Chapter 471 Entering the Sea

Faced with his teammates' teasing, Hansen gave a wry smile, cast his eyes outside the porthole, and changed the subject somewhat stiffly.

"By the way, where are we now?"

Hope frowned and looked at the porthole in front of him.

[Poseidon] High-power searchlights were installed around the hull.

But even so, except for the area around the hull, the distance was still pitch black.

The "weak" light of the searchlight obviously could not dispel the endless darkness inside the ice giant.

"I don't know either..."

He shook his head, and a look of hesitation flashed in his eyes: "It seems that the clouds outside seem to be much thicker."

As he spoke, he turned his head and glanced at the various data presented in the holographic projection.

30 standard atmospheres.

"You should be at the junction of the ammonia ice cloud and the liquid ammonia ocean now."

The voice of Lv Yongchang suddenly came from the long-distance communication device.

After the exploration ship was out of danger, Lv Yongchang obviously breathed a sigh of relief, and his tone of voice also seemed a lot more relaxed.

"Border?" Hope frowned, "But... it seems that we are still in the cloud?"

He stretched out his hand and swiped a few times on the holographic screen.

Looking at the white "cloud" in the camera, Hope said again: "Moreover, the camera at the bottom of the exploration ship did not capture the so-called liquid ammonia ocean."

"This is a normal phenomenon." Lu Yongchang's voice sounded again.

"Unlike terrestrial planets, from the data sent back by the probe and the model we built, there is no obvious dividing line between the atmosphere and the ocean of the ice giant."

"As the surrounding pressure and temperature increase, the tiny ammonia crystals in the atmosphere of the ice giant will gradually liquefy and become mist-like droplets floating in the atmosphere."

"From your perspective..."

"The clouds outside should be denser."

Hope suddenly realized and nodded repeatedly: "Then how long will it take us to reach the liquid ammonia ocean?"

Lv Yongchang pondered for a moment: "From the simulation calculation results of Zero, when the outside air pressure reaches 60 standard atmospheres, you will really come into contact with the liquid ammonia ocean."

Hope glanced at the data sent back by the sensor.

40 standard atmospheres.

Not far from the 60 standard atmospheres mentioned by Professor Lu.

He sat up subconsciously, with a little trepidation in his eyes.

The boundless liquid ammonia ocean...

Even if he just imagined this picture in his mind, Hope felt an extremely complicated feeling rising in his heart.

There was some expectation, and some fear.

…

The exploration ship continued to fall.

Driven by the Hall thrusters, the exploration ship's descent speed was very slow at this time.

And Hope and Hansent also truly felt the gravity from this ice giant.

The gravity of 1.5g is not even as strong as that of Dawn.

This gravity did not bring any adverse effects to the bodies of the two who had just strengthened.

As time went on, the surrounding pressure gradually increased.

55 standard atmospheres.

58 standard atmospheres.

59 standard atmospheres...

The exploration ship's descent speed was also getting slower and slower.

[Hovering Successfully]

[Landing Environment Analysis in Progress...]

[Poseidon] quietly stopped in the atmosphere of the ice giant, and at the same time, a series of precise sensors began to explore below.

"Professor, it seems to be raining outside." Hope glanced at the porthole in front of him and said with some surprise.

The bean-sized raindrops hit the surface of the exploration ship, making a crisp and pleasant sound.

"It should be liquid ammonia rain." Lv Yongchang looked at the picture sent back by the camera and said softly, "If nothing unexpected happens, you are not far from the liquid ammonia ocean."

"A large amount of liquid is detected under the exploration ship."

Sure enough, the next moment, Zero's electronic synthesized sound sounded in the command center and the cockpit at the same time.

Lv Yongchang's face was lifted, and there was a bit of joy in his eyes!

It is indeed a liquid ammonia ocean!

In this way, he is more confident about discovering new minerals!

Lv Yongchang suppressed his excitement and said in a deep voice: "You two, the next is our highlight, pay attention to safety!"

Then, he directly gave the order: "Switch the drive mode and prepare for landing!"

As soon as the words fell, Lv Yongchang noticed the logical problem in his order.

There is no land on the ice giant, so how can there be a landing?

So, he quickly added: "No, prepare to enter the sea!"

Hope chuckled, and the originally solemn atmosphere in the cockpit dissipated a lot at this moment.

"Got it!"

He raised his hand and pressed a few buttons on the holographic projection.

In order to better perform mineral exploration tasks in the liquid ammonia ocean, two drive modes are installed in the [Poseidon] exploration ship.

The first one is naturally the traditional drive mode using the Hall thruster device.

The second one is the more traditional propeller propulsion.

After Hope pressed the button, the light of the main Hall thruster at the tail of [Poseidon] slowly went out, and the entire spacecraft barely maintained a hovering state under the push of several auxiliary Hall thrusters on the side.

Then, the main thruster retracted to the belly of the cabin, and a propeller of about the same size as the main thruster stretched out synchronously to replace it.

"The drive mode has been switched."

"Prepare to enter the sea!"

...

The height kept decreasing, and the distance between the exploration ship and the sea surface was getting closer and closer.

The images sent back by the camera gradually became clearer.

The endless deep sea surface came into the eyes of the two.

The sea surface was pitch black, like a bottomless abyss, absorbing all the light from the outside world.

Under the illumination of the high-power searchlight, the sea surface was surging, and even the smallest waves reached several meters in height.

Looking at the picture in the holographic projection, Hansen's hand controlling the exploration ship trembled slightly, and even [Poseidon] shook a little.

He swallowed slightly, his pupils dilated slightly, and stared straight at the picture sent back by the camera: "Hope..."

"Do you still have expectations for this liquid ammonia ocean now..."

Hope, who was sitting on the other side, shook his head with fear.

In his imagination, the liquid ammonia ocean on the ice giant should be a blue, boundless and vast ocean, and it should be the kind of beautiful scenery that can make people feel peaceful and peaceful at a glance.

But since he entered the ice giant, he realized the problem.

At this moment, he was like Ye Gong in Ye Gong's love for dragons.

Facing the deep and dark sea, there was only endless fear in his heart!

As for the previous expectations?

He threw them all behind his head!

The scene in front of him made him deeply aware of the cruelty of nature, or the universe.

The current human beings are as ridiculous as toys in front of it.

Hansen took a deep breath and controlled the exploration ship to slowly descend again.

"Hope, get ready."

"We are going into the sea."