Die on Mars

The ventral surface of the Eagle lander's ascent stage is covered with a layer of thermal insulation material - this is actually part of the complete insulation tile of the lander.

The complete Eagle lander is a chubby lifting body configuration, divided into upper and lower stages, with a wing-body fusion design. It re-enters the atmosphere with its belly facing down. At its highest temperature, some parts can soar to 2,000 degrees Celsius. Ordinary materials will undoubtedly not be able to withstand such high temperatures.

Not all the insulation tiles on the belly of the lander are made of the same material. Engineers used carbon fiber-reinforced silicon carbide materials to resist high temperatures in the nose cone and wing edges where the temperature is highest and friction is the most intense, while the belly is covered with phenolic-impregnated carbon ablation insulation. Heat tiles. When the Eagle spacecraft enters the atmosphere, the heat insulation tiles quickly sublimate in the high temperature to take away the heat.

"The boat capsized."

"The boat has capsized again."

"It still capsized."

"Turn over, turn over, turn over, your uncle——!"

As soon as Tang Yue entered, he heard the old cat howling angrily like a wild dog.

"What's wrong?" Tang Yue removed the life support system and hung it on the wall to charge.

"The forty-second capsize." The old cat squeezed out a few words through his teeth. A large number of numbers and function images scrolled on the computer monitor in front of it. Tang Yue got out of the bright light armor and walked out. Taking a closer look, I felt dizzy.

"Capsized?" Tang Yue didn't understand what this meant, "What capsized?"

"Eagle lander." Old Cat sat upright, "I asked the workstation to simulate the Eagle spacecraft re-entering the atmosphere forty-two times, and it capsized every time."

"Why?"

"Because it is not stable at all. Don't forget that we only have half of the Eagle spacecraft in our hands." Lao Mao explained, "It is not complete. Its weight, center of gravity and aerodynamic characteristics are completely different from the full version of the Eagle spacecraft. We Try dropping it from an orbit three hundred kilometers high, and guess what will happen?"

"what happens?"

"In the first sixty seconds, it landed with its belly facing down. At the sixty-first second, it began to deviate from the course. At the sixty-fifth second, it began to roll. At the seventy second, it entered the roll." Old Cat Paws Holding the pen in hand, Li gave a demonstration to Tang Yue, "Then the Eagle spacecraft will start performing space gymnastics, a series of super giant loops... It is expected that its fragments will eventually be scattered in a rectangular area of ​​800 square kilometers."

"This is still the best result." Lao Mao added, "There were times when I started turning somersaults from the 30th second."

"Is there any way to control it?"

Tang Yue knew that posture was the key when re-entering the atmosphere. The Eagle lander was not a ball, and its entire body was covered with ablative materials. Except for the nose and ventral surfaces that directly faced the airflow, its back and tail were not resistant to high temperatures. Once If it loses control and falls into a roll when entering the atmosphere, the spacecraft will be burned by the high temperature.

"I haven't found any method yet. The complete version of the Eagle spacecraft relies on engines and wings to stabilize its attitude. Ninety percent of the process is adjusted by the engine. After the altitude drops below 10,000 meters, the movement of the wings will When the pressure is high enough, the aerodynamic wing will take over." Lao Mao said, "The half shell in our hands has nothing."

Tang Yue poured a glass of water and started licking it bit by bit, like a licking dog.

"Can the computers on board the Eagle be of help?"

"I'm modifying the program." Old Cat said, "After all, the Earth has never thought that someone would use a scrapped lander to re-enter the atmosphere, so the programmers of Third Brother have not designed this kind of process... But computers are useless Yes, to control the posture, we need real 'force', either aerodynamic force or rocket thrust. Mr. Neumann and Mr. Niu must work together to achieve the goal."

"Then can we build a pair of wings using existing materials?"

"You've got Iron Man?" the old cat said. "The Marvel Universe is not under Sir Alex's control, and you are not under Sir Alex's control anymore?"

"Just talking." Tang Yue nodded and continued to lick the water.

The full version of the Eagle spacecraft has complete deceleration measures when it re-enters the atmosphere. It has an inflatable aerodynamic reducer, a huge parasail, and a descending stage Raptor rocket, which is enough to decelerate to zero at a high speed of more than five kilometers per second.

But these things will all be discarded after the first landing.

Tang Yue, the old cat, had nothing in his hands except a shell with half a brick on it, no reducer, no parachute, and no engine.

It is obviously unrealistic to make it yourself. Characters like Tony Stark only exist in movies.

An armor that can be worn, flew, and breathed fire was pieced together from scrap metal piles in the desert. It is more like magic than technology.

"Could the engines on Orion be used?"

"The engine on Orion?" Old Cat frowned, "How do you use that thing?"

"Find a way to put the engine from Orion on the lander and use it to slow down."

"Iron Man is here again?" Old Cat rolled his eyes, "Do you think building a spaceship is just building blocks? You let that girl Maidong hold a wrench in her hand to dismantle the engine? The nozzle is thicker than hers, you are an engineer after all. , can you speak more professionally?"

"I'm just an electrical engineer, not an aerospace engineer."

Tang Yue was also forced to have no choice. No matter how nonsense he was, he dared to use any nonsense method to argue. He grasped a reed as a life-saving straw. Others were desperate and still put their hope in gods and Buddhas. He put his hope in There's nothing strange about the Orion engine.

"The problem is that apart from the engine on Orion, we have no other power system. Even if there is a little hope, it is worth a try. If you are really desperate, the dog will jump over the wall. Why is it impossible to take a wrench to dismantle the engine?"

"I'm afraid the engine is welded to death. How can you take it off with a wrench?" Old Cat shook his head and sighed, "You have to use acetylene... It's really evil. What kind of evil world is this? This girl was a good botanist, but she was forced to become a fitter, electrician, loader, plumber, instrument, repairman, and now she has to dismantle the spacecraft. Do you know the difficulty and workload? Do you know that you are asking her to Are people going to dismantle the frigate with their bare hands? Wouldn’t your conscience hurt if you exploit her labor force like this?”

The old cat chattered while calling up the structural diagram of the Orion spacecraft.

It's long-winded, but what Tang Yue said may not be unreasonable. If he hadn't been in a desperate situation, he wouldn't have proposed such a nonsense plan. There were cliffs on all sides, and the Orion engine was the only way. It might be a way out or it might be a way out. It's a dead end, and even though you can't see what's ahead, it's worth trying.

You may have a one in 10,000 chance of success if you walk up.

If you don't go up, it will be a 100% failure.

The monitor on the other side finished the calculation. Old Mao glanced at the screen and said, "Yes, the ship also capsized on the forty-third time. This time the lander performed well and lasted for fifty-nine seconds."

"Mr. Cat, Tang Yue." Maidong appeared on the communication system in full gear, pushing up his mask, "I'm ready and can leave the cabin at any time."

"OK!" The old cat turned around, "Ms. Maidong, please take some oxygen for a while. I'm calling the super arm... Remember, it's not mandatory to check everything at once. The total area of ​​the insulation tiles of the Eagle spacecraft It’s pretty big, and you have an hour and a half of EVA time.”

"clear."

"Be safe, girl." Tang Yue gave a thumbs up.

Maidong was startled, then smiled and gave a thumbs up.