My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

“Long story short,” yelled Anne Montrose, storming into Teddy Sanders’ office, “I have five cable news networks demanding news every hour, not to mention those in print and online. If you are really blind and can’t see, let me tell you: we are freezing from the inside out.”

Teddy tugged at the corner of the notepad on the table, trying to smooth out a small crease. "There is nothing we can do," he said. "All we can do now is compromise."

Dr. Venkat Kapoor was leaning against the wall in a corner of the room. He didn't pay attention to Annie's complaints about being too busy at work. Instead, he was observing Mindy Parker sitting in the guest chair and trying to disappear into the cracks in the ground.

Mindy Parker was the first person in the satellite control team to find UFOs in countless satellite photos during the termination of the Ares 3 mission. Normally it would take days or even weeks to deliver the news, so she jumped six levels of management to contact him directly and stopped Hermes' derailment in time. This also led to the subsequent appearance of even more shocking images...

Dr. Venkat believes that this kind of initiative that stems from youth workers deserves to be rewarded. However, in government departments, rewards for outstanding contributions are often a hot potato, the kind you don't want to touch.

Ms. Parker, welcome to the Big Boss League. Then it depends on how you perform.

"How was the public reaction to the news?" Teddy asked Anne.

"How do you think the situation can get any better?!" Annie shot him back, "We have become everyone's laughing matter now! Even the stupid guys from a ghost place like Wyoming know that Russia or It is impossible for China to send a spacecraft to Mars without anyone knowing about it. Now we are the only people in the world who do not admit that there are aliens there! Those bastards who believe in conspiracy theories even claim that aliens are there. Stars have always existed, but we have been hiding the fact!" She scratched her head irritably, "Oh my God, I really miss the old days when everything could be excused with the nonsense of 'national security'."

"Just as a matter of fact," Teddy replied, "How is Watney? We still don't know for sure that he is still alive. The aliens may have used his space suit as a backup, and Hermes only captured him once outside the cabin. Not to mention that from the satellite you can only see a tiny dot.”

"Annie, you have to admit," Venkat interjected, "it's always safer to answer 'wait for further developments' when it comes to Watney's questions."

"Nonsense," Annie replied disdainfully, "Of course I can say that, but they will just scold me bloody and think I am farting. Do you know why? Venkat, those people just want to hear what they think The answer to believe. They would rather believe that Watney is alive than believe in the existence of aliens!"

"Okay," Teddy shrugged, "then we have to think of another way. Do you have any suggestions for a new external reply?"

"Fuck me," Annie said. "My job is to add fuel to the nonsense, package it and send it out, and you are the one who talks nonsense."

"Annie," Venkat asked, "how did you become the director of the public relations office like this?"

"It's simple," Anne replied. "Work like hell and knock everything out of your way. Eventually I realize there's no one left to work with, and that's where I get."

"I see," Venkat said, "then why do you put so much effort into doing this kind of work?"

"Only the devil knows."

"Back to the topic," Teddy said indifferently to the complaint, "We assume that Watney is stranded on Mars with an unknown number of aliens. Can we communicate with them? Venkat, what did your people say? "

"No way," Venkat said. "Without a communication dish, there is no way to send a signal from a residential area to a satellite, let alone the earth. And now there is neither a communication dish nor an antenna array unless we are above his head." , otherwise he won’t receive any of the messages we send.”

"Isn't there a backup system?" Teddy asked, "Don't tell me this is another thing that doesn't exist like an EVA space suit on the surface."

"That's not the case," Venkat said, shaking his head. "It's not the contractor's fault either. We made an oversight when designing the system and stuffed all the backup systems into the upgrade vehicle, because almost everything was damaged when the mission was terminated or At the end of the day, they will be abandoned on the surface of Mars. As a technical consultant said, no one has ever considered the situation where someone stays on Mars and the upgrade vehicle is not available."

"So there's no other way?" Teddy asked.

"Actually, there is, but the chance of success is low." Venkat said, "The rover's antenna is installed outside the pressurized cabin, but it is protected from sand and stone damage. They can travel from up to 40 kilometers away from residential areas. Communicate with residential areas outside the area...if the communication array is still intact. Although it is still not strong enough to communicate with the earth or orbiting satellites, a brief communication with Hermes may be able to do it."

