Mai Dong placed her hand on the glass and stared at the incubator. A faint green light was reflected in her dark and bright eyes.
The first tomato sprout had finally sprouted.
It was unknown when this little thing had popped its head out of the culture medium and quietly broke through the hard seed coat. The seedling was only a few millimeters tall, with two light green leaves and a crisp white stem. It trembled gently with the airflow of the ventilation system, and the girl's eyes also became lively.
Mai Dong was surprised to find this little life during a routine inspection in the experiment cabin. Then, she floated there and looked at it for a long time, as if she was fascinated.
Mai Dong had a small area in the Hope experiment cabin where she planted a batch of Arabidopsis thaliana, tomatoes, and lettuce in the incubator to verify the feasibility of planting plants during long-duration space missions. The short-term goal of this technology was to provide fresh vegetables for the astronauts, allowing them to completely get rid of the evil canned food. The long-term goal was to build a self-circulating ecosystem in the spaceship and provide the technological reserves for future human migration spaceships.
However, the latter was obviously too long-term a goal. Until now, humans had never built a reliable ecosystem. Perhaps when the technology tree of controlled nuclear fusion was developed, the first step of a self-circulating ecosystem would be taken … But even controlled nuclear fusion was still 50 years away.
Mai Dong was silently amazed.
The second life in the Joint Space Station had finally been born. This could be the third life in the universe. Mai Dong was shocked by its fragility and beauty. She felt that life was indeed the most delicate thing in the world. This little tomato sprout was less than a centimeter tall, but inside its pea-sized body, hundreds of millions of cells were working together. Water was drawn from the roots to the leaves, and light and carbon dioxide were involved in photosynthesis. Everything was in order and perfect order.
Compared to this seedling, the Joint Space Station she was in was simply a crude house.
She wanted to immediately tell Tang Yue and Old Cat the news, but unfortunately, communication was interrupted and there was no response.
"I should give you a name …"
Mai Dong slowly turned in front of the glass incubator and pinched her hair. "What should I call you?
Xiao Fan?
Xiao Yan?
Xiao Xi?
How's Little Green? "
"Little Green … Little Green … Hmm, Little Green is a nice name."
Mai Dong looked up at the cabin wall above her head and nodded slowly. "Then it's decided. From now on, your name will be Runtu!"
The girl pointed at the tomato seedlings in the glass incubator with a serious expression. Her dark eyes were wide open and her expression was serious.
Half a minute later, Mai Dong couldn't hold it in anymore. She clutched her stomach and laughed.
As the girl laughed, her voice gradually lowered. She floated in mid-air and stared blankly at the seedling behind the glass a meter away. Her eyelids drooped, and her gaze suddenly became lonely.
"Runtu, Runtu, thank you for coming to accompany me …" Mai Dong stepped forward, gently held the glass box, and put her forehead on it. "But we won't live long, so … you have to grow up quickly. Grow up to be super big, so big that the box, the experiment cabin, and the space station can't hold you. Can you understand what I'm saying?"
The tomato seedlings trembled gently in the air.
"You nodded." Mai Dong smiled. "You promised me. Remember your promise!"
She gently pushed the cabin wall, passed through the cabin door, and left the Hope experiment cabin. Mai Dong still had something to do.
She had to write a suicide note.
·
·
·
“PlanB！
We need Plan B! "
Tang Yue climbed out of the Bright Light Armour, sweating profusely. His clothes were soaked. "Is there a Plan B?"
They could only attempt a rendezvous and docking once, and the success rate was less than five percent. This was definitely not a feasible path.
They couldn't gamble with Mai Dong's life.
"Pran Bi?
Pran Bi doesn't exist all the time. "
Old Cat leaned against the chair and rolled its eyes. I'm not a Doraemon. How can I get Pran Bi just by rummaging through my pocket?
Wait a minute.
It does seem to be a Doraemon.
"But this path is definitely not feasible!
Only one rendezvous, and the success rate is only five percent. Five percent!
My chances of being admitted to Tsinghua University after high school are higher than this! "Tang Yue excitedly slammed the table." Without Pran Bi, what can we do? "
"The success rate of docking is at most 2.477 percent. Where did the five percent come from?" Old Cat spread its hands. "And I think your chances of being admitted to Tsinghua University are less than 0.5 percent."
