Die on Mars - Chapter 217

c217 Day 327 (3) The only way

Old Mao left the crutches to Tang Yue and asked him to make fine adjustments according to Ophiopogon japonicus’s height and shape, while Old Mao himself went out to check the landing site. The terrain of the Ixi Plain is flat, and the area around Kunlun Station is a good natural landing site. The Mars landing plan has drawn five landing sites with Kunlun Station as the center, numbered L1 to L5. Previous landers and cargo spacecraft They can all land directly on the deserted beach.

The Mars landing plan has been going on for decades. There are already a dozen disposable cargo spacecraft abandoned near Kunlun Station. Three of the five landing sites have been abandoned. Tianzhou 37 is about to land at the L4 landing site, with the Eagle The spacecraft is adjacent, fifty meters in front of Kunlun Station.

“Mr. Cat is out?”

“It’s out. It wants to check the landing site of the cargo spacecraft.” Tang Yue turned around and sat back on the chair, placing the two crutches flat on his knees. “Girl, can you estimate your current height?”

“But I just estimated it last time.”

“That was the last lap.” Tang Yue emphasized, “The height of the previous lap is different from the current lap. The situation may change in each lap. We need to monitor the orbital height of the Joint Space Station in real time.”

“Well… then wait a minute.” The channel was silent for a few minutes. “It’s about 110 kilometers, still at the same altitude. There’s no change.”

“Remember that one hundred kilometers is a safe altitude, and eighty kilometers is a dangerous altitude.” Tang Yue reminded.

“Mr. Cat said sixty kilometers is a dangerous altitude.”

“Sixty kilometers is not a dangerous height, it is a deadline. If it falls to 60 kilometers, it will not be rescued!” Tang Yue corrected, “No matter what, we can’t let it fall to 60 kilometers.”

“But what are we going to do?”

Tang Yue was stuck.

What can we do to keep the Joint Space Station at a safe enough altitude? This is an unsolvable problem. No matter whether eighty kilometers is a dangerous altitude or whether sixty kilometers is a dead line, even if they can detect in advance that the space station is about to crash, there is no way to save it.

Lao Mao had long told Tang Yue that from the moment the electric rocket ran out of propellant, the fate of the space station was already doomed. It was like the end of the college entrance examination paper has been handed in. No matter what you do before the scores are announced, It may affect the final score. In this case, the best way to deal with it is to cover your head and sleep for ten days and ten nights. After ten days, you wake up and the results are announced, which saves you a long period of tension and suffering.

Both of them fell into silence. After the silence, the girl whispered: “Today is the sixth day.”

“Well, today is the sixth day.” Tang Yue said.

“It’s already the sixth day…” the girl sighed lightly in the channel, “My clock here is broken, I don’t know what time it is now, the sun will rise and set in less than an hour… and ,I am starving……”

“How much food do you have left?”

“Last cookie.”

“How can you eat so well?”

“I…I…there aren’t many biscuits in the space station, so I’ve saved a lot, okay?” The girl said angrily, “Yesterday was the hardest. I was so hungry that I couldn’t sleep at night. I didn’t feel anything when I woke up this morning. My head is a bit dizzy, it may be hypoglycemia…Tang Yue, please pay attention that you are talking to a patient with hypoglycemia.”

“so what?”

“So you should speak sweeter!”

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“I said Tang Yue.”

“Um?”

“Did Mr. Cat say before that the remaining life of the United Space Station may be seven to eleven days?”

“yes.”

“Tomorrow is the seventh day.”

“Don’t worry, nothing will happen tomorrow.” Tang Yue comforted her, “Based on the orbital height you estimated before, the orbital descent speed of the Joint Space Station is slower than we thought. Not only will it be fine tomorrow, but also the day after tomorrow. It may It will drop below 80 kilometers on the tenth day, but the Tianzhou 37 cargo spacecraft should also arrive at this time. We cannot rescue the space station, but we can rescue you.”

“Can I still be rescued after reaching less than 80 kilometers?”

