/ 
Dead on Mars Dead on Mars Chapter 143 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Download
https://novelcool.info/novel/Dead-on-Mars.html
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Dead-on-Mars-Dead-on-Mars-Chapter-142-Sol-Two-Hundred-and-Seventy/4409103/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Dead-on-Mars-Dead-on-Mars-Chapter-144-Sol-Two-Hundred-and-Seventy/4409105/

Dead on Mars Dead on Mars Chapter 143 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy

Chapter 143: Sol Two Hundred and Seventy-Five, Battle to Save Mai Dong

Translator: CKtalon Editor: CKtalon

At that instant, Tang Yue felt as though he had returned to a century ago in the era of Yuri Gagarin and Alan Shepard. The engineers had given their all to construct a launch pad weighing hundreds of tonnes and used the R-7 and Redstone rockets that weighed nearly thirty tonnes to send a payload of 70 kilograms.

That was extremely disproportionate in terms of mathematics and physics, with them spending massive amounts of resources to ultimately concentrate on such an individual.

A long period of time had passed, and during this time, humans gained the ability to build space stations, to land on the moon, and to head for Mars. However, they had forgotten that all of that once started from careful micro-steps. In the early days, liquid oxygen and ethanol engines that were sent to near-Earth orbit had a carrying capacity of fewer than three tonnes and the manned spacecraft was only two meters long.

However, those were the nascent steps of human aeronautical history.

When Tomcat firmly said “all we care about is that rounding error,” time seemed to rewind, returning back to the instant when the Voskhod 1's Chief Designer, Korolev, decided on not wearing spacesuits. It had rewound to the moment when the Kennedy Space Center's Wernher von Braun gave the order for the countdown. Back then, engineers used tons of scrap paper to calculate every single gram, just for that rounding error.

Human aeronautical success was obtained one step at a time through these tiny rounding errors.

“During the atmospheric entry, it's not only the Eagle but also Orion. Is that right?” Tang Yue asked.

“Yes.” Tomcat nodded. “Orion is the lifeboat, the Aquarius lunar module on the Apollo 13.”

Orion II was a spacecraft that shuttled between Earth and Mars.

It was one of the biggest spacecraft created in human history. The reason it wasn't the biggest was that Orion I was the same size. Compared to calling them spacecraft, they were more like mobile space stations. To provide sufficient living space for the six-member crew and provide them with enough survival resources, Orion's structure was completely different from ordinary spacecraft.

Its main body was made of three trusses, making it reach a length of 88 meters.

At one end of the truss were the solar panels spanning sixty meters long. It was a module with eight panels that supplied electricity.

The middle truss was the central module which was the control center and living quarters. There were a total of eight cabins that were connected to one another in a circle.

The other end of the truss was the service module with the massive propellant reservoir tanks and the nine Raptor 10D liquid oxygen-methane high-pressure engine. The reservoir tanks could be refilled and the engine could be repeatedly used.

Design-wise, Orion was a rather weak structure. It was only a thin rod that seemed skewered together. It was unable to enter the gravisphere of both Earth and Mars. Once gravity acted upon it, the truss would undoubtedly fail to withstand the weight of the central module and engines, warping and snapping immediately.

The day it entered the atmosphere, was the day it was decommissioned.

Orion was born in space, but it would return to Earth.

“You want to let Orion enter the atmosphere with the Eagle?” Tang Yue asked. “Is… Is it possible?”

As someone who knew a bit about aerospace engineering, Tang Yue found the idea crazy. There were too many unresolved problems.

Without much thought, it was easily conceivable that the Orion spacecraft would disintegrate at high speeds, burning up and exploding as a result.

“At times…” Tomcat waved its paw. “The technique involved is the craziest.”

“Orion II is 88 meters long. This is the length of the truss.” Tomcat held the pen in its paw as it began explaining the plan to the duo. “If we…”

“Throw it down.” Mai Dong and Tang Yue knew what the cat was about to say.

“… Yes, if we throw it down, right into the atmosphere, it will definitely disintegrate and crash.” Tomcat held the pen and placed it horizontally across the table. “It cannot descend in this manner, but if we were to change the orientation…”

Tomcat held the pen in its paw vertically.

“By letting it descend this way, we can guarantee the structural integrity. This is determined by the truss's materials and structure. When it's vertical, it can withstand a force five to six times that of when it's horizontal. When descending, it will be decelerating. The forces acting on the truss are compressive stress not tensile stress… As long as we ensure that it maintains a vertical orientation during the descent, it can go all the way down!”

