Fire Moon 2: Screwdriver

July 2029, Rocket City, Sazhou, Liang Nation

Daphne Braun envisioned the human habitat modules being installed in Mars' Valles Marineris, which Michael called "Capsules."

"The inhabitants of the Capsules aren't just doing research, are they? What engineering tasks are they also responsible for?" Daphne asked Michael.

"Their primary mission is to be as self-sufficient as possible, including drilling for water from deep within the canyon floor, producing oxygen and hydrogen, and solving issues with drinking water, oxygen, and energy," Michael replied.

Daphne looked at the explorer before her, a hero in her eyes. She speculated that Michael's Capsule project on Mars was not just a survival experiment, but aimed at establishing a continuously expandable Martian settlement.

She asked, "Your plan requires immense transport capacity. Although the Hunter-5 Rocket has a large payload and is reusable, it's still far from enough to meet the material needs of a settlement."

Indeed, it wasn't just rocket capacity that was insufficient; establishing a launch site on Mars would also be extremely difficult.

"You must have already thought of a solution. I'm curious, did you come up with it with the help of your external brain, VESSEL?"

"Not this time," Michael said, shaking his head and chuckling as he recalled VESSEL's answer. "It was designed by our company's chief engineer, Dr. James. Regarding the transport capacity issue, VESSEL's answer to me was itself, VESSEL."

"The key to solving the transport bottleneck for the Mars colonization plan is the word VESSEL itself?" Daphne asked in surprise.

As the owner of Acebe Space Technology Company, Michael Max's many ideas were considered almost fantastical by ordinary people, and his chief engineer, Dr. James, who shared his corporate culture, was no different.

Dr. James suggested building a transfer station near Mars' geostationary orbit. Transport ships propelled by Hunter-5 Rockets would dock with the transfer station in space, rather than making the much more difficult round trips to the Martian surface.

The geostationary transfer station would be connected to the Martian surface by Carbon Fiber Tubes and auxiliary supports, forming a Martian version of a Space elevator.

Daphne Braun, a professional astronomer, didn't understand the engineering details, but she knew the construction of a Martian Space elevator would be extremely challenging.

One method involved extending upwards from the Martian equator for about 20,000 kilometers, while another involved building a massive artificial object in orbit at a distance of 20,000 kilometers from Mars to act as a stabilizer. Both were clearly very difficult.

"Building upwards from the Martian surface would require transporting building materials to Mars, which brings us back to the original problem. It's clearly not feasible," Daphne continued, as if solving a riddle. "Building a sufficiently large, stable artificial object in geostationary orbit 20,000 kilometers above Mars is also impossible!"

Michael smiled mysteriously and said to Daphne, "Building an artificial anchor weighing hundreds or thousands of tons is indeed impossible. However, our genius Dr. James uses a natural anchor, which is called Phobos, equivalent to Earth's Moon."

"Phobos, Fire Moon!" Daphne exclaimed.

Mars has two moons with eccentricities close to zero, meaning they orbit Mars in nearly perfect circles. Their orbital inclinations are also close to zero degrees, orbiting almost along the Martian equatorial plane. They are located directly above the theoretically optimal construction site for a Martian Space elevator.

Phobos has a semi-major axis of approximately 23,000 kilometers and orbits Mars once every 30.3 hours. Mars' rotation period is 24 hours and 37 minutes, meaning Phobos is slightly above Mars' geostationary orbit.

The technical difficulty of docking transport ships with Phobos, "floating" above the Martian surface, is far lower than landing and returning to the surface, and the transport costs would be significantly reduced.

Daphne, professional and astute, immediately pointed out a problem, asking, "Phobos's orbital speed is less than the linear velocity of Mars' surface rotation. Even if Phobos were to lower a Space elevator towards Mars, it couldn't connect stably with the Martian ground due to the speed difference."

Dr. James had also considered Daphne's question. The Space elevator hanging from Phobos would be nearly 20,000 kilometers long. The end near the Martian surface could have increased counterweights, but it couldn't directly connect to a fixed base on the Martian surface due to the speed difference.

