Dead on Mars

Chapter 141: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Five, Tractors Struck from Hammers

Mai Dong took a file on her second EVA trip.

In the beginning, she had her doubts. Wasn’t holding a file to fix the spacecraft’s heat-resistant tiles equivalent to fixing a CPU with an electric soldering iron?

“Who told you that the lander’s heat-resistant tiles are a CPU?” Tomcat said indifferently. “It’s only a tractor. What’s wrong with wielding a hammer to strike a tractor? Back then, the Volgograd Tractor Plant workers used the hammers in their hands to produce more than ten thousand tractors… and even more T-34 tanks.”

Mai Dong gently heaved a sigh of relief.

According to Tomcat, fixing the Eagle’s heat-resistant tiles wasn’t something complicated. Laymen often imagined the work to be overly complex.

The protrusion in the heat-resistant material just needed to be filed flat, so the only tool needed was a file.

“Be careful, lass. Slow down a little.” Tang Yue stared intently. “Calm down. Your body temperature and heart rate are rising.”

Mai Dong’s EVA suit was measuring her physical condition in real-time, presenting her vital stats to Tang Yue and Tomcat.

“Got it.” Mai Dong leaned to the side and used her back to block the blinding sunlight. “It’s easier than I expected. The outermost layer is a porous foam structure. I thought it would be hard ceramic tiles.”

Compared to the mechanic repairs, Mai Dong felt that this was more like doing carpentry.

“Ding!” The workstation indicated that it had completed a calculation.

Tomcat glanced at it.

“It failed.”

“What failed?” Tang Yue asked.

“Two processes. The simulation results of the Eagle lander’s entry into the atmosphere without any external force. It’s the sixty-sixth failure,” Tomcat explained. “Another is the attempt to use Orion’s engine. I temporarily ignored the difficulty in terms of effort and technological details. All I’m considering is the viability of it safely landing… In the end, I discovered that not only can’t it descend safely, but it also won’t even be able to maintain the most basic structural integrity.”

“What do you mean?”

Tomcat took off the earpiece, turned around, and picked up the pen on the table to demonstrate it to Tang Yue.

“This is the Eagle lander.”

Tomcat waved the pen cap in its paw.

“This is the rocket engine.”

Tomcat waved the pen.

“Now, we will use some unknown alien adhesive to firmly bind them together. Using Iron Man’s superpowers, we dismantle the rocket engine with our bare hands, and then create a set of control systems, allowing the Eagle’s computers to control the engine.” Tomcat inserted the pen into the pen cap. “Finally, we throw them into the Martian atmosphere…”

Tang Yue stared at the pen in Tomcat’s paw.

“Do you know what will happen?” Tomcat slowly leaned close as its brown eyes reflected Tang Yue’s face.

“What will happen?” Tang Yue gulped.

“Fireworks.” Tomcat threw the pen on the table and gestured an explosion with its paws. “This pieced together gizmo will completely disintegrate once it enters the gravisphere. The fuel reservoir will explode with a hundred percent certainty if it enters in a prone position. The aluminum alloy shell will deform in extreme proportions without any support.”

“You mean that we have no way of using Orion’s engine?”

“No,” Tomcat answered straightly. “It’s completely unrealistic. It’s best you give up on that idea.”

“But I still wish to give it a try.”

“The Orion II is a spacecraft that shuttles between Earth and Mars. It uses nine Raptor 10D high-pressure, fuel-powered engines in parallel. Each engine provides a thrust of 120 tonnes. Only such a thrust can allow the entire United Space Station to carry out an orbital maneuver. However, the Raptor 10D engines aren’t something that can be used by the Eagle lander,” Tomcat explained. “It’s nearly as heavy as the Eagle. Binding it to the lander will completely destroy the latter’s aerodynamic profile. The attitude, which can’t be controlled to begin with, will only become worse.

“The design of aircraft isn’t a simple mathematical operation. People at the Central Aerohydrodynamic Institute and Skunk Works know it very well. In fact, you know too… Stop making desperate attempts. There’s no way to save it.”

Tang Yue cast his gaze to the monitor. Mai Dong was still working hard at fixing the heat-resistant tiles on screen.

“Have you done all you can?”

“I’ve tried all structures. None of them succeeded,” Tomcat said. “The engine lacks the protection of the heat-resistant tiles, so it will be destroyed in the atmosphere.”

“The Raptor 10D engines thrust-to-weight ratio exceeds one, right?” Tang Yue asked. “If it exceeds 1, can… can we do a reverse trust the entire time to descend vertically? Just like the Falcon 9 from the past?”

“Impossible.” Tomcat shook its head. “I’ve simulated it many times. Never once has the Eagle passed the 10,000-meter mark intact.”

“10,000 meters?”

Tomcat nodded. “10,000 meters is a threshold. Once the altitude drops below 10,000 meters, the atmosphere will suddenly become dense. The dynamic pressure the lander experiences will also increase exponentially… With an engine-bound Eagle, it will immediately lose its attitude. The Eagle lander is an Ascent Vehicle, not a plane. It doesn’t have any wings. Once it begins tumbling, there’s no way to stop it.”

Tang Yue pulled as his hair.

Darn it.

“Not using the engine spells certain death, but so is using the engine… F*ck, is there really no other solution?”

“But, using the engine spells certain death is a false proposition. I’m only describing to you the viability predictions the workstation made if the Orion engine descends. In fact, executing it is far more difficult. Miss Mai Dong won’t be able to complete it by herself,” Tomcat added. “I’ve said so before. Do you think it’s possible for her to dismantle a corvette with her bare hands?”

“How do you want me to tell her such things?” Tang Yue was vexed. “To tell her that she’s doomed? That the Eagle has no way of descending?”

“That’s not my job.” Tomcat shrugged. “I’ve informed you of the results. You decide what should be done. Perhaps you can inform her of the outcome and let her decide for herself.”

Ever since Tomcat knew that a comet was hitting Mars, it had adhered to a Buddhist style of desiring Zen-like serenity. In the past, it had been strict on Tang Yue’s daily life—strictly rationing his food and water and punctually waking him up. Now, Tomcat no longer bothered with such trivialities. Tang Yue could sleep as late as he wished.

When Tang Yue asked, Tomcat would often say, “This isn’t my job. You decide for yourself.”

“Nothing is your job, that’s what the point of having you around…” Tang Yue slumped into the chair and let out a long sigh.

“I’m useless. I’m useless. I’ll dig a hole and bury myself. Don’t disturb me in the next five hundred years.” Tomcat turned around and walked away.

“Hey, hey, hey, Sir Cat, please hold back. Why are you treating me so seriously? That lady, Mai Dong, is still working. You can’t just cast her aside!”

…

Mai Dong took a long time to file the heat-resistant tiles flat. She carefully inspected the fruits of her labor an inch at a time before putting the file back into her tool bag with satisfaction.

“Mr. Cat, Tang Yue. The heat-resistant tiles are settled.” Mai Dong returned to the space station. “What’s next?”