Son of the Stars

Chapter 195 The Martian Rescue
On Mars, or in the near-Mars orbit, an unprecedented and thrilling scene is taking place - it is the first time in the history of the world.

The orbital life capsule was once very common in various science fiction works, but in fact, whether before the Great Collapse or during the rule of the United Government, the role of the orbital life capsule was just a "vase".

Spacecraft traveling across space are different from huge cruise ships floating on the sea, and are also completely different from aircraft flying in the atmosphere. In the event of an accident in the latter two, at least some reaction time can be left for the victims. It is not only necessary but also effective to set up lifeboats on these vehicles.

But once a spacecraft has an accident that requires the use of a "lifeboat"... there is a high probability that there will be no chance of escape. The pressure difference between the inside and outside of a spacecraft is extremely large. If only one cabin loses pressure, there is no need to use a lifeboat. But if the entire cabin loses pressure, humans will be completely doomed in about a minute in a vacuum environment.

There is no need for a lifeboat in that situation.

If the problem is small, it won't be used. If the problem is big, it won't be used. For a long time, human spacecraft did not have lifeboats. Space activities in low-Earth orbit and even Earth-Moon orbit are inherently high-risk activities.

But on the Mars landing mission, all three Dawn manned spacecraft carried a special escape capsule - actually a regular-sized landing capsule that was half the size of a regular landing capsule.

The reason for carrying the landing module was, on the one hand, to facilitate the transportation between the orbital module and the surface of Mars, and on the other hand, because of the influence of public opinion. The coalition government could not approve an action that was obviously suicidal, even though people at that time believed it was extremely important to overcome the Great Collapse.

Fortunately, the orbital modules are all in geosynchronous orbit and are assembled bit by bit by the processing center. Adding an additional small landing module called a lifeboat will not have a serious negative impact on fuel reserves, but will make people on Earth feel more at ease.

The Dawn 8 exploded mid-flight and the life capsule was of no use.

Whether in the sky or on the ground, almost everyone believes that the lifeboat is just a vase with a certain symbolic meaning.

But now, the vase is turning the tide.

Inside the Martian atmosphere, a life capsule with a red-hot outer shell is working at full capacity - the attitude stabilization engine is firing at full power, trying to twist and stabilize the flight trajectory of the landing capsule, whose aerodynamic shape has been damaged.

The life capsule now looks like a spinning top that was stepped on by a naughty child. The symmetrical appearance that was originally used to stabilize the trajectory has been seriously damaged. The thin Martian atmosphere acts on the bottom of the high-speed moving landing capsule, which should have achieved the effect of increasing the temperature of the bottom fireproof layer in exchange for the overall deceleration of the landing capsule.

But there was a dent at the junction of the bottom and the side of the life capsule - which caused the life capsule itself to lose its aerodynamic stability and rotate and roll in an unstable state.

Inside the lifeboat, Zheng Yan, whose left side below the knee was empty, clenched her teeth and tried her best to fight against the chaotic centrifugal force that was completely irregular.

The AI ​​system in the life capsule had completed emergency hemostasis for her. Although the severe pain caused by the high-power laser burning almost killed her instantly, fortunately Zheng Yan still managed to hold on.

Next, what she had to do was to complete the manual control of the out-of-control lifeboat and achieve landing on Mars while in the negative state of losing a leg and losing a lot of blood.

The chance of survival is almost zero.

As an ordinary human being, Zheng Yan has done everything she can. After confirming that Ruan Hongying had suffered from quantum energy release syndrome, she immediately controlled the robotic arm to transfer Ruan Hongying to the place farthest from the orbital module, and then reported the situation to the control room of the Space Administration, while she moved to the entrance of the lifeboat to put on the emergency pressure suit and wait for the follow-up. Zheng Yan had experienced a period of unconsciousness, and she still cannot be completely sure that what she saw and heard was true. If she had hallucinations again, Ruan Hongying's life would be in danger after entering the abandonment procedure directly.

She could only leave the responsibility of judgment to the Earth, to the research team on Earth whom she had never met.

Then, before Earth could send a request to abandon ship, the explosion occurred.

When the explosion occurred, the multi-point fixed crawling mechanical arm was moving through the living cabin to the position where the cockpit used to be. The violent explosion directly shattered the living cabin and brought a strong rotational torque to the entire Dawn 7.

The excessively strong rotational torque caused the connection links of the core module to fail, and the damaged cabin wall directly cut off Zheng Yan's left leg in the pressure suit like a huge sickle.

The blood gushed out and then quickly froze into a dark red ice block under the low temperature of outer space.

Zheng Yan grabbed the handle of the lifeboat door and tried her best to enter the cabin, then began to scream while covering her thigh.

The lifeboat automatically closed the hatch that had always been open, and the stored gas restored the cabin to normal atmospheric pressure—and also melted the blood clot frozen on Zheng Yan's leg. Then the laser lit up, and the not-so-smooth incision on her thigh was burned black.

To complete the manual landing mission, a clear mind is essential. Zheng Yan rejected the AI's suggestion of "injecting painkillers" and pushed the joystick in front of her with her own hands, trembling.

The tattered little vase, carrying the tattered astronaut, plunged headfirst into the earth-red earth.

The high-speed falling landing capsule left a long trail of fire in the Martian sky, which was actually a very dangerous signal - the lifeboat was not designed for the purpose of "uncontrolled falling". Like a normal landing capsule, it needed to rely on burning the insulation layer at the bottom to achieve deceleration. In order to maintain the reliability and aerodynamic stability of the cabin wall, no insulation bricks were laid in other parts of the landing capsule.

The landing capsule can still hold on at high altitude, but if it continues to descend, the increasing density of the Martian atmosphere will bring unbearable heat to the landing capsule - although it will not completely melt, the high temperature it brings will be enough to kill a seriously injured astronaut who has lost a leg.

Zheng Yan must control the posture of the landing capsule immediately.

At this moment, on the surface of Mars, the landing module received news from Earth. Their worst-case scenario became a reality - Dawn 7 exploded.

The message from Earth was read out by Mu Zhiran. She conveyed Zheng Yan's report from Dawn-7 as efficiently as possible, and then said, "We cannot confirm whether Zheng Yan is alive, but when we were editing this message, the control system received a prompt for the launch of the lifeboat and the execution of the medical mission. We believe that Zheng Yan may be in the lifeboat. Please observe carefully and be ready to provide rescue for Zheng Yan at any time."

In the landing module, Silva was struck by lightning. He stood there blankly for a few seconds with a pale face, and then began to cry.

(End of this chapter)