My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

AMICITAS Mission Three – Mission Day 223

ARES 3 solar day 221

Go die die die die die die die die die.

Dragonfly listened to Mars outside the cabin whispering the ancient changeling language fluently with great clarity (this was certainly not difficult). She didn't care about this, mainly because everyone else in the cabin heard it clearly. A small dust storm swept through, leaving a long and disturbing sound of wind in the air.

NASA had previously predicted this dust storm. After protecting all outdoor objects from dust as much as possible on Sol 220, the refugees retreated to the cabin for the whole day to avoid the all-encompassing and clinging people on the surface of Mars. Basalt wind erosion dust. According to Mark, if it is not necessary, you must not expose yourself to the harsh environment of dust storms that destroy space suits, and now that you only have one space suit, you cannot commit suicide.

The chores in the living cabin have been completed, but there are still three solar days left before digging potatoes, so the idle refugees all found something to do to pass the time. Cherry Berry is reviewing the bids from toy companies forwarded by NASA legal department lawyers, authorizing them to use the likenesses of alien crew members to make toys; Spitfire is looking at an enlightenment book on human diseases written by NASA doctors in the simplest English possible. (Spike still found it difficult, however); Starlight Glimmer was grading essays written by others in a recent English class (theme: "List five actions that would be wiser than letting an evil villain rule the world and then living in seclusion. "); Finally, there was Fireball and Mark, who studied and discussed the process of dismantling the internal facilities of the No. 1 rover in preparation for taking the first step to finally leave the residential area.

But Tingting refocused on a plan that had been hastily put aside and almost forgotten because she was worried about her physical condition. Her thirst for magic was still there - hungry but not so severe that it would lead to madness. So she can finally take some time off to focus on other work.

Such as Sojourner.

After previously repairing the Pathfinder, they also spent some time off and on debugging the little rover. Mark replaced the old and damaged built-in battery of the Pathfinder and replaced it with a smaller rechargeable battery from his own pile of electronic parts and materials, but with much greater energy storage and output power than the old battery. . But that's not the problem. Under the guidance of NASA, he also established a radio communication link between the sojourners in the electromagnetic shielding cabin and the external pathfinders. Still no movement. They also carefully cleaned out all the dust and grit from the inside of the little robot, and then did the same to the drive wheels and the tiny motors inside them.

The design of these wheels is a marvel of engineering. Mark told Dragonfly that to a certain extent, the working principle of their rover’s driving wheels is roughly the same as that of Sojourner’s wheels. The rover has four sojourners and six, but each wheel is driven independently by its own electric engine, and each wheel can even be controlled independently.

The only flaw that Taiying also noticed again when using the circuit test tool to try to power up the small motors: the transmission gear ratio of these motors was adjusted to a larger ratio - surprisingly large - and the running speed was forced to give way to the need for extra torque. need. When powered on, the wheels rotate so slowly that they can be compared to the clockwork handle on a music box. Mark checked the information specifically; the Sojourner's top speed was only a pitiful twenty-four meters per hour - not kilometers, but meters.

But at least the wheels still work, all six are fine. They had tested to this point a few months ago, but then Mark had to attend to other important tasks, leaving the Sojourner in Tingting's charge. At present, Tingting has opened and inspected the inside of the detector, read the documentation provided by NASA, and even verified that the small radio system circuit board on the rover has not been damaged by the cold environment or corrosion. Later her own situation distracted her attention.

However, today, her worries finally came to an end, and Hoof had free time to arrange. She was fully prepared, using a small amount of magic carefully and judiciously, plus the flaw in Starlight Glimmer's first successful attempt to create a battery. For backup protection, the so-called "electronic equipment warm box" was opened to take a closer look and check whether the fragile components inside that are likely to be damaged by the cold Martian environment are still intact.

Mark didn't bother to check the incubator because, as he said, "It contains the CPU and PROM. If any of them fails, we have nothing to do." However, Tingting has tried its best to check other components. No clues were found, and obviously she couldn't test whether the onboard camera or other scientific measuring instruments could work properly when the built-in computer of this small robot was down; not that they could really be of any important use now.

The core of the electronics in the incubator is a circuit board connected by two cables, which have become stiff and brittle after years on Mars. One of them was equipped with three huge resistors - even though the shape and logo of the alien electronic components were a bit unfamiliar, Dragonfly immediately recognized their identity and purpose. One of the resistors was partially melted—she found this very strange, since the rover had to work in an environment well below zero. Bits of lava splattered all over the circuit board around the damaged resistor, possibly creating a short circuit in some places.

