Dead on Mars

The Eagle and the United Space Station were only 110 kilometers apart at their closest.

At this distance, if anyone on the Eagle was to look in the direction of the space station, they would be able to see it with the naked eye. The massive solar panels and white module walls reflected sunlight, making it appear like a shiny, resplendent diamond on pitch-black velvet.

The Russian RD-0172 engine activated as the turbine pumps rapidly turned. Liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen burned in the combustion chamber, rapidly spewing out material from its exhaust.

The vacuum silenced the burning propellant’s boom as the Eagle accelerated silently. This massive object weighing more than ten tonnes had begun moving out of its orbit!

Tomcat stared at the computer as the lander’s flight trajectory was drawn out as a huge curve on the screen. The curve intersected perfectly with the United Space Station. This was the Eagle’s transfer orbit. They had given up on the more secure plan of attempting a double orbital maneuver and double transfer orbit. They had to pay a price which was the need for precise maneuvering. They had to guide the lander into the space station’s orbit without any mistakes.

This was akin to getting someone to drive an eight-wheeled trailer weighing more than ten tonnes at Mach 10, complete a drift to change tracks, before precisely driving into a narrow alley that was only two centimeters wider than the trailer.

Tomcat was the driver driving that trailer.

It was remotely controlling the Eagle from three hundred kilometers away. This was a docking mission with a one-time success probability of 2.477%. It was an opportunity Tang Yue gave it by risking his life. Therefore, Tomcat was doing its best as well.

“Orbital plane adjusted! Attitude adjusted!

“Time difference adjusted… Target and tracked vehicle time synchronization. Synchronization complete! Adjusting trajectory numbers!

“Adjustment complete!

“Forward modulation…”

Tomcat only had the speed fluctuations, legend, and numbers in its eyes. The computer screen’s bottom was filled with all sorts of timers, as various processes began and ended. It was as precise as gear teeth in motion. And Tomcat was one of the most important gears in the entire process. All the data from the Eagle and the United Space Station was reported here in Mission Control!

Massive amounts of data were sent down from four hundred kilometers above them, going through the antenna in Tang Yue’s hand and into Kunlun Station’s computer. Tomcat took the center seat as it issued commands.

“The Eagle has entered the first anchoring point! The absolute speed is 3451.22 m/s. The relative speed is 227.89 m/s! It’s 60,166 meters away from the target!” Tomcat shouted, “Mai Dong!”

“Roger that!”

“Switch on the transponder. The MR system has begun the search!” Tomcat instructed. “Lock on and track the spacecraft! Lady, you know what should be done, right? I just taught you!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! I got it! I got it! Switch on the RAD control panel with the TURN ON button… POWER button! Following that, it’s the PRHEAT! Then, adjust the microwave radar numbers… Wait for the screen to produce a red cross and adjust the pitch angle!”

Two minutes later.

“Locked on! Mr. Cat, the microwave radar has locked onto the target!”

“Very good! You are really a smart lady! The Eagle has entered the second anchoring point! The absolute speed is 3554.36 m/s. The relative speed is 221.41 m/s! It’s 35,188.69 meters away from the target!” Tomcat shouted, “Mai Dong!”

“Roger that!”

“MR system angle measurement! Established relative moving axes!”

“OK… the angle measurement antenna matrix element has been activated. Confirm the signal carrier phase delta! Confirm the signal carrier phase delta!” Mai Dong’s voice trembled slightly. “Confirming angle measurement’s upper and lower bounds!

“Azimuth angle upper and lower bounds determined! Azimuth angle step size determined!”

“Pitch angle upper and lower bounds determined! Pitch angle step size determined!”

Mai Dong yelled into the earpiece.

The numbers on Tomcat’s screen refreshed as a complete coordinate diagram was outlined.

“Very good, lady you are doing very well. Don’t panic… Calm down! Calm down! You can do it! The Eagle is preparing to enter the homing stage! The absolute speed is 3517.32 m/s. The relative speed is 220.08 m/s! It’s 11,278.39 meters away from the target!” As Tomcat consoled Mai Dong, it gave commands to the Eagle. “RD-0172 engines in reverse! Commencing deceleration!”

The lander on the screen gradually approached the space station as the distance between the two had gone below ten kilometers.

