraphy! Also, can we set off fireworks here? Are we making dumplings tomorrow night...

When can we see Saturn

Sister Mo Yu, the station master said that the Cassini station is struggling to hold on, and the Earth side is urging for its decommissioning, with the funding decreasing year by year

In the bleak economic environment, the existence of the Cassini station has increasingly appeared superfluous. For the member countries involved in the program, it has become a significant burden. Compared to the cash it burns every second, the scientific value of the Cassini station is negligible. The fervor of idealism has gradually faded, and people have swiftly returned to reality. The number of supply transport shuttle flights to the Cassini station has decreased year by year, and the funding allocated to the project has also diminished, rendering the status of the Cassini station increasingly awkward. The fervor of idealism has gradually faded, and people have swiftly returned to reality. The number of supply transport shuttle flights to the Cassini station has decreased year by year, and the funding allocated to the project has also diminished, rendering the status of the Cassini station increasingly awkward.

Yaxiang stood dazed for a moment, then jumped up and chased after it

Sister Mo Yu, look... Saturn!

But soon she became very frustrated, "Who knew that the entire Cassini Station was situated in a murky area, with heavy rain every day, making it impossible to see anything"

The establishment of the Cassini station was indeed a radical attempt, akin to the Apollo program of the last century and the Mars landings of the mid-20th century. The exploration of Mars has achieved significant success, and it is now possible to enjoy Starbucks on Mars, which has greatly boosted the confidence of the radicals. They are eager to set their sights on the more distant Jupiter and Saturn, with aspirations to establish a space station in orbit around Jupiter and even send humans to land on Titan.

Even if Mo Yu does not understand politics or economics, she is aware that the investment involved must be astonishing

The cliff fragrance imagined a storm that could sweep away a locomotive

The Cassini Station has always been the most remote and dangerous research station. Over the past eight years, Cassini Station has lost a total of eighteen individuals, all due to sudden changes in weather. "Can you imagine? In the blink of an eye, the person walking in front of you can vanish without a trace, and not even a body can be recovered... Coming here for an exclusive interview is as perilous as being a war correspondent."

The two collided at the head of the bed, and Mo Yu extended a hand to press against the wall to stabilize their bodies. The gravity on Titan is even less than that of the Moon, making it quite difficult to control one's body

In the dreamlike thirty years when idealism permeated the hearts of the people, under the vigorous promotion of the ruling radicals, humanity opened distant routes to Saturn in the name of the Second Age of Exploration, establishing the Cassini Station on Titan.

"My dream is to become a war correspondent." The little girl revealed a small tiger tooth, pushed against the wall, and nimbly pounced onto Mo Yu, pinning her down on the bed, then rubbed against her like a cat, "Sister Mo Yu, your conditions are so difficult, perhaps when my exclusive interview is finished, it can make the public pay more attention to you? Then they will allocate a lot of money to you... Wow, it smells so good and is so big."

"Then it is the same as what I eat," Ya Xiang said gloomily, "Why doesn't mine grow?"

"Isn't it Saturn?" The young girl blinked her eyes

"How much longer will this weather last?" Ya Xiang asked

Today? "It is January 27th."

Outside the window, a torrential rain is falling, and the air is as murky as a pot of yellow mud soup. The temperature, plunging below minus one hundred sixty degrees Celsius, causes the alkanes in the air to condense into liquid form. Raindrops flow along the outer layer of the observation window, but do not drip down; instead, they gather into a thin liquid film that resembles water, as liquid methane is also colorless and odorless

If the Cassini station is abandoned, it would be akin to breaking the tip of this knife. Yaxiang continued, "People's thoughts will once again become closed off."

Cassini Station is the most distant inhabited outpost from Earth in the human world. To maintain the normal operation of this small scientific research station, Earth has established a logistics supply line that can be described as enormous. Personnel transport ships and supply vessels depart on a regular schedule each year, akin to buses, and these space buses take a year to travel.

She looked up at the girl, then glanced outside, smiling as she shook her head, "Yaxiang, that is not Saturn."

Mo Yu chuckled softly

Standard food available on-site

Mo Yu let out a faint sigh

I do not want it to be decommissioned, " said Ya Xiang

It is facing the fate of being abandoned in less than eight years since its establishment

You are still young in age," Mo Yu comforted her, "You will grow more.

Truly frightening