Survivors on Mars

Chapter 3 Day 1 (3) Survive

How to determine whether the Earth has really disappeared? 

Regarding this question, Tang Yue consulted Lao Mao.

Lao Mao is the resident robot of Kunlun Station. 

He has worked here for many years and is experienced. He is a senior astronaut at the level of commander of multiple expedition missions. A rookie like Tang Yue cannot compare.

The only rovers on Mars that are older than Lao Mao are Curiosity and Opportunity, which landed decades ago.Lao Mao's opinion is to communicate and observe.Obviously, this is nonsense.

The scientific research station on the surface of Mars relies on signal relay satellites to communicate with the Earth. Three relay satellites are running in a synchronous orbit 17,000 kilometers above the ground, basically covering the entire Mars.

The omnidirectional UHF antenna carried by the relay satellite can achieve a transmission rate of 200KB per second. If a directional high-gain antenna is used, the data transmission rate can be increased to 2M per second.

These three satellites are quite reliable. There has never been a disconnection in the past ten years, and they can maintain smooth communication even in solar storms.

Tang Yue has used all available means to contact the Earth. The distance between the Earth and Mars is 0.5 astronomical units at the closest, which is about 4 light minutes.That is to say, it takes four minutes for electromagnetic waves to travel the entire distance at the speed of light, so the communication delay is eight minutes.

The farthest time is 2.6 astronomical units, which is about 20 light minutes, which means the communication delay is forty minutes.Even if the Earth and Mars are located at the two ends of the solar system, with a sun in between, Tang Yue can receive a response after forty minutes when calling the Jiuquan Center from Kunlun Station.

But Tang Yue has been waiting for a whole day, and the Jiuquan Center has not responded.Another method is observation.

Lao Mao used all the telescopes on the Mars Joint Space Station to observe in various bands from far infrared to visible light, and finally confirmed that the earth is no longer visible in any band, and the area where the earth was originally located is only an empty vacuum.

Unable to observe, unable to contact, and unable to interfere.This can be determined to be non-existent in physics.

"Ms. Mai Dong, has the space station been affected?" Tang Yue asked, "Is everything OK on your side?"

"Yes." The girl sniffed, "I just woke up and the computer reported that it had lost contact with the Earth and Orion 1."

According to the original plan, Tang Yue was the last person to leave Mars.

Before leaving, Mr. Wang patted Tang Yue on the shoulder and said :  Mr. Li and I both had missions to complete and could not stay with you. Brother, you have worked hard to go back alone. A few months is not long. It will pass in a nap. Just treat it as administrative detention.

Who knew that when Tang Yue woke up, the Earth was gone.It would be worse than administrative detention.

There are currently two spacecrafts for transfer between the Earth and Mars, Orion 1 and 2. Both spacecrafts have no ability to enter the atmosphere. They are just shuttles between the Mars Joint Space Station and the Earth ISS.

The astronauts of the same batch had already returned to Earth on the Orion 1 spacecraft. Mai Dong was supposed to leave with the team two days ago, but before departure, the materials stored on the Orion 1 spacecraft suddenly had problems and were not enough to support the return of all the crew members.

 After the commander communicated with the ground, he decided to let Mai Dong stay for a few days.After Tang Yue finished his work, Mai Dong took the Orion 2 spacecraft back together.

"Mr. Tang Yue, is the earth really gone?" The girl asked cautiously.

Tang Yue was silent for a few seconds, thinking about how to organize his words to reveal this horrible fact to this young girl in her twenties.

"According to my and Lao Mao's observations, the earth has indeed disappeared."

Tang Yue finally chose to answer with straightforward words. Such a big planet disappeared. Anyone with a discerning eye could see the problem. Paper cannot cover fire, let alone the earth.

Mai Dong nodded silently.This girl was calmer than Tang Yue expected.She didn't cry or make a fuss, but the light in her eyes suddenly dimmed, like a candle extinguished, losing all vitality.

Tang Yue felt a little distressed. Mai Dong was the youngest girl in the scientific expedition team. Not long after graduating from her master's degree, she came to Kunlun Station as a botanist and agricultural technician on board to conduct research on the adaptability of Martian soil and vegetation.

Coming to Mars is a hard job, and everything has just started.There is nothing on this barren planet except a small joint space station and an even smaller Kunlun station. Tang Yue has a delay of dozens of minutes when sending an email. 

90% of the time he is active in a closed space of dozens of square meters. It takes at least two years to go back and forth.Without the selfless spirit of dedicating youth to scientific research, most young people really don't want to come here.

Now the earth has disappeared inexplicably. Tang Yue was a loser and a bachelor, so his death was not a pity, but this girl still had a bright future, and it also disappeared.

The ancients always said that things in the world are impermanent.Tang Yue thought about it and realized that this sentence was true. 

Even if you are the president of the United States and the richest man in the world, in this vast and ethereal universe, aren't you just a speck of dust?

It's gone when you say it's gone.

Even the earth is gone.

If you throw 10,000 yuan in front of me now, I'm too lazy to bend down to pick it up.

Tang Yue was suddenly surprised by the idea that he had.

Since he knew that the earth disappeared, his realm of thought has risen to a higher level. His mind is clear and his brain is blank. He has achieved the unity of man and nature that the ancients pursued all their lives. 

It can be said that he loves whoever he wants and does whatever he wants. It can also be said that he has become indifferent to life and death, the world, and the secular world.

This is probably what Zen Buddhism calls enlightenment.

Tang Yue felt that he was about to become a Buddha.

"Bullshit!" The old cat slapped him, "Why don't you check the remaining supplies quickly and think about what to do next!"

"I don't know what to do."

"Do you still want to live?" The old cat grabbed Tang Yue's collar and pointed outside the cabin, "If you want to die, open the door and jump out."

Tang Yue sat down slowly, looked up at the old cat, and then looked at Maidong on the screen.

A man, a girl, and a robot, these are all the relics of Earth civilization. Mai Dong is now at a loss, and Tang Yue must be the backbone.

"Mr. Tang Yue, what should we do next?" Mai Dong asked.

Tang Yue was silent for a few seconds.

"What else can we do? Stay alive first."