My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

AMICITAS Mission Three – Mission Day 505

ARES 3 solar day 496

Transcript – Audio call – ESA spacecraft AMICITAS ＜-＞ NASA research vehicle HERMES

HERMES (Martinez): Hey, Mark! I'm Martinez! You've been really flying on the surface of Mars these past few days! Looking at you like this almost makes people feel like they are hurrying to leave Mars and escape!

NASA asked me to tell you that you have to continue heading eastwards for the next two days. Except for some sand dunes along the way, most of the terrain is flat...but then you will leave the meridian plain. Further on, the ground will become rugged again, and the closer you get to Edom Crater and the entrance ramp you mentioned, the higher and higher the terrain will be.

You are currently approximately 1.5 meters below sea level, and you have been around this altitude for the past week. The top of the entrance ramp is two hundred meters above sea level. You will climb half of this height difference in the last two days of the trip. You should also be careful after you start going downhill, because the altitude will drop by nearly meters in less than kilometers. Even on flat ground, this drop is almost equivalent to a slope of °, but you and I should know in our hearts that the real situation will not be so easy.

So please be careful, Mark - don't say you're unprepared.

Okay, enough of that—it’s time to get down to business. Can you call Commander Berry? I was waiting here until I heard her voice. complete.

AMICITAS (Watney): Thanks for the reminder. On the one hand, the terrain along the meridian treated us well and almost spoiled us; on the other hand, driving on basically flat ground for a long time made us feel a little lethargic. I had a dream last night. In the dream, there was no earth, no pony world, and no outer space. There was only an endless expanse of Mars, and I could only wander around in the endless desolation like a cursed fake Mad Max. .

I kid you not, man, all I can think about right now is get out of this damn place. To be honest, if you ask me now, it doesn't matter if you guys arrive the next day after we arrive at MAV. I don't care whether the renovation is completed or not. Let me tell you, I'll teach you how to drive on the spot. If you're really in a hurry, I'd be willing to drag this thing behind me into space. Show me a clear path, and I will crawl all the way back to the earth.

Anyway, it's nice to hear you speak in person. Chris? And what about Vogel? If the rest of you want to speak, please feel free to do so. All I could hear was Johnson and Lewis all day long, and it was getting a bit boring.

Okay, here comes Berry.

AMICITAS: Hello, Colonel Martinez! It's great to hear your voice! How can I help? complete.

HERMES (Martinez): Good morning, Commander Berry! NASA has just sent us an upgrade package for the MAV launch software, including the flight simulator. They also sent the new software to MAV, which will automatically update when Mark activates MAV. NASA hopes that you will practice well in the simulator every day after you arrive there, and has arranged for me to provide guidance throughout your training. They want to make sure that in the event that the autolaunch program fails and I can't take over from Hermes, or if you have to fly directly to Earth with your warp drive, you'll have the ability to fly it on site.

NASA asked me to be clear; they haven't decided who will fly the final launch, you or me. They haven’t said you will definitely do it; they haven’t said you definitely won’t. They just haven't given an explanation yet, you know? But I still promise to do everything possible to ensure that you are capable of flying, because I also know in my heart that if we change places, I will not want my life to be controlled by others. We are on the same side on this matter, do you understand? complete.

AMICITAS: Thanks, Colonel! I worked hard to learn your system in the MDV simulator. And you’re right, I’d love to fly again. Really, really want to. I learned English well so that I could eventually have the opportunity to drive a MAV. I will not let you down! complete.

HERMES (Martinez): Very good, very energetic! So listen up: Our system uses a two-person crew. The pilot is responsible for monitoring the actions of the launch program and activating manual override to take over if conditions exceed the program's ability to respond. Then among our team members there are those responsible for system operation monitoring, referred to as operation control. They are responsible for monitoring various systems and informing pilots of operational status. Sometimes they have to fine-tune something to increase the probability of a successful launch. This task is handled by Johansen in our case. We will be here closely monitoring your every move during the entire launch process, but you will also have an operations controller to contact us and provide you with the latest news in real time.

At the same time, you also need to arrange for a third team member to be responsible for running the Twinkle Engine. NASA finally decided not to give the authority to start the engine to the launch program, but wrote a set of control software that would, uh... control things like pulse frequency. I only know that there is a sliding bar on the interface of that thing. Your engines will still be connected to a computer, but it will not be the MAV's onboard main computer, and you will have to determine on the spot whether it is safe to use.

May I? Commander Berry, I can only rely on you to choose who will fill these positions. I can't do anything for you here. complete.

AMICITAS: Ah. Colonel, I need to think about this carefully. I hope Mark will be the movement controller. He has been training with you on this system for several years. But next he has to be responsible for transforming MAV, and he is really too busy to have time. In this case, I feel that if conditions permit, it will be a dragonfly. She is our ship's engineer and an experienced pilot and vehicle communicator. Spitfire can be her backup - she's the one running the MDV simulator in the living quarters.

Of course the only one running the Sparkling Engine is Starlight Glimmer! She made this! It was purely because she refused that we didn't name it Starlight Engine!

AMICITAS (Starlight Glimmer) (Li Mai yells loudly, the reception is very weak): Wrong! Twilight Sparkle did most of the work! I just made the final array!

AMICITAS: Who actually built the engine? So many engines? Isn’t it all you personally?

AMICITAS (Starlight Glimmer): (Jabbering)

AMICITAS (Cherryberry): Good, good. Colonel, sorry to interrupt. We'll let you speak now. complete.

HERMES (Martinez): Commander Berry, I think it’s okay! This decision is left to you, and you know best the abilities of your team members. So if you'll excuse me, it's time for me to run a simulation myself. If I don't give it a try first, how can I be qualified to train you! Help me tell Colonel Feihuo that I hope she gets well! complete!

AMICITAS: Thanks, Colonel. I will go to heaven again. You've got a good idea. complete.