The linear velocity of rotation near the Martian equator is about 240 meters per second, while the linear velocity at the end of the Space elevator pointing towards Mars is 200 meters per second. There is a speed difference from east to west of about 40 meters per second.

Michael took Daphne's hand and gently prompted, "Are you assuming the connection base of the Space elevator on the Martian surface is fixed?"

Daphne Braun suddenly realized. If the docking base were to move at high speed from east to west on the Martian surface, meaning the base receded relative to Mars' rotation, constantly moving westward. If the receding speed were exactly 40 meters per second, a stable connection between the base and the Space elevator could be achieved.

"40 meters per second, which is 144 kilometers per hour. Are you planning to make the docking base an electric sports car capable of 144 kilometers per hour? It must be a Nikola brand, right? Haha."

Even after guessing the answer, Daphne Braun still couldn't believe Dr. James had come up with such a bold and ingenious plan. After calming down slightly, she thought of another problem and asked, "Mars' atmosphere is thin, and dust storms are not only fierce but also last for a long time. Even if the base is built on a sports car, it would be difficult to withstand the harsh weather."

Michael told Daphne that Dr. James's plan had considered these factors. Another advantage of the Space elevator not being rigidly connected to the ground base was that during dust storms, the Space elevator structure could be shortened, with its end moving away from the Martian surface.

The high-speed moving base platform would require "rails," meaning a track. A track encircling Mars entirely would be unnecessary due to the high cost.

The circumference of the Martian equator is about 21,000 kilometers. Dr. James planned a track length of less than 4,000 kilometers, allowing the Space elevator to dock with Mars for one day out of every seven days when there are no dust storms.

Daphne Braun, a master of her field, immediately grasped Dr. James's thoughtful intentions. She marveled, "Less than 4,000 kilometers? Are you planning to build the platform's track within Valles Marineris, at a very small angle to the Martian equator, to better withstand Martian storms?"

Michael Max stood up and poured them both a cup of coffee. He gazed at his intelligent and beautiful girlfriend, hesitating to speak.

Months ago, he had learned about Nikola Tesla's Superluminal Wave Theory and signed a non-disclosure agreement. He couldn't reveal his true plan to anyone, including his beloved girlfriend.

Michael knew deeply that even with an ingenious Space elevator, Mars couldn't be transformed into a second habitable Earth for humanity. To achieve that goal, a Superlight Wave Power Station must be built on Mars, and the Martian Space elevator was merely an auxiliary project.

The biggest problem plaguing Michael Max was constructing a building structure 180,000 kilometers high on Mars. The raw materials used must be sourced from Mars; transportation was not an option.

These materials would, of course, be extracted from the Martian surface soil. However, due to current technological limitations, human sampling depth of Martian surface soil was a meager 10 centimeters.

There was also a purely engineering technical problem: even if standard support components for the power station structure could be manufactured on the Martian surface, these components would need to be connected using precise and reliable connectors. In simpler terms, screws and screwdrivers would be needed for connection.

Daphne broke the brief silence and suddenly asked, "How do you plan to connect the standard components of the Space elevator?"

Michael made a peculiar expression and replied, "Didn't my external brain give me the answer? Use VESSEL."

Daphne asked in confusion, "VESSEL? Literally, it means container, large ship, or vascular. None of those meanings seem relevant. Of course, the building where we had our first date was also called VESSEL. Sky Ladder? Does it mean Sky Ladder?"

"It might mean Sky Ladder, but I don't think that's all of it. It might also be related to my other company, the supplier for Nikola brand electric vehicles."

Daphne was completely bewildered and looked at Michael in confusion.

Michael explained, "Nikola brand electric vehicles require various types of screwdrivers during their manufacturing process. Our company's corresponding supplier is a well-known manufacturer of screwdrivers and pneumatic equipment."

The screwdriver manufacturer Michael Max mentioned was a renowned enterprise in Fusheng Nation, and their product trademark was:

VESSEL.

A Collection of Poems:

Forming a jade palace, cold light is born, Ming, Li Se Still recognizing the flowing rainbow encircling auspicious lightning, Qing, Chen Tingjing The wind cave and star rock should be reachable, Ming, Gu Lin Carriages and wheels busy back and forth all day, Song, Liu Zai