My Little Pony: My Little Pony The Martian

"Richie."

Mike looked at the cubicle that belonged to Richie Purnell. Mountains of takeout boxes and scratch paper piled up on both sides of the desktop monitor form a good sample of geological faults, with various reference material impurities and coffee cup veins mixed in between the strata. Ritchie himself has obviously reached a new level of perfect integration with the computer monitor. He can draw his bow left and right, control the mouse, and at the same time write down all kinds of information crazily on paper.

"Rich." Mike reached out and patted Rich on the shoulder. It is known that Ritchie's risk factor is much lower when working than when sleeping.

Richie straightened up, blinked, turned to Mike and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Richie, your vacation is over. What the hell have you been doing lately?"

"It's just a small side project," Richie didn't meet Mike's stern gaze, "I plan to..."

"I just received an order from Dr. Capol to take you to his office right away." Mike said, "Rich, Dr. Capol is going to explode. He wants you to explain what happened. It looks like This time you will probably be fired, and I can’t help you. It’s terrible, I might not even be able to keep my own job this time!”

"But the project isn't ready yet," Richie replied.

"Rich." Mike took a deep breath and tried his best to restrain his inner fear of being unemployed - once a graduate with a master's degree in mathematics like him is blacklisted by the government service department, there will be few other suitable employment opportunities left. "Please stand up and look around."

The stubborn look on Richie's face gradually turned to confusion, but in the end he did as he was told. "Okay." He glanced quickly around at the other cubicles.

"Those are the other members of your team," Mike replied. "Every employee at NASA is a member of a team, and a team is about working together. No one is trying to take over everything. If anything If the task is important enough for you to risk losing your job, then you should tell us about it and we can work together."

"But this project isn't ready yet," Rich replied, "and is probably just a complete waste of time. I don't want to waste other people's time on a useless project."

"Rich, it's too late," Mike said. "If you or I can't come up with anything really good to show to Dr. Kapol, both of us will be kicked out. Do you understand what I mean? Today It’s Judgment Day. What do you have now that’s good enough to help you keep your job?”

To his credit, Rich didn't look sullen or sit back in his chair angrily. He does not understand the need to consider other people's opinions and is not good at teamwork, but he generally understands that these are his responsibilities and feels ashamed when he notices that he is not meeting expectations. So he typed on the computer, then stepped back a few steps to let Mike get closer and examine the content on the screen.

Mike stared at the screen without saying a word. He turned down a few pages. He subconsciously grabbed a few drafts and started reading them, accidentally causing a small avalanche of garbage.

"Okay," he finally choked, "this is enough."

Venkat looked at the document in his hand. An extremely complex orbit is depicted on the paper, extending from the Earth to Mars, then back to the Earth, back to Mars, and finally reaching the Earth. "Sun Day 551? That's right?"

"It depends on the situation." Rich said, "The specific date depends on the maximum speed of the other aircraft, the remaining working fluid of the plasma thruster, and the actual efficiency of the reverse Obert effect, etc... I am still further optimizing the estimate. value."

Venkat pointed to another part of the orbit shown in the picture, "Isn't this section within the orbit of Venus? This would violate flight operating regulations."

"Hermes radiation protection systems can withstand this kind of environment," Ritchie said, "of course this refers to an emergency."

Venkat's eyes returned to Mars, "And there is no orbital maneuver yet."

"The propeller fluid is not enough." Rich replied. "In addition, as a backup plan, the aircraft also needs sufficient speed to return to Earth as soon as possible."

"Then what should we do to match the rendezvous speed of MAV?"

Richie rummaged through the pile of weathered and coffee-stained documents that he and Mike had brought for a long time, and finally pulled out three pieces of paper and handed them to Venkat. "A lot of modifications need to be made to the MAV." He replied, "For example, the descent stage needs to be refueled to add extra thrust, and the thrusters on the alien spacecraft need to be used. The data is already very close to the final goal. Give me some more Just time.”

"So what will Hermes do with supplies on the way to Mars?"

"We still need another booster," Rich said. "Or we can try to modify Sleipnir III, but the effect is not ideal. After all, most of the payload space is wasted on the landing system and other All the miscellaneous equipment is here.”

"Okay." Venkat finally put down the materials in his hand. However, the next question is the most important question, "Then how did you bypass our review system and send emails directly through Pathfinder?"

"What review system?" Richie just looked at Venkat blankly.

Venkat was unmoved and continued to ask, "You should know that the authority to communicate with aliens is controlled, right?" Although this question seems very stupid, it cannot be ignored. Thousands of words combined into one sentence: How could he not know?

"I don't know." However, Richie didn't give him any face and just said, "I needed to ask a few questions at the time, but I couldn't ask Mike because I was on vacation at the time."

"You're on vacation in the office, right?" Venkat glared at Mike who was standing aside. "We will discuss this issue later. But you still managed to contact them anyway. How did you do it?"

“I still had the email responses I had received asking about the performance parameters of the alien spacecraft,” Rich said. “I took out the email headers and used them.”

Venkat was stunned, "It can't be that simple."

