Die on Mars

Until you are actually dying... you will never know what death is.

This is what Tang Yue, the crow's mouth, said to Maidong in the Jiuquan Center of the Earth before the launch.

Maidong nodded sincerely at that time. Although she didn't understand what this meant, she still regarded it as a warning from her senior and kept it in her heart.

Although Tang Yue just wanted to show off at the time.

At this moment, Maidong stretched out his hand, as if he could touch death.

The golden sunlight fell on the girl's fair cheek, moving slowly at a speed that was almost visible to the naked eye. Death turned out to be as silent, as soft, and as soundless as the sunlight.

Maidong looked up and looked out the window. Inside the core cabin of the Crystal, she could see a thick and huge truss passing over her head, like the boom of a super tower crane, all kinds of complex and jagged. The machinery is attached to the truss, and those twisted and knotted parts are exposed to the vacuum. They are clearly the cutting-edge technology of the 21st century, but they give people a retro feeling like a 19th century steam engine transmission crankshaft.

Farther away are the wide solar panels, which are neatly arranged in a row, like rows of huge paddles on ancient warships. They gradually deflect with the sunlight, casting huge shadows on the white bulkheads.

This is the Mars Joint Space Station.

One hundred million kilometers away from the earth.

The girl is floating alone in the universe 100 million kilometers away. She is probably the furthest wanderer from home in human history, and she is homeless.

Just five days ago, her life was not like this.

Maidong is only 25 years old this year. She graduated from Zhejiang University with a bachelor's degree. Before leaving the earth, she just received her master's degree from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Before applying for a Ph.D., her supervisor suggested that she try to participate in a Mars exploration mission and take the most popular long-term space-related technologies as a research direction, and use this as a research topic for her Ph.D. With the gradual deepening of the Mars exploration project, many problems in long-term and even ultra-long-term space missions have been exposed on a large scale, and have become popular research directions in aerospace medicine, physiology and other disciplines.

This is somewhat similar to the Apollo program of the last century, a huge and costly space program that can drive the progress of many research and industries across the country and even the world.

The four major sinkholes of biochemical environmental materials are extremely exciting.

The research direction of Ophiopogon japonicus is the ecological cycle in a microgravity confined space. This is a complicated subject, very difficult, but of great significance. Not many people in China are doing this at present. Ophiopogon japonicus hopes that it can make a contribution. Results come.

To be honest, there was no need for her to endure this hardship. Participating in a Mars expedition mission was extremely dangerous and the conditions were difficult. Flying into space seemed romantic at first glance, but once the novelty wore off, life became extremely boring, and it would take at least two years to go back and forth. , being completely separated from society for two years is like going to jail. For a young girl, it is simply a waste of life.

There are so many senior sisters and brothers in the same school in Maidong. None of them have ever thought about going to Mars. They all choose simple and easy topics. They are preparing to publish articles to improve their impact factors and get a diploma so that they can graduate. Who would? So stupid? You can't live a good and comfortable life, but risk your life to go to the inhospitable Mars? What if something happens to the spaceship and it cannot come back?

Dedicate yourself to scientific research?

You are so noble, why don't you go?

In the end, only Maidong foolishly contacted Jiuquan Center and participated in the selection and training.

This seemingly cute and innocent girl passed the assessment with great tenacity and superhuman perseverance, and was successfully selected into this batch of Mars expedition team, becoming Tang Yue's colleague.

The moment he learned that he was selected, Maidong was so happy.

She was given a small experimental area on Orion and the Joint Space Station to house her incubator, which contained a batch of plant seeds.

During the more than half a year that the Orion spacecraft traveled to Mars, Ophiopogon japonicus took care of these fragile plant seeds, watching them take root, grow, bloom, and reproduce from generation to generation.

Maidong's original plan was to use the collected data to complete his thesis after returning from the Mars mission, and then apply for a doctorate.

If nothing unexpected happens, Maidong will return to Earth in half a year, successfully obtain his degree, and graduate happily with his doctorate.

How wonderful.

Maidong gently put her hand on the keyboard and started typing. She wrote out the title.

"Dear Miss Maidong..."

She finally decided to write the letter to herself.

Since this letter has nowhere to go, it is better to write it to yourself. This is a suicide note left to yourself.

"Dear Miss Maidong:

Good morning, this is the eleventh sunrise today, the sun is shining brightly, life is wonderful, but I am very hungry, and the piano music "Sound of Silence" is playing in the space station..."

Maidong raised his head, and the glass porthole reflected the girl's pale and thin face, with a pair of big dark eyes that were very clear.

She smiled, imagining that there was another version of herself behind the porthole. She was writing to Ophiopogon japonicus behind the glass, and that Ophiopogon japonicus was also writing to herself.

"...I have always known that you are a smart and beautiful girl. To be honest, I have never met a better peer than you. You are perfect in all aspects and better than others around you - a big cut."

The girl smiled playfully and felt a little guilty. The text seemed a little narcissistic, but since it was written to herself, she didn't mind praising herself a few more words.

"...The space station still cannot contact Kunlun Station. The sandstorm is still continuing. I am very worried about Mr. Tang Yue and Mr. Cat. I wonder what happened to them? Has the Eagle spacecraft been successfully launched? No matter what the final result of the plan is. , I hope they can live safe and sound, Mr. Tang Yue is a good man, Mr. Cat is also a good man...good cats, they all take good care of me."

Maidong paused.

"...I look at it from 100 million kilometers away. The universe is really unimaginably big. Mr. Carl Sagan once said: We are all stardust. It is incredible that you are alive at this moment. You are living in On this planet, breathing its air, drinking its fresh water, and enjoying the warmth of the star closest to us, your genes are passed down from generation to generation.

Going back further in time and space, every cell in your body, and all the elements that make up the cells, were born in the huge furnace of a star. "

Maidong wrote word by word, time slipped quietly through the girl's fingers, the space station circled into the back of Mars, the sun set again, and the horizon of Mars rose like a huge mountain.

The girl let out a faint breath.

"The sun has set again, and in an hour it will rise again...

Dearest Miss Maidong.

The universe is infinite and time is infinite.

In this vast space and long time, being able to share a life with you is the greatest luck in my life. "