Die on Mars

Tang Yue looked in the mirror, wearing a silver tinfoil thermal blanket, winking and showing his teeth.

He combed his hair back into a big slick, trying to look like Leonardo DioCapri or Chow Yun-fat.

"Old Cat, do you think I have always looked a lot like that... that old-school Hong Kong actor? The one who was so handsome, he acted in a police movie with Jackie Chan." Tang Yue recalled, "My name is Wu... Wu..."

The old cat sat behind and glanced at him.

"Ng Man Tat."

Today is Tang Yue's ninety-eighth day on Mars.

Three months have passed since the earth disappeared, and there is still no news from the earth. The communication system of Kunlun Station is turned on day and night, but it still cannot receive any information from the outside world. In the past three months, Lao Mao has spent a lot of time and energy guessing. Analyze the reasons for the disappearance of the Earth and try to track the trajectory of the Orion 1 spacecraft.

Orion 1 is the spacecraft that Lao Wang and the others are traveling on. It will return to Earth a few days earlier than Tang Yue.

Tang Yue should have also returned to Earth on that spacecraft - it is very rare for the Mars scientific expedition team to return to Earth in two batches, but there is still an important scientific research and observation task to be completed at the Kunlun Station, and the old cat alone is short of manpower, so Tang Yue stayed to assist it. When the mission was completed, Tang Yue returned to Earth on the Orion 2 spacecraft.

At the same time, he also serves as the escort of Orion 2. The large number of active experimental samples in the Orion 2 spacecraft require special care.

Who could have imagined that these few days of delaying his departure would actually save Tang Yue's life.

Orion 1 and 2 are both old spacecraft that have been in service for more than ten years. They have outstanding achievements, but they are old. Originally, according to the plan of the earth, after the end of this mission, Orion 1 and 2 spacecraft will return to the earth together. will be retired together. The next spacecraft to carry the Mars scientific expedition team will be the brand-new Orion 3 and 4.

These few days of delay also saved Orion 2.

If it had set off at the same time as the No. 1 spacecraft, it might have disappeared by now.

"Mr. Cat! Tang Yue!" Maidong popped up on the screen, "Good morning! Have you had breakfast?"

She is still as energetic as ever. Three months later, her hair has grown longer, so Maidong tied it into a simple ponytail.

"Good morning, Miss Maidong." The old cat sat at the other end of the hall and waved its paws from a distance. It needs to be groomed every morning.

"Good morning, girl." Tang Yue nodded, "When is the sunrise over there?"

"Seventh time."

"What did you eat this morning?"

"Hmm... tuna, cheese and orange juice." The girl's fair face and neck were covered with sweat. She brushed her hair from her forehead, "I just cycled five kilometers."

"What a bourgeoisie."

"Tang Yue, what did you eat this morning?" Maidong asked.

"Me? My breakfast is a combination of Chinese and Western." Tang Yue thought for a while, "Laoshan Snake Grass water and Swedish canned herring."

Three months ago, Tang Yue sent enough supplies to the United Space Station. There is no need to worry about Ophiopogon japonicus food for the time being, but energy and nutrition are only part of maintaining good health.

Human beings are creatures that evolved on the earth. Their body structures have long been adapted to a G gravity. Long-term weightlessness will cause various problems, especially in the skeletal muscles, cardiovascular and sensory nervous systems.

During long-term space missions, the physiological and psychological changes of astronauts have always been a hot research issue. Due to being in a state of microgravity for a long time, the loss of calcium in human bones will accelerate, bone quality will decline, and the anti-gravity muscle groups will be in a long-term state. In a state of disuse, muscles will continue to atrophy, and the number of red blood cells in the blood will also decrease, resulting in weakened cardiovascular regulatory capabilities.

These problems were highlighted during the long mission period of Mars landing, seriously threatening the health of astronauts.

Medical experts on Earth have specially designed a physical training program for the Mars mission to combat physical decline in weightlessness. Both the Orion spacecraft and the Kunlun Station each have a set of training equipment, requiring the team members to complete sufficient training every day. For example, Tang Yue has to run three thousand meters on the treadmill every day.

After all, there is still some gravity on Mars, but it is completely weightless on the United Space Station. Maidong needs more training than Tang Yue.

"Tang Yue, what are you going to do next?" Maidong asked, "Moving solar panels?"

Tang Yue nodded. He took off his robe and put on his clothes, preparing to wear the Mingguang Armor.

One of the more than 40 solar panels was broken. During the sandstorm three months ago, they did not have time to take the panels back indoors in time. The next day, Lao Mao and Tang Yue discovered that the power of two panels had dropped. , the two of them worked hard to repair one piece, but the other piece couldn't be repaired.

Laomao concluded that this was due to the battery panel being exposed to a low temperature environment for too long, coupled with the intrusion of sand and dust into the internal circuit of the battery panel, resulting in a short circuit.

Now they still have forty batteries left, but fortunately one missing solar panel will not affect the normal operation of Kunlun Station. Old Mao warned Tang Yue that ten batteries is a warning line. Once the number of damaged panels exceeds ten, then The normal power supply of Kunlun Station cannot be guaranteed, and they will have to shut down some functions of Kunlun Station.

Food, fresh water, battery, I don’t know which one will run out first.

This is somewhat similar to the short board effect. Tang Yue's remaining lifespan is equal to the length of the short board.

"After moving the solar panels out, I still have to check the status of various systems at Kunlun Station. It's just a bunch of trivial matters anyway." Tang Yue said, "If I move fast enough, I may still have time to sit in Kunlun Station. Stand at the door and watch the sunset.”

"What does the sunset look like at Kunlun Station?"

"Sometimes it's red." Tang Yue replied, "Sometimes it's blue."

"Blue?" Maidong was surprised.

"Old Mao said it's because the dust at the bottom of the Martian atmosphere scatters blue light with shorter wavelengths, so the sun looks blue." Tang Yue shrugged and passed Old Mao with clothes in his hand.

He saw the cat sitting upright, with its paws on its knees, motionless, and its eyes closed.

"What are you doing?"

Tang Yue poked the cat's head.

"Take your paw away." The old cat said calmly in a low voice.

"I call them hands, but yours are claws." Tang Yue corrected.

"In my opinion, you are the five-toed hairless bare claws of a primate." The old cat countered, "I am meditating to understand the truth of the world."

"Meditate and practice Zen?" Tang Yue sneered, "What kind of Zen did you practice? What truth did you realize?"

"What I study is the Great Way of Heaven and Earth, the Supreme Principle of the Universe." The old cat slowly opened his eyes, with a calm expression, like a cat with high moral standards, "For example, the truth about why the Orion 1 spacecraft disappeared."