Chapter 55: Sol Five, The Mountain Will Not Come to Muhammad

Tomcat was taken aback as it hurriedly jumped up.

“Hoooly hell, you are too f*cking crazy. Tang Yue, you really are a madman!”

“Will it work or not?”

“I’ll have to do the math! I’ll have to do the math!” Tomcat pushed the keyboard, stood up, and began pacing about the Hab. The light in its eyes flickered as massive amounts of data churned in its mind. Not a single detail could be missed out.

“The United Space Station doesn’t have any driving force, making it unable to change orbits… Unable to change orbits…

“But we have Orion II!”

Tomcat muttered to itself.

“After it completes one cycle, the orbit difference in height between the Eagle and the United Space Station is about 120 kilometers… 120 kilometers! 120 kilometers!” Tomcat began to simulate the trajectories of the two vehicles.

It was equipped with a powerful CPU. The reason it often did calculations with pen and paper was that Tang Yue was present. It had to showcase and explain the calculation process to him.

Tomcat’s pacing sped up as it fell into thought and calculations. It began to access the possibility of the strategy.

If the mountain will not come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain!

Since the Eagle could no longer raise its orbital height, the United Space Station could lower its height! They could lower the United Space Station by 120 kilometers to catch the plummeting lander!

Even if the space station didn’t come equipped with any driving force, they had Orion II on their hands. It was a powerful spacecraft!

As a spacecraft to ferry passengers to and from Earth, the Orion II would have to accelerate from a Martian orbit to a Hohmann transfer orbit before returning to Earth. As such, it came equipped with plenty of propellants and a powerful driving force… If the space station was considered a floating platform that was at the waves’ mercy, then Orion II was a powerful tugboat!

They could use this powerful tugboat to move the floating platform forward!

They could catch the dinghy that carried supplies before it sank!

“Time.”

“Time?” Tang Yue asked.

“The key lies in the time. After every orbit, the Eagle will drop 280 kilometers from its orbital height after meeting with the space station. This will be when its closest to the space station. It’s also our only chance,” Tomcat said. “If we miss this temporal node, the lander’s height will continue falling, and we will never be able to catch it.”

“How much more time do we have before that happens?”

Tomcat took a look at the time.

“50 minutes!”

“We need to lower the space station’s height by 120 kilometers in 50 minutes?”

“It’s not 50 minutes.

“We can’t begin decelerating now. If we do not control the deceleration well, the space station will miss the Eagle. It has to do an orbital maneuver at the opportune time, allowing its orbit to intersect perfectly with the lander.” Tomcat drew a curve on the table. “At the point the Eagle reaches a height of 280 kilometers, the space station needs to pass by there!”

“Then how much time do we have?”

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“1,320 seconds! We need to decelerate after 22 minutes!” Tomcat answered.

To begin decelerating after 22 minutes. That gave them 28 minutes for the orbital maneuver before the deceleration. They needed to lower their height by 120 kilometers in 28 minutes.

Such a violent orbital maneuver was probably unprecedented in human history. It was a swoop down with the space station falling at a speed faster than the Eagle, catching the lander before it plunged into hell!

Tomcat quickly calculated the thrust the Orion II’s engines produced, the amount of propellant left in the Orion II, the mass of the Orion II and United Space Station, the Eagle’s orbital trajectory, the lander’s remnant propellant, and the precise time the two would rendezvous. Massive amounts of data flowed through Tomcat’s brain as it went into turbo. Its eyes were closed as smoke emitted from its orifices.

There’s less than 20% of the Eagle’s propellant left.

After finishing one orbit, the relative speed will be 120 m/s. The axial rolling angle is 15°/s. The rockets in reverse will be able to reduce the speed to 6 m/s at best!

It’s impossible for a safe docking. It’s impossible to dock…

Then, we can only grapple it!

Tomcat widened its eyes. It was astonished by its bold ideas. Never in human history had such a risky space plan been put into motion. To be honest, this wasn’t considered a plan, but a crazy attempt. It was an all-or-nothing bet.

Tomcat stood still in the middle of the Kunlun Station’s Hab. It opened its eyes and muttered, “F*ck. Tang Yue, you are really a genius.”

…

“Miss Mai Dong! Listen up! Immediately head to Orion II!” Tomcat’s voice sounded in Mai Dong’s earpiece. “Go, now!”

Mai Dong was alarmed, but she immediately followed the instructions.

She donned a white IVA suit, and kicked off the module’s wall and turned to leave the core module. Immediately following that, she passed through different hatches.

The Orion II was located on the other end of the space station. It was connected to the Silent multipurpose module. The Silent module was the dedicated dock for the Orion spacecraft. Both Orion spacecraft were usually docked there.

But now, with the Orion I having departed, all that was left was Orion II.

Mai Dong moved through the long and narrow Silent module. Through the window, she could see the massive spacecraft docked outside.

The Orion II’s spacecraft used a lattice-type frame. The cabin for the crew, solar panels, propellant tank, and the engine were all installed around the metallic frame. It looked thin and long, and its bulk was even bigger than the United Space Station.

After all, this spacecraft could similarly support an entire scientific expedition’s survival and activities. It also had a powerful power generation system, with a massive propellant tank and a rocket engine.

Usually, when the docking was maintained, the Orion spacecraft would form the United Space Station with the Mars Space Station.

This was the origins of the word “United” for the space station.

It had nothing to do with the United Nations.

Mai Dong opened the heavy hatch with great difficulty and went through the passage. She said, panting, “Mr. Cat, I’m inside!”

“Go to the command module!” Tomcat said.

Five minutes later.

“Mr. Cat, Mr. Cat… I’m inside the command module!”

“Good. Miss Mai Dong, listen to me. Now, you will have to manually control this spacecraft! Do you understand what I mean? We need you to manually control the spacecraft!” Tomcat enunciated each and every word.

The girl jumped in fright as she surveyed her surroundings. There was a dense array of complicated buttons. It left her dazzled.

“Manually control? I-I-I-I’ve never been trained…”

“Don’t worry.” Tomcat sat before its work desk. “Neither have I.”

“Then… What do we do?”

“What do we do?” Tomcat laughed through gritted teeth. It flipped through a maintenance manual as thick as a dictionary. “Learn on the spot.”