Sol 389
AMICITAS FLIGHT THREE – MISSION DAY 395
ARES III SOL 389
[09:08] JPL: You want us to do what so the what will what with the what?
[09:36] WATNEY: Okay, maybe I should fill you in a bit more. I plan to take one of the Hab laptops, install the rover control package on it, and plug in Rover 1’s discarded atmospheric analyzer. I’ll then fix another wire that can run through the cave airlock to the Ares III MAV fuel plant. When CO2 drops below one hundred parts per million in the cave, I want the computer to turn on the fuel plant, which I’m rigging to release CO2 from a storage tank into the cave. When CO2 rises above five hundred ppm, I want the computer to shut off the fuel plant. The ponies have a spare automatic air pressure release valve I can use to prevent air pressure from getting dangerously high inside the cave. This will replace the CO2 provided by the pony air exchange system once we’re gone.
[10:03] JPL: Mark, I might mention it’s extremely A. M. here in Houston right now. My bed thinks I’m having an affair with a sofa. I don’t even want to know what my wife thinks.
[10:12] HERMES: Johanssen here. I can do it. Mark, I’ll send you details on where and how to splice a spare USB connector onto the MAV fuel plant control board to make this work. The software patch will take about two hours plus debugging.
[10:23] JPL: Bless you, Beth. Mark, I hope you can be finished with this in equally rapid time. By the way, how’s the weather today?
[14:18] WATNEY: Thanks, Johanssen. We all appreciate it. Expect a big pony hug from Commander Berry once we dock with Hermes.
The sky today is overcast, covered in vaguely pink-tinted cirrus clouds. The pink, I assume, means that the atmosphere has run out of condensable water vapor and that the dust is winning again. Hab power systems show solar cells running at about 90% efficiency, which will probably go back to full power once the clouds clear out.
We moved the fuel plant to the cave today and installed an air line through the cave wall. The seal is good. The Hab has one spare air circulation fan in stores; I’m going to install that on the end of the air line to provide some air mixing and circulation in the cave when we’re gone. There are plugs in the airlock I can use to route the control wires for the fuel plant, and they check out.
Thanks, guys. Between this and the other work we’ve done, the cave farm has a fighting chance to still be alive when Ares V or whoever return here. I appreciate the help.
[14:38] HERMES: No problem, Mark. I’m writing the program to activate the analyzer at hourly intervals. You’ll need to keep the analyzer away from the CO2 outlet line so it doesn’t skew the results. I’ll send the program by direct uplink, but it’ll take most of a day to download at current bandwidth. Probably day after tomorrow.
[14:44] JPL: This is Dr. Kapoor’s bed speaking. Why do you horrible people have to break up a happy home for your selfish, uncaring desires? We were so happy together, once. Can’t you just leave us alone?
[14:46] JPL: Again, that was not me. Whoever it was is lucky I’ve had my third cup of coffee. Bruce, your people continue to tap-dance on the edge of destruction.
[14:48] JPL: Venkat, darling, come home. I’ve put on your favorite sheets, with the hospital corners you like so much…
[14:50] JPL: And I thought astronauts were the only adrenaline junkies working for NASA…
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Okay, seriously, who's the wise guy on the JPL chat?
Also, YAY, the cave farm will live on!
Also, the countdown to mega dust storm continues...
oh, its funny, and that enough for a filler chap.
Venkat don't you know. Everyone that joins NASA secretly dreams of being an astronaut.
Take two Alka-Seltzers three times a day for a couple days and see if the placebo effect kicks in...please don't get sick.
Get that appointment NOW!
You do not want to mess with your health. Besides. I don't want your horse words interrupted.
I'd like to think that Cherry tackled Mark in a big hug when he outlined his viable plan to fix the air in the Cave.
9079853 I can't get the appointment now. The doctor my HMO threw me to (despite my request) makes you wait three weeks for anything, and the uniform response to any request for sooner is, "You can always go to the ER." And after the last couple years of car repairs and other things running up debts, I can't afford even the co-pay for an ER trip, when the symptoms are more annoying and worrisome than actually debilitating.
I can't remember. Is the RTG going on the trip to Schiaparelli in this timeline, or are they relying entirely on Pony Air for heating? I know in the book Mark needed it for heat, and the extra power was just bonus for recharging his power cells. I'm guessing they must be planning on leaving it behind, because otherwise solar cells would get covered by dust, thus losing the cave farm it's CO2 source.
9079842
Well, "might" live on. Among other things, it's relying on a Windows laptop to function constantly without human intervention for about 5 years.
9079866 No, the RTG is going on the trip. The air flow won't provide enough heat by itself for the trip, and installing both the Ares III and Ares IV RTGs in the MAV capsule will help extend the capsule's operating lifespan in case the direct run to Earth becomes necessary.
9079883
Provided you keep it on a closed network and don't install updates and keep thermal cycling to a minimum, that's not hard.
Oh America...
If I want to see a doctor within a day, I walk down the road to my local GP and I'll probably see someone within an hour or two. If I'd prefer to make an appointment first, I can still get an appointment for the same day; I just give them a call or jump through a few links on their website. If it's something that I need to go to the ER for, then I'll be seen within a few hours depending on the urgency of my condition and how busy it is.
For any of these options, I pay nothing.
If I need an ambulance then there are usually costs. In my state I either would have to pay up to around $1000 for a call out, or I pay about $50 per year for ambulance insurance that covers 100% of the call out fee.
