"Damn it … It exploded …"
Old Cat sat on a chair, its face covered in dust.
"Don't move."
Tang Yue held its head and plucked off a strand of whiskers that was stuck to its cheek. Then, he helped it tidy up its disheveled and charred fur.
"My … my beard …"
Old Cat was in tears.
"What's wrong with you?
Did you forget the explosion limit of methane? "Tang Yue asked.
"I was careless … There was a problem with the flow rate control of the propellant and liquid oxygen, which led to the oxygen not burning out completely, so there was residual oxygen in the pit. When I climbed onto the rover and opened the pressure relief valve and came down, the methane gas concentration in the pit had exceeded five percent." Old Cat shook its head. "So it exploded."
Tang Yue patted Old Cat on the shoulder to express his condolences. After all, it was not a real cat, and its broken beard could not be regrown.
Old Cat really cared about its few strands of beard. It had to comb and maintain them every morning when it got up. Tang Yue also bumped into Old Cat secretly using 502 glue to glue its broken beard behind his back.
Unfortunately, it failed.
This tiny explosion had temporarily interrupted their work of producing fresh water. The two plastic sheets and the water trough had been blasted away. The plastic sheets were no longer usable as they had shattered like balloons. Tang Yue needed to change new sheets, but the plexiglass water trough was very sturdy. It wasn't a big deal and could still be used.
Tang Yue and Old Cat learned from their mistakes. Both of them had to be present when making fresh water in the future.
Otherwise, the methane would mix with the oxygen in the pit and easily reach the explosion limit.
Tang Yue had a biscuit in his mouth and moved the large water tank on the floor to the table. There were about ten liters of fresh water. Because it was condensed water, there were almost no impurities in the water.
This was the result of their work this morning. After being stranded on Mars for 99 days, Tang Yue had a new supply of fresh water for the first time.
"Mai Dong, the water is settled. What should we do next?" Tang Yue asked. "Should we go outside and dig for mud?"
The girl in blue work clothes appeared on the screen. "Have you finished the fresh water?"
Tang Yue pointed to the water tank on the table.
Mai Dong was surprised. "As expected of Mr. Cat."
"What Mr. Cat?" Tang Yue's old face fell. "This is my work, okay?
Your Mr. Cat almost blew up the condenser. "
"Alright, alright. It's all thanks to you, Tang Yue."
Mai Dong smiled and put her hands together. "Let's get back to business. You can't just go outside and dig for soil. I took samples when I was on Kunlun Station. Most of the soil on Mars can't be used to grow crops directly because the content of chlorine, chlorate, and perchlorate is too high … To put it bluntly, it's too dry and salty. Tomatoes can't survive in this kind of soil. You need to find soil with slightly better basic conditions."
"We still have to find it?"
"Of course." Mai Dong nodded. "Have you ever seen anyone plant tomatoes in saline-alkali soil?"
"Then do we have a way to reduce the salt content in the soil?
For example, filtration and extraction … "
Mai Dong spread out her hands. "Most of the extraction solvents are poisonous, and I think it's too troublesome to do this because you need a lot of soil. Besides, the biggest problem is, do you have the conditions to do it?"
"Do we have the conditions?" Tang Yue turned to look at Old Cat.
Old Cat was holding a broken and charred beard in its paw, looking dull.
Tang Yue turned his head back.
"Okay, let's find it."
·
·
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"I suggest you use the Mars Wanderer. With Kunlun Station as the center, sample evenly in an area with a radius of one kilometer."
Tang Yue put on the Bright Light Armour and opened the garage door with Old Cat.
They didn't use the Mars Wanderer often. The Mars Wanderer was actually very troublesome to use, and it consumed too much energy. It was the most power-hungry thing in the entire Kunlun Station.
The Mars Wanderer was essentially a tractor — it was called a geological exploration vehicle because it was dragging a geological experiment module behind it. If you replaced the experiment module with a garbage bin, then the Mars Wanderer would be the Mars Garbage Transporter.
The Mars Wanderer looked tall and mighty, but it was actually an electric vehicle. It used batteries to power it and was driven by an electric motor. It had no suspension, and its speed was as slow as a turtle's crawl. At full speed, it could barely surpass a bicycle. Its off-road ability was basically zero.
When the scientific expedition team was still there, it often happened that the Wanderer was stuck in a sandpit and couldn't move. The passengers had to collectively get off the vehicle and push it. This was actually a short-legged dog.
When the vehicle was designed, it wasn't designed for long-distance transportation. Its only function was to move the experiment module and facilitate field visits by the geological experiment module. So far, the furthest distance the Mars Wanderer had run was no more than 20 kilometers.
In theory, the Mars Wanderer could travel 30 kilometers on a single charge — it had to stop and recharge after running.
But in fact, it had never reached this theoretical value. Old Wang once said that the Mars Wanderer "charged for five hours and worked for half a minute."
It was even more oppo than OPPO.
"How many samples do we need to take?"
"Tang Yue, you can draw a sample," Mai Dong replied. "But I think about 20 samples are enough."
"And then find the more suitable soil among these 20 samples?"
"Yes."
Old Cat opened the door and sat in the driver's seat. Tang Yue also climbed in. The Mars Wanderer's cockpit was not airtight, so the passengers had to wear extravehicular spacesuits.
The driving method of the Mars Wanderer was very simple. There was a steering wheel, a brake, and an accelerator. Stepping on the accelerator to accelerate and stepping on the brake to decelerate. There was a start button, which would start once it was pressed. There was also a shutdown button, which would shut down once it was pressed.
Then, there was an arrow pointing to the start button. It was pure idiocy.
Anyway, no one on Mars would steal the battery-powered vehicle. If the Mars Wanderer was really stolen by someone, then it would not be a simple theft incident, but an interstellar diplomatic incident.
There were also a few meters that showed the power, position, and temperature. It was comparable to the bumper cars in the amusement park, and the kind that would cheerfully say "Daddy's daddy calls grandpa" when the button was pressed.
Old Cat fastened his seat belt and glanced at the remaining power. The battery was full. The Mars Wanderer was always on standby and would be fully charged every day.
This amount of power should be enough for them to run 20 to 30 kilometers.
"Mars Wanderer, start." Old Cat pressed the start button, and the body of the Mars Wanderer trembled slightly.
A few seconds later, the car turned off again.
Old Cat was stunned.
"I think it might be because you didn't call it by its full name," Tang Yue said. "Try starting it again."
"Mars Wanderer, start."
Old Cat pressed the start button again and stepped on the accelerator. This time, the car moved and slowly drove out of the garage.