"Explain it," Teddy said.

"Usually Hermes does not have enough signal strength to communicate with rovers and the like on the surface of the planet," Venkat said. "But now Hermes is still connected to the upgraded vehicle and can be used as a communication relay. The team members can completely use this Two communication systems are connected to double the output strength and reception capacity.”

"That sounds fine," Teddy said, "but you didn't let them do it, and I guess there's a reason."

Venkat nodded, "Given the limited capabilities of the rover, Hermes must stay within 150 kilometers to receive a clear signal. But this way the orbit is too low, and the aerodynamic resistance is enough to force Hermes to continue to start the main engine to prevent Orbital attenuation. This will also damage the spacecraft's radiator blades and reduce the safe maximum output power of the reactor, which will put Hermes into a vicious cycle."

"Then if we really do this," Teddy asked, "how long can we last?"

"Based on the results of our simulation tests for terminating the mission in the orbit deviation scenario," Venkat replied, "there are probably three to four communication opportunities at most, and in the best case, each communication time can be three minutes. Here After that, the damage to the spacecraft is beyond what we can afford, not to mention the fuel consumption. And the premise of everything is that Watney happens to stay in the rover and turn on the radio during these three minutes, otherwise No need to discuss anything."

"It's not worth taking such a big risk," Teddy nodded, "I understand. You continue to think of solutions. We still have a few days before letting Hermes return. Maybe we can come up with some tricks to enhance the signal. "

"Just give it a try," Venkat replied.

Teddy turned his attention to Mindy, "It's a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Parker," he said, "Dr. Capol speaks highly of your initiative and observation skills."

"Sir," Mindy whispered sheepishly.

"We need valid evidence to prove that the unknown life forms at the Ares 3 landing site are Mark Watney and aliens," Teddy said. "We would be stupid if we didn't know about it in the first place. If we are sure that If it were Watney and aliens instead of some crazy billionaire from Earth, then we'd look more like retarded people."

"That's the truth," muttered Anne.

"So," Teddy continued, "is there any way to prove that we're not insane right now?"

"Well," Mindy paused and said, "Dr. Gaither has focused on Ares 3 and Area E. We are adjusting the orbit to maximize satellite coverage. But it is really difficult to see anything clearly from a bird's-eye view. . Even the image data of Hermes were taken from directly above the head. Due to the large relative speed, the image quality cannot be complimented."

As she talked, Mindy became more and more confident. Venkat was happy with this. These contents were probably familiar to him and Teddy. After all, Teddy had climbed up two levels from a lower-level management position. Anne would choose to ignore all the details and only focus on how to write the press release the next day. But he admired Mindy's ability to calm down during the interview and squeeze out time to think between conversations...after all, she wasn't completely stuck.

"The survey satellites we have on hand have a very small propulsion tolerance for orbital maneuvers," Mindy continued. "The details still have to wait until I check the status of each satellite, but I am very sure that no matter which satellite's orbit is low enough The alien's body shape will be completely destroyed when photographed from a non-bird's eye angle. There will not be enough thrust to return it to its original position, and it will not even be able to maintain a lower orbit due to aerodynamic drag."

For a moment Mindy looked like she was finished, but before Teddy could let her go, she stumbled again, "But to prove it was Watney and not someone else in a space suit. It's much easier. The resolution of the satellite image is barely enough to see the difference between Watney's and the alien's helmet shapes. He was the only one doing EVA yesterday and the day before yesterday. He cleaned the solar panels by himself. When we did it three days ago When he was first discovered, he was the last person out to operate the control panel. He was also the last person to enter and exit the first rover, which means he was the driver. Maybe we have other evidence, But the details we have so far prove that he is probably the only person familiar with our equipment, so it is almost certain that it is Watney."

Teddy, who was frustrated when Mindy explained why the satellite couldn't see the aliens clearly, was overjoyed when she heard she was sure Watney survived. "That's impressive," he said, leaning forward as soon as Mindy finished speaking. "It makes sense."

