My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

Su Binjun went to Beijing to meet with the two senior officials working for the U.S. space program, leaving his alternate responsible for providing translation services for the U.S. launch director. After nearly two weeks of verbal disputes between his boss and the foreigners, Yang Jusheng knew that the burden on his shoulders was not easy.

If he had known earlier that this task was a hot potato, he might as well have written an application in advance to return to the Production and Construction Corps of the People's Liberation Army and stationed in Xinjiang; in the vast mountainous desert on the western frontier of the motherland, he would be more worried than now, fearing that his colleagues would stab the noisy man to death in anger. The yelling and rude Yankees have it much easier.

"Tell this ignorant bitch to get out of here!" the aircraft assembly director pointed at the American and yelled at him, "We don't need some old bastard with a white beard to tell us what to do when we operate a heavy aircraft to do fine work!"

At the same time, Mitch Henderson was using a completely different language to output in reverse, "Let these lazy guys be smarter! This aircraft will be launched in four days, how can it not even have a final inspection now?" You haven’t even started yet?! Why hasn’t Sleipnir’s No. 5 payload arrived yet? What the hell are you doing!”

"If that American pig can really hear a word of human speech," the director continued to scold, "tell him that even if we don't speak English, we can still understand his nonsense! How dare you slander them in front of my men? They can all hear clearly about labor!”

"I don't want to listen to their old excuses!" Henderson said, "This is a serious matter where the lives of eleven people are at stake. Making excuses won't do anything!"

"This is already our fastest speed!" the director retorted, "but we will never take the risk of rushing the work and repeating the mistakes of Sleipnir One!"

"He just said what happened to Sleipnir No. 1?!" Henderson was hurt in his weakness and almost made a move.

Jusheng couldn't stand it any longer and stretched out his hands to stop the two elders to tell them to calm down. "Mr. Henderson, I will ask the director to give a complete report on the current progress of the work and then translate it to you. During this period, I will also express your concerns to him. Hot coffee is already prepared in the break room. How about Would you like to take a rest first?"

After a stalemate for a while, the Yankee finally realized that Jusheng would not say a word to the director before he left. "The launch day will be in four days. Remember it!" He said this heavily and walked away.

"Thank God I finally left. I really can't stand this guy." The director looked at his back and whispered.

"He is worried." Jusheng replied, "To us, those aliens on Mars are a God-given opportunity, a treasure washed up by the flood; but what he is concerned about is his six colleagues - —Maybe he’s also a good friend…”

"How can such a person have friends?" The director sneered, "I admire him for being able to tolerate him for so long."

"Anyway, he will always consider them friends." Jusheng smoothed things over, "He may have a personal relationship with them, and now that his life is hanging by a thread, he will definitely hope that they can escape smoothly."

"If he could only help us when we need his knowledge, our progress would be much smoother!" Then the director began to express his bitterness, "I almost suspected that he was an American spy, but he obviously didn't intend to steal. Our intellectual property. He’s just doing us a disservice. Maybe he’s a double agent!"

"Does he really understand what he said?" Jusheng asked.

"In most cases, yes," the director replied, "The problem is that he refuses to acknowledge our credit! How could we not know what we are doing! Every time one of my men puts down their tools and intends to wipe their faces , he would stand nearby and yell and scold him for being lazy..."

"Sir, please understand his thoughts," Jusheng tried hard to change the subject, trying to choke off the momentum of his rant, "Imagine a similar scenario, for example, suppose we have three astronauts Trapped in an orbital capsule with no way to return to the surface. Only a miracle can save them, otherwise you can only watch them meet a slow and painful end. What will you do?"

"What should I do? If it's useful, I'd be willing to skin myself alive and dance the Great God in front of the Forbidden City," the director replied without hesitation, "You can let me jump from the top of the hoisting gantry. As long as it's useful, let me You can do whatever you want. Of course I understand how he feels now," he then changed the topic and pointed at the closed door of the lounge and roared, "It's just that I will be much more polite than that little bastard!"

"He comes from a culture that is completely different from ours," Jusheng continued to support. "In them, the basic etiquette that we all take for granted will be regarded as a sign of weakness."

"There are dicks everywhere." The director said this out of nowhere.

"Perhaps." Jusheng is a little different from Su Binyu; his patience for carefully weighing words and sentences is limited, "But we are not, sir."

"Well..." the director nodded, thoughtfully, "please express my apology to him... uh, just don't mention that I called him a dick."

"Okay sir," Jusheng said, "By the way, how is the final assembly progress?"

"Everything is fine except for him," the director replied. "The connection adapter hoop made by JPL and the mounting point of the Helios are perfect. After the inspection is completed tomorrow, it should be able to go to the launch pad." He finally showed a smile and added, "If you can find a way to lure him elsewhere, we might be able to finish the work early."

"Unfortunately, I can only accompany him on his visit," Jusheng sighed. "I just hope that when his colleagues come over tomorrow, they can divert his attention."

The director shook his head, "It seems unlikely to me." Then he started complaining again, "Besides, he is still such a rough guy."

"Just hold on for a while and it will be over," Jusheng finally consoled him, "It's better not to say this."

Then the director frowned again, "But he still can't escape the celebration party," he began to mutter again, "The process of foreign affairs reception still has to go through. I also have to thank him in a good voice. It's really terrible. Me and my My subordinates and the thruster team all want to throw this plague god off the top of the Great Wall."

"Please don't be arrogant," Jusheng said. "This is a symbol of friendship between major space powers in international cooperation. Don't destroy this historic moment."

