Die on Mars

"The third one?"

The old cat put away his paws and nodded, "There is a third TCU1524M temperature control processor on Mars. I saw it eight years ago."

"Where is it?"

"Chelome."

Tang Yue was stunned, Chelomei? He tried hard to recall this weird name, and then he vaguely remembered that he had indeed heard of this word... But what was it? A rocket? A satellite? Or a detector?

Tang Yue can no longer remember exactly who Chelomei is. After the Mars landing plan was fully launched, unmanned detectors no longer attracted people's attention, especially after the two Orion 1 and 2 Earth-fire buses were opened to traffic. After that, there were so many hitchhiking probes to Mars that even the Vatican commissioned Orion to bring a small lander. It did not undertake any scientific research tasks and would only broadcast the Bible to the outside world 24 hours a day. It is to spread the gospel of Jehovah to the whole universe.

Unfortunately, the lander crashed while passing through the Martian atmosphere. It seems that it will take some time for the voice of God to reach Mars.

"The Russian-made Chelome Mars probe was launched in 2044 and carried by a cargo spacecraft." Old Cat whispered, "There is a TCU1524M temperature control processor on the lander. Its details The number is TCU1524M2043071123. It is the same model but different batches of this thing and can be completely used."

"Wait...what parts are on Maozi's detector? How do you know?"

"Because I participated in part of the design of that detector, Russian engineers asked for my opinion when they were building the Chelome probe." Lao Mao replied, "The Chelome lander has this processing Intel TCU1542M is the most reliable temperature control chip so far, so Russia specially ordered a batch from Intel and specially used it for Mars exploration."

Tang Yue understood what the last method Lao Mao was talking about was to find the Chelome lander and remove the processor from it.

"But where is the Chelome?" Tang Yue asked.

Although we know that there is a third TCU1542M temperature control processor on Mars, Mars is a huge sphere with a diameter of more than 3,300 kilometers and a surface area of ​​more than 140 million square kilometers. You told me that it is on Mars. , how to find such a large site?

Without knowing the detailed location, searching for a small detector on a planet is like fishing for pins in the Pacific Ocean.

What's more, the surface area of ​​Mars is so large. If the landing site of the probe is thousands of kilometers away from the Kunlun Station, how can Tang Yue get it?

"The specific location of the Chelome is not recorded in the Kunlun Station." Old Cat shook his head, "You have to ask the Russian Space Agency for the detailed location."

"Where is the Russian Space Agency left now? Old man, the Qing Dynasty has died, and the great Union of Soviet Socialist Republics has disintegrated." Tang Yue spread his hands, "If the Russian Space Agency is still there, we will It’s time to be on Earth.”

"Then find it yourself." Old Mao said, "The main mission of the Chelome is to assess the soil quality and water resources in the Ixidi Plain, so its landing site will not be too far from Kunlun Station and should be within our reach. Within the scope..."

Even if the search scope is narrowed to the Yixi Plain area, it is still a huge area of ​​hundreds of square kilometers. Searching for detectors in such a large desert cannot be done by Lao Mao and Tang Yue alone.

"How are you going to find it?" Tang Yue came over.

"Of course you can't rely on your eyes. You have to find next year with your eyes." The old cat quickly turned on the computer. "We have to call it. If it is still alive... it will respond to us."

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"OK! Mr. Cat, I'm in place, and the communication system is all normal." Maidong floated in the core cabin, holding a wireless keyboard in his hand, "Russian Chelome Mars Probe... right?"

"Yes!" Old Cat nodded.

"Eight years have passed and it's still alive?" Tang Yue asked, "Can it receive our instructions?"

"In fact, Chelomei died five years ago. The designed life of this probe was only thirty-six months, and it did not end its life in the end... A huge sandstorm swept Chelomei's landing. At this point, the dust raised by the storm completely covered the detector's solar panels, and eventually Chelome ran out of power and lost contact with the ground." Lao Mao said.

"The Chelome project is only a very inconspicuous part of the entire Russian Space Agency's Mars mission. The mission team is small and the funds are very limited. Its main job is to assess the soil and water resources of Mars. After losing contact, the Russian Space Agency immediately The probe was abandoned, the Chelome program was terminated, the mission team was disbanded, and it has been completely forgotten ever since."

"It died five years ago?" Tang Yue was surprised, "So the other party is a piece of iron that has been dead for many years? Then how can it respond to you?"

"You think it's dead, but I don't think so." The old cat raised a paw and waved, "Ophiopogon japonicus? Are you ready?"

"The antenna is unfolding!" Maidong replied, "I am adjusting the direction of the high-gain antenna... Mr. Cat, what is the order?"

"The order is КАТЮША."

"What?" Maidong and Tang Yue were both startled, and the old cat spat out a string of Russian letters that no one understood.

"Katyusha's Russian," said the old cat, "this is the Chelome's wake-up command."

"You even know this?" Tang Yue glared.

"All the detectors in the entire Mars plan of the Russian Space Agency have this command. A certain astronaut told me this after he drank too much vodka." The old cat said, "Miss Maidong, try this!"

Maidong nodded. The United Space Station passed over the head of Kunlun Station. The booster antenna pointed at the Ishidi Plain. The short Russian word "Katyusha" was broadcast from the orbit in the form of electromagnetic waves. If the station was named Chelome As long as the detector is still alive, it will receive this command and respond.

Both Lao Mao and Tang Yue were waiting for news.

Tang Yue's heart skipped a beat. For a detector that was abandoned five years ago, no one knew whether it was still working. The probability was very small. With such a harsh environment on Mars, it would be impossible to say that it was fully operational. Tang Yue was not surprised if it was damaged. Lao Mao was gambling. Not all landers have as hard a life as Opportunity and can extend service more than ten times.

The emperor has a spirit in heaven, please protect him... Tang Yuexin said.

Half a minute later.

"Mr. Cat! Tang Yue!" Maidong's voice sounded on the channel, with surprise and surprise in his tone, "The Chelome probe says hello to you!"

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"It's incredible." Tang Yue sat down, wrapped in a blanket, "A detector that has been forgotten by people for five years is still surviving tenaciously... Didn't you mean that it was completely covered in sand and dust and that its power was completely exhausted? Is it done?"

"There is a watch onboard the Chelomei. This watch can run for ten years." Lao Mao explained. "According to Chelomei's original design, once the power reserve drops below the danger line, the detector will go into sleep and shut down the computer. And all the power-consuming mechanisms, but the watch will continue to run, it will wake up the computer periodically, and once the solar panels are charged, the detector will wake up from its long sleep... Do you remember the storm more than three months ago? Bar?"

Tang Yue nodded. Of course he remembered the super storm that swept through the Kunlun Station and almost caused the launch of the Eagle spacecraft to fail.

"Storms can raise sand and dust, and they can also sweep away sand and dust." Lao Mao said, "The storm three months ago probably blew away the dust on the Chelome's battery panels, allowing the panels to regenerate. It started charging, so the detector woke up from its long sleep and continued to work... The machine is such a thing, as long as you don't abandon it, it will never abandon you."