"Thank you, sir," Mindy muttered.

"Annie, can you say this at the press conference?"

"Bullshit." The ever-angry Annie looks like she's found a savior, even if she doesn't care who it is (not that Mindy is concerned: Venkat has yet to meet a human that Annie actually likes) , "I'm sure every sentence works. But Ms. Parker, I would appreciate it if you could say it again for me after you finish."

"Okay."

"Venkat, I decided to hand over the task of monitoring Watney and alien visitors to Ms. Parker." Teddy added.

"It's done," Venkat responded.

"And the shortcomings in satellite coverage must be eliminated as much as possible," Teddy continued. "Ms. Parker, you are fully responsible for this task and have all the required authority. Is the upgraded vehicle of Ares 3 still valuable? "

"No," Mindy replied, "The only remaining external camera on the upgraded vehicle is the docking camera, which cannot zoom in. So the only use of this big thing is to serve as a relay satellite."

"Understood," Teddy said, "I think the current situation requires us to conduct an emergency supply mission for Watney. His current food reserves will not last until Ares 4 arrives, unless those aliens have enough supplies to share. give him."

"We can only assume that they don't have it at the moment," Venkat said. "There is a high possibility that the biochemical characteristics of our bodies are incompatible with those of aliens. And based on the size of their spacecraft, it is impossible for them to carry a large amount of food."

Teddy nodded in agreement, "And if they could contact us or rescue Watney, they would have taken action long ago." He shook his head and grabbed the pages of the notepad on the table again, looking a little restless. "I originally wanted to withhold the photos related to Ares 3 for a year to prevent the media from using the photos of Watney's body to spread the news, which might ruin the entire Ares project. Now it is obvious that he is still alive and well, and nothing has happened. It's going in that direction, so we have to start designing a supply vehicle that will be ready for launch before the next launch window."

"Why not launch now?" Annie asked.

"First of all, we have no aircraft at all," Venkat replied, "and we have not prepared anything for the Ares 4 supply mission that will arrive more than a year later. What's more important is that the current position of Mars and the Earth is very awkward. Now "It's the best time to launch a rocket from Mars to Earth, which also means it's the worst time to launch a rocket from Earth to Mars."

Teddy agreed. "I've talked to Bruce Wu from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. According to him, the largest launch vehicle currently available to us is reserved for the Hawkeye 3 Saturn probe, which was originally scheduled to launch in four months. If we send it to Mars now, we will probably only be able to bring one grapefruit. And the thrusters of other countries or projects are similar."

"That's awesome." Annie said, "Okay, then I'll use the current rescue plan to distract the media at the press conference. What Parker said about Watney can also tell them. What about the aliens? speak?"

"Just tell them that until we get more data, alien is just a name for the life form that was with Watney on Mars." Venkat replied.

"Don't confirm it's aliens," Teddy warned, "just let them know we acknowledge the possibility."

"I would like to thank you and your family for coming up with such an idea." Annie took out her notebook and scribbled something on it. "After talking to Ms. Parker, the draft will be ready in about an hour."

"Okay." Teddy stood up, "We need to call Bruce and Mitch for the next meeting. We have to make a supply plan and a rescue plan."

"Why not combine them into one plan?" Anne asked.

"If Watney implements rationing, he can probably last for four hundred more days," Venkat said. "It's still not long enough, but maybe he has a way to last longer. We don't know the food situation of the aliens, but Maybe not optimistic. That means almost all of the payload of the resupply mission would have to be food, lots of food, and that wouldn't be hard to do. But a craft that could land, pick up Watney, and return to Earth It's just too heavy - it has to be within the Hohmann orbital window to be feasible. The next window is twenty-one months from now, and we know that without supplies, Watney won't be able to survive until then."

"Holy shit," Anne gasped, "how bad is his luck?"

"It sucks," Venkat admits, "but we'll find a way."

Log – Solar Day 11

Remember when I mentioned earlier that I could further reduce my food needs by limiting my activity to only necessary life-sustaining activities?

