Chapter 147 Shui Wa's Interstellar Voyage_1

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Year 30 of the Crisis Era, the Moon, Lagrange Space Station.

Shui Wa stood in the place where she had worked for twenty years, gazing at the Giant Reflective Mirror about to be retired.

The backside of the Giant Reflective Mirror was just like the front, also reflective, only with the addition of some struts and several small, black tower-like posture and shape adjustment engines.

Without the Earth and the Moon, the mirror's backside was very dark, its surface a reflection of the starry sky, like the ocean floating through interstellar space, weaving into a fantastical other shore.

Countless times she had reached out, trying to touch the starry sky of that other shore, the metallic feel at her fingertips as if it were an eternal barrier en route to distant stars.

Zhuang Yu walked up to Shui Wa, "Have you made up your mind?"

Shui Wa said, "I've decided. I've already submitted an application to Mr. Lin Sen and the Moon Committee to transform the Moon's Giant Reflective Mirror into a solar sail ship.

"This kind of transformation won't consume many resources. I will pilot it out of the Solar System, to that place I've dreamt of going."

Shui Wa's interstellar voyage plan wasn't a task given by Lin Sen, but it was related to him.

Before the Great Ravine, Lin Sen had a conversation with Shui Wa and Zhuang Yu, which was a strong hint to Shui Wa. In the past two years, she had kept pondering, and now she had finally achieved self-breakthrough.

Lin Sen inclined to guide others to think and explore for themselves and to achieve self-breakthrough, leading them to propose their own plans.

No one but oneself could save oneself, and Lin Sen couldn't possibly be a savior. The original's greatest regret was the sorrowful fate of "saving momentarily, but not for a lifetime."

Now was also the best time for an interstellar voyage, on one hand because the PDC was too occupied with the Great Ravine to care about other matters.

On the other hand, such a solar sail ship wouldn't be regarded as an escape plan, but this was after all opening a possibility for escape.

Under normal circumstances, the PDC would absolutely not permit it, but now the PDC simply couldn't afford to.

Zhuang Yu said, "Ideals and beliefs are the rarest things in this era. I'm wallowing in the red dust of this mundane world, hidden in the dust of history's turmoil.

"Only you, after cleaning this big mirror for 20 years, and your heart for 20 years, might have seen the real you in the mirror.

"In Buddhist terms, it's 'seeing nature is enlightenment,' finding one's true inner self, understanding the real meaning of life.

"The higher you soar, the smaller your image becomes in the eyes of those who can't fly.

"I don't know if your path is the right one, but I'm willing to gaze at your silhouette from afar forever."

Shui Wa said, "The world below is too complicated, but from here they seem so simple.

"We are very tiny to them now, but the moment they can fly, they will immediately trace this tiny figure.

"Because of the Trisolaran crisis, it seems like all eyes are now gathered on space.

"But at the same time, we've also closed off our hearts; it seems that we've stopped thinking about things beyond the Solar System.

"It's been 60 years since the launch of Voyager, and up to now, we haven't cast our sight beyond the Solar System."

Zhuang Yu said, "Maybe your view is the correct one. This journey will be incredibly perilous. Although current technologies can satisfy this voyage plan, anything can happen in the lonely interstellar space.

"Any malfunction in equipment would signify the end of your lives. Using the Giant Reflective Mirror transformed into a solar sail ship, you'll be able to carry very few resources. This is essentially suicide."

Shui Wa said, "From birth, we are stepping towards death, both life and death are part of the same process, and neither is up to us to choose.

"The only choice is where to die; dying amidst the starry heavens is the resting place I most desire.

"Some are content with a warm bed and their spouse and children, never casting a glance at what is beyond; others exhaust their entire lives just to see something humanity has never seen.

"I've been both kinds of people, and we have the right to choose, including on a mirror drifting in space tens of light-years away.

"The purpose of my voyage isn't just to make humanity look up at the stars again, to rekindle their desire for stellar exploration.

"Rather, the more desperate the situation is, the more we should look afar.

"The purpose of anti-escape is self-evident, and this legislation is absolutely correct, but it has also sealed us off."