"What?" Tang Yue stared.
"What are you talking about?
Do you think I underestimated your high school grades? "
"No, no, no, no, I'm not talking about that. My high school class teacher said that I have a five percent chance of being admitted to Tsinghua University. His original words were 'If eight million examinees in the country handed in a blank paper, Tang Yue, you have a five percent chance of being admitted to Tsinghua University' … I mean, what's with the 2.477 percent?
Didn't you say the success rate of docking was five percent? "
"I told you before that there was a five percent chance, but that was only if you successfully entered the parking orbit. Now even the first step into the orbit has failed. Do you still think there's a five percent chance of success?" Old Cat said, "What did your high school class teacher mean?
Why do you only have a five percent chance of being admitted to Tsinghua University when eight million examinees in the country handed in a blank paper?
What about the remaining ninety-five percent? "
"You mean, we only have a 2.477 percent chance now?" Tang Yue was shocked. "The remaining ninety-five percent?
The remaining ninety-five percent must be the Ministry of Education's statement that the exam results are invalid. "
"That's right. We only have a 2.477 percent chance left." Old Cat nodded. "Can the college entrance exam results be invalid?"
"If only one person named Tang Yue in the country finished answering the questions, and everyone else handed in a blank paper, if you're the Ministry of Education, don't talk about invalidating the exam. You should commit seppuku …" Tang Yue sat in his chair. He didn't want to talk to Old Cat about the stupid topic of the college entrance exam anymore. He knew that he would never be able to get into Tsinghua University in this lifetime.
If he could get into Tsinghua University, why would he come to Mars to work so hard?
Did he have nothing better to do?
He would have gone to Wall Street to enjoy the decadent life of high society's luxurious capitalism.
Tang Yue slowly covered his face.
The chances of success were getting lower and lower.
What did 2.477 percent mean?
He had tried a hundred times, and the success rate was less than three times.
Old Cat stared at the computer on the workbench and was silent for a few seconds. "You have to understand our current situation. The Eagle has failed to enter orbit and is about to crash. We don't have enough propellant, communication is cut off, and there's no one to guide us. This situation is basically a dead end at any time. It's a dead end with no possibility of a comeback … This 2.477 percent success rate is already a miracle."
Tang Yue was stunned for a moment.
Old Cat was right. This 2.477 percent chance was not too low, but too high … Tang Yue suddenly understood this point, and his scalp went numb.
The Eagle had failed to enter orbit, lacked propellant, communication was cut off, and there was no one to guide them. Any one of these was enough to ruin a space mission. With so many unlucky things happening together, even Tang Yue was caught up in it. According to common sense, there was absolutely no chance of survival. They should have failed a long time ago, but why was there still a 2.477 percent chance of success?
Something was supporting this weak hope, like the last candlelight in the night. Despite the wind and rain, it stubbornly refused to be extinguished.
"What is it?" Tang Yue looked up.
Old Cat turned its head. "Hmm?"
"What is it?
What is our final 2.477 percent chance of success? "Tang Yue asked." What is maintaining the final chance of success? "
Old Cat tilted its body and raised a paw to press a few keys on the keyboard. A window popped up, and Tang Yue came over to take a look. On it was the main structure of the Eagle's payload module. The massive first-stage rocket engine and propellant storage tank had been thrown away, making the lander look shorter by half. All that was left was the command module, cargo module, and upper stage rocket.
Old Cat circled a box with the mouse and showed the nozzle at the bottom of the cargo module to Tang Yue.
The RD-0172 rocket was manufactured by the Russian Power Machinery Research and Production Consortium.
A solid and reliable Russian product.
This was a very small rocket. In the entire huge Mars landing mission chain, it was a very inconspicuous link. It was only responsible for the safety of the payload module and maneuvering to change orbit.
If the Eagle's Raptor 3D and 3C rockets were a powerful cruise ship, then the RD-0172 was undoubtedly a small dinghy. But now that the cruise ship had sunk, they could only rely on this small dinghy as their last lifeboat … Fortunately, this small dinghy was built by a fighting nation known for its violence and sturdiness. With the double blessing of vodka and Emperor Pu Xian, the dinghy might be able to be used as a tug!
"Without this engine, our success rate would be zero," Old Cat answered. "It is the final 2.477 percent!"