How to tell if the earth has really disappeared, for this question, Tang Yue consulted the old cat.

Lao Mao is a resident robot of Kunlun Station, has worked here for several years, has rich experience, and belongs to the senior astronaut of the level of the commander of many expedition missions, not a rookie like Tang Yue can compare.

On Mars, if you are older than the old cat, there are only meritorious probes such as Curiosity and Opportunity, which landed decades ago.

The opinion of the old cat is to contact, plus observation.

Obviously, this is nonsense.

The scientific research station on the surface of Mars relies on signal relay satellites to communicate with the Earth, and the three relay satellites operate in a synchronous orbit of 17,000 kilometers above the earth, basically covering the whole world of Mars.

The omnidirectional UHF antenna carried on the relay satellite can achieve a transmission rate of 200 KB per second, and if a directional high-gain antenna is used, the data transmission rate can be increased to 2 M/s.

These three satellites are quite reliable, and they have never been disconnected in the past ten years, and they can keep the connection open in the face of solar storms.

Tang Yue has used all available means to contact the Earth, and the closest distance between the Earth and Mars is 0.5 astronomical units, or about 4 light minutes.

In other words, it takes four minutes for electromagnetic waves to travel at the speed of light, so the communication delay is eight minutes.

At its farthest point, it is 2.6 astronomical units, which is about 20 light minutes, which means that the communication delay is 40 minutes.

Even if Earth and Mars were located at opposite ends of the solar system, with a sun in between, Tang Yue called the Jiuquan Center on the Kunlun station, and he could receive an answer forty minutes later.

But today, Tang Yue has been waiting for a day, and the Jiuquan Center has not responded.

Another way to do this is to observe.

The old cat called all the telescopes on the Mars joint space station, from far-infrared to visible light, to observe in various bands, and finally confirmed that the earth was no longer visible in any band, and the area where the earth was originally located was only an empty vacuum.

No observation, no contact, no interference.

This can be physically determined to be non-existent.

"I said Miss Mai Dong, why are you still on the space station?" Tang Yue asked, "Could it be that you are going to stay and wait for me, and be responsible for escorting the things on Orion back?" ”

This is also why Tang Yue was surprised when he learned that there were still people, and according to the original plan, he was the last person to leave Mars.

There are currently two spacecraft between Mars and Earth, Orion 1 and Orion 2, both of which do not have the ability to enter the atmosphere, but are only ferries between the Mars United Space Station and the Earth ISS.

The same group of astronauts had already returned to Earth on the Orion-1 spacecraft, and Mai Dong should have followed the team two days ago.

But for some reason, this girl is still on the space station.

"Because...... Because there was a sudden problem with the supplies on the No. 1 spacecraft, which was not enough to support the return of all the staff, the commander decided to let me stay and wait for a few days after communicating with the ground. The girl replied, "When Mr. Tang Yue finishes his work, we will go back together on the Orion II spacecraft." ”

"You changed your plans on the last minute?"

Mai Dong nodded.

"Then why don't I know?" Tang Yue glared, "No one has informed me." ”

Notifications...... The notification has already been sent. The girl said.

Tang Yue was stunned, opened the mailbox in the computer, scanned up and down, and sure enough, he found an unopened one in the dense work email.

Tang Yue clicked open, glanced at it casually, and was so angry that he wanted to curse.

Damn, the people in Jiuquan Center are really a bunch of chatterbox, they send emails when they have something to do, and they have to greet them if they have eaten breakfast or not, and they have to greet them for a long time, causing the mailbox to be full every day.

Can't those people send a video file for such an important thing?

"And what have you been doing these two days?" Tang Yue then asked.

"I ...... I've been sleeping......" the girl whispered, "I was going to contact you." ”

Tang Yue silently supported his forehead.

"Because I decided to stay on the spot, in order to reduce the energy consumption of the space station, I turned off most of the functions of the cabin and slept in a sleeping bag, but the computer of the space station suddenly couldn't contact the ground not long ago, so the police woke me up." Mai Dong explained, "And then ...... Then I found out that the earth was gone. ”

"Mr. Tang Yue, is the earth really gone?" The girl asked cautiously.

Tang Yue was silent for a few seconds, thinking about how to organize the language to reveal this terrifying truth to this young girl in her twenties.

"Based on my observations and those of the old cat, the Earth has indeed disappeared."

Tang Yue finally chose to answer in straightforward words, such a big planet has disappeared, and anyone with a discerning eye can see the problem, paper can't contain fire, let alone the earth.

Mai Dong nodded silently.

The girl was a little calmer than Tang Yue expected.

She didn't cry or make a fuss, but the light in her eyes suddenly dimmed, like a candle extinguished, and lost all vitality.

Tang Yue was a little distressed, Mai Dong was the youngest girl in the scientific expedition team, not long after graduating with a master's degree, she went to Kunlun Station as a botanist accompanying the ship to conduct research on the adaptability of Martian soil and vegetation.

Getting to Mars is a chore, and it's just getting started.

There is nothing on this barren planet where birds don't except for a small joint space station and an even smaller Kunlun station, Tang Yue has a delay of dozens of minutes when he sends an email, and ninety percent of the time is active in a closed space of dozens of square meters, and it will take at least two years to come and go.

Without the selfless spirit of dedication to scientific research, ordinary young people are really reluctant to come here.

Now that the earth has disappeared inexplicably, Tang Yue's old dick is a single person, and he eats the social animals waiting to die, so it is not a pity to die, but this girl still has a good life, and she has also evaporated.

The ancients always said that the world is impermanent.

Tang Yue thinks about it, this sentence is really right, even if you are the president of the United States and the richest man in the world, in this huge and ethereal universe, is it not a speck of dust?

Say no, it's gone.

Even the Earth is gone.

You are throwing 10,000 yuan in front of me now, and I don't bother to bend down to pick it up.

Tang Yue was suddenly surprised by this kind of thought he had in mind.

Since knowing that the earth has disappeared, his ideological realm has risen to a higher level, his mood is transparent, his brain is blank, and he has reached the unity of heaven and man that the ancients have pursued all their lives.

This is probably what Zen Buddhism calls an epiphany.

Tang Yue felt that he was about to become a Buddha.

"Ass!" The old cat slapped him, "Why don't you hurry up and check the remaining supplies, and then think about what to do next!" ”

"What to do? Cold. ”

"Do you want to live?" The old cat grabbed Tang Yue's collar and pointed out of the cabin with the other, "If you want to die, then open the hatch and jump out." ”

Tang Yue sat down slowly, glanced up at the old cat, and then at Mai Dong on the screen.

A man, a girl, and a robot, these are all the relics of the earth's civilization, Mai Dong is now six gods and no master, Tang Yue must become the backbone.

"Mr. Tang Yue, what should we do next?" Mai Dong asked.

Tang Yue was silent for a few seconds.

"What else can I do? Let's live first. ”