Die on Mars

There were no lights on in the hall.

The white backlight of the monitor illuminates both faces.

A human face.

A cat face.

Both faces were filled with tension and excitement, and their brows were squeezed together nervously, like two fathers waiting for their child to be born outside the delivery room.

The old cat's eyes were widened, and his paws were hanging on the computer keyboard, trembling slightly.

Tang Yue moved a chair and leaned to the side, his eyes widened even more than an old cat.

"Is that it?" Tang Yue's voice trembled and he swallowed.

"It's not clear yet, we need to confirm." The old cat whispered, "But there is a high probability that it is him."

Nothing has been more exciting than these two simple words on the computer screen since the disappearance of the Earth. This is the first time that Kunlun Station has received information from other humans that are not part of the joint space station.

After Lao Mao discovered "HELLO MARS" on the display, the first thing he did was to rush into the crew cabin and kick Tang Yue awake.

"Look." Tang Yue gave the old cat a gentle push.

"Come on, let's go out for a ride, whether it's a mule or a horse, and watch me, Governor Qiao, messing around with the music!" The old cat nodded and typed on the keyboard.

Three seconds later, the page refreshed, and the Kunlun station's system computer quickly gave the result. It responded to the greetings as quickly as possible, got in touch with the greeting visitor, established a contact mechanism, and scrubbed it clean. Put it on the plate and bring it up, from top to bottom, every detail is revealed, all private information is exposed, even the other party's measurements are clearly marked.

Tang Yue and Lao Mao saw each other's ID photos. It was a milky-white spaceship with a total length of 22 meters. It had a similar appearance to the Eagle spacecraft, like a round and plump mallet, with a white back and a black background, but it was indistinguishable. It has two stages and no portholes - this is a disposable non-returnable unmanned spacecraft. Its affiliation is marked in huge blue letters on the side of the spacecraft: CNSA, and on the other side is a red national flag.

"It's unbelievable that this little guy actually escaped and came to the door by himself... It didn't even have control or correction instructions from the ground. It flew alone for such a long time and such a long distance without getting lost." Old Cat Shaking his head and exclaiming.

Tang Yue's grip on Lao Mao's shoulders suddenly increased, and his eyes turned red.

The thirteenth cargo spacecraft of the People's Republic of China's Mars landing plan.

Tianzhou No. 37.

This cargo spacecraft was launched on the eve of the disappearance of the earth. Its mission is to transport supplies for the next Mars landing plan and at the same time start the second phase of the Kunlun Station upgrade plan. This spacecraft is fully loaded with fifteen tons of supplies and materials, including a large amount of Food, fresh water, medicine, daily necessities, fuel and electrical parts for maintenance and upgrades - the second phase of the Kunlun Station upgrade plan is a key link in the comprehensive expansion of Mars landing.

In the three-step process of landing on Mars, the 13th scientific research mission carried out by Tang Yue and Maidong is the end of the first step. The second step will be to verify the self-sustaining technology of the Mars base, including The long-term planting of crops, the circulation of closed small ecological circles, and the extraction of methane and water resources from the surface of Mars. China's Tianzhou 37 is the first shot of the second step of the plan.

According to the original plan, in the second year after the launch of Tianzhou 37, Tianzhou 38, Tianzhou 39 and the brand-new Orion 3 spacecraft will set off at the same time, kicking off the comprehensive conquest of Mars by mankind.

"Job position number CNMEP390012C Mars landing plan payload expert, mechanical and electrical engineer Tang Yue, calling Tianzhou."

Tang Yue sent out his greetings.

After a while, a reply from the spaceship appeared in the contact window:

"Hello Commissioner Tang Yue, this is Tianzhou 37. I wish you a happy life."

Tang Yue was so excited that he almost smashed the keyboard.

This was a complete surprise. No one knew that there was still a spaceship surviving in the vast space... This lone survivor flew for nearly a year without anyone knowing, and finally got in touch today. Mars Kunlun Station.

Tang Yue actually knew about the launch of Tianzhou 37, but he did not hold out any hope. The disappearance of the earth took away 99% of the man-made spacecraft. Not long after the launch of Tianzhou 37, Tang Yue's concept It should have also gone with the earth - after all, even Orion 1 near the orbit of Mars has completely lost contact.

Even if Tianzhou can escape this disaster, after the earth disappears, Tianzhou 37 will no longer receive any correction instructions from the ground. As long as there is a slight deviation in its flight program, it will miss its target.

Even Lao Mao is not optimistic about the future of Tianzhou 37. It believes that the spacecraft will either disappear like the Orion 1 spacecraft, or it will miss Mars with a huge deviation and fly into the endless deep space.

But this tenacious little spaceship actually arrived on time.

Its system computer blindly drove more than 100 million kilometers to reach its target with incredible accuracy.

"This is Kunlun Station, calling Tianzhou 37!" Tang Yue put on his earphones and made a voice call, "Please answer when you receive it!"

"This is Tianzhou 37. I received your call and wish you a happy life." A soft female voice came from the channel.

"This is Kunlun Station, calling Tianzhou 37!"

"This is Tianzhou 37. I received your call. I wish you a happy life."

"This is Kunlun Station, call Tianzhou 37! Call Tianzhou 37! Call Tianzhou 37!" Tang Yue beamed with joy.

"Why are you acting like a repeater?" Old Mao glanced at him, "The other party is a repeater of Taizhenger's Eight Classics. The replies are all set in advance. They only wish you a happy life back and forth. Can you have such a lively conversation with a computer?"

"Where is it now?" Tang Yue asked, "How far is it from us?"

"Twenty days." Lao Mao replied, "I am establishing a communication and navigation mechanism with Tianzhou 37 to guide it to correct its flight path... This spacecraft is more tenacious than we thought. In the absence of ground commands, , it was relying on the backup navigation system to correct its flight direction, and it came over step by step."

"Backup system?"

"Yes, it's the sun and starlight." Old Mao nodded, "This is a small thing. The Tianzhou series is really the most reliable spacecraft I have ever seen. The Cygnus that was replaced by Nog may have drifted into the orbit of Jupiter by this time. ...OK! The course has been reset, and it will enter Mars orbit in twenty days."

"Great! Great!" Tang Yue clenched his fists and waved, shouting excitedly, "What do you mean God helps me? This is God helping me!"

The appearance of Tianzhou 37 is undoubtedly timely. It is an unmanned cargo spacecraft, fully loaded with precious supplies and materials. The supplies on Tianzhou are enough for Tang Yue and Maidong to use for several years.

Tang Yue can finally get rid of the never-ending compressed cookies.

I can finally eat noodles and vegetables, I can finally drink juice and coffee, and even frozen dumplings.

There are also antibiotics, multivitamins, and anti-radiation agents—even hair loss can be alleviated.

The most important thing is that Tianzhou 37 can dock with the United Space Station, and Maidong can land safely on a cargo spacecraft. This safety factor is much higher than that of the unreliable Orion 2. The Tianzhou spacecraft’s landing and As smooth as a Boeing passenger plane... It is no exaggeration to say that Tianzhou 37 is a boat of life. It is full of life. It arrived belatedly on the eve of the fall of Orion 2, and handed over the hope of survival to Tang Yue and Mai. Winter hands.

If that cargo spaceship were here right now, Tang Yue would give it a long and deep kiss.

This was his first kiss.