Yep, so here it goes: I spent the entire day loading the rover with food packages from the alien spaceship (there were a lot of them - leaving barely any space for me and the lizard ) and then bring them back to the residential area.

Sounds silly - why not let the ponies do it? After all, this is their thing.

Everything starts with this morning's telepathic conversation with Xiao Mo (her name should be Xingguang, not "Xing Guang"):

Starlight: Let’s do it differently this time. May I have your name?

Watney: Mark Watney.

Starlight: Does your name mean something?

Watney: (fighting to resist the urge to tell Star Wars jokes) No, it's not interesting.

Starlight: Our names all have meaning. I am Starlight Glimmer, and our commander is Cherry Berry. He is a fireball, she is a dragonfly, and this one is a flying fire.

Watney: Oh...starlights, cherry berries, fireballs, dragonflies...and flying fire?

Starlight (surprised and delighted): Yes, yes! That's it! much better!

Spitfire: (The spell has no effect on her. She's talking to Starlight, and it sounds like a BBC host blowing his nose.)

Starlight: Time is running out. Talk about business. Why a ‘crumb’ box?

(Note: I'm pretty sure they would have wanted to ask: "Why the hell did you put us in this box!?", language barrier or not.)

Watney: Compost. Requires soil. I'm a botanist. I have to plant something. Do you have any seeds?

Starlight: (poking Spitfire) Show him your breakfast.

(The light show ended, Starlight was breathing heavily and shaking, but she didn't faint; Spitfire brought a packet of cereal and opened it for me to see)

Watney: Wait... Is this alfalfa?

(No one seemed to understand, so Starlight took a deep breath, and the flashing halo came back)

Watney: (pointing to the soil box, then to the food packet) Are they all alfalfa? Is it the same?

Starlight: Yeah, same.

Watney: Awesome. Get all your fresh seeds, I want to use them.

(At this point Starlight faints and the translation ends. Which may not be a bad thing, because I'm pretty sure I didn't want to understand what Spitfire said to me as he carried Starlight back to bed)

The fact is that more than two-thirds of Feihuo's breakfast cereal is alfalfa. This isn't surprising - although alfalfa is slightly toxic to humans, it is a mainstream animal feed supplement. Other pony snacks also contain alfalfa. So we went to their ship again, this time with a living area oxygen tank - it was heavy as hell, but it only took a tiny bit to fill the airtight part of the ship. And if I really need more oxygen, I can use the fuel device of the landing stage vehicle to fill a few bottles of Martian atmosphere, and then release it little by little into the habitation module, and let the air conditioner do the rest of the work.

I had probably checked all the food packages on the spacecraft, but the cabin was still as cold as an ice cellar—so cold that I couldn't take off my space suit. Since all the food has to be brought to the living area, it’s better to move it all at once. It took a while to carry the food bag back and forth through the airlock, and it was really tiring, but at least I didn't have to wait for the hand pump to recycle the gas into the tank (it could only recycle half of it).

About halfway through the move, I remembered something: picking up leaks.

I'm a mission engineer for Ares 3. I know how all the equipment used in the mission works, and I know how to look it up when I can't remember it. My job is to repair anything that breaks - usually under NASA supervision, but also able to deal with communications outages like this. In a situation like this where I could risk my life at any moment (not to mention my guests), I treat all items as survival resources.

I don't know about the ship system, but there will always be useful things in it. The problem is that it takes ten kilometers to go back and forth. It's inconvenient and also dangerous if the rover breaks down. No problem for the aliens - it's much easier for them to dart across the Martian terrain than it is for me to jump around. To me, there's just so much that can go wrong on this hike (bounce?).

For rovers, although their cruising range is not long, they can generate a lot of torque, and they are designed with towing in mind.

I just have to find a way to dig this guy out of the sand and put it on wheels. This has to make me think about it.

I'm not the only one who has thought about recycling usable resources. Fireball brought back two things from the control cabin. One looks badly damaged, the other is almost brand new. Starlight was excited to see us come back with these two and kept playing with them while we sorted through hundreds of bags of food. Actually when I say "we" I actually mean "them" because I can't read the label. The label text looks a lot like Roman letters, but the combination makes no sense at all. So I had to take advantage of my natural advantages - I had fingers - and open the packets of food they handed me.

