The next morning, Tang Yue and Old Cat told the news to Mai Dong, who had just woken up.
"Tianzhou … 37?" Mai Dong was shocked. "It's still alive?"
Tang Yue nodded.
"Tianzhou 37 was launched before we set off. I don't know why, but this spacecraft escaped the misfortune of disappearing into thin air and found its destination very accurately. It will arrive at Mars in 20 days according to the original plan."
"I remember that Tianzhou 37 is a cargo spacecraft."
"Yes."
Tang Yue spent a few hours calming his excitement before he managed to make himself look a little calm. However, he still couldn't repress the joy in his eyes. "Just the food and drink on that spacecraft is five tons. There are fruits and vegetables, beef and fish, as well as canned Australian lobster!"
He sent the list of supplies to Mai Dong.
Mai Dong began to count.
"There are forty-four types of food in category I, twenty-three types of food in category IM, nine types of food in category NF, fifty-four types of food in category R, and twenty-seven types of food in category T … including oatmeal with raisins, yogurt, preserved apricots, dried pears, Moscow black bread, assorted shrimp, steak, sausage patties, peanuts with fish skin, corn cakes, dehydrated mushroom soup, minced meat noodles … Hiss … Bread pudding, beef noodles, mushroom beef fillet … Hiss … Vegetable salad, diced meat rice …"
"Girl, saliva … Saliva!"
Mai Dong wiped her saliva dry. Her eyes were filled with tears as a fiery light burst out from her eyes.
"Tang Yue, Mr. Cat, I … I saw heaven."
"Yes." Tang Yue nodded. "That's heaven."
Mai Dong hugged the plush toy dog Ah Q tightly and buried her face in the furry dog's belly. She hummed and laughed as she rolled around in the core module.
"That's great, that's great!
Haha, awesome! "
Tang Yue and Old Cat looked at each other.
The Old Cat shrugged. "Your performance just now was not much better than Miss Mai Dong's."
Tang Yue cleared his throat. "Lass, supplies and supplies are not the main point. The most important thing is that we need to change the landing plan. Tianzhou 37 is a very safe landing device. You can take Tianzhou 37 down. We don't need to force Orion to land anymore."
"Understood." Mai Dong nodded. "That means I need to wait another twenty days on the space station."
"Correct."
Tang Yue said, "After Tianzhou enters Mars' orbit, we'll let it dock with the Joint Space Station first. You can bring everything you need into the spaceship. The extra supplies on the space station and the plants you raised can also be brought down … Tianzhou has the ability to land you safely, and it will accurately land at the entrance of Kunlun Station. I guarantee that the entire process will be very smooth and safe."
"Understood."
The girl rolled her dark eyes and smiled. "But you said last night that I can have dinner with you tonight. Is that not a promise?"
"Of course."
Tang Yue said, "It's just that it will be postponed for another twenty days. When the time comes, we'll treat you with Australian lobster."
"For the sake of the lobster …" Mai Dong snorted. "I'll forgive you for standing me up this time."
"Miss Mai Dong." The Old Cat moved over and squeezed Tang Yue away. That was the end of the small talk. It was time to get down to business.
"I'm here, Mr. Cat."
"You're already aware of the current situation. As the landing plan of Orion II has been temporarily canceled, we need you to turn off the landing mode."
The Old Cat crossed its paws, propped its chin, and sat upright. The display in front of it showed Orion's operational status. The eight engines were turned off, but the Raptor-05 Raptor rocket in the center was marked red. "The ground shows that Orion II is undergoing a second attitude adjustment. Raptor-05 is in pulse mode."
Mai Dong floated to the porthole and looked out.
At this time, the Joint Space Station was located in the shadow of the back of Mars. Orion II was adjusting its attitude. In the landing program designed by Old Cat, Orion needed to make three attitude adjustments before it officially entered the atmosphere.
Looking from afar, the Raptor engine of Orion's power module flashed a light blue light in the dark. It flashed like a beacon light, but also like a small candle swaying in the wind. This was not the normal operating state of the Raptor engine. It was a pulse throttling program designed by Old Cat. The rocket was ignited at different frequencies to save propellant. Methane burned fully in oxygen, and the tail flame was bright and eye-catching blue.
The Raptor-05 engine was pushing the spacecraft to slowly change its orbit and attitude.
"Yes, Mr. Cat."
Mai Dong replied. She glanced at the control panel again. "Orion's engine is working. It's normal."
"Turn it off," Old Cat instructed.
"Turn it off directly?"
"Turn it off directly."
Mai Dong turned on the laptop, accessed the control system, and pressed the cancel button.
"Mr. Cat, there's no response."
Mai Dong said and pressed a few more buttons.
"Another bug?"
Old Cat scratched his head. Mai Dong pressed the button, but Orion II's engine was still flashing. Obviously, there was a problem with one of the control chains from Mai Dong's laptop to the spacecraft's engine. After all, this was not the original program of the spacecraft, but something that Old Cat wrote on the spot. It was not surprising that there was a bug. "But it's okay. Don't worry, it's just a small problem … Just restart it."
Restarting could solve 99% of the program problems.
The last one percent would need to be restarted several times.
"How do I restart it?"
"A circuit breaker," Old Cat said. "Directly break the circuit of the control system. This is the simplest way to restart it."
Mai Dong pulled down the gate on the instrument panel, waited for a few seconds, and all the lights on the control panel went out. Then, she pushed the lever all the way to the end.
"Now try to turn off Raptor-05," Old Cat instructed.
Mai Dong leaned against the porthole with the laptop in her arms. She pressed the cancel button again.
This time, it worked. A notification window popped up on the computer page: Raptor-05 has been turned off. Landing mode has been exited.
Then, a second window appeared: Orion has entered normal flight mode.
Old Cat immediately received a notification. All nine of Orion's engines were marked red.
Mai Dong clearly felt the cabin walls begin to vibrate slightly. This was because the system had ignited all of Orion's engines. The propellant and oxidizer burned fiercely in the combustion chamber. The vibrations were transmitted along the hull and truss to Mai Dong's side. After the landing plan was canceled, the Raptor rocket needed to push the Joint Space Station back into normal orbit.
The girl looked out. In the dark shadow of the back of Mars, the nine Raptor engines suddenly burst into majestic flames as bright as the sun. The orange-red light almost illuminated the entire world at that moment.
Mai Dong floated in the warm light. It was as if she was looking directly at the last moment of the sunset. The girl's cheeks were white, and the fine soft hair was clearly visible. It was dyed with a layer of oil painting blush.