Dead on Mars

Chapter 40 - Sol Five, Mars United Space Station
Tang Yue ultimately failed to restore communications. As Tomcat called out for him to return, he remained, standing outside the station, adjusting the antenna with his teeth gritted. Finally, Tomcat had no choice but to personally drag him back.

Tang Yue had thoughts of struggling, believing that he could rescue the signal.

However, Tomcat directly pulled out the electric cable, claiming that what needed rescuing wasn’t the signal, but Tang Yue himself.

Tomcat sat at the work desk filled with computer screens to its left and right, in front and above.

The screen in front of it had a rotating three-dimensional model of the United Space Station. Tomcat wore a heavy expression as it focused.

Its gaze swept across the space station’s every detail. The whiskers on its face trembled slightly as its eyes darted around, its thoughts a mystery.

The Mars United Space Station followed a modular structure. From 2020 to 2052, humans had spent decades, investing trillions of American dollars to send the different modules into Martian orbit. Then, like jigsaw pieces, they built up the space station in near-Mars orbit.

As Mars was so far, building the United Space Station was a lot harder than the ISS. With spacecraft only having a launch window every twenty-six months, the time it took to build the United Space Station was staggering long. Not a single launch window could be wasted. Earthlings went to great effort to launch the cargo spacecraft, sending the seven primary modules of the space station into Martian orbit. And that alone took a total of fourteen years.

But ultimately, it was a magnum opus of humanity. This was another huge stride forward for human civilization since the Apollo project. The United Space Station was the largest and most complicated permanent space vehicle built in deep space. It was the furthest human territory from Earth, the crowning jewel of human civilization.

The United Space Station had a total of seven primary modules. The Crystal core module and the Hub Androgynous Peripheral Attach Systems module was the part that was launched at the very beginning. The former was a long cylinder, and the latter was a short, thick cylinder. The latter’s hull had four APAS that allowed the connection of different modules.

According to usual practice, the research and development were done by the USA for this portion.

USA: I sold my aircraft carriers to build this! Now, the USN doesn’t have any aircraft carriers to use! Congress! I need money!

The two modules were connected, forming a simple space station in near-Mars orbit, just like the Skylab and Salyut 1 from many years ago.

That was the embryonic form of the United Space Station.

Following that, there was the Dawn experiment module. This module was connected to the other end of the core module. It had a APAS, allowing the space station to grow in length.

The Dawn experiment module was the smallest and cheapest module on the space station.

According to usual practice, such things were typically built by the Russians.

Russia: Technology! We only provide the technology. Let Mother Russia make it clear again, we only provide the technology!

The third batch was the Discovery and Hope experiment modules. These two modules were connected to the hub module’s two sides. Similarly, they each came with an additional APAS.

The fourth batch was the Harmony service module. It was connected to the hub module’s final APAS, making the United Space Station a cross. The Silent multipurpose module was connected to the end of the Harmony module. It was the dock meant for the Orion spacecraft. It had two docks for the Orion I and Orion II.

The complete United Space Station was then basically in shape. Apart from the astronaut’s activity module, it also included a huge 150-meter-long frame, eight massive solar panels, as well as an expensive super robotic arm.

According to usual practice, this robotic arm was built by Canada.

In terms of the complexity involved, the Mars United Space Station couldn’t be compared to the ISS, but it cost more than ten times.

Tomcat stroked its chin as it carefully observed the space station’s structure.

The United Space Station had a total of five APASs, with one of them being occupied by the Orion II. There were four available for use. The four APASs were orientated in different directions, every one of them capable of allowing the Eagle to berth and dock.

“Where will the Eagle dock when the time comes?” Tang Yue asked.

“Under ordinary circumstances, the Eagle will dock here.” Tomcat pointed at the Dawn module with its paw. “The Dawn module’s APAS is directly connected to the core module; therefore, this APAS is closest to the core module. However, it’s impossible to predict which direction the Lander will come from.”

“I remember that… the space station can provide remote guidance and adjustments for the lander.”

“It’s possible, and I’ve never said it can’t happen.” Tomcat nodded, “But that is completely manually controlled. The steps involved are too complicated. Miss Mai Dong doesn’t know how… Or should I say, that apart from Old Wang and a few others, there aren’t many in the world who can do it.”

“In previous Mars missions, there was also a situation of an unmanned lander docking with the unmanned space station.”

In the earliest Mars missions, many things required technological confirmation. For safety, the spacecraft and space station back then were unmanned.

“How was it resolved?” Tomcat said, “What I understand is that I’ll provide remote guidance and controls from the space station; after all, a robot isn’t a human. Losing a limb or two isn’t considered an industrial injury. No compensation needs to be paid for death. Haven’t you heard of the saying? Behind every successful unmanned docking, there is an unknown robot.”

Tang Yue covered his face with a sigh.

It was fifteen minutes past ten in the morning. The present wind speed was 42 m/s.

The man and cat sat in Kunlun Station, anxiously awaiting the drop in wind speeds. Tang Yue sat on a chair while Tomcat sat beside him. They looked out at the pitch-black hurricane, clueless as to how long the sandstorm would continue.

There was only the sound of howling winds in Kunlun Station. The numbers and figures on the computer screens slid past silently as the light bulb over their heads occasionally flickered.

At that moment, Tang Yue thought of SpongeBob SquarePants once again.

SpongeBob was clearly a children’s cartoon with a bright and happy atmosphere, but when he thought of how SpongeBob lived alone at the bottom of the sea, looking up at the pitch-black waters, he found it dreary and terrifying.

On careful thought, a sponge was immortal. And his friend, Patrick Star, would ultimately depart the world, leaving SpongeBob alone at the bottom of the deep sea. He would live in that pineapple, walking back and forth alone. He would be catching jellyfish forever alone, chuckling in glee before gradually turning crazy.

Tang Yue was somewhat alarmed. He realized that his thoughts had gone astray… A crazy SpongeBob?

How crazy.

If he was SpongeBob, who was Mai Dong?

The squirrel wearing a diving suit and helmet, Sandy Cheeks?