"How can it be that simple!" Teddy roared, contrary to his usual calmness. This was the first time that this kind of scene appeared in Venkat's memory.

"Apparently it's that simple," Venkat replied. "The IT department just recently added an extra header flag to the email request sent to Pathfinder. If that flag is set to 'Yes', then The system will automatically transfer the message to the transmission queue without any manual intervention. The original intention of this design is to protect the communication privacy of approved accounts. However, because all messages sent from Pathfinder will automatically set the flag position to 'Yes,' so when Purnell copied the email header, he inadvertently had access to the same flag without even realizing it existed."

Teddy gradually regained control of his emotions, and his facial expression returned to his usual calm, serious and decent state. However, the pen he held tightly in his hand couldn't stop tapping on the table, betraying the boundless anxiety in his heart. "This matter will be re-evaluated in the future, and we need to learn from it." He said, "The problem is indeed very difficult, but we must not allow anyone else to make the same mistake as Rich. From now on, send from Pathfinder All incoming emails must not contain any headers other than the recipient, sender, and subject of the email."

"Okay." Venkat nodded in agreement.

"But the next question is the important thing," Teddy asked, "What exactly does he want to ask, and why?"

Venkat breathed a sigh of relief hearing this. "Purnell's initial idea was to skip the repair period and send Hermes directly back to Mars." He replied, "In fact, it is completely feasible to do so. After all, Hermes is designed to have a service life of twenty years. The carrier systems are also very reliable and durable. However, xenon must be maintained before it can be refilled. Generally, gas storage tanks are replaced when parked in earth orbit. Although the safety margin reserved for the propulsion medium is sufficient, it is still insufficient. In order to allow the spacecraft to enter an escape orbit again after arriving at Mars. Therefore, the main problem Purnell has to solve is to design an escape orbit that allows Mark and the others to leave the surface of Mars, and Hermes to respond and eventually rendezvous outside."

"His main proposal addressed and solved the problem, at least in theory. The data were still imprecise because Purnell was, after all, just a theoretician calculating orbits - he was not equipped to deal with engineering problems. If we were to go further Delving deeper into this option would require Bruce's intervention, and perhaps SpaceX's involvement, to formally figure it out; however, that leaves little time to maneuver, so Purnell sets out to find one. A better plan - one that can bring Mark, Pony, and Hermes back to Earth in a package within a few days."

Teddy, who had always maintained emotional restraint, suddenly understood something and couldn't help but lose control again, "It's the Sparkling Engine." Shock was written on his face, "Purnell is going to try to rebuild the Sparkling Engine."

"That's pretty much it." Venkat said, "But I don't think Purnell has considered that we can build the Twinkle Engine ourselves, otherwise orbit planning and time considerations will no longer apply. But you need to know the two designers of the Twinkle Engine One of them is now stranded on Mars, and we've learned that their crew had planned to rebuild the engine as part of an emergency escape plan that wasn't actually feasible; and she sent us A fairly comprehensive report that includes a number of detailed formulas expressing the fundamental principles of the system in human mathematical form.”

"Including myself, we currently have dozens of physicists here working on these formulas, but we also have many other tasks to complete - such as managing the Ares project, lecturing, or raising a family. But Pune However, I was able to remain so single-minded about this that I almost became obsessed with it. He automatically blocked all external interference. The only thing he owned was a piece of authorization document that allowed him to freely use computing resources during the no-load period of the JSC Supercomputing Center; this thin A clean slate and a good understanding of both traditional and quantum physics gave birth to this plan."

"In order to prevent the recurrence of the previous disasters that trapped aliens in our world, Purnell has been studying how to solve the problem of powering the Sparkling Engine. And he noticed a hint of harmony in the description of the engine. The relevance of the theory - by the way, this is not his first initiative. Based on my own previous interactions with Starlight Glimmer, I guess that Pony and the others have not studied quantum physics in depth at all, but are more focused on exploration. Principles of magic; Purnell's new formulas and mathematical formal proofs caused a great sensation, completely beyond their expectations."

"Are they as surprised now as they were when we learned about magic?" Teddy asked.

"More than that," Venkat replied. "For us, magic is still a black box system, a complete mystery. We can't make any connections at all. But Purnell's revised formula hit like a bomb. The entire pony scientific community; he conducted a subversive reconstruction based on their original research system and theory - and finally presented this amazing work."

"The sad thing is," Venkat added, tapping the thick pile of information on Teddy's desk, "this line of thinking is actually a dead end. Purnell thought that ponies had already done research on this aspect. He had wanted them to demonstrate a method of converting electricity into magical energy. But Starlight Glimmer had told me long ago that magical energy came from a higher energy level than other physical forces, so this conversion It was completely unfeasible; and Purnell showed them a mathematical solution that theoretically proved the feasibility of the conversion, but it was very energy-intensive. The premise is that the method itself is correct."

"So why doesn't it work?" Teddy asked.

“Imagine someone trying to use Einstein’s equations to convert mass into energy,” Venkat asked, “but in 1905, and without any relevant technology other than mathematical theory to support it.”