At this stage, even Mai Dong, who was inside the core module, could see the Eagle. Through the window, she could see a shiny white spacecraft in the distant pitch-black space. It looked the size of a rice grain as though it was a lonesome boat in the deep sea.

The girl couldn’t help her tears from flowing.

“Tang Yue! Tang Yue, are you alright? Can you still hold on?” Tomcat asked.

Tang Yue hadn’t said a word for quite some time. Tomcat was worried about his condition.

“Still… still alright. Don’t bother about me. Which… which stage are we at?”

Tang Yue’s voice was very weak.

“The last five kilometers!” Tomcat said, “The Eagle is at its third anchoring point! The absolute speed is 3511.17 m/s. The relative speed is 107.35 m/s! It’s 4,823.07 meters away from the target!”

“Then… does that mean… we are about to succeed?”

“Yes, that’s right! We are about to succeed! Almost there! Hold on a little longer!” Tomcat nodded. With the distance less than five kilometers, it meant that the remote guidance stage had come to an end. Next up was the homing and approach stage. The Eagle’s rendezvous was already a success, so all that was left for the docking was the final five kilometers.

Compared to the arduous and long four-hundred-kilometer journey, five kilometers was negligible.

“Mai Dong!”

“Roger that!”

“Switch on the orbital control sensor!” Tomcat instructed. “It’s on the right side of the RAD system on the control panel! On it is an English acronym TCS written in white! Do you see it?”

“TCS, TCS… found it!”

“Open it!” Tomcat gave the command. The different telemetry equipment on the space station worked for different distances. At a hundred kilometers, the United Space Station’s guidance equipment used microwave radar, but its accuracy was limited at close distances; therefore, when the Eagle reached within a kilometer of the space station, the TCS system took over. The full name was Tark Control Sensor.

The TCS’s core was a laser range finder. At close distances, a laser’s accuracy at measurements far exceeded microwaves.

Mai Dong switched on the TCS system.

The next second, data appeared before Tomcat’s eyes.

“Orbit data re-adjusted!”

“Azimuth angle re-adjusted!”

“Angle of depression re-adjusted!” Tomcat said, “Mai Dong, switch on the optical imagery sensor!”

“Roger that! Optical imagery sensor activated!”

“Beautiful! Mai Dong, you are truly a beautiful genius!”

The Eagle and the space station were eight hundred meters apart with relative speeds dropping below 30 m/s.

Tomcat precisely controlled the lander as it micro-adjusted the Eagle’s attitude with attitude control rockets. It had already aimed for the space station’s dock and prepared to make a hole in one.

The experienced Tomcat’s skills were truly impeccable. The computer system’s prediction was a perfect alignment between the red and blue lines. This meant that the Eagle would perfectly follow its trajectory without deviating a centimeter.

It managed to move the huge vehicle weighing more than ten tonnes into an alley without hitting its rear-view mirrors!

At the present trajectory, the Eagle would be able to safely reduce its speed before the autonomous docking happened.

Tomcat silently heaved a sigh of relief.

The distance was less than 400 meters, and the relative speed had dropped to 15 m/s.

“Tang Yue, Tang Yue, do you copy?” Tomcat shouted for Tang Yue. “We are about to succeed! In half a minute! Our delivery will be made in half a minute!”

“Alright… Then, I’ll hold out for another half a minute!”

Tomcat nodded. If it wasn’t for Tang Yue, the docking would definitely have failed. It was all thanks to Tang Yue propping up the antenna at the risk of his life. He allowed Tomcat to successfully establish communications with the lander and the space station to provide guidance. Even with the 2.477% success probability, as long as you were willing to bet your life on it, miracles could happen.

The distance was less than 300 meters, and the relative speed had dropped to 10 m/s.

Tomcat wanted to cheer.

Haha, it works! It knew it would work!

“Mr… Mr. Cat?” Mai Dong nervously called out to it.

“Yes?”

“Did something wrong happen on my side… The space station is sending alerts,” Mai Dong said.

Alerts? Tomcat was taken aback as it failed to react. Right on the heels of that, a warning window appeared on the screen in front of it. There was a huge exclamation mark and striking red words flashing crazily.

WARNING: IMPACT!

Tomcat was momentarily stunned before it pressed down on its earpiece, subconsciously shouting, “Run! Run! Mai Dong, run—!”