"Come on, we're not trying to drug him." The director gave a rare grin, "But if he really can't accept the traditional dishes of the proletarian working people in our remote countryside, then it can only be said that he can't bear it. "

Ju Sheng raised his forehead and said, "Let me beg you, one eyeball, no more."

"Hey, I can't guarantee that. If I remember correctly, pig fetuses are born with two eyes." It seems that the director does not intend to miss this opportunity to return the favor. "At that time, we can also try to see if we can remove the placenta. Stuff it in his mouth."

Michael Hong's job is saved, but he is not sure whether he still wants to continue this job.

The salary was reduced, and the rank was not spared. While on probation, he had to be supervised by NASA at all times, but at least he still had this job. The other two inspectors who signed the inspection sheet and let the defect on Sleipnir 3 pass that was later presumed to be interface degradation were not so lucky and immediately packed up and left; however, they still proved it Lao Hong’s innocence.

The Special Investigation Committee had previously interviewed the inspection team, but at that time Lao Hong did not mention a word about his concerns during the inspection. After all, no matter how much he argued afterwards, he signed the inspection report just like the two others. However, his two former colleagues both voluntarily admitted during their respective interviews that Lao Hong had discovered abnormalities during his inspection, which he was forced to ignore only after they put pressure on him. Whether their spontaneous behavior was due to condemnation of conscience, awe-inspiring righteousness, or some reason that Lao Hong could not understand is unknown, but the end result was that they all voluntarily acted as a shield for him; but he also listened to Both men were said to be trying to blame the ultimate cause of the accident on the work pressure brought about by NASA's launch schedule. The testimony they provided secured Lao Hong a second, more detailed interview and thus kept his job.

But he doesn't deserve it. It was himself that finally made him succumb. It doesn't matter what the cause was; his name is on the investigation report because he deliberately ignored the sign of discoloration and failed to realize that this anomaly indicated the beginning of corrosion caused by leakage of oxidizer due to seal failure. That flaw had not worsened to an obvious level, so it did not match the situation that Lao Hong emphasized in his training that he needed to be vigilant. This is a dereliction of duty on his part.

However... if he resigned from SpaceX after this incident, his engineering career would only end there. It's totally out of the question. Wash your hands in a golden basin. No other aerospace company would be willing to hire someone with such a glorious resume. He may not even be able to find a job in Africa repairing old commercial airliners that are over 30 years old. Maybe - just maybe - he could be a high school science teacher, that's all. He will go down in history as one of several sinners who (almost) killed Mark Watney.

So he stayed in this position, working as usual, feeling sorry for himself.

And just today, he started the inspection as the only SpaceX employee in the three-person final inspection team of the aircraft. The other two were inspectors sent by NASA. Lao Hong had heard of their names, but didn't know them personally. But the name isn't the point; the inspection is. Most of the inspections required under normal procedures have been set aside in order to meet the early scheduled launch date, so now is their only chance to inspect. Fortunately, this thruster has just come off the SpaceX assembly line and is brand new, and there is not a single reused part from head to toe.

The endoscope extends into the inspection hatch, and the small camera at the end snakes around the inside of the tank to explore the thruster and guidance-related systems. Lao Hong held the control rod tightly with both hands, slowly and accurately moving the camera inch by inch to scan the internal organs of this steel behemoth, making final preparations for transporting a payload that is insignificant compared to the weight of this behemoth into deep space.

As the inspection time passed by, his hands began to tremble more and more. He stared at the screen with twinkling eyes, and had to stop several times to rub his sore eyes. He examined it again and again, trying to find out those flaws, those flaws hidden under the surface... Anyway, it was impossible to miss any obvious problems this time.

But none could be found.

During his tenure at SpaceX, Lao Hong has handled countless rockets, some of which have just come off the assembly line, some before and after renovation. He once found 17 flaws in a secondary thruster that had just come off the production line and sent it back for repairs. There are always various problems that arise. Without exception. And now there are less than three days before the official launch, and they have no time to solve the problem, so he must dig out the flaws immediately.

In the end, none were found, which is completely a fantasy.

There will always be problems that need to be dealt with. It's always been like this.

In other words, if he can't find the problem now, it means the problem lies with him.

"Okay," one of the NASA inspectors said, pulling out the lens from the last exploration hatch and preparing to reseal the hatch, "I can't believe it, but it seems..."

"I want to recheck it," Michael Hong said softly.

The two NASA inspectors looked at each other and turned to the SpaceX inspector standing between them. The second NASA employee asked in a low voice, "Did you find any problem?"

"No," Lao Hong admitted, "that's why I wanted to check it again."

The two NASA inspectors exchanged glances with each other again. Then the first person who had spoken replied, "Okay, Michael, I don't think it's a big deal to spend a little more time."

Lao Hong suddenly felt tears in his eyes. After a while, he realized that this sudden emotion was not because of the shame of the failed launch of Sleipnir 3, nor was it because he was worried that he was checking Sleipnir 4. I missed some important issues. "This is the first time I've heard anyone who works with me call me Michael," he said, his voice trembling. "Thank you."

"Uh...you're welcome?" This situation made the NASA inspector a little confused.

"What do they usually call you?" a second NASA employee asked.

"Mickey." Lao Hong was still embarrassed to say it.

"Ah." The other two inspectors looked at each other meaningfully and smiled, this time with a little sympathy, "Michael, our names are both Richard. So believe me, we understand this feeling too." Second Bit replied.

"Re-inspection from scratch?" asked the first inspector.

"Thank you." Lao Hong felt a different kind of warmth in his heart.

However, Hermes does not intend to stop because of this.