Dead on Mars

Chapter 168: Sol Two Hundred and Eighty-Three, You’re Still Alive

Orion II had finally broken past the ten-thousand-meter barrier.

It had endured the most dangerous stage and its eternal temperature was dropping. The engine’s thrust was still working normally, and the situation was basically stable. The computer began guiding the various modules on the spacecraft as it worked in a prescribed order. Tomcat had said that he had the confidence of the Milky Way for this simulation. Based on the current situation, it really had it in the bag.

The workstation began whirring away as doing a full simulation of Orion II pushed it to its limits. The chassis was already scalding to the touch, so much so that Tang Yue had to get some ice to cool it down.

“IMU data refreshed. Radio altimeter normal. Orion II passing through the ninth waypoint. Landing ellipse set at 30 × 30km. Landing altitude predicted at 1.3 km.”

“Mass balanced, flight-angle path adjusted. Throttle control, normal.”

“Dynamic pressure: 880 Pa!”

Tang Yue’s heart tensed up again. He watched as Orion II’s altitude gradually dropped as it was poised to enter the landing stage. His heartbeat raced involuntarily as the massive spacecraft, with a mass of hundreds of tonnes, exceeded human imagination. It plunged down from an orbit of more than a hundred kilometers, passing through the blackout and flames, overcoming one fatal obstacle after another. If there was any trip that was so close yet so far, it would be the Orion II’s landing.

He, Tomcat, and Mai Dong had been working so hard for this very moment.

“Altitude of 6457.3 meters.

“Altitude of 5107.9 meters.

“Altitude of 4826.0 meters.”

Tomcat would report on the Orion II’s situation at periodic intervals.

The altitude was rapidly changing as Orion II reached uniform speed. Its speed had decreased to less than 100 m/s.

“Altitude of 3989.4 meters.” Tomcat’s voice was deep and steady.

Tang Yue sat in his chair, palms covered in sweat. The closer they were to success, the more nervous he became. Tang Yue could no longer face staring at the monitor’s numbers. Those changing numbers had already lost meaning to him. His mind was filled with prayers that the test would succeed.

Tang Yue had the Orion II model erected beside him. He clasped it with both hands and muttered, “God, please throw a six.”

Orion II’s altitude entered the final thousand meters. It was in the final stage of the descent, the landing process.

There was little left of the fuel in the propellant tanks. The Raptor 10D engine rockets were fuel-guzzling beasts—the five engines burned away 300 gallons of fuel every second. The computer adjusted the rocket’s flux and increased the thrust as Orion II commenced a final deceleration.

It was moving at 87 m/s and, before the landing, needed to reduce its speed to zero.

“Miss Mai Dong!” Tomcat shouted.

“Roger that,” Mai Dong replied. She lifted her wrist to look at the time. It was 720 seconds after the atmospheric entry. According to the plan, she needed to be released from Orion II at the 745-second mark. Tomcat’s plan was extremely accurate, and every second was on point.

The Eagle lander was bound with airbags and attached to the central module of Orion II. The lander’s release limit at rest was two hundred meters. In other words, being released at any height below two hundred meters ensured that the airbags could protect Mai Dong. But to Tang Yue and Tomcat, two hundred meters was too risky. The most ideal and safest height was thirty-five meters.

This was because the lander’s docking mechanism was thirty-five meters from the spacecraft’s bottom.

This also meant that Orion II needed to hover at almost zero altitude before the lander could be released for a safe landing.

The dismantled Eagle was a twelve-tonne behemoth. Even under Mars’s gravitational field, it was still something akin to five tonnes. To smash down from a height of two hundred meters involved too many unpredictable complications. Besides, the lander’s airbags had suffered a catharsis of 400°C. Tomcat and Tang Yue were worried that the airbags’ robustness might have decreased drastically.

The lower the release happened, the better.

Mai Dong looked at the time on her wristwatch.

740 seconds.

Orion II was a hundred and twenty meters off the ground.

“GNC system normal. Radio altimeter normal. UHF comms link normal. X-ray comms link normal. Orion II’s landing speed at 20 m/s. Entering final stage of landing sequence. Arriving at predetermined landing point! Miss Mai Dong, stand by. Commence release countdown!”

741 seconds.

Orion II was a hundred meters off the ground.

“Target attitude stable. RCS normal. Altitude of 100 meters. There are weak side winds. Angle of attack has been rebalanced!”

Tomcat and Tang Yue gathered in front of the same monitor. The workstation had already summarized all the data here. Many sensors were sounding alerts as Orion II was already worn out by the time it had overcome all the obstacles to reach this point. It was like a warrior that was covered in wounds after passing through a firing line.

It was on its final legs.

The propellant tank had less than 5% of its fuel left and could only last another five seconds.

742 seconds.

Orion II was eighty meters off the ground.

“Code 1260 alert!

“Code 1280 alert!

“Code 1320 alert!”

Tang Yue and Tomcat tightened their grip at the same time.

It didn’t matter how many alerts appeared. Orion II’s historic mission was on the brink of completion. It just needed to survive another three seconds and it would enter the annals of history in glory. It would become one of the greatest and most legendary spacecraft in the world, to be remembered by human civilization and all of the Universe.

743 seconds.

Orion II was sixty meters off the ground.

744 seconds.

Orion II was twenty meters off the ground.

745 seconds.

The monitor showed the spacecraft’s symbol slowly make contact with the ground.

“Zero altitude!” Tomcat and Tang Yue roared in unison. “Now—release!”

Mai Dong used all her strength as she pulled the handle beneath the Commander’s seat. The steel wire triggered a signal as the pyrotechnics in the docking mechanism exploded! The weak explosion sent it escaping the crashing Orion II as the Eagle followed a downward parabolic trajectory.

Orion II was to stay in midair for the final second until all its propellant had been expended, killing the engine. It was like a mother that had protected her child in her embrace, passing through all kinds of deadly obstacles before gently releasing her arms when they arrived at the shore.

The lander slammed heavily into the Martian desert before bouncing up. It bounced far away as the airbags provided good protection. They compressed upon contact with the ground, absorbing the kinetic energy from the collision.

The computer-guided the Raptor rocket’s nozzles to turn directions the moment before all the fuel was expended, causing Orion II’s massive body to topple in the opposite direction as the lander.

“SAFE LANDING.”

A window popped up on all the monitors.

The simulation had ended.

Tang Yue took a step back as he slumped into his chair. He was drained and was in a daze.

“We succeeded.”

“Yes, we did it.” Tomcat turned its head around and smiled. “We really did it.”

Tang Yue looked up at Kunlun Station’s white ceiling. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry, nor did he know what to say. His eyes turned red as he had wished to get up to hug Tomcat, but his limbs were lacking the strength. All he could do was mutter, “We succeeded.”

They had finally succeeded.

Lady Luck had finally thrown them a six.

Mai Dong silently sat in the lander’s Commander chair, blinked and asked softly, “Am I still alive?”

“You’re still alive. Lass, you’re still alive.”