Teddy nodded, "Okay, I understand." He said, "Maybe it will be useful in a few decades, but you mean that this method can't get Watney to leave Mars now."

"Yes."

"Then what else can be done?" Teddy asked, "Tell me more about the plan he proposed."

Venkat took out the printed orbital information and began to explain, "Hermes will begin to decelerate and brake within eleven days as originally planned. However, according to Purnell's plan, Hermes will begin to accelerate. They will fly over the earth and arrive at With the assistance of gravity, they will be thrown into the inner orbit of Venus and go around the sun. In this way, they will arrive at Mars around solar day 551. After that, they will enter a special orbit and use the gravity of Mars to reduce their relative speed to the sun, so as to return to normal operation. The state entered the Earth transfer orbit again and completed standard orbit entry through normal braking."

"However, Hermes will not enter Mars orbit, so Ares 4 MAV will undergo extensive modifications. No matter how it is achieved, the alien spacecraft will have to be towed by them - at least all engines and thrusters, as well as new batteries and The new Shiny engines must be taken away. The main engine will be fixed on the outside of the MAV descent stage, fueled by leftover hydrazine propellant from the Ares 3 MDV and any other resources available. In order to provide enough space for loading the small Shiny engines, we will Any excess weight carried by the MAV's upper stage will be removed as much as possible - Purnell is currently working within the kilogram quota originally reserved for planetary surface samples. The entire vehicle will not use the usual secondary propulsion structure; Launch in level three form."

"Purnell's calculations showed that the aircraft could still achieve its target without the Twinkle engines, but that left little room for error. Purnell was not very happy with this, because after all, he still used It is an estimate, not an accurate data. Therefore, he proposed three application scenarios of the Shining Engine." Venkat turned to the back of the orbit parameter table and drew a pattern of Mars and a rocket in the blank space. "First, the aircraft As soon as it lifts off, the Shining engine will start immediately to help the aircraft leave the atmosphere as quickly as possible to reduce the loss caused by air resistance. The aircraft will then use the gravity of Mars to accelerate during the process, providing the MAV with sufficient linear momentum to match the flight speed of Hermes; at the same time The Shining engine will also play an important role in the docking process between MAV and Hermes."

"Finally," Venkat drew Hermes next to the rocket pattern on the paper, "the Twinkle Engine will take into account Hermes's extra mass and adjust accordingly, sending the entire combined flying body all the way back to Earth. Considering that the Twinkle Engine is in our universe Due to the energy supply constraints encountered in the system, Purnell estimates that if all goes well, the return trip will take about a month - if the system speeds up the recharging due to the coexistence of human and alien crew members, the trip will be shortened to eight days. And even if the Twinkle engine fails unexpectedly, Hermes will still return to Earth eight months after flying over Mars at the latest."

"So the end result," Venkat concluded, "is that Mark and his friends will leave Mars eight months earlier than planned and return home at least six months earlier. In the best-case scenario, Mark could even grab Arriving home before the current planned launch of Ares 3B."

Teddy was lost in thought, the pen in his hand still tapping on the table. Finally, he asked: "How feasible is this plan?"

"Of course there are still problems." Venkat replied, "For example, Hermes did not carry enough supplies to support their return to Mars, let alone the extra months of flying back and forth. And Purnell's understanding of MAV was also unclear. There aren’t many, so I can’t make any practical suggestions for transformation. But these problems can all be solved step by step in the end.”

Teddy opened his mouth to ask another question, but after hesitation he shook his head and gave up the idea. "We have to have a town hall meeting to discuss this," he said, "and we have to keep it strictly confidential. It's not a good idea to whet public opinion if we ultimately decide not to go this route."

Venkat nodded in agreement: "I will pay more attention when delivering the message. When is the meeting scheduled?"

"It'll be fine tomorrow morning," he said. "I want Bruce to come over and discuss the matter in person, and I have to give him some time to take the flight."

"Understood," Venkat replied.

"Also," Teddy continued, "tell Purnell and his boss that their jobs are saved. Have his boss put a disciplinary note on him in the personnel file, and that's the end of it. Right." He then closed his eyes and added, "Xiao Wen, I am imagining what this Purnell looks like in my mind right now. I guess if he goes on TV, there will definitely be a rain of blood in the media. Fishy wind. Am I right?"

"It's hard to say, I'm not Annie after all." Venkat said, "But my judgment is similar. If he goes out of government agencies or research institutions, he won't be able to find any job at all. He can just barely notice that he has The problem is that he knows that others have difficulty getting along with him, but he doesn’t understand why, and he can’t judge the timing.”

"Then put him in jail," Teddy said. "The media may have obtained his photo now. As soon as he leaves JSC, he will be surrounded. Therefore, I authorize you to use other than force." We are doing whatever is necessary to ensure he doesn't leave this place. Whether it's buying him new clothes or providing a steady supply of takeaways, we must do whatever it takes to meet his needs as much as possible."

Venkat still didn't understand why Mike laughed for three minutes when he heard him ordering Richie Purnell not to leave the space center.