That one might have been short, but it was great! XD I was really chuckling at the bit where our favorite mystery JPL interrupter makes an appearance. And yaaaay the cave farm may live! Im predicting a rather epic climax when that massive duststorm comes, though. (Im sure theyll make it because killing them all in a dust storm would be the worst ending ever, but itd pretty much have to be epic seeing how they survive it!)
9079913 It really depends upon the insurance company and the state/county that you reside in. For example, I'm largely in the same boat as you PiMan.
Hope you're doing better soon, Kris!
Glad to see that everyone except for Venkat is having a berry good time with getting the cave farm set up for self-sufficiency!
I look forward to the day that you're not sick, not overworked, and not too tired, and you're able to write a chapter 2,500 to 3,000 words or greater. I can sense that upcoming events, such as the rocket launch and meeting with the Hermes crew, are going to be important story events needing lots of words to cover.
9079942
Private health insurance isn't even allowed to be involved in half of what I was talking about (GPs aren't always free, but insurance is not allowed to cover that cost), and there's no point in getting them involved in ER costs (because it would turn something free into something with a co-pay/excess payment). They can help with ambulance costs, in lieu of ambulance insurance.
Maybe a BFR will come along when they're establishing the first colony. Would certainly help when setting it up.
Kris, you’re coming to amarillo? What are you coming out this way for?
9079893
Plutonium has been doubled!
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/mlp/images/a/ab/Luna_%27The_fun_has_been_doubled%21%27_S2E04.png/revision/latest?cb=20120815044445
9079842
Good thing it isn't Frostpunk or they're screwed big time.
That’s... not dust making the clouds pink, is it.
If the fuel plant was moved into the cave and they installed an air line to it from outside the cave, why did they need to run an wire through the airlock at all?
9080123
To the cave =/= into the cave. The thing might be large enough to not fit into the airlock.
So I think it's sitting just outside the cave, with airline connecting fuel plant's output to the cave itself.
A rather successful day!
Now to get a oscillator on that fan so the airflow isn't too predictable...
9080116
It's not dust, it's rust. Ha.
If the Cave Farm is pretty much secured now, its going to be a permanent fixed magical locus not just on the surface, but roots and water will find a way even through solid rock and concrete, but as long as teh material remains intact there wouldnt be air breach, but then it would be more likely Stumps crystal roots following the lava flaw down into Mars interior?
Pink clouds? Oh dear. Anyone up for Perchlorate Chocolate Mudshakes?
9079842
Would be kinda nice if the injections of magic mellowed out that nasty old man Mars.
9079842
My money’s on it being Teddy, actually. He’s the last person anyone would expect, and he does have a subtle sense of humor (Glorfindel, anyone?). Though how he gets his posts flagged as coming from the JPL feed is an open question; maybe Bruce is in on it?
9079909
Reminds me of wondering how Kevin Flynn managed to keep a ‘90s era mini- or small super-computer running unattended for twenty years in TRON: Legacy. Admittedly, it was running FlynnOS—a Unix or Linux derivative—instead of Windows, and he’d clearly either arranged for the power bill to continue being paid or had hacked the electric grid, but the hard drives from that era alone should have suffered numerous failures in that time.
9080301
Oh, there will be more magic injections—every time the cave pressure relief valve opens. But wait until the folks in the Planetary Protection office find out about it; the Hab blowout was bad enough, but this?
It’s ok about the short chapter, Kris, this one was fully of happy news
Hope you feel better soon, with or without medical intervention.
Always a promising start to a chapter.
In any case, all caught up now that Bronycon isn't interfering with my reading schedule. I get the feeling that the cave farm may play an unexpected role in seeing the castaways safely home. For now, though, there's Martian global warming to worry about. We'll see what happens...
The world must know- who is thin mysterious commedian working at NASA? Rich Purnell's evil twin? Venkat's other personality? Mark from the future? Or a random janitor who's too bored for his own good?
4 vary good chapters with a hold bunch of info.
things are looking like this plan may work.
9079913 It used to be that way in America... BEFORE health insurance made it possible to overcharge the hell out of everything and get away with it.
This mess has only emerged in the last couple decades. When I was a kid, we'd frequently just pay out of pocket for pediatrician visits. It wasn't that much.
I figured it out, the voice that is interrupting is discord.
9080277
My bet is on chocolate rain.
9081540
Cute, but no. Discord doesn't have any impact on that universe.
9081597
He said he can see it, which implys he can.
9081668 He can see it, but he has no power in Mark's universe- none whatever. He couldn't even survive a second there if he made the transition.
... Glad that they're concentrating on the important stuff.
That sums it up.
9081215
I am actually wondering that too. Hell, I actually wouldn’t be surprised if it’s Q, that guy is a serious troll.
9100747
Disssssscord
9113785
Discord and Q are voiced by the same actor.
9081680
If they set up a method to sustain a permanent localised magic field on Earth could he visit then?
9081529
Was this back when silent movies were popular?
"extremely A. M.", hah.
Oh man, these guys are getting really daring.
Indeed
9081529
Snakes alive, man! How old are you!?
Got to love how they screw verbaly with eatch others.
God i hope to see that kind of humor in the sequel you allowed someone else to write
Something everyone loves. The softness and warmth of his bed. Even women can compare with a decent bed.