My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

Mission Log – Solar Day 63

Today's log was recorded on the rover. The "Sirius III" mission is already halfway through, and the current situation is not bad.

The pronoun used here is "we" because I am not alone. This time my traveling companion was Starlight. Naturally, there was no dense smoke during our trip this time, nor did we need to endure the suffocating feeling caused by the sudden waves of heat waves generated by RTG. I reassembled the rover's insulation, leaving a few gaps intentionally so that even if it was a long cold Martian night outside, the interior would retain just the right amount of heat to reach a comfortable temperature. If it gets too hot inside, I can remove some more.

We set off before dawn, driving through the small impact crater northwest of the residential area, and spent most of the day driving in complex circles to avoid various ravines. At almost two hours, the first battery ran out. After a quick EVA switch of the power cable, we drove until the second battery had only 10% charge left. The final result: a duration of three hours and thirty-one minutes and a distance of kilometers.

Of course, the scenario of this experiment is definitely an ideal situation. In reality, we had to cross the ravines of the Ashidaria plain, and then face even more rugged terrain near our destination. I can't even estimate how much final operating efficiency will be lost. After all, on the way to Ares 4, we have to climb up the Arabian Platform, which is full of potholes, and the situation will become particularly serious at that time.

I was actually able to extend the battery life a bit by turning off the oxygen pump. The open space suit of Starlight can provide enough oxygen to both of us at the same time, and it seems to be able to clean up the exhaled carbon dioxide in time. But to be on the safe side, I kept the circulation fan on to ensure that the indoor air was fully mixed, because the circulation pressure of Starlight's spacesuit life-support system was not very high. After all, her spacesuit wasn't designed to provide life support to a pressure vessel the size of an entire truck bed. Fans on the rover prevent harmful gases from accumulating in corners, thus preventing the risk of suffocating us in our dreams.

After the drive, I started setting up the solar panels. Starlight had indeed received permission to use magic again a few days earlier; but for this test, she had left the magic battery in the quarters. Besides, even though I've witnessed ponies in spacesuits doing amazing things with their hooves on several occasions, I still don't want to leave them with life-threatening solar panels. They were quite troublesome to carry, and I thought it would be safer for me to handle them.

After that, we sat and waited through the long Martian day, during which we once again performed quick EVA to replace the power cable. Most of the time we were silent. Starlight didn't even say a word while I was driving. After we stopped the car during the day and started charging, she tried to talk; but it turned out that she was not confident enough to express all her questions in English. We tried talking for a while about what was going on in our respective homes (her friends, my parents, my group members, etc.), but that quickly ran out. We also tried to describe the world we each lived in, but we soon ran aground due to lack of vocabulary. Finally she had me read aloud from the Agatha Christie book I was reading for half an hour until my throat became hoarse. (Or is the hoarseness creeping up my throat? Why did it suddenly become so formal?)

Anyway, the two batteries were finally fully charged near sunset. If I rely solely on solar panels, I may not be able to do it, but don’t forget that the RTG itself is also a generator. Although the main purpose of bringing it is to provide heat, since it is always outputting one hundred watts of power regardless of whether it is connected to electrical appliances, why not use it?

It is obvious that the existence of RTG makes Starlight very worried. Apparently ponies have never felt the need to develop nuclear power. Considering what I've observed so far about their approach to other technologies, their world would be grateful for this attitude. But it seemed that she did have some understanding of the concept of radioactivity, for example, she twice tried to move the waste bin away from the heated box. The problem was that there wasn't much space in the rover itself, and I had already placed the poop bucket as far away from the RTG as possible from the beginning. However, this distance is still too close for Starlight.

Having said that, at least her reaction was not as severe as Tingting's. Before, Dragonfly just glanced at it and rushed straight back into the living cabin. Starlight told me that the bug was quite frightened.

With this level of intuitive reflexes, I think Tingting might be a good candidate to be a NASA safety engineer. But it's a pity that the crazy and dangerous thoughts in her heart always overwhelm this intuitive subconscious reaction.

In another minute I have to call it a day and go to bed. Although computers and internal lighting use a small amount of electricity, they still cannot be ignored. Even if the driving distance tomorrow is less than one thousand meters, I will maintain this habit of saving energy for driving.

As soon as we get back to the living area tomorrow, I'll have to start the final preparations for the trip. I had to pack enough food in the car for me and Starlight (who was expected to travel with me on the life support system attached to her suit), water for me, and my tools. But I’m not leaving tomorrow, because it’s time to dig up the potato seedlings and replant the plant itself. Afterwards, the harvested potatoes will be used to officially start planting food crops in residential areas and cave farms.

The "Sirius 66" shuttle bus goes to Ares Valley, destination Carl Sagan Memorial Station, and then returns the same way; the planned departure time is one hour before dawn three solar days from now - date solar day .

According to the calculations I made earlier, the ponies' food packs will be exhausted almost exactly on the day I return from this trip.

God bless, I hope this trip will be worth it.