Dead on Mars

Chapter 158: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-One, First Mock

n

The next day.

Tang Yue, Tomcat, and Mai Dong spent hours modifying Orion’s sections, but thanks to the advanced design of the United Space Station, most of them used the standard docking mechanism. Be it the mechanical or power and control connection, they were all plug and play like a USB drive.

The Mars project’s executive committee had done something worthwhile after all, having spent tons of money.

“Alpha. Alpha, take note!” Tomcat stomped its foot on the chair as its left paw grabbed the earpiece while its right paw held a pen. It issued a command like an operations commander.

“The old ISS has already been decommissioned,” Tang Yue said languidly. “Tomcat, are you calling out to the ISS in heaven?”

“Alpha section ready to go,” Mai Dong replied. “The docking mechanism is fully operational. Computer self-checks are a-okay. Same for the control system and the circulatory system.”

“Beta. Beta, take note!”

“Beta section ready to go.” Mai Dong sounded experienced.

“Gamma, take note.”

“Gamma section ready to go.”

The Orion II spacecraft’s reorganization plan proceeded in step as sections were detached. The arm moved them to their new docking spots as Mai Dong wore a heavy EVA suit to help Tomcat out in space. Each EVA trip took two hours before she returned to the space station to rest, switch batteries, and air tanks.

“Axial velocity of 0.35. I repeat, axial velocity of 0.35! Mr. Cat, take note of the deceleration. The radial deviation has reached 0.22 meters. I repeat, the radial deviation has reached 0.22 meters.”

“OK! Roger that.”

Tomcat controlled the arm’s deceleration.

“Section has been grappled. Seals a-okay. Arrester a-okay! Damper a-okay!” Tang Yue wore an earpiece as he spoke quickly and typed. “The three-axis attitude angle measurement shows no errors.”

“Mai Dong, take note. You still have 27% battery left. Mai Dong, take note. Your life support system only has 27% battery left. Prepare to use the backup batteries.” Tang Yue had three monitors in front of him and he felt tense. Tomcat was in overall command while Mai Dong did the EVA work. As for him, he was in charge of monitoring everything. “The carbon dioxide concentration has risen by 0.3%. Water vapor concentration has raised by 0.09%. Mai Dong, you are currently producing large amounts of sweat.”

“Roger that. I’m indeed sweating because I’m a little tired.”

“How much water do you have left in your bag?”

“About half.” Mai Dong could drink from the water bag using a straw to hydrate herself. “It’s enough.”

The massive β service module slowly approached the Hope experiment module. The former was a huge cylindrical object more than four meters in diameter and it was made of hard composite materials. The astronauts on Orion spent most of the time there. The Orion series spacecraft also had a similar life support system to the space station. It even had enough space for a small card room that allowed the astronauts to play mahjong.

The α, β and γ sections, which Tomcat removed, were all service modules. After docking with the United Space Station, their life support system could be used as a backup for the space station.

Mai Dong tethered herself to the service module’s wall with a safety belt as she moved with β. Not far ahead was the Hope service module, and the docking preparations were already underway.

The β service module’s hull was painted with huge blue English text: PEACE. It was just beneath Mai Dong and could just be seen by lowering her head.

She had no idea that it had been given a name.

After careful thought, be it the Mars United Space Station or the Orion spacecraft, every section had been entrusted with the beautiful expectations of its name. They gave these sections names such as Hope and Peace before using rockets to send them up into space and to Mars… Humans had sent the best ideals more than a hundred million kilometers to an alien world, hoping that these ideals could escape the harshness of reality. They wanted them to sprout and bloom on another planet.

This is probably why I’ve lasted so long.

Mai Dong thought silently.

Peace and Hope made contact, sending a slight tremor.

“β section has been grappled. Seals a-okay. Connection lock a-okay! Establishing mechanical connection!” Tang Yue hurriedly reported. “Power connected. Computer self-checks a-okay!”

“Everything’s a-okay.” Mai Dong observed the scene.

She was tethered to an EVA rope as she climbed forward. Mai Dong had to remove the safety harness after every step she took to hook them onto the cabin wall ahead.

It was rather exhausting to partake in EVA work. Even though the body no longer had any burden due to zero gravity, it was the zero gravity that brought about many more problems. For example, it wasn’t easy to control one’s body and one’s tools often floated away randomly.

Gravity brought about stability. A chair wouldn’t move if placed on the ground, but in zero gravity, this stability one took for granted wouldn’t exist. Mai Dong was constantly in motion, and she spent most of her energies maintaining her balance and stability.

With the β section’s successful docking, the United Space Station’s length grew again. From then on, the Hope experiment module was no longer the boundary of the space station. Peace had a greater capacity than Hope, allowing Mai Dong to tumble about inside freely.

Following that, Tomcat turned its attention to the γ service module—in actuality, the Alliance service module and the Discovery module. With a clicking sound, the United Space Station’s internal volume expanded by a third.

“OK, OK. Everything is going smoothly according to plan.” Tomcat clapped. “Miss Mai Dong, you did well.”

At this moment, three of the service modules of the Orion II spacecraft had been removed. After the modification work of the United Space Station, the four remaining inflatable modules wouldn’t be connected to the space station. They would be tied to the Eagle lander as airbags, and this would be the third step.

Everything was proceeding one step at a time.

“The flight control program has been modified. This crappy computer hanged seven times, but it ultimately completed the mission.” Tomcat patted the workstation’s chassis.

Tang Yue sat beside it as he cast a look of empathy towards the computer that had gone through the laborious work.

Tomcat was a landlord who made the masses toil for it.

“Next, we will begin our simulation test. This is the most critical step in the descent. We need to verify if our method really works.”

“Simulation test?” Tang Yue asked. “Just like the one we did back on Earth?”

Before the actual launch, the astronauts on Orion I had participated in the training. Jiuquan was one of the main training centers in the Mars project. It had a full set of facilities for the simulation and a 1:1 scaled Orion spacecraft and United Space Station; making it span a huge area. Back then, Tang Yue and company wore heavy EVA suits and floated in water, repeatedly opening the hatches as practice.

Surface training was a necessary step in any aeronautical project. Different people were trained on different topics.

Professional astronauts like Old Wang and Thomp, who were commanders, were tested on the most topics. However, these were experienced and had been in space several times. Therefore, it was all very familiar work for them.

“Yes.” Tomcat nodded. “Apart from letting Orion really enter the atmosphere, we will fully simulate the entire landing process. We will start with the engine’s control, the stabilization of the attitude, and then the landing conditions. We will simulate everything from start to finish, resolving any problems that arise during the process, as well as create some contingency plans.”

“Looks like you’ll be in for more tiring work.” Tang Yue sighed.

Tomcat was taken aback. “It’s fine. It’s not tiring.”

“No, I wasn’t talking to you, great landlord… I’m speaking to it.” Tang Yue pointed at the HP workstation’s chassis. “Lord Cat, where did you get the shame to say that you aren’t tired?”

…

Tomcat waved the pen and paper and put in the earpiece. “Come! All stations! Everyone to their stations. We are about to begin the first descent! We shall try letting Orion do an atmospheric entry. Let’s see how long it can last!

“This will be the first simulation test.

“In short, first mock 1!”