Die on Mars

It's quiet at night.

Tang Yue opened his eyes, and there was a dark red light flickering in the darkness. It was the electronic clock next to the pillow.

He stretched out his hand from the quilt, picked up the clock and looked at the time. The number on the LCD screen was 3284429, still beating second by second.

Light filtered through the gap in the door curtain of the passenger compartment, and there was a faint sound of clicking on the keyboard. Old Mao was still working all night. Tang Yue only slept five hours a day now, but Old Mao worked around the clock. They Everyone wants to finish the work as much as possible before the comet falls.

Tang Yue threw the clock aside, pulled up the blanket to cover his face, closed his eyes and wanted to go back to sleep, but he couldn't fall asleep no matter what.

The clock face fell on the bed, and the countdown light flickered in the gaps between the sheets.

In Tang Yue's more than 20 years of life, there has never been a moment when Tang Yue could feel the passage of time so clearly... It passed slowly and silently through the night, like quicksand, like river water, like neutrinos. It hardly interacts with any substances.

In classical physics, time is people's description of changes in the state of motion of matter. It is based on the empirical convention of human perception - not visible and tangible matter or energy. However, thermodynamics introduces the concept of entropy to describe it. Compared with measuring the passage of time, this ruler is very intuitive and measurable. It is no longer an illusory and idealistic thing like sensory experience and psychological effects - the entropy increase in the universe is irreversible, so time cannot go back.

Tang Yue took another look at the countdown.

3284352.

"Mr. Cat...I..."

The girl's choking voice could be heard faintly outside the door, with a hint of crying.

Maidong never cried in front of Tang Yue. Although she and the old cat knew that Tang Yue was about to die, they still maintained their normal daily routine and work habits. Maidong would still introduce the plants he raised to Tang Yue, describe the stars he saw with the telescope, or complain to him that something went wrong with the incubator. But in fact, this girl was not the kind of person who was good at hiding her emotions. She often smiled and smiled, but suddenly she looked lonely, with watery sadness in her eyes.

Tang Yue opened the quilt, put on his clothes and got out of the crew cabin.

The hall was dimly lit, with no lights on, and the only light source was the computer monitor on the table.

"Can't sleep?" asked the old cat.

"Can't sleep." Tang Yue pulled a chair over and sat down, then glanced at the communication video, "Where's Ophiopogon japonicus?"

"Go and rest when you're tired of crying." The old cat replied, "She wanted to find a way to save you, but none of the methods worked, so she became desperate again."

"This girl is so stubborn." Tang Yue smiled. Although Maidong looked like a weak girl, she was actually quite stubborn... This can be seen from her resolute participation in the Mars landing plan. , everyone advised her not to go, but Maidong gritted her teeth and boarded the pirate ship.

She cried easily and was stubborn. After she finished crying, she wiped her tears and continued.

"She really wants to save you." Old Cat repeated.

Tang Yue was stunned, "I know."

There are only very few things in this world that will make you not look back until you hit the wall. If you hit the wall and get bleeding, you won't look back. It's either about whether you can survive or not.

Or it’s about why you live.

"But you didn't know she was so crazy: Miss Maidong even proposed that the space station or the Orion spacecraft could hit the comet to change the comet's orbit." Old Cat said, "This girl is a very bold and courageous person at heart. Dare to Pay any price to achieve your goals."

"The results of it?"

"Impossible." Old Cat replied, "I told her this is impossible. Whether it is Orion 2 or the Joint Space Station, the mass is too small to affect the orbit of the comet."

Tang Yue nodded, this was an expected result.

The total mass of the Orion 2 spacecraft and the joint space station does not exceed one thousand tons, but the total mass of the comet nucleus is as high as 102 trillion tons. The mass of the former is only one hundred billionth of the latter. This mass comparison , is even more exaggerated than the gap between ants and whales. How can the impact of an ant change the swimming direction of a whale?

But this little ant is already all the trump cards in the hands of Tang Yue Ophiopogon japonicus.

"Are you unable to sleep because of anxiety and insomnia?"

"No." Tang Yue shook his head, "I just want to see the sunrise. After all, I can only see thirty-six sunrises at most. Once I see it, it will be one less... After thirty-six days, the sun will not be visible. Yes, I feel so sorry for it."

"Besides watching the sunrise, before death comes, have you ever thought about trying something new that you haven't tried before?"

"For example?"

"Like taking off your pants to a larger size outside."

Tang Yue was startled, "I want to live for two more days."

"Then you can take off your pants and hug the comet the moment it lands..." Old Cat said, "Doing this will help keep the body intact."

"Why?"

"When you bend your body and point your butt towards the comet's impact point, you are using the strongest part of your body to resist the most severe impact. This is like the insulated bottom of the spacecraft's return capsule. If you think about it carefully, both Is it very similar? Shock waves will be formed on your gluteus maximus, and the airflow will flow along your back, which can significantly reduce the force on your body." The old cat was talking nonsense.

Tang Yue was stunned.

"Then why don't I just dig a hole and lie down?"

"Obviously the lying posture is not cool enough." The old cat said, "You are going to die anyway, so why not die in a more shocking way... Just like when Mount Vesuvius erupted, the man in Pompeii who finally survived Just like a young boy who wanted to die, the volcanic ash has frozen his heroic appearance at that moment forever in the long river of time for future generations to admire."

"If you lie down, when they dig you up, they'll just say, 'Oh, this is a man who died in a comet impact.'"

"But if you raise your butt towards Mars, when future generations dig you out, they will be amazed: Oh, my God, this is a butt lift..."

"Stop it!" Tang Yue interrupted. God knows what other nonsense the old cat could spit out. What did Lao Wang teach it?

"I think the sun is out."

"There are still more than three hours until sunrise." The old cat pointed to the door of the airlock.

"Then I'll go out and wait."

Tang Yue stood up, took off the Mingguang Armor outer suit hanging on the wall, stretched it open and got in. Old Mao came forward to help. Tang Yue tried hard to get into the helmet of the space suit, and Old Mao helped him zip up the zipper. , installed the life support system, slapped Mingguang Armor's hands and feet, the green indicator lights lit up one by one, and each module was working normally.

"I'm leaving." Tang Yue patted the old cat on the shoulder.

"Don't leave and never come back." The old cat shrugged, "Good Luck."