“But how do we maintain its vertical orientation?” Tang Yue asked. He couldn't imagine how an eighty-meter-long pole could maintain its vertical orientation at such high altitudes.

“Korolev Cross!” Tomcat answered. “Or should I say, we mimic a Korolev Cross!”

Korolev Cross? Tang Yue frowned. He vaguely remembered that this term described a phenomenon when the booster rockets were detached from the rocket.

“We have nine Raptor 10D engines with nine gimbaled nozzles. Each engine has enough thrust,” Tomcat explained. “Keeping a pole vertical at high altitude isn't as difficult as you imagine. Orion's total mass is 409 tonnes. Out of that 329 tonnes are the propellant and engine. In order words, its center of mass is at the bottom because, during the descent, the engine is facing down.

“As long as four engines maintain their thrust in four directions, the pole will stand vertically in a stable manner.” Tomcat held the pen vertically in its paw tip. “With it being bottom-heavy and top light, this will maintain its stability. If it's the other way round, that won't work. Of course, it cannot withstand any horizontal forces during the process. This is also thanks to Mars not having much of an atmosphere. It's impossible to do it on Earth because any strong gust of wind would doom this plan.”

“What… what about the heat?” Mai Dong asked.

“There's no need to consider the heat, lady.” Tang Yue held his chin as he pondered for a few seconds. “This cat wants to descend with a reverse thrust the entire time; thus, controlling the speed of descent. However, is there enough propellant on Orion?”

“Bingo! That's the crux of the matter.” Tomcat snapped its paws. “The propellant is key to the entire plan. We have a total of nine Raptor 10D engines. Orion's propellant reservoir has a total of 300 tonnes of fuel. If there isn't enough propellant, everything is pointless. Let's do some accounting.”

Mai Dong and Tang Yue nodded.

All the hope was on the accounting.

“A Raptor 10D engine has a thrust of 900 kN in a vacuum, which is 90 tonnes. Nine engines will give a total thrust of more than 800 tonnes,” Tomcat said. “On average, a Raptor engine burns through the fuel at 60 gallons a second. In SI units, that's 227 liters. A mix of 227 liters of liquid methane and liquid oxygen has a total mass of 202 kilograms.”

Tomcat pointed to the sky. “That is to say that the spacecraft's engine, a Raptor 10D engine will burn through 202 kilograms of propellant a second. And we have a total of 300 tonnes of propellant to use. If all nine engines are used together, how long can the propellant last?”

“165 seconds.” Mai Dong immediately gave an answer. “Less than 3 minutes.”

Tang Yue was alarmed.

165 seconds was definitely insufficient.

To safely descend from an orbit of 125 kilometers, 165 seconds was definitely insufficient.

“This is clearly insufficient,” Tomcat said. “The spacecraft will expend all its fuel at an altitude of tens of thousands of meters. Then, it would crash.”

“What do we do?” Tang Yue asked. “You said that there's hope.”

“We need to thank the designers of the Raptor 10D engines. An engine's thrust is 90 tonnes. To support a 400-ton spacecraft's descent, do we need all nine engines to be running?” Tomcat smiled.

Tang Yue immediately understood.

The spacecraft's total weight was 409 tonnes.

An engine's thrust was 90 tones. With just five engines, it could produce a total thrust of 450 tonnes.

“We can use a throttling process to control the engine's thrust by only activating five engines. Then, do another count,” Tomcat said. “How long can the propellant last?”

“297 seconds.” Mai Dong's voice trembled. “At least 297 seconds.”

“Yes, at least 297 seconds. In reality, the number will be bigger than that. This is because Mars's gravity is only 40% of Earth's. Therefore, Orion's 400+ tonnes on Earth would only be about 160 tonnes.” Tomcat nodded. “Therefore, the engine's expenditure of the propellant will be less than our calculations. In fact, Orion's propellant can last a total of 12 minutes.

“In these 12 minutes and at a height of 125 kilometers, we need to have the spacecraft's average speed of descent to be at 173 m/s. It's not even at Mach 1.”

Tang Yue was stunned.

Mai Dong's eyes reddened.

“You might be able to come down.” Tomcat turned its head and wriggled its ears at Mai Dong as it giggled. “Miss Mai Dong.”

