Die on Mars

Tang Yue's face was stiff and pale, and cold sweat slid down his cheeks.

The RD-0172 engine in the payload bay of the Eagle spacecraft is a small rocket, used for safe escape during the launch phase or maneuverable orbit change of the command module. Its thrust and working time are quite limited.

Under normal circumstances, the propellant of the RD-0172 rocket must be sufficient, because the lander's re-launch into orbit is a precise and meticulous job. It requires selecting a suitable launch window, requiring the Earth Control Center, Kunlun Station, The joint space station and the lander work closely together, requiring the Earth Control Center to carefully formulate plans and plans. The Kunlun Station and the space station provide remote guidance, as well as the adjustment and control of the astronauts on the lander.

In previous Mars missions, the lander and the space station used a fast docking solution. After the lander entered orbit, it would go around Mars once and then enter the rendezvous procedure. It would not take more than two hours from start to finish, and it was very simple and easy. , so the propellant of RD-0172 in the payload bay cannot be used up at all, and there is redundancy every time.

This gave Tang Yue a big illusion.

Let him think that rendezvous and docking is a very easy job.

"When did you have the illusion that 'you can easily dock successfully'?" Lao Mao asked, "So many successful dockings in the past are because you have the perfect cooperation of the Earth, Kunlun Station, Joint Space Station and lander behind you. , there is a large group of people watching for you, look what we have left now?"

The earth is gone.

Kunlun Station is also unable to provide reliable remote positioning and guidance due to bad weather.

There is only one person on the Joint Space Station, Maidong. She is not an experienced professional astronaut like Captain Wang, so letting her be responsible for the entire rendezvous and docking procedure is really a rush.

Finally, the Eagle spacecraft... The Eagle spacecraft launched tomorrow is a pure cargo ship, with no one on board, only compressed biscuits and sandwiches, and you can't expect sandwiches to cooperate with your work.

Tang Yue sat down slowly. He figured out what the old cat meant. All the strength in his body was drained away bit by bit, and his skin became colder bit by bit.

Fortunately, he thought that everything was ready and all he needed was the east wind.

When the old cat broke through, Tang Yue realized that this plan was full of loopholes and flaws. There might be problems in every link and it was completely vulnerable.

They want to launch an unmanned cargo spacecraft in an overwhelming sandstorm without human monitoring and guidance, and then let the unmanned spacecraft find the space station on its own, complete rendezvous and docking, and are only allowed to fail once.

It's like you dropped an eight-year-old child who has never traveled far away at a Beijing subway station, then gave him a map and asked him to find Shanghai alone, and finally patted him on the shoulder and told him, "You just need to You can make a mistake once."

"Damn, you...why didn't you tell me earlier?" Tang Yue murmured.

"Where did we have time to talk about this before?" Old Cat replied, "Have we had any rest these days?"

Tang Yue was a little distracted, the situation was much worse than he imagined, and hope was really slim.

Without the remote control and guidance of the Kunlun Station and the Joint Space Station, it is impossible for the Eagle spacecraft to successfully change orbit. The rendezvous and docking is a very delicate task. The lander and the Joint Space Station fly at a high speed of three kilometers per second. But their relative speed cannot exceed five meters per second when docking.

This is like two planes flying at ten times the speed of sound. They need to gradually get closer during flight, so close that the pilots of the two planes can shake each other's hands.

If there is a slight mistake, the machine will be destroyed and everyone will die.

"What is the probability that the Eagle spacecraft can successfully dock automatically?" Tang Yue asked.

Old Cat thought for a long time, "Unless the computer of the Eagle spacecraft can perfectly control the lander and execute every step accurately without making a single decimal error, it will be possible for it to successfully dock... But this is an ideal state. Only the Eagle can The spacecraft's own navigation will always have a slight deviation."

"Because the objective conditions cannot reach an ideal state, the influence of the external environment will gradually accumulate errors, such as gravity, wind speed, and the working status of the engine, so the lander needs external instructions to correct it." Lao Mao Then he said, "This kind of external command can be the guidance of the Kunlun Station, the guidance of the space station, or the adjustments made by the crew on the lander themselves."

"Without external corrections, it would be almost impossible for the Eagle spacecraft to dock successfully?" Tang Yue asked.

"There's very little hope."

"Possibility!" Tang Yue gritted his teeth and said, "I want to know the probability! What is the probability of successful docking?"

"No more than one-twentieth."

"The propellant of the RD-0172 engine is only enough for two uses?"

The old cat nodded, "If the first rendezvous fails, the remaining propellant will only be enough for one use. If it fails the second time, the Eagle spacecraft will become space junk floating in orbit."

Tang Yue was at his wits end and could only try twice, so the total probability of success was only one tenth at best.

He suddenly felt very tired, too tired to say a word.

Every number spit out by the old cat was accurately calculated by it. Mathematics is indeed a beautiful and cruel thing. It is a manifestation of the rules and logic of the universe and cannot be shaken. No matter how powerful you are, you cannot Forcibly change a calculation result to a number even one million places after the decimal point.

A tenth is a tenth.

This probability is an unchangeable death sentence. It is not issued by humans, but by the will of this world.

It is impossible for humans to fight against the universe. The radius of Mars is 3,389 kilometers. You cannot change it to 4,000 kilometers. The gravitational acceleration on Mars is 0.38 G. You cannot change it to 0.4 G. G, all parameters and rules have been firmly welded in place since the beginning of creation.

Therefore, their judgments are unshakable.

The old cat didn't speak either. One person and one cat sat under the dim light. The only sound left in Kunlun Station was the buzzing sound of the OGS system.

"Then where is our hope?" Tang Yue opened his eyes with a dull look, "Didn't you say that we are going to find the last hope buried in the impossible? Where is this hope? Where is it?"

The old cat poked his chest.

"it's here."

Tang Yue was stunned.

"Mars is dead, the Eagle spacecraft is dead, and the laws of physics and mathematics are dead." The old cat said, "But you are alive. You are the only living person on this planet. If even you are dead, , then the last hope will be shattered."

Tang Yue stared at it blankly.

The old cat's face was very calm.

"Do you think man can defeat the universe?" Old Cat asked suddenly, "I think man cannot defeat the universe, but he can defeat himself."

Tang Yue was stunned, his face twitched, and then his voice began to tremble.

"You...you mean...there is still hope?"