My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

AMICITAS Mission Three – Mission Day 417

ARES 3 solar day 410

[12:33] JPL: Mark, welcome back. I just finished reading the summary of the results of Sirius 's first mission that you sent, so I'll just call you this name for now. But I still have a question: Why does the summary end with "I will definitely turn off the power of the ship system when not in use" seventy-two times?

[12:44] HERMES: Seconded. Watney, do you know how annoying it is that you post random stuff on Pathfinder dialogue? What reason do you have this time?

[13:02] Watney: Sorry. That was a fireball just now. We later discovered that the remaining systems on the Ponyship had been left on for the last two days, and that there was at least one bad ground or cable short that was conducting electricity to the ship's outer shell and from the rover wheels to the ground; For this reason, Starlight Glimmer suggested that Fireball should copy this sentence as a warning to others. We really should have told him just now to find a document software to use, and not to post it here in the conversation.

But even taking into account that the hydraulic system used to control the steering of the alien spacecraft and the onboard pony radio consume a lot of energy, there are still many other electrical energy consumption that we have no reason for. Therefore, Tingting and I’s plan for the next few afternoons was to carefully comb through all the wiring on and off the ship according to the spacecraft’s wiring diagram, find every cut wire, and ensure that they were properly covered with insulating caps. We then go through the wiring harness and make sure that the insulation on each cable is intact and there are no exposed wires. I estimate it will be another week before we attempt the second Sirius 7 mission.

In fact, we have two other ways to reduce power consumption. On our next trip we will disengage the rear wheels of Rover 2 and reduce the number of drive wheels on the mobile home to six. Although the remaining drive wheels consume more electric energy when the vehicle accelerates, they may actually save more electric energy after reaching cruising speed. In addition, we can pre-cook the potatoes we want to eat before departure. Anyway, those potatoes are to be packed in the external saddle bag of rover No. 2. As long as we are careful not to break the skin when handling them, it should be no problem to eat them after reheating them. In this way, we can shorten the use time of the microwave oven by three quarters and save a large amount of electricity proportionally. Of course we can just throw away the microwave, but we still have to think about ourselves; eating plain baked potatoes endlessly every day is definitely enough torment. If we have to replace it with iced potatoes, I can't imagine what it will be like. What a blow to morale.

[13:29] JPL: Both ideas are good. I will send engineers immediately to test the energy consumption characteristics of the six-wheel drive configuration. Moreover, you don’t need to worry too much about food. Since your last inventory count, we have been tracking your food pack consumption based on your logs and conversations; if our calculations are correct, you will be back to two-thirds by Sol 428 Normal ration of food packet intake.

By the way, the clouds at the equator have recently begun to disperse, which should be good news for you. The Meteorological Department's forecast is that the habitation area will usher in clear and cloudless weather in four days, and soon after that, the temperature will roughly return to normal levels on Mars. Mark, take this opportunity to enjoy a sub-zero afternoon; summer on Mars will soon be over.

[13:53] Watney: That’s bad! How can I show off my sexy body to those alien beach babes?

But let’s get down to business; although I am indeed happy to welcome non-potato ingredients back into my meals, I definitely can’t bear to watch the big guys continue to eat only hay every day and eat it all by myself. Something. My plan is to share some of my food packets with everyone, and I will still continue to top up my food intake with at least a little potato. Otherwise I will be too guilty to eat.

[13:58] Watney: The stars are aligned here. Did you just say you posted it seventy-two times?

[14:16] JPL: You're lucky, at least there's no back-to-school sale in any mall on the Ashidalia Plains. Mark, if you still feel the need to continue eating potatoes, I won't stop you.

[14:21] JPL: Yes, that’s right. I've counted them myself. I'm still wondering if this number has any special meaning. What's wrong?

[14:54] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[14:55] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[14:57] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[14:58] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[14:59] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:00] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:01] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:03] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:04] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:05] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:07] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:08] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:09] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:10] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:10] HERMES: Again...

[15:11] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:12] HERMES: Watney you fucking

[15:13] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:14] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:15] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:16] JPL: Done

[15:16] HERMES: Mark, please be serious and stop fooling around.

[15:17] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:17] JPL: Mark

[15:18] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:20] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:21] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:22] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:23] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:24] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:26] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[15:27] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[16:00] HERMES: Is it over?

[16:10] JPL: Not sure. Seventy-two plus twenty-seven is still only ninety-nine times.

[16:21] HERMES: Oh my God. Seriously, Mark, Starlight, Berry, or whichever of you is in charge, listen to me, please ask him to write on the whiteboard next time. Bart Simpson wasn't lucky enough to be able to type to deal with penalties.

[16:37] Watney: I make sure to properly power down ship systems that are not in use.

[16:38] Watney: Hands (claws) that can't read and write in Pony language. English is even worse. Who is Bart Simpson?