Well. If nothing else is broken I can still fix this. If a short circuit burns out the processor, it's no good anyway.

Tingting pulled off three old resistors and found new parts corresponding to the corresponding power from Mark's electronic spare parts library and replaced them. Then she used some magic to clean up the resistor slurry splashed on the circuit board bit by bit with extreme caution. The exploded resistors caused several spots and pits on the surface of the circuit board, and Ting Ting also repaired them carefully. Little did he know that this operation was so delicate that humans only needed large machinery to complete it.

Okay, after half an hour, she briefly sucked on the half of the battery to replenish her magic energy level, thinking silently, is there anything else damaged before I re-energize this thing?

It didn't take long for her to find the next problem once she started carefully examining the details of the circuit board. The main power cord connected to the circuit board also showed signs of partial meltdown. When Xiaoting first opened the incubator, she thought the wires were just bent backwards and folded behind the circuit board. However, this is not the case in reality - two cables in the bifurcated cable tie are indeed bent back as described, but other wires have a crack not far from the original bend. After looking inside the heater cover, I quickly discovered another trace of high-temperature burns.

"Mark?" she asked for sideline assistance. "Where's Sojourner's ground line?"

Mark, who was discussing with Fireball in front of the computer, raised his head. "I really don't know that," he replied, "but we can look up the information."

Soon they found the answer. Sojourner's original design didn't take grounding into account at all. However, tests before launch showed that in a simulated Martian environment, the small rover would accumulate enough static electricity to cause harm when operating. So the Sojourner's onboard antenna was modified with a cluster of tiny tungsten wires that could safely discharge static electricity into the Martian atmosphere.

Of the four tungsten wires on the antenna base, only one of them still has a lingering tip. The others were all broken cleanly and blown away by the wind.

"So that means," Xiaoting made some guesses after explaining her findings, "probably lightning struck the detector, fried the resistor and burned the power cord?"

"I doubt it," Mark replied. "We don't know exactly what happened, but I think they were two independent events. Once an electrostatic discharge event causes damage, the consequences are worse than burning out a resistor. Much more serious. In my opinion, the resistor burned out first. Maybe it was a fault in the component itself, or maybe the Sojourner's internal thermal management system made a mistake in overloading it as it struggled to save itself from the freezing environment. Then the detector After spending several years without power, the sandstorm that buried the Pathfinder ripped off the discharge brush, and the charge gradually accumulated inside the machine melted the wires." He frowned and said, "At the same time, there may also be a It fried the Sojourner's brain. The Pathfinder uses the entire case as a ground, and the ground wire is built in, so there's no such problem."

"Was it not in the past," Tingting couldn't help but tortured her soul, "or is it not now?"

The two men mused, listening quietly to the faint Martian death curse coming from outside the canvas dome above their heads.

"There is nothing we can do in this regard now," Mark said after a long silence, "and if we try to repair the Pathfinder, it may be self-defeating. This kind of problem should be left to NASA to worry about." He observed. Sojourner's circuit board, shook his head and sighed, "The problem is that we have no other way to test the chip except trying to start Sojourner. And if there is a chip that is really damaged, I don't have spare parts here. So I can't think of a way to connect it." What should we do when we get down?"

Tingting thought about the current situation. Yes, she did feel that her physical condition had improved... but could she really hold on to the attempt she was imagining next? Or does this optimism indicate a worsening of her condition, and the hallucinations caused by the disease make her blindly believe in her own wishful thinking? "I have an idea," she finally decided it was worth a try, "but it's also pretty stupid."

Mark quickly took two steps back when he heard this. Dragonfly couldn't blame him; she and the ponies had implemented their so-called good ideas before, but Mark was at Ground Zero and witnessed them overturn.

She opened the defective magic battery to draw a little extra power. The spell she planned to cast next was not the dazzling and gorgeous magic of unicorns...but she was not sure whether it belonged to the category of changeling magic. After all, changelings can indeed sense emotions in the form of taste or smell, but this does not mean that changelings can change their own smells that can be tasted by the outside world.

It's really stupid to think of such an out-of-this-world idea. Moreover, my current weak body may also cause danger.

He was actually so sympathetic that he was willing to take risks just to repair such an antique little alien robot.

But now that the matter has come to an end, my determination has been made.

Tingting closed her eyes and exhaled to cheer herself up, filtering out Mark's curiosity and the focus of the others on their tasks. She secretly raised her hooves at the murmur of the sparks wrapped in the gravel - you could call it a dust storm - and tried her best to ignore the noise of everything else, and then landed a hoof lightly on the circuit board, Think silently in your heart, where are you hurt?

