Tang Yue's face was stiff and pale. Cold sweat slid down his cheeks.
The RD-0172 engine in the Eagle's payload module was a small rocket. It was used for a safe escape during the launch phase or for maneuvering the command module to change orbit. Its thrust and operating time were limited.
Under normal circumstances, the RD-0172 rocket's propellant would definitely be sufficient. This was because the lander's re-entry into orbit was a delicate task. It required the selection of a suitable launch window, the close cooperation of Earth Control, Kunlun Station, the Joint Space Station, and the lander. It required Earth Control to carefully formulate plans and plans, Kunlun Station and the space station to provide remote guidance, as well as adjustments and controls by the astronauts on the lander.
In the past Mars missions, the lander and space station's rendezvous and docking had always used a fast docking plan. After the lander entered orbit, it would circle Mars once before entering the rendezvous process. It would not take more than two hours from start to finish. It was very simple and easy. Therefore, the RD-0172's propellant in the payload module was never used up.
This gave Tang Yue a huge illusion.
It made him think that the rendezvous and docking was a very easy task.
"When did you have the illusion that 'the docking can be done so easily?'"
Old Cat asked. "The reason why you've docked so many times in the past is because you have the perfect cooperation of Earth, Kunlun Station, Joint Space Station, and the lander behind you. There's a large group of people helping you keep an eye on things. Look at what's left of us?"
Earth was gone.
Due to the bad weather, Kunlun Station could not provide reliable remote positioning and guidance.
Mai Dong was the only one on the Joint Space Station. She was not an experienced professional astronaut like Captain Old Wang. Putting her in charge of the entire rendezvous and docking process was like forcing a duck onto a perch. It might even make things worse.
Finally, there was the Eagle spacecraft … The Eagle spacecraft that would be launched tomorrow was purely a cargo ship. There was no one on it, only compressed biscuits and sandwiches. You could not expect sandwiches to cooperate with your work.
Tang Yue slowly sat down. He understood what Old Cat meant. His strength was being sapped away bit by bit as his skin turned cold.
To think that he had thought that everything was ready except for the east wind.
When the Old Cat pointed it out, Tang Yue realized that this plan was full of loopholes and flaws. Every link could have problems, and it was completely vulnerable.
They had to launch an unmanned cargo spaceship in an overwhelming sandstorm without anyone's supervision and guidance. Then, the unmanned spaceship would find the space station on its own and complete the rendezvous and docking. Furthermore, they were only allowed to fail once.
It was like leaving an eight-year-old child who had never traveled far from home at a Beijing subway station, then giving him a map and asking him to find Shanghai by himself. In the end, you even patted him on the shoulder and told him, "You can only go wrong once."
"You … Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Tang Yue muttered.
"When did we have the time to talk about this?" Old Cat replied. "Have we had any rest in the past few days?"
Tang Yue was a little absent-minded. Hope was too slim. It was really too slim.
Without the remote control and guidance of Kunlun Station and the Joint Space Station, it was impossible for the Eagle to successfully change its orbit. Rendezvous and docking was a very delicate job. The lander and the Joint Space Station were flying at three kilometers per second when operating, but their relative speed during docking could not exceed five meters per second.
This was like two planes flying at ten times the speed of sound. They needed to gradually get closer in flight, so close that the pilots of the two planes could shake hands with each other.
If there was a slight mistake, the plane would crash and everyone would die.
"What are the chances of the Eagle successfully docking?" Tang Yue asked.
Old Cat pondered for a moment. "Unless the Eagle's computer can perfectly control the lander and accurately execute every step without a decimal point error, only then will it be possible for the docking to succeed … But this is the ideal situation. If we rely on the Eagle's own navigation, there will always be a slight deviation.
"Because the objective conditions can't reach the ideal state, the influence of the external environment will cause errors to gradually accumulate, such as gravity, wind speed, and the operating state of the engine. Therefore, the lander needs external instructions to make corrections."
Old Cat continued, "These external instructions can be the guidance of Kunlun Station, the guidance of the space station, or the adjustments made by the occupants of the lander."
"If there are no external corrections, it's almost impossible for the Eagle to successfully dock?" Tang Yue asked.
"The chances are very slim."
"Probability!" Tang Yue gritted his teeth and said, "I want to know the probability!
What are the chances of a successful docking? "
"Not more than one in twenty."
"The RD-0172 engine's propellant is only enough for two uses?"
Old Cat nodded. "If the first docking fails, then the remaining propellant will only be enough for one use. If the second attempt fails, then the Eagle will become space trash floating in orbit."
Tang Yue was at his wit's end. He could only attempt it twice, so the probability of success was at most one in ten.
He suddenly felt very tired, so tired that he didn't want to say a word.
Every number that Old Cat spat out was precisely calculated by it. Mathematics was indeed a beautiful but cruel thing. It was the manifestation of the universe's rules and logic, and it was unshakable. No matter how much strength one had, one couldn't forcefully change a calculation result, even if it was a million digits after the decimal point.
One in ten was one in ten.
This probability was an unchangeable death sentence. It wasn't issued by humans, but by the will of the world.
Humans couldn't fight against the universe. The radius of Mars was 3,389 kilometers. You couldn't change it to 4,000 kilometers. The gravitational acceleration on Mars was 0.38 G. You couldn't change it to 0.4 G. All the parameters and rules had been firmly fixed since the creation of the world.
Therefore, the judgment they made was unshakable.
Old Cat didn't say a word. A man and a cat sat under the dim light. Only the buzzing of the OGS system could be heard in Kunlun Station.
"Then where is our hope?"
Tang Yue opened his eyes, his gaze lifeless. "Didn't you say that we were going to find the last hope buried in the impossible?
Where is this hope?
Where is it? "
Tomcat prodded him in the chest.
"Here."
Tang Yue was stunned.
"Mars is dead. The Eagle is dead. The laws of physics and mathematics are dead."
Old Cat said, "But you are alive. You are the only living person on this planet. If you die, then the last hope will be shattered."
Tang Yue looked at it in a daze.
Old Cat's expression was calm.
"Do you think humans can defeat the universe?" Old Cat suddenly asked. "I don't think humans can defeat the universe, but they can defeat themselves."
Tang Yue was stunned. His face twitched, and then his voice began to tremble.
"You … You mean … There is still hope?"