Good news: There are a surprising number of alfalfa varieties. A sure profit!

Bad news: After the inventory was completed, their food packages totaled about 50-60 damaged, severely reducing their food reserves and I had no way of compensating.

Even worse news: Nothing else in the salad will survive. The tomato seeds and cucumber seeds in the garden salad are not ripe and are not the number one "survival necessity" (meeting water and nutrient needs). Other materials are destroyed during processing such as peeling, dicing, shredding, etc.

Tonight I have to catalog all the growable plants in my food stash. The grasses and ferns sent by NASA for experiments are inedible to me and ruminants, so they don't count. I do have a good option for a staple, but I don’t have much, so I’m going to take stock of other possibilities.

Starlight was really interested in the box-shaped things that were brought from the spaceship. I tried to come up with something to say, but she shook her head. I guess I have to wait until the spiritual meeting the next morning.

I didn't follow the rations today and ate a whole food packet for dinner. There is a lot of work today and it is not finished yet.

Speaking of rationing, this brings me to another issue: CO2 filters.

The oxygen synthesizer in the cabin breaks down carbon dioxide into carbon and oxygen through rapid heating and electrolysis. The originally planned space suit should use similar technology but smaller devices, but the situation changed. The first contract contractor signed by NASA went bankrupt without even producing a space suit, let alone one. Ares has a total of 60 space suits in five missions. So just a few months before launch, NASA hurriedly passed the blame to the company that built the Mars rover.

Since the rover uses a disposable carbon dioxide filter (the reason is too silly to explain), they decided to also use the filter design on the space suit, so that the filter consumables can be used universally.

Naturally, no one at NASA has considered this small issue. For them, several key loopholes in the space suit are more important - the retarded mask made of safety glass. Apparently the manufacturers felt that safety glass was much cheaper than a combination of impact-resistant clear resin and radiation protection coating, yet that was the design used in all space suits throughout history. In any case, first the replacement could not be completed before Ares 1 due to the tight launch date, and then budget and political reasons affected the replacement plan.

Compared with the mask issue, NASA has not considered the idea of ​​choosing a carbon dioxide filter instead of a self-sustaining oxygen synthesis system at all, because the filter is small and light, and the amount it can carry at one time far exceeds the planned 90 hours of EVA (cabin) per person. (outdoor activities) total duration.

In any case, what we have now are not rovers and spacesuits that can recover unlimited carbon dioxide - this is not a new technology - but versions with limited EVA duration.

Specifically, that's only about 1500 hours of EVA over the next four years.

Don't think about it, NASA officials are causing trouble, and this time it's your fault.

How did the aliens solve it? I never saw them recharging the suit, nor did they use my water reserves during EVA.

Seems like another good topic for telepathic time communication. There's also "How do you wipe your butts with your hooves?" or "Is that a pickle on your head?"

Yeah, it doesn't sound good even to someone with bad taste like me. I'd better get back to work.

Log – Solar Day 11 (2)

I found Johnson's media drive. We are all allowed to bring something with us on launch that contains content for entertainment during the trip. I left mine on Hermes because stupidly I was so excited and busy that I forgot about it. I didn't find Martinez's and Baker's, but the other three left theirs behind. Vogel's is all in German, so it's of no use to me.

It looks like Johansson is a huge Beatles fan - there's a full set of Beatles music in there, and obviously some Lennon and McCartney. There are also a bunch of Agatha Christie novels in text format, and some old computer games. Now I should be fine listening to the Beatles - I just want to hear a third sound besides the alien language and the roar of the Hab instruments.

The reason why I write so much nonsense in my diary is because they actually started singing along. They didn't understand the lyrics, but they imitated it very well, and they could actually sing. Even that dragon sings better than me.

So now the situation is like this: I am busy cataloging food while listening to their chorus of With a Little Help From My Friends.

It sounds both beautiful and creepy, and it also somehow triggers nostalgia in me. Which is weird enough, considering my parents were fans of "Nirvana" when I was a kid.