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"My long voyage also opened a skylight for this enclosed room, and though it leaks when it rains, it also lets in a thread of sunshine on clear days.

"Perhaps, by extending our gaze into the distance, everything will take on a different view."

Zhuang Yu, "I didn't expect you to go so far in that direction, far beyond me. I didn't expect you to understand Mr. Lin Sen's words so deeply, I won't try to persuade you anymore.

"So, have you planned a route for your interstellar journey?"

Shui Wa, "Since the Trisolarans' location is in the Centaurus Constellation, this rules out the Sirius Star System, Barnard's Star System, Luyten 726-8 Star System... on this side.

"My destination is the 82 G. Eridani star system, located in the Piscis Austrinus Constellation, 10.5 light-years away from the Solar System. 82 G. Eridani is the third closest star visible to the naked eye from Earth.

"82 G. Eridani is still a child among the main sequence stars, not even a billion years old. Around 0.75 to 3 Astronomical Units from the star, there's a dust disc, which is quite unique.

"At the same time, there is an exoplanet, 82 G. Eridani b, about 3.48 Astronomical Units from the star.

"I will inspect 82 G. Eridani, and after the inspection, change direction, and head towards Teegarden's Star in the Aries Constellation, a red dwarf, about 12.5 light-years from Earth.

"The mass of Teegarden's Star is about one-tenth that of the Sun, but it has at least two habitable planets with surface temperatures that could potentially be very suitable for life.

"It's approximately 8 billion years old, but not an old star, because it is small, it could live for several hundred billion years; so in this sense, it too is a child."

"After that, I will also observe Groombridge 34, Ross 128...

"As for whether I'll return, I'll leave that to the future!"

...

Shui Wa and Zhuang Yu came to Lin Sen's office.

Lin Sen had already received Shui Wa's application for the interstellar journey and was pleased to see Shui Wa's growth.

In Shui Wa's original world, it was Stephen Hawking who profoundly changed Shui Wa's intellectual journey. Interacting with Hawking, Shui Wa also learned to think more deeply.

The more one understands the stars, the more they realize that all the starry sky they see is but a speck of dust within the universe so vast it's unimaginable; and this entire universe is nothing more than the embers of a magnificent firework from ten billion years ago.

Nowadays, of course, things differ; under the Trisolaran Crisis, some things have changed, but some things will never change.

Lin Sen, "I have reviewed your plan, and in principle, I agree. I support those who still hold ideals and faith in this forgotten era."

Shui Wa, "Thank you, Mr. Lin Sen! This is not about ideals or beliefs, but... life!"

Lin Sen, "Indeed, it is... life, some of it before our eyes, some of it far away!"

...

Two months later, twin Giant Reflective Mirrors from the Moon were transformed into interstellar solar sail spaceships, fitted with highly reliable but small-scale ecological recycling systems and Life Cryosleep Systems.

In addition, they were equipped with compact fusion engines, high-precision detection equipment, and artificial intelligence systems. This voyage would be a journey of thousands of years, with as many resources considered for addition within a reasonable scope.

Both interstellar solar sail spaceships were manned by 20 people each, volunteers like Shui Wa, who had the right to choose their way of life.

The interstellar solar sail spaceships set off, moving away from the Earth-Moon gravity field with the help of solar light pressure, entering into an orbit around the Sun.

Months later, they used the gravitational slingshot effect of Mars to accelerate further, and half a year later, they used the gravitational slingshot of Jupiter to accelerate again...

Finally, the interstellar solar sail spaceships accelerated to 3.5% of the speed of light, leaving the Solar System...

Some had left, others were still waiting.

In their remaining years, Shui Wa's parents worked hard, possibly looking forward most to this: On a distant day in the future, their son would return to a better homeland...

PS: Yun Tianming could only be speechless when he saw the speed of Shui Wa's spaceship, really wanting to ask Wade, "Why couldn't you wait another 20 years?"

In the original timeline, Shui Wa's spaceship traveled at 10% the speed of light, and now Shui Wa's solar sail was clearly much smaller, but it was also equipped with a compact nuclear fusion engine. Its main role was to use the nuclear fusion engine to maneuver in emergencies.