Die on Mars

Maidong sat in the command module of the Orion 2 spacecraft, buckled his seat belt, and reached out to turn on the switch on the control panel.

With a series of crisp "clicks", the indicator lights and screens in the command module lit up one by one, followed by a subtle "buzz" sound. The sleeping spacecraft slowly woke up, and each system began to self-check.

Maidong had never manually controlled the Orion 2 spacecraft. It should be said that she had never touched the Orion joystick at all.

Among the entire mission team, the only professional astronauts are Lao Wang and Lao Tang. They can control this big thing. No other payload experts have this ability. In fact, the manual control system is just a redundant backup. The computer of the Orion spacecraft stores All procedures for returning to Earth.

In the past few decades, the Orion spacecraft has traveled back and forth between Earth and Fire so many times that the manual control system has never been used.

Today is the first time it has been put into use.

"Mr. Cat, I'm in position!"

Maidong watched as the screen in front of him lit up. The white English logo "ORION" slowly appeared, and colorful indicator lights flashed in all directions.

"Well done, little girl."

The old cat lowered his head and quickly flipped through the manual in his hand. This maintenance manual was as thick as an Oxford English-Chinese Dictionary. Even its author might not be able to memorize the entire book.

But now the old cat has to memorize the manual in his mind, understand it and teach it to Ophiopogon japonicus within twenty minutes.

It has confidence in Maidong, who has proven that she is a talented girl with strong learning ability.

As expected of a top student who graduated from Zhejiang University, it would be a shame to go to the Chinese Academy of Sciences for a master's degree.

The old cat thought quickly in his heart.

"Listen, Miss Maidong, I'm going to teach you how to complete the pre-flight inspection! There are seven parts and 200 steps in total. Can you hear me clearly?" the old cat asked loudly, "Repeat it if you hear it clearly. Once again.”

"Uh huh huh... Complete the pre-flight inspections, a total of seven parts and two hundred steps." The girl's voice was trembling a little. She rubbed her hands, her palms were full of sweat, and her short black hair was soaked with sweat. , stuck on the forehead.

"Don't be nervous, you can do it, you must be able to do it! You are the smartest girl I have ever seen." Old Mao said, "Tang Yue, can you still hold on?"

"Don't worry." Tang Yue chuckled, "My life... is tougher than Xiao Qiang's."

Countdown to one thousand one hundred seconds.

The United Space Station operates silently in orbit, flying at a speed of three kilometers per second. There is endless night outside the cabin because it is on the back side of Mars.

But a bright spot can be seen in the deep sky very far away, which reflects sunlight. It is a satellite of Mars, Deimos, which is 23,000 kilometers away from the surface of Mars.

The other moon Phobos is on the other side of Mars at this time, so it cannot be seen.

The Orion spacecraft is docked with the space station. From a distance, it looks sharp and jagged, with an extremely irregular shape, like a messy bamboo raft drifting on the vast ocean.

The United Space Station is supposed to be the most advanced creation of mankind and a master of engineering. However, in the deep space 60 million kilometers away, it is like a fragile and crude shack. In the face of the vastness of the universe, human civilization has achieved This small achievement is really insignificant, even a bit ridiculous.

Time passes in void and dead silence.

Countdown to eight hundred seconds.

"FUEL... FUEL... FUEL is here!" Maidong pressed the buttons in turn, pointed at the complex pipelines on the screen, and confirmed one by one, "Next is No. 1, No. 3, No. 22, No. 23, and No. 29 Valve status...Mr. Cat! Alarm code 1202! Alarm code 1208, alarm code 1409!"

"The code 1202 alarm can be ignored! Turn off the alarm!" Old Cat waved his hand, "Code 1208...Code 1208 alarm, close valve 20! The code 1409 alarm can be ignored, just turn off the alarm!"

Countdown to six hundred seconds.

"NAC! NAC system panel!" Lao Mao turned over a page of the maintenance manual and glanced across the two pages instantly.

"NAC system is on."

