The Federation had no reason to hide such monumental news; they broadcasted it directly to the public.

A planet had been discovered dead ahead!

In an instant, the entire ship erupted in a fever pitch of excitement!

What did a planet represent?! It meant their arduous, anxiety-filled, and uncertain voyage was finally nearing its end! It meant humanity's darkest days were behind them!

A massive terrestrial planet would undoubtedly possess abundant mineral wealth, including uranium, liquid water, and organic compounds like methane. It was as if endless resources were beckoning to humanity!

With resources, they could completely escape the shadow of material scarcity. With resources, they could accelerate their technological advancement... The benefits were immeasurable.

Even though the planet was still fourteen light-years away, the citizens had already begun their preemptive celebrations.

Thank God, thank Lady Luck, and thank the Son of God...

Today, with fundamental astrophysics widely taught, the public was acutely aware of the universe's terrifying vastness. Rumors regarding the impending necessity of "hibernation pods" had been circulating, but this sudden discovery had dramatically shifted the paradigm.

Simply stumbling upon a planet was an astronomical miracle; it was a divine gift, a life-saving sanctuary!

Even if the world lacked an atmosphere, or if its air was toxic to humans, it wouldn't matter. Humanity already possessed extensive experience in hostile planetary colonization.

The environments on the Moon and Mars had been brutal, yet humanity had managed to survive and build outposts there perfectly well. As long as they could dig into the bedrock, seal it with a reinforced dome, and pump in oxygen, they could survive...

Moreover, their technology had advanced exponentially in recent years. Automated excavation and construction systems had long replaced heavy manual labor. From logistics networks to life-support systems, everything had seen massive upgrades. Even standard spacesuits had gone through multiple iterations, becoming lighter, safer, and far more efficient.

The discovery of an Earth-like planet instantly catapulted the spacecraft engineering division to absolute top priority, placing their projects on par with the Large Hadron Collider. The ship prototypes they had painstakingly designed could finally be put to actual use.

Based on Professor Roman's blueprints from the past few years, three distinct classes of small-to-medium spacecraft were ready for mass production:

The Assault-001 (A-001) was a heavily armed gunship capable of carrying nuclear payloads and kinetic railguns, boasting a maximum crew capacity of roughly two hundred personnel.

The Transport-002 (A-002) was a heavy-duty cargo hauler with a payload capacity of 1,000 metric tons.

The Logistics-003 (A-003) was a mobile support vessel. This marvel of engineering was essentially a flying base camp, equipped with a miniaturized nuclear reactor, a closed-loop material recycling system, and an onboard oxygen synthesizer. Naturally, it possessed the largest hull and payload capacity of the three.

While there were only three basic classifications, they were more than sufficient for their current needs. With just a handful of these vessels and dedicated manpower, they could rapidly establish a foothold and begin resource extraction!

Over the next few days, the central observatory became the busiest hub on the Noah. The scientists were desperate to extract every ounce of data they could from the Gravitational Wave Telescope.

"This unknown planet possesses three moons. They are relatively small in mass and volume, roughly half the size of Earth's old moon. The telescope initially missed them because our search parameters were set too high, filtering them out as background noise."

"Likely due to the massive material ejections from the binary star system, the planet's orbital sphere is saturated with comets, asteroids, and debris. It's somewhat similar to the Solar System's Oort Cloud... only exponentially denser."

Reviewing the scientists' analytical reports, Jason took a deep breath.

Even days after the initial discovery, he still felt an electric thrill of excitement whenever he thought about it.

Was there truly a higher power watching over humanity? He didn't know... All he knew was that they had to seize this destiny with their own two hands. When an opportunity presented itself, they had to grasp it firmly! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

With this planet, humanity's ascension to a true interstellar civilization would no longer be just a distant dream!

He instinctively ordered, "We need an immediate, comprehensive survey of this planet and all its surrounding celestial bodies. We need hard data on its gravity, rotational speed, orbital period, atmospheric composition, and whether there are any biosignatures..."

"The more data, the better. I want it as detailed as possible."

As soon as he finished speaking, the astrophysics team began groaning, complaining that while they wanted to do exactly that, it was physically impossible.

"Captain, our observation methods are severely limited right now. We simply can't do it!" one senior scientist protested, his face drawn in frustration.

At near-light speeds, they couldn't deploy standard radio telescopes outside the forward hull; any exposed equipment would be instantly atomized by high-speed interstellar particles. Aside from the Gravitational Wave Telescope, they had absolutely no way to actively scan the void directly ahead.

Furthermore, the distance was still too vast, fourteen light-years away! Under such conditions, radio telescopes wouldn't be able to resolve a clear image anyway. The light reflected by a terrestrial planet was incredibly faint, less than a hundred-millionth the brightness of a star. Bridging a fourteen-light-year gap to detect it visually was exceedingly difficult.

"So, you're telling me we can't properly survey this planet yet? We have to wait at least two and a half years?" Jason asked, his brow furrowing deeply. "Two and a half, maybe even three years? We won't know what we're flying into until we're practically on top of it?"

He wasn't the only one frustrated; the entire room shared his discontent.

This planet was like a veiled bride, firmly locked in humanity's sights with no chance of escape. Yet, due to their technological limitations, they couldn't immediately lift the veil to uncover her secrets. The suspense bred a deep sense of unease.

Impatient men like Marcus and Arthur Lambert were ready to explode. It was like gearing up for a major offensive only to realize your weapons were jammed... It was incredibly frustrating!

But there was no way around it. Science and technology weren't magic; they were bound by rigid, unyielding laws of physics. They couldn't just invent a miracle on the spot. If something was impossible, it was impossible.

"Yes... we have to wait a bit longer. Once the Noah decelerates, we can deploy the forward radio telescope arrays and begin proper observation," a scientist replied regretfully, scratching his thinning hair in distress.

The Gravitational Wave Telescope had hard limits. It could accurately measure a celestial body's mass, volume, coordinates, and kinetic vectors, but it was blind to everything else. For instance, determining atmospheric composition required spectroscopic analysis, which the wave telescope was entirely incapable of performing.

Jason pondered the situation for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. As much as he hated flying blind, there was nothing he could do...

What did a completely uncharted planet mean for humanity? Would it harbor hidden existential threats? What kind of extreme environmental hazards would they face?

Due to their limited sensors, all of this remained a terrifying mystery.

Humanity had been intimately familiar with Mars, hadn't they? They had studied it from afar for decades and launched countless probes, yet the Mars Virus had still brought the entire species to the brink of extinction.

And now? Facing an entirely alien world, there was no such thing as being too paranoid. For all they knew, bizarre and hostile life forms were waiting for them in the dirt.

Nevertheless, humanity couldn't afford to abandon this landing. A lack of initial data couldn't derail their ultimate ambition.

They had to spend the next two years preparing for planetfall... absolute, comprehensive preparation!