Die on Mars

"The Eagle lander was successfully docked, electrically connected, and controlled."

The old cat raised its paw, and it successfully moved the Eagle spacecraft.

"Okay, Miss Maidong, Tang Yue, please note that the lander is now docked outside the Hope experimental cabin, and the hatch is openable."

"Copy that, Mr. Cat."

Maidong gently pushed the bulkhead, her body floated away from the crystal cabin, and she held her hand on the edge of the cabin door to change direction. After living in a state of weightlessness for a long time, the girl has learned how to move most conveniently and effortlessly. She glided through the aisles like a lithe mackerel, deftly avoiding the tangle of control panels and cables.

"I hope the lander is reliable enough. Yang Huanji's seventh uncle, his girlfriend's brother's mentor's eldest nephew, had better not lie to him." Tang Yue put his hands on the table and stared at the CCTV image of the space station, "Logically speaking, so Close relatives should not fool people casually."

"Is such a close relationship considered?" the old cat asked.

"Of course they are close," Tang Yue replied, "The DNA similarity between them is over 99%."

"The DNA similarity between you and the Ugandan chimpanzees is over 99%." The old cat said, "So are they also your seventh uncle? Or are you their seventh uncle? Tang Yue, your relatives are really all over Africa. .”

Maidong put on an in-cabin spacesuit, opened the hatch, and got into the command module of the Eagle lander.

The space in the command module is small and dim, with no lights, the seats are all folded, the indicators and displays on the control panel are off, and all the portholes have been closed.

Since the end of the last supply delivery mission, Maidong and the others have not paid much attention to this thing. They thought that its historical mission was over and it could retire honorably. Who knew that the veterans would go to the battlefield again to turn the tide.

Maidong raised his head and looked around, thought for a few seconds, found the control systems of each system, and reached out to turn on the power one by one.

With a subtle, low "buzzing" sound, the long-dormant Eagle spacecraft came to life again. The red, green and orange lights turned on in sequence, and the familiar greeting appeared on the monitor on the console again.

"Welcome to the Eagle Lander."

Maidong's hand gently stroked the console. The large and small buttons and complicated English abbreviations looked dazzling. In fact, the manual operating system has never been put into use so far, but it will be on every Eagle spacecraft. Such a complex console. Maidong raised the commander's chair, fastened his seat belt, and tied himself to the chair.

The porthole visor is slowly opening, the sun is shining in, and Ophiopogon's eyes are gradually brightening.

Guessing that the temperature had almost risen, Maidong opened the mask of his spacesuit and called Kunlun Station.

"Mr. Cat, Tang Yue, I am in the command module of the Eagle lander. The cabin is powered on and in good condition."

While docked with the Joint Space Station, the Eagle spacecraft's batteries and computers are powered by the station.

"OK, we saw it."

Lao Mao and Tang Yue observed the situation inside Kunlun Station. The power and control system of the Eagle lander had been successfully connected to the space station. At this moment, it was equivalent to a cabin of the United Space Station.

No one or even a cat in Kunlun Station dared to be careless. The broken computer on the Eagle lander had a criminal record. It had convulsions twice in a row and almost ruined their supply delivery plan.

"The computer of the Eagle spacecraft has a control program for automatic landing. Everything that needs to be done for a safe landing has been written in the code by engineers on Earth. When you sat on it before, you didn't need to touch the joystick, right?" the cat asked.

"No need." Tang Yue and Maidong said in unison.

The commander of the scientific expedition team is Lao Wang, who has full authority and full responsibility, just like the captain of a flight. Once the plane takes off, the captain has the power to make any decision. Lao Wang did not allow anyone to mess with the control panel of the Eagle lander, so the computer controlled the spacecraft during landing, and everyone else stood by and watched. The designers of the lander obviously believed that computers were more reliable than the human brain in high-risk operations. , quite Airbus style.

Therefore, the operation of the Eagle spacecraft only requires a commander and a dog.

The commander's job is to feed the dogs during the flight.

The dog's job is to bite the commander when he tries to touch the console.

"There was a problem during the last docking. The lander's computer misjudged the flight speed. I want to see where the fault lies."

"Is this problem serious?" Maidong asked.

"It may or may not be serious." Old Cat clicked on the keyboard. "If it's just the rendezvous sensor that's damaged, then we don't have to worry about it. If it's a BUG in the computer itself... then we have to spend some time to eliminate it."

"How long will it take?" Tang Yue asked.

"It's been ruled out."

The old cat shrugged.

"Obviously there is a problem with the rendezvous sensor. There was a sandstorm during the last launch, and the sand invaded and accumulated on the laser reflector, causing problems with the sensor speed measurement." Lao Mao explained, "It is a small fault, insignificant, but plus Not enough propellant can turn into a fatal problem."

"It won't affect the landing, right?"

"No impact at all." Old Cat replied, "The landing control system of the Eagle lander computer is all normal. Miss Maidong, please prepare and plan the time. We have recently left the capsule to check the ventral partition of the spacecraft. Reva.”

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Maidong took time to take a bath and change his clothes.

There is a folding bathroom in the space station. The main structure is made of opaque and impermeable polymer materials. It is very inconspicuous when folded, but it unfolds into a two-meter-high cylinder. The interior can accommodate an adult standing, but you need to use it to stand firmly. The foot muffs secure themselves firmly to the base plate.

In the absence of gravity, normal showering is impossible. The bathroom on the space station can only achieve a similar effect at best. There is a high-pressure nozzle on the top of the bathroom, and a powerful suction machine under the floor, which uses air pressure to Push the floating water droplets to move and recycle all the waste water.

Maidong has not taken a bath for a long time. Taking a bath in the space station is quite troublesome. In order to prevent her lungs from inhaling water droplets and causing suffocation, she has to wear goggles and a breathing mask when taking a bath, making her look like a Critically ill patients isolated in ICU.

But how can this stop a girl from craving a bath?

"Have you taken a shower?"

Tang Yue sat on a chair and saw Maidong wiping his wet hair with a towel in the video.

"Well, yes...it feels so comfortable after taking a shower." Maidong nodded and held the collar of his work clothes, "I also changed my clothes, can you tell?"

"Is today a holiday?" Tang Yue turned to ask the old cat.

"International Cat Day, Cat Food Shopping Festival, and Cat Owners International Exchange Forum." The old cat answered, "Does it count?"

"It doesn't count."

For Tang Yue, taking a bath is quite a luxury. The freshwater recycling efficiency of Kunlun Station is not as good as that of the United Space Station. Taking a bath is a major water-consuming activity and is not done during major holidays. Tang Yue does not take a bath easily. Last time Tang Yue seemed to be taking a bath on May 1st, International Labor Day.

It is expected that the next bathing time may be during the Mid-Autumn Festival on August 15th.

I won’t wash it on Children’s Day, which is Children’s Day. Tang Yue doesn’t celebrate Children’s Day anymore.