Die on Mars - Chapter 248

c246 Day 339 (1) I will die eventually.

“Can you see anything?”

“Sand, endless sand, and stones.” Tang Yue stepped on the chair, leaned out half of the body from the cab, holding on to the frame, like a lookout on an ocean-going sailboat, “I can see The wind is blowing from our northwest, do we need full left rudder?”

“No need.” The old cat held a screwdriver in his mouth and sat in the experimental cabin to repair his broken claw. “I have pointed out the markers for you. Just let the stray dog ​​go in the predetermined direction.”

Tang Yue sat down and held the steering wheel. The Martian stray dog ​​crawled slowly and leisurely at a turtle speed. The marker pointed out to him by the old cat was a large piece of basalt in the distance, half buried in the soil. The size was unknown. How big it is, the exposed part is at least two stories high, and it happens to be in the path of the Mars rover.

As the saying goes, Wangshan is like a dead horse. Tang Yue drove the rover towards it for a long time, but he didn’t get anywhere near it.

“Isn’t it a mirage?” Tang Yue muttered.

Mirages are common in deserts on Earth, but there is no evidence that Mars produces them.

However, mirages are essentially the result of the refraction of light in the atmosphere. The cause is quite simple. As long as certain conditions are met, mirages can form anywhere, so Tang Yue concluded that this thing is definitely not unique to the earth.

“It’s not a mirage.” Old Cat said, “The atmosphere on Mars is too thin, the temperature is too low, and the sunlight is very weak. It is difficult to have such a high refractive index of light. You feel that you have never been able to get close to it, just because your eyes and The brain misestimates distances, and in a desert with no reference objects, it’s difficult to accurately judge the size of an object and estimate distance.”

Tang Yue squinted his eyes. He thought that his eyesight was quite good. His pair of krypton gold dog eyes had never been nearsighted or astigmatic since he was a child. He thought that when he was selecting the crew of the Orion crew, Tang Yue was able to break through the siege and stand out among the crowd. One of the important reasons why young engineers from Beihang University, Harbin Institute of Technology and Western Polytechnic University stand out is that he is the only one among them who does not wear glasses.

The central vision test uses a Lang’s meter, which is a C-type ring meter. Tang Yue points east and west as he pleases from a distance of five meters.

“Don’t believe it? How far do you think the distance between you and the marker is?” asked the old cat.

“Hmm…” Tang Yue pondered for a moment, “Eight hundred…one kilometer.”

“In fact, the rock is at least two kilometers away from you.” The old cat said, “It is much farther than you think, so you have the illusion that you can’t reach it no matter how hard you run.”

The old cat blew hard on the fur of the severed limb, placed it on the floor, and frowned.

A broken paw is nothing to it, since it won’t lose blood or go into shock anyway, but it’s not a good sign.

The old cat is very aware that its body is aging. According to the normal design, it should also reach the end of its lifespan. It is part of the first phase of the Mars landing plan, and everything in this phase will be decommissioned and discarded in the following days, including Orion 1 and 2 include Mars stray dogs and old cats.

It has been overloaded with so much work over the past year.

Today is the sixth day.

There are still ninety kilometers to the destination.

The old cat reattached the severed limbs to himself. The limbs were indeed detachable. He did not lie to Tang Yue about this, but the claws could not support hot swapping like a USB flash drive. If it was broken, it would be broken, and the joints would no longer be strong. , From now on, this arm may never be able to do any heavy work again.

It was lying on the edge of the porthole, with its cat face pressed against the glass. Looking out through the porthole, its expression suddenly became lazy and tired. It stared motionlessly at the passing wasteland, like a cat with its face pressed against the car window. children.

“Tang Yue.” The old cat muttered.

“Huh? I’m here. What’s the problem?”

“Look to the left. There is a stone at the bottom of the hillside over there. Do you see it?”

“I saw it, what happened?”

“Do you think it looks like a small dried fish?”

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When the sun rose to the highest point above its head, the old cat used a sextant to measure its altitude angle again.

“How’s it going?” Tang Yue moved the solar panels down one by one, panting, “Are we going the right way?”

“There is generally no problem, but further confirmation requires knowing the longitude. If we go down another thirty kilometers in the current direction, we will arrive at the fourth scheduled parking point.” Old Mao sat on the roof of the car, lifting He raised his paws and pointed forward, dangling his two short legs, “That is the last stopping point before we officially reach the target. If we cross it, the destination will be in front of us.”

“It’s a pity that the stray dog’s battery life is limited.” Tang Yue unfolded the battery panel, “If it could be stronger, I’m afraid we would have arrived by now.”

“After all, it is not used for long-distance transportation. As a short-legged dog, it is not easy for it to persist here. The next Mars rover can meet your requirements. It is said that its name is Red Rabbit.” The cat said, “How is the situation with Mingguang Armor?”

“The Mingguang Armor is working normally, and there are still three-quarters of the oxygen reserve. Judging from the current consumption rate, we can definitely last until the end.” Tang Yue waved his hand, “Don’t worry.”

The old cat watched condescendingly as Tang Yue moved back and forth, moving the panels one by one out of the car, stopping to rest every once in a while. This was a strenuous job, and although the solar panels were not too heavy, they could not support a large number of them.

Lao Mao wanted to help, but was stopped by Tang Yue.

People with disabilities, please sit still and obediently.

Don’t be a disservice.

Excuse me, when the solar panel and your arm fall to the ground at the same time, which one will you pick up first?

The old cat was helpless and had to give up.

“I will die eventually,” said the old cat.

Tang Yue was stunned.

“What did you say?”

“A poem once written by Lao Wang.” Old Cat said leisurely, “I will die eventually, in the night when the stars are shining.”

“That rough guy like Lao Wang can still write poetry?” Tang Yue was a little surprised. Lao Wang was a tall and strong man from the Northeast. He was born in Wing Chun in elementary school and could fight bears. If he hadn’t joined the army and became a pilot, he himself Everyone said that he might become a powerful person in the world. Lao Wang usually talks like this: What about Qianha? What are you looking at? Move to the side a little bit! **Baby, why are you so big? One person can sit on two benches?

Can such a person write poetry? Wouldn’t he break the pen barrel?

Isn’t this the same virtue as Zhang Zongchang and Marshal Zhang?

Daming Lake, Ming Lake is big, are there toads in Daming Lake?

“Middle-aged people, there are seniors and juniors, life pressure is high, and the mid-life crisis has arrived, there is always a time to be sentimental.” Lao Mao said, “Lao Wang once told me that when he was a child, he dreamed of becoming a poet. He has always believed that Life was more than just taking care of things, but unfortunately he got a beating from his father and his spirit immediately returned to normal.”

“I will die eventually,

On a starry night,

Please bury me. ”

The old cat chanted leisurely.

Tang Yue was stunned.

It’s really not a cannon blasting his mother.

“When the spring breeze blows,

Bright flowers will bloom on the dead wood,

You must come and see me,

When that day comes,

There will be a kingfisher spreading its wings on my tombstone,

Sprinkle some sunshine. “