“Okay! Not to mention 80 kilometers, 60 kilometers is fine!” Tang Yue took out a few sheets of draft paper in front of him and spread them out on the table one by one. The papers were filled with dense calculations and numbers. “I’ve done the math… The Tianzhou 37 cargo spacecraft has the ability to safely enter the atmosphere. As long as we are bold enough and control it accurately enough, we can do a docking during a high-speed fall!”

“Is this…possible?” The girl was a little surprised.

“Of course it’s possible! Of course it’s possible! Girl, listen to me, listen to me…”

“Yeah, I listen to you.”

“The body strength of the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft is sufficient, and the core module of the Crystal is the strongest module in the United Space Station. At an altitude of sixty to eighty kilometers – if the atmospheric environment is ideal enough, if the atmospheric environment is ideal enough , after all, this height is actually less than the normal re-entry height…”

Tang Yue took out his pen and wrote quickly on the manuscript paper. In the past two nights, besides playing cards, he had been thinking about this problem. He racked his brains and lost a lot of hair.

Although Maidong couldn’t see what Tang Yue wrote on the paper – he could increase his confidence by copying his calculation process on the paper. This time he also had rigorous calculations and was no longer shouting empty slogans.

“There is no doubt that the attitude of the United Space Station is completely out of control, but the Tianzhou spacecraft is controllable. Our only hope is on the Tianzhou spacecraft! We can maneuver the spacecraft close to the crystal cabin and choose the docking attitude with the nose facing forward… Listen It’s incredible and whimsical, but my calculations support this result. This operation is very difficult, but it is possible. I definitely can’t do it, but the old cat should be able to do it.”

“We are clear about the data of the Tianzhou spacecraft. As long as the maximum temperature does not exceed 1000K and the maximum heat flow density does not exceed 300KW/m in this process, it will have almost no impact on the spacecraft. According to the usual data, this stage has the highest The temperature is actually only 800K… We can complete the rescue before the space station falls 60 kilometers, and as long as you cooperate well enough, the whole process will not take more than three minutes.”

Tang Yue’s writing was so fast that it was almost incoherent, but fortunately the confusion of the order did not affect the expression of meaning.

“The real thermal barrier occurs below an altitude of 40 kilometers, but at this time the Tianzhou spacecraft has rescued you. Then the Tianzhou spacecraft immediately switches to the normal reentry procedure and enters Mars at an altitude of 40 kilometers. Atmosphere. An empty United Space Station will burn up in the atmosphere. The cargo spacecraft can allow you to land safely! The only problem is that the propellant consumption is a bit excessive, so the final landing speed of the Tianzhou spacecraft will be relatively high, and the landing gear may break. .”

“Another problem is that this may not guarantee an accurate landing near Kunlun Station, but there are enough supplies in the Tianzhou cargo spacecraft. You can eat and drink there while waiting for rescue with peace of mind.”

Tang Yue spit out the entire plan in one breath. After finishing speaking, he took a breath and rested, waiting for Maidong’s response.

The girl held her breath.

“Did you figure this out yourself?”

“Yes.”

“Does Mr. Cat know?”

“I haven’t had time to tell it yet.”

“Tang Yue…you are just a mechanical and electrical engineer.”

“What happened to the electrical engineer?” Tang Yue said, “Let me tell you, serious aerospace engineers would definitely not dare to do this! But I do.”

“Because doing so may destroy the Tianzhou spacecraft.” Maidong saw the key at a glance, “The risk is too great.”

Tong Tang Yue’s idea is indeed unbelievable. He wants the Tianzhou 37 cargo spacecraft to dock with the crystal cabin in an extremely unstable situation. The risk is extremely high. If he is not careful, he will lose his wife and lose his troops, and the attempt will be in vain. .

“But this is the only way to save you, girl.” Tang Yue said, “What we focus on is not the risk, but the hope. As long as there is one ten thousandth chance, it is worth investing ten thousand percent. effort.”