Chapter end

Report
Catalogue
Chapter 249 – : Sol Three Hundred and Forty
Chapter 248 – Sol Three Hundred and Forty
Chapter 247 – Sol Three Hundred and Forty
Chapter 246 – Sol Three Hundred and Forty
Chapter 245 – Sol Three Hundred and Forty
Chapter 244 – Sol Three Hundred and Forty
Chapter 243 – Sol Three Hundred and Forty
Chapter 242 – Sol Three Hundred and Forty
Chapter 241
Chapter 240
Chapter 239 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 238 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 237 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 236 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 235 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 234 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 233 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 232 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 231 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 230 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 229 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 228 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 227 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 226 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 225 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 224 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 223 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 222 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 221 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 220 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 219 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 218 – Sol Three Hundred and Thirty
Chapter 217
Chapter 216 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 215 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 214 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 213 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 212 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 211 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 210 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 209 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 208 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 207 – sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 206 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 205 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 204 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 203 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 202 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 201 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 200 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 199 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 198 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 197 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 196 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty–Four, How to Enter the Two
Chapter 195 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty–Four, Desert, Loneliness, Shit
Chapter 194 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 193 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 192 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty–Two, Law of Tomcat's Flag
Chapter 191 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 190 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 189 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 188 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 187 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 186 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 185 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 184 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 183 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 182 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 181 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 180 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 179 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 178 – Sol Three Hundred and Twenty
Chapter 177
Chapter 176
Chapter 175 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 174 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty–Four, Buttocks and Thermal
Chapter 173 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 172 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 171 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 170 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 169 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 168 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 167 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 166 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 165 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 164 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 163 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 162 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 161 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 160 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 159 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 158 – Sol Two Hundred and Eighty
Chapter 157
Chapter 156
Chapter 155
Chapter 154
Chapter 153
Chapter 152 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 151 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy–Seven, Bio
Chapter 150 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 149 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 148 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 147 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 146 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 145 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 144 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 143 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 142 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 141 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 140 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 139 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 138 – : Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 137 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 136 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 135 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 134 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 133 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 132 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 131 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy–Three, Long
