It might be a wasted effort. The MAV isn’t going to have much weight allowance when I launch. To intercept Hermes, it’ll have to reach escape velocity, but it was only designed to get to orbit. The only way to get it going fast enough is to lose a lot of weight.
At least that jury-rigging will be NASA’s job to work out, not mine. Once I get to the MAV, I’ll be back in contact with them and they can tell me what modifications to make.
They’ll probably say, “Thanks for gathering samples. But leave them behind. And one of your arms, too. Whichever one you like least.” But on the off chance I can bring the samples, I’m gathering them.
The next few days’ travel should be easy. The next major obstacle is Marth Crater. It’s right in my straight-line path toward Schiaparelli. It’ll cost me a hundred kilometers or so to go around, but it can’t be helped. I’ll try to aim for the southern edge. The closer I get to the rim the less time I’ll waste going around it.
“DID YOU read today’s updates?” Lewis asked, pulling her meal from the microwave.
“Yeah,” Martinez said, sipping his drink.
She sat across the Rec table from him and carefully opened the steaming package. She decided to let it cool a bit before eating. “Mark entered the dust storm yesterday.”
“Yeah, I saw that,” he said.
“We need to face the possibility that he won’t make it to Schiaparelli,” Lewis said. “If that happens, we need to keep morale up. We still have a long way to go before we get home.”
“He was dead before,” Martinez said. “It was rough on morale, but we soldiered on. Besides, he won’t die.”
“It’s pretty bleak, Rick,” Lewis said. “He’s already fifty kilometers into the storm, and he’ll go another ninety kilometers per sol. He’ll get in too deep to recover soon.”
Martinez shook his head. “He’ll pull through, Commander. Have faith.”
She smiled forlornly. “Rick, you know I’m not religious.”
“I know,” he said. “I’m not talking about faith in God, I’m talking about faith in Mark Watney. Look at all the shit Mars has thrown at him, and he’s still alive. He’ll survive this. I don’t know how, but he will. He’s a clever son of a bitch.”
Lewis took a bite of her food. “I hope you’re right.”
“Want to bet a hundred bucks?” Martinez said with a smile.
“Of course not,” Lewis said.
“Damn right,” he smiled.
“I’d never bet on a crewmate dying,” Lewis said. “But that doesn’t mean I think he’ll—”
“Blah blah blah,” Martinez interrupted. “Deep down, you think he’ll make it.”
My fifth Air Day, and things are going well. I should be skimming south of Marth Crater tomorrow. It’ll get easier after that.
I’m in the middle of a bunch of craters that form a triangle. I’m calling it the Watney Triangle because after what I’ve been through, stuff on Mars should be named after me.
Trouvelot, Becquerel, and Marth form the points of the triangle, with five other major craters along the sides. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem at all, but with my extremely rough navigation, I could easily end up at the lip of one of them and have to backtrack.
After Marth, I’ll be out of the Watney Triangle (yeah, I’m liking that name more and more). Then I can beeline toward Schiaparelli with impunity. There’ll still be plenty of craters in the way, but they’re comparatively small, and going around them won’t cost much time.
Progress has been great. Arabia Terra is certainly rockier than Acidalia Planitia, but nowhere near as bad as I’d feared. I’ve been able to drive over most of the rocks, and around the ones that are too big. I have 1435 kilometers left to go.
I did some research on Schiaparelli and found some good news. The best way in is right in my direct-line path. I won’t have to drive the perimeter at all. And the way in is easy to find, even when you suck at navigating. The northwest rim has a smaller crater on it, and that’s the landmark I’ll be looking for. To the southwest of that little crater is a gentle slope into Schiaparelli Basin.
The little crater doesn’t have a name. At least, not on the maps I have. So I dub it “Entrance Crater.” Because I can.
In other news, my equipment is starting to show signs of age. Not surprising, considering it’s way the hell past its expiration date. For the past two sols, the batteries have taken longer to recharge. The solar cells just aren’t producing as much wattage as before. It’s not a big deal, I just need to charge a little longer.
Well, I fucked it up.
It was bound to happen eventually. I navigated badly and ended up at the ridge of Marth Crater. Because it’s 100 kilometers wide, I can’t see the whole thing, so I don’t know where on the circle I am.
The ridge runs perpendicular to the direction I was going. So I have no clue which way I should go. And I don’t want to take the long way around if I can avoid it. Originally I wanted to go around to the south, but north is just as likely to be the best path now that I’m off course.
I’ll have to wait for another Phobos transit to get my longitude, and I’ll need to wait for nightfall to sight Deneb for my latitude. So I’m done driving for the day. Luckily I’d made 70 kilometers out of the 90 kilometers I usually do, so it’s not too much wasted progress.
Marth isn’t too steep. I could probably just drive down one side and up the other. It’s big enough that I’d end up camping inside it one night. But I don’t want to take unnecessary risks. Slopes are bad and should be avoided. I gave myself plenty of buffer time, so I’m going to play it safe.
I’m ending today’s drive early and setting up for recharge. Probably a good idea anyway with the solar cells acting up; it’ll give them more time to work. They underperformed again last night. I checked all the connections and made sure there wasn’t any dust on them, but they still just aren’t 100 percent.
I’m in trouble.
I watched two Phobos transits yesterday and sighted Deneb last night. I worked out my location as accurately as I could, and it wasn’t what I wanted to see. As far as I can tell, I hit Marth Crater dead-on.
Craaaaap.
I can go north or south. One of them will probably be better than the other, because it’ll be a shorter path around the crater.
I figured I should put at least a little effort into figuring out which direction was best, so I took a little walk this morning. It was over a kilometer to the peak of the rim. That’s the sort of walk people do on Earth without thinking twice, but in an EVA suit it’s an ordeal.
I can’t wait till I have grandchildren. “When I was younger, I had to walk to the rim of a crater. Uphill! In an EVA suit! On Mars, ya little shit! Ya hear me? Mars!”
Anyway, I got up to the rim, and damn, it’s a beautiful sight. From my high vantage point, I got a stunning panorama. I figured I might be able to see the far side of Marth Crater, and maybe work out the best way around.
But I couldn’t see the far side. There was a haze in the air. It’s not uncommon; Mars has weather and wind and dust, after all. But it seemed hazier than it should. I’m accustomed to the wide-open expanses of Acidalia Planitia, my former prairie home.
Then it got weirder. I turned around and looked back toward the rover and trailer. Everything was where I’d left it (very few car thieves on Mars). But the view seemed a lot clearer.
I looked east across Marth again. Then west to the horizon. Then east, then west. Each turn required me to rotate my whole body, EVA suits being what they are.