Die on Mars

An hour and a half later.

Ophiopogon japonicus is undergoing its second extravehicular operation. The task at this stage is to remove the control wires of the light sensor.

This is a very troublesome operation. Ophiopogon japonicus must first remove the two wires B3074 and B3075 that are blocking the movement, and then remove the C1002 cable that is broken deep down. This is a small surgical operation that requires the use of screwdrivers, scissors and tweezers. But Maidong was wearing heavy equipment like an EOD suit, and the fingers of her gloves were thicker than sausages.

"B3074 was dismantled successfully."

Maidong reported that she felt a bit like an EOD expert, facing a pile of red, blue, and green wires in the time bomb, holding scissors and not knowing which one to cut.

Maidong has watched so many movies and TV dramas, and the EOD bomber will always have a sudden enlightenment when the countdown is approaching zero, either recalling his family or his comrades, and then under the aura of the protagonist, he will The nervous gazes of the melon-eaters resolutely lowered their gaze, and with a crisp click, the red LCD countdown suddenly stopped.

Later, the team leader Wang told her that it was a TV series. In real EOD, no one would care about the red and blue lines.

"OK!" Old Cat nodded. He saw a circuit break prompt on the space station's system computer, and the B3074 line was interrupted. "Miss Maidong, do you need to rest? I see that your heartbeat has accelerated a bit."

Maidong nodded. She was indeed a little tired. Out-of-cabin activities may not be a big deal for a strong man like Lao Wang. Lao Wang often stayed outside the cabin for six or seven hours at a time, but the girl's physical strength was still very difficult. After the first extravehicular operation, Ophiopogon japonicus ate something and rested until the sun rose again.

Ophiopogon put the tools in his hand into the bag, and then floated in the vacuum to rest. In the weightless state, there was no difference between up and down, and there was no difference between standing and lying down.

She looked at the nearby Mars, and this brown-red world seemed so close that she could touch it.

But it's so far away that it's like another world.

She and the space station were flying at high speed in an orbit 400 kilometers above the earth. This distance was so close that Maidong could see the details on the surface of Mars with the naked eye, but the universe stipulated that she could only orbit the planet. In circular motion, the space station has been flying throughout its life. Although its flight speed is as high as three kilometers per second, it can no longer get closer to Mars by one centimeter.

Gravity is a wall that Ophiopogon japonicus may not be able to cross in its lifetime.

"Ixi Plain...Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, I saw the Ixi Plain."

Maidong saw the small plain near the equator in the northern hemisphere of Mars. It would be easy to ignore it if you didn't look for it. She knew that the Kunlun Station was on this plain, but the scientific research station was too small and exceeded the limit of the girl's vision. … It’s such an amazing feeling, you know they’re there but you can’t see them.

If you use a high-power microscope to magnify them, you will see Kunlun Station in sequence, and then you will see the little people and cats in Kunlun Station.

Inexplicably, it feels like looking at miniature models.

Maidong was surprised by her own thoughts. The first thing that came to her mind was a microscope instead of a telescope, which showed that the concept in her mind was size rather than distance. The girl subconsciously regarded Mars as a huge entity, somewhere between living things and non-living things, and Kunlun Station was just an extremely small appendage of this huge entity.

"Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, can you see me?" Maidong asked, "I am on the same side as you at this time."

"The sun is too strong during the day, so we can't see it." Tang Yue replied. Due to the strong sunlight during the day, they couldn't see the orbiting space station on the surface of Mars.

"Even if you see it, you can't track it accurately. Miss Maidong, your flight orbit is too low and you are moving too fast on the celestial sphere." Old Cat said, "If we want to continue to track the space station, we need a high-precision equatorial mount. .”

"It would be nice if you could see me. It's not like I'm face to face through the camera and the computer screen."

Tang Yue's heart moved slightly.

Indeed, cameras and radios allow them to make video calls, but the video calls are always separated by a layer of glass. This layer of glass makes the Kunlun Station and the Space Station seem to be in two different worlds.

But if he could see Ophiopogon japonicus on the space station without any obstruction, his sight would connect the two worlds. Only by looking at each other four hundred kilometers away could the two return to the same universe.

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Maidong carefully put the screwdriver and wires into the bag and breathed a sigh of relief, "B3075 was successfully dismantled."

"Next is C1002. Ophiopogon japonicus, please observe the situation first and see how to operate it with the least effort. Don't rush to do it." Tang Yue instructed, "Do whatever is convenient for you."

Maidong held the long tweezers in his hand and asked the old cat to slightly adjust the position of the robotic arm.

"Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, I saw it, but the screw is a little stuck..." Maidong gritted his teeth and tried to remove the screw while holding his breath, but failed, "I may have to do it first. Twist it over, otherwise it's hard to use force, so now I have to use pliers, pliers...the pliers are here."

"Take your time, take your time."

"The gap is too narrow and the pliers can't get in. I have to widen it a little. Weird... Is this rust? No, it's just paint. The paint is peeling off."

Tang Yue and Lao Mao were sitting in Kunlun Station, staring at the monitor. Maidong's breathing continued to rise and fall in the channel. It was obvious that a lot of energy was consumed. Maidong would stop and take a rest every time he operated for a period of time.

"I'm so tired. I never knew that repairing a space station could be so physically demanding." Maidong panted and stopped to rest again. "Captain and the others can actually work like this for six hours. It's incredible."

"How can you compare with Lao Wang?" Tang Yue shook his head, "A rough guy like Lao Wang and Lao Tang, who is covered in tendon flesh, often fights in the bathroom. The physical exertion is greater than this, but he still enjoys it."

"Why are you fighting in the bathroom?" Maidong asked.

Tang Yue thought for a while.

"Usually it's all about a bar of soap."

After struggling for more than half an hour, Maidong finally successfully dismantled the C1002 line. This stage of the extravehicular mission was successfully completed. Maidong was also close to collapse from exhaustion. After returning to the space station, she shook out more than a liter of sweat from her extravehicular suit. , the whole person was soaked.

After returning to the core cabin, before there was any time to say anything or even put on the noise-cancelling earplugs, Maidong and Ah Q fell asleep holding the pillows, and the sunlight was gradually leaving them.

Tang Yue and Lao Mao in Kunlun Station were discussing the next step, and the dividing line between day and night moved slowly on the surface of Mars.

The United Space Station once again flies into the far side of Mars.

Mars still orbits the Sun at a speed of twenty-four kilometers per second.

The solar system is still revolving around the galactic center at a speed of 250 kilometers per second.

The universe expands in silence.