There was a touch of loneliness. Where is the sound? Where do all things live? I was alone and helpless.

Where are you hurt?

Nothing was seen. Don't hear a sound. I am helpless.

Where are you hurt?

I need instructions. No words are heard. The one who gave the order is not here. I am alone and speechless.

These emotional snippets don’t do much. Tingting, who had failed in her efforts, yelled in disappointment, "You can shut up about being lonely and tell me what's wrong with you!" ! !

I can't think straight. My mind is loose. My spirit is scattered. Where is the sound?

Tingting was so angry that he pulled away his hoof to end the conversation. "I knew this idea was ridiculously stupid." She began to curse. "It would only say nonsense like 'I'm so lonely,' 'Give me instructions,' 'I'm loose-minded.' This little robot is really good." Silly."

"Wait a minute," Mark seemed to have thought of something, "did it really say it had a loose mind?"

"Maybe. Or maybe not at all." Tingting muttered, "Maybe it's just my conjecture. Maybe I'm crazy. Anyone who asks me will say so."

"Have you checked that the chips are all in place?" Mark asked.

"It doesn't feel like anything is loose." Dragonfly replied.

Mark gently held up the circuit boards and brought them to the geological experiment table for observation. There are only two magnifying glasses in the cabin: one is a small hand-held magnifying glass in Mark's tool box, and the other is a large desktop magnifying glass used for preliminary study of rock samples. Mark put the circuit board under a magnifying glass and began to examine it carefully. "Aha...ho...that's fucking wonderful," he muttered.

"What's wrong?" Tingting was eager to look over Mark's shoulder to see what was going on, but she had to fly (which is not allowed in her current situation, she has to have a magic field) or climb onto Mark's shoulder (very embarrassing) ) can be done. "What's the problem?"

"A lot of chip pins are broken," Mark replied. "I don't see any signs of melting nearby - basically they just broke cleanly. I guess this is damage caused by the cold environment." He stood up , let Dragonfly sit on the stool and look at the scene under the magnifying glass.

"Didn't you see the lava?" Dragonfly asked, "Does that mean this happened before the power surge?"

"Well..." Watney muttered for a while without making a clear statement. "Circuits that have experienced power surge events may not show any abnormalities on the outside, but you will see the difference after trying to power on again. So there is still no way to know the actual situation." He then sighed, "And these The stitches are also very small. I don’t know if I have the materials here to put them back together.”

"Leave this to me!" Tingting jumped off the workbench, cleared her throat and shouted, "Starlight! Are you free to come over now?"

"Wait a minute!" Starlight grumbled as she walked across the potato field toward the geological experiment platform. "What's wrong, Miss B-?"

"I think... Hey, what do you mean by B-?" Tingting was unhappy, "My article is obviously quite good, you have to admit it!"

"My English is no problem," Starlight replied, "but you only gave me four ideas that were better than just waiting for the villain to come, so I'll deduct 20 percent for you."

"I obviously gave you five!"

"How can it count if you join the opponent if you can't defeat him?!"

"Slytherin, remember?" Dragonfly teased, "Maybe I will keep a snake as a pet when I go back."

"What the hell do you want me to do?"

"Come here and take a look at the connection between the silicon chip and the circuit board." Tingting motioned Starlight to come over to the magnifying glass.

Starlight cast a quick glance. "These wires were originally supposed to be intact, right?"

"That's right!" Tingting replied, "So can you cast a spell to fix it?"

"Okay," Starlight said, "if necessary. What is this for?"

"This is Sojourner."

"That little rover?" Starlight asked, "What are we going to fix it for?"

"Uh...it's nothing." Dragonfly hesitated a little, "I just want to fix it."

"Forget it," Starlight said, jumping off the workbench.

"Oh, please," Tingting said coquettishly upon seeing this, "Can't you do it for the sake of being as petite and cute as me?"

"You...uh...you're eight centimeters taller than me," Starlight complained, "and unless it's crucial to our survival, I can't risk running out of magic energy to repair non-essential equipment!"

Watching Starlight walk away, Dragonfly deliberately raised her voice and said, "Okay, then I will fix it myself! Of course, my magic skills are not as good as yours, so I might mess it up! And I have to consume a lot of magic for this!" But I believe I'll be fine! It's just a large-scale reversal of entropy... It's not a big deal..."

"Okay, okay, I've done enough for you!"