"Listen up, you will see two neat rows of white buttons on the control panel, starting from the first row, counting from left to right, press the second, fourth, seventh, ninth, eleventh, Then starting from the second row, press the fourth, fifth, sixth, ninth, and tenth switches!”

"First row, second! Fourth! Seventh! Ninth! Eleventh!"

"Second row, fourth, fifth! Sixth! Ninth! Tenth!"

The girl held down the earphones and said, "Done!"

"What's on the screen?"

"Program Adjustment Completed."

"pretty!"

Maidong followed the old cat's progress closely. The old cat's movements were as fast as a machine gun, and her movements were also as fast as a machine gun. The huge and complex Orion spacecraft slowly regained its vitality in her hands, and the programs in the spacecraft's computer were bit by bit. Rewrite, where Maidong cannot see, thousands of valves, circuits, pipelines and actuators inside the spacecraft are changing. They transmit commands from the command module to every corner of the spacecraft.

Orion 2, a passenger and cargo ship, is becoming a powerful tug.

Countdown to four hundred seconds.

The old cat stared at the computer screen. It was rigorously calculating the trajectories of the space station and the Eagle spacecraft. The latter would fall into the atmosphere after orbiting Mars six times.

The lander is like a fish jumping out of the water, while the joint space station is like a fisherman standing on the shore holding a long bag. They only have one chance to catch... When the fish jumps to the highest point, it suddenly reaches down. The net can intercept it.

Once this opportunity is missed, the fish will fall back into the water and they will never be able to catch it again.

"Miss Maidong, open the data link between Orion and Kunlun Station!"

"It's on! The data link is connected!"

"I'm rewriting the flight program!" the old cat growled, his claws dancing on the keyboard, "You keep an eye over there for me!"

"How to stare?"

"I report a number, and you just stare at one! See if it's displayed on the screen! Don't make any mistakes!" the old cat said, "The first one, 112.7!"

"112.7!"

"Second one, 202.4!"

"202.4!"

"214.1! 235.7! 307.5! 314.9! 330.8! 341.3!"

"214.1! 235.7! 307.5! 314.9! 330.8! 341.3!"

The old cat's face was as dark as water.

Maidong's face was solemn.

This is a crazy attempt, a real last-ditch effort to survive, risking death and surviving. No one knows whether it will work, and no one knows whether it will succeed. This time, even the 2.477% success rate is not available. exists.

Countdown to two hundred seconds.

A huge bright outline slowly stood out against the dark background. An arc was like a crescent moon covering the sky and the sun. It was the horizon of Mars. The sunlight behind the planet illuminated the horizon of Mars. Edge and atmosphere. At the junction of light and darkness, a dazzling and bright light rises like a mountain, and some shocking and majestic power is bred behind it.

The long dark night finally passed.

The sun rises again.

The crimson land plains, valleys and ravines passed by the feet of the United Space Station. Maidong raised her head and looked at the light ahead. Her thin cheeks were illuminated, and she suddenly had an illusion in her heart... that she was flying towards the sun.

Countdown to ten seconds.

The old cat's voice sounded in her earphones.

"ten!"

"Nine!"

Maidong closed her eyes. Everything she could do had been done, and there was nothing more she could do.

"eight!"

"seven!"

"six!"

The indicator light on the control panel lights up, the computer of the Orion 2 spacecraft begins to issue instructions, and the turbopump of the rocket engine starts!

"five!"

A slight vibration came from behind, and then the vibration became more and more severe, and there was a loud clang from the seat to the console.

"Four!"

The propellant is poured into the combustion chamber and ignited!

"three!"

The nozzle of the engine spit out bright and scorching flames. At this moment, the light it erupted even surpassed the sun, and the huge Orion 2 spacecraft began to adjust its direction.

"two!"

The girl clung to the seat and seat belt tightly. She could feel a huge push coming from behind, and the increasing overload pressed her onto the chair.

"One!" the old cat yelled, "Orion, let's go -!"