Die on Mars

Maidong reached out and pressed the button on the panel, and the window "PSYCHOLOGICAL TEST" popped up on the computer screen.

After a few seconds, the screen displays: Please complete the following questions.

The girl took a deep breath.

This is a psychological and mental state test. Long-term boring and claustrophobic life will have an impact on people's mental state. Therefore, every crew member on the Mars landing mission must undergo regular psychological tests. In the past, such tests were conducted by team doctor Maxwell. Er is the host, but now there is only Maidong in the space station, so she can only take the self-assessment test.

Mental state is as important as physical state. During the first few Mars landing missions, the Earth side somewhat underestimated this problem - Romanenko once worked continuously on the Mir space station for 450 days and flew around the Earth. After 5,000 laps, my mental and mental state are all normal. Therefore, the Earth believes that using the existing long-term space station mission experience is enough to cope with Mars landing.

But later it turned out that the Earth Space Station and the Mars mission were two different things, and that space voyages could subvert people's psychology beyond their imagination.

During the first few missions of Orion 1 and 2, astronauts' psychological problems occurred invariably. The most serious one was the third flight of the Orion 1 spacecraft. On the way back, American payload expert John Young Suffering from depression, he was completely unable to work normally, and even tried to harm himself at one point. He was admitted to the hospital after returning to Earth.

In the words of John Young, "When you're completely out of Earth's orbit, you feel like you're sliding into a bottomless abyss."

Later Mars missions began to mandate that crew members undergo regular psychological tests, giving equal importance to mental health and physical health. Team doctors must also have the qualifications of a psychologist.

At the same time, people like Tang Yue are also favored in selecting team members.

Maidong's mental state has always been stable. Her curiosity about the deep space of the universe has overcome her fear. This girl has grown up watching the stars since she was a child. Her father bought her a TV on Maidong's tenth birthday. Using a 200mm reflective astronomical telescope, the little girl watched the moon and Saturn every night on her balcony. She was obsessed with the vastness and breadth of the universe at a very young age. This longing buried deep in her heart when she was young prompted her to participate in Mars. The initial trigger for the plan.

"Next, you will see an image, please follow the instructions."

Maidong clicked on the buttons on the screen and answered in turn.

The test has hundreds of questions in total, covering all aspects. It is not just a psychological test. It also includes some mathematical and physical calculation questions to examine the crew's mental state, thinking logic and even thinking agility.

"Ophiopogon japonicus, we have mixed the stool evenly!" The voice of a man who dug out feces sounded through the earphones, and it sounded really terrible.

"What should we do next? Bury the seeds directly?"

"No." Maidong answered Tang Yue's question while operating the buttons on the panel, "This is the last step. Before that, we still have many processes to carry out... Next we need to ferment the fertilizer."

"Fermentation?"

Tang Yue and Lao Mao were both startled.

"Do you know about composting?" Ophiopogon japonicus asked, "High-temperature composting."

"I heard it."

“Under normal circumstances, human and animal excrement will not be used directly as fertilizer. Instead, it must be processed. The excrement is mixed with straw, hay, and sludge to ferment at high temperature to kill harmful parasite eggs and grass seeds, so that the excrement can be fermented. Bacteria decompose it and turn it into humus." Ophiopogon japonicus explained, "So Tang Yue, your feces also need to be fermented and turned into fertilizer so that the plants can better absorb it."

Tang Yue placed a jar of feces next to the isotope thermoelectric generator. The RTG is continuously releasing heat. The temperature around it is the highest and can be kept above zero, which is most suitable for the growth and reproduction of microorganisms.

In fact, Tang Yue is not sure how many bacteria are still in this jar of stool. After dehydration, drying and cooling, the vacuum-packed stool is actually in a nearly sterile environment - but you can't say it is clean. This principle is the same as The stool that has been sterilized in a pressure cooker is the same. Although the microorganisms have been killed, no one wants to let this stuff get on their clothes.

Tang Yue found something to cover the jar, then found a plastic sheet and wrapped it in layers, covering it tightly. Those who didn't know thought he was hiding some treasure.

If someone really comes to steal this treasure, he will definitely have a big surprise when he opens the jar.

"The normal compost fermentation process takes about half a month. You can only control the situation on your side, Tang Yue." Maidong said, "When the fertilizer is fermented and mature, it can be used to grow tomatoes."

The conditions on Mars are simple and it is impractical to compost like on Earth, so we have to keep everything simple.

“How do I know if the fertilizer is ready?”

"Taste it... No, you can look at the color and volume. If the color turns dark brown and the volume is reduced by more than one-third than before, it means the fermentation has reached a certain level." Ophiopogon japonicus replied, "But The temperature there is too low and there is no oxygen. Only anaerobic bacteria can grow. This condition is not suitable for fermentation... So I don’t think you need to strictly follow this method. Just wait a few days and it will be enough."

Tang Yue nodded.

"During the period when the first tank of fertilizer is fermenting, you can continue to make other fertilizers." Ophiopogon japonicus continued, "At the same time, you can also start pretreating plant seeds."

"Understood!" Tang Yue stood up and thanked him seriously, "Comrade Agricultural Expert Maidong, thank you for your guidance!"

Maidong smiled silently.

She finished the test, pushed the bulkhead gently, floated away from the control panel, and looked at the screen from a distance.

The psychological and mental status test ended, and the test results were quickly displayed on the screen.

This was a complex table with various indicators and data marked. Maidong couldn't understand these professional characters, so she scrolled to the end of the page.

Finally, there is a color column. The top layer is bright green, and the bottom layer is dark red. The colors gradually change from top to bottom. This color column is the most intuitive reflection of the psychological state. The computer draws all the data and draws this picture. The closer the color is to green, the healthier it is, and the closer it is to red, the more dangerous it is.

Every time Maidong took a test before, the results were in the bright green range, which shows that she has always been an optimistic person.

The girl's eyes scanned the color column chart, and this time she couldn't find her pointer in the green range.

Ophiopogon japonicus slowly pulled down, and finally found that the pointer stayed in the light yellow area.

There is a string of small red letters at the back.

"Dear Miss Maidong, your psychological and mental state is unstable and you are prone to mild depression. Please seek consultation and counseling from a psychologist in time to avoid further worsening of the situation."