Chapter 130 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 129 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 128 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy–Two, New
Chapter 127 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 126 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 125 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 124 – Sol Two Hundred and Seventy
Chapter 123
Chapter 122
Chapter 121
Chapter 120
Chapter 119
Chapter 118
Chapter 117
Chapter 116
Chapter 115
Chapter 114
Chapter 113
Chapter 112
Chapter 111
Chapter 110
Chapter 109
Chapter 108
Chapter 107
Chapter 106
Chapter 105
Chapter 104
Chapter 103
Chapter 102
Chapter 101
Chapter 100
Chapter 99
Chapter 98
Chapter 97
Chapter 96
Chapter 95
Chapter 94
Chapter 93
Chapter 92
Chapter 91
Chapter 90
Chapter 89
Chapter 88
Chapter 87
Chapter 86
Chapter 85
Chapter 84
Chapter 83
Chapter 82
Chapter 81
Chapter 80
Chapter 79
Chapter 78
Chapter 77
Chapter 76
Chapter 75
Chapter 74 – Sol Hundred, Shit
Chapter 73 – Sol Ninety
Chapter 72 – Sol Ninety
Chapter 71 – Sol Ninety
Chapter 70 – Sol Ninety
Chapter 69 – Sol Ninety
Chapter 68 – Sol Ninety
Chapter 67: Sol Ninety-Eight, A Man Without Water Is Not a Man at All
Chapter 66: Sol Ninety-Eight, Scurvy, and Kidney Failure
Chapter 65: Sol Ninety-Eight, The Space Station's Miss Farmer
Chapter 64: Sol Ninety-Eight, The Mathematical Explanation Between Gradual Enlightenment and Instant Enlightenment
Chapter 63: Sol Ninety-Eight, Disappearance of the Orion I
Chapter 62: Epilogue
Chapter 61: Sol Five, Grab onto That Shackle
Chapter 60: Sol Five, Five Seconds That Can Give Birth to Ten Thousand Stars
Chapter 59: Sol Five, Seventy-Meter-Long Surgical Knife
Chapter 58: Sol Five, The Arm
Chapter 57: Sol Five, The Solitary Shout
Chapter 56: Sol Five, Fly Towards the Sun
Chapter 55: Sol Five, The Mountain Will Not Come to Muhammad
Chapter 54: Sol Five, Biting Fate by the Throat
Chapter 53: Sol Five, Good People Live Long
Chapter 52: Sol Five, Eternal Increase in Entropy
Chapter 51: Sol Five, We Crashed
Chapter 50: Sol Five, The Probability of Success from Betting One's Life
Chapter 49: Sol Five, Desperado
Chapter 48: Sol Five, I'm Watching from Hundreds of Millions of Kilometers Away
Chapter 47: Sol Five, Lonely Radio Wave
Chapter 46: Sol Five, Third Life in the Whole Universe
Chapter 45: Sol Five, Either Make or Break
Chapter 44: Sol Five, I've Been Caught by the Nazis
Chapter 43: Sol Five, Nostalgia Became a Tiny Spacecraft
Chapter 42: Sol Five, Lil' Eagle's Race
Chapter 41: Sol Five, Eagle, Away You Go!
Chapter 40: Sol Five, Mars United Space Station
Chapter 39: Sol Five, the Greatest Being-Toward-Death
Chapter 38: Sol Five, The Meaning of a Million Tang Yue's
Chapter 37: Sol Five, Snail in a Race
Chapter 36: Sol Five, The Universe's Final Broadcasting Station
Chapter 35: Sol Four, Man is Unable to Defeat the Universe
Chapter 34: Sol Four, Cold Physics and Mathematics
Chapter 33: Sol Four, Parents Need Alone Time When Guiding Children With Their Studies
Chapter 32: Sol Four, SpongeBob Lives Under the Sea
Chapter 31: Sol Four, Two Solutions to Repair a TV
Chapter 30: Sol Four, Antenna Father and Antenna Son
Chapter 29: Sol Four, A Person Equaling a Billion People
Chapter 28: Sol Four, Himalayas on the Plains
Chapter 27: Sol Four, Becoming a Mummy on Mars
Chapter 26: Sol Four, Would I Lose All My Reputation?
Chapter 25: Sol Four, Disappearance of Tomcat
Chapter 24: Sol Four, Forging Across the Hundred Meters
Chapter 23: Sol Four, Force 14 Wind on Mars
Chapter 22: Sol Four, 21st Century Famine
Chapter 21: Sol Four, Taking off the EVA Suit, Buttocks Go First
Chapter 20: Sol Four, I'm Starving
Chapter 19: Sol Three, Tomcat is a Good Dictionary
Chapter 18: Sol Three, A Cremation Awaits a Moment's Joy of Ripping Wires
Chapter 17: Sol Three, 13,416 Articles
Chapter 16: Sol Three, Kunlun Station's Enslaved Worker
Chapter 15: Sol Two, The Eagle That Lets Its Hair Down
Chapter 14: Sol Two, How an Earth Can Be Blasted Apart
Chapter 13: Sol Two, Grand Art of Dirty Clothes Changing
Chapter 12: Sol Two, The Naked Man on the Desolate Plains
Chapter 11: Sol One, Rectum Comparable to a Howitzer
Chapter 10: Sol One, Mars Wanderer
Chapter 9: Sol One, Kunlun Station is a Turtle Shell
Chapter 8: Sol One, Robots Do Not Need Sleep
Chapter 7: Sol One, You are Inhumane
Chapter 6: Sol One, Can Last Another Five Sols
Chapter 5: Sol One, Crazy Canned Food
Chapter 4: Sol One, Enough Oxygen for Fifteen Years
Chapter 3: Sol One, Live On
Chapter 2: Sol One, Last Human in the Universe
Chapter 1: Sol One, Earth Has Exploded
Setting
Font
Arial
Georgia
Comic Sans MS
Font size
16
Background
Report
Donate
Oh o, this user has not set a donation button.
English
Español
lingua italiana
Русский язык
Portugués
Deutsch
Success Warn New Timeout NO YES Summary More details Please rate this book Please write down your comment Reply Follow Followed This is the last chapter. Are you sure to delete? Account We've sent email to you successfully. You can check your email and reset password. You've reset your password successfully. We're going to the login page. Read Your cover's min size should be 160*160px Your cover's type should be .jpg/.jpeg/.png This book hasn't have any chapter yet. This is the first chapter This is the last chapter We're going to home page. * Book name can't be empty. * Book name has existed. At least one picture Book cover is required Please enter chapter name Create Successfully Modify successfully Fail to modify Fail Error Code Edit Delete Just Are you sure to delete? This volume still has chapters Create Chapter Fold Delete successfully Please enter the chapter name~ Then click 'choose pictures' button Are you sure to cancel publishing it? Picture can't be smaller than 300*300 Failed Name can't be empty Email's format is wrong Password can't be empty Must be 6 to 14 characters Please verify your password again