Dead on Mars

Chapter 5 - Sol One, Crazy Canned Food
After the oxygen inspection was done, next up was the water check.

Water was equally precious as oxygen. Without it, Tang Yue couldn’t live for more than three sols.

On Kunlun Station, oxygen and water were recyclable. They were mutually tied together as they worked in coordination.

The life support system would release oxygen via electrolysis, then hydrogen and carbon dioxide could be used to produce water.

All the wastewater was recycled at the Hab, including steam, urine, and feces. Kunlun Station’s toilets were extremely powerful suction machines that could extract all moisture in human waste.

The urine would be dehydrated, turning into urea and uric acid crystals. The feces would be as dry as sand. Then, they would be vacuum-packed and brought back to Earth.

Tomcat would often tell Tang Yue that the soup he had in his bowl was still mixed with shit from just ten minutes ago.

It was quite alright if it was his own shit, but Tomcat loved to f*cking point out that the soup in his bowl was mixed with Old Zheng’s shit from ten minutes ago.

Old Zheng was one of the members of the expedition team. He was quite a creepy, middle-aged man. Every time he shat, he would contaminate the air in the entire Kunlun Station; therefore, everyone would seek refuge whenever he used the toilet.

This was unacceptable.

“You use an average of 1.56 kilograms of potable water every sol. 1.20 kilograms comes from reconstituted foods. To produce oxygen, 0.92 kilograms of water is needed for electrolysis.

Tomcat began doing the math.

“That is to say, you need to use 3.68 kilograms of water every sol. In addition, you need to take a shower every week. This will require you to expend about 5 kilograms of water.”

“What about recycling?” Tang Yue asked.

“Recycling of water mainly comes from urine, feces, breathing, sweat, and other water condensation,” Tomcat replied. “On average, you produce 1.49 kilograms of urine a sol…”

Tang Yue was taken aback. “Do I pee that much?”

“Are you not aware of how much pee you have?” Tomcat said. “These are the numbers calculated by the computer. On average, you produce 120 grams of feces a sol.”

Tang Yue fell silent for a few seconds.

“You don’t have to tell me how much shit I produce a sol. You make it sound like I’m a good-for-nothing shit-creating machine…”

“In addition, your breathing and sweating every sol will produce 1.6 kilograms of water vapor. Other metabolic activities will produce a total of 0.34 kilograms,” Tomcat said. “Kunlun Station’s Water Reclaimer has a maximum efficiency of 96%. That also means that Kunlun Station is able to produce 3.4 kilograms of clean potable water a sol.”

“I expend 3.68 kilograms of water a sol, but only 3.4 kilograms can be recycled?” Tang Yue asked. “There’s a daily deficit of 0.28 kilograms?”

Tomcat nodded.

In response, Tang Yue frowned.

Water of less than 300 grams could hardly fill a standard 500-milliliter mineral water bottle.

On Earth, he wouldn’t have bothered about it, but now, Tang Yue gained a deeper understanding of the phrase “water is life.”

The deficit of less than 300 grams directly determined his remaining lifespan.

By expending 3.68 kilograms and having 3.4 kilograms replenished, there was a constant loss. The Kunlun Station would lose 280 grams of water every sol, and the total amount of water would gradually reach zero.

Once all the water was used up in the Hab, Tang Yue would be finished.

“How much water do we have in total?”

“1,200 liters,” Tomcat replied, “in other words, 1,200 kilograms.”

At the rate of losing 300 grams a sol, that much water can be used for… Tang Yue did a mental calculation. “4,000 sols.”

“That’s just in the most ideal situation. In actuality, it definitely wouldn’t reach 4,000 sols. You aren’t the only one who expends water in the Kunlun Station. Furthermore, as the Water Reclaimer ages, its efficiency will constantly drop,” Tomcat reminded him. “I believe that it would be the most ideal situation if the water you have can last you 3,000 sols.”

3,000 sols.

About eight Earth years.

Tang Yue sat on the ground, facing the opened Kunlun Station’s maintenance manual, before sighing.

“I’m already quite blessed by the heavens if I can live another eight years. I’m very satisfied with that.”

Earth had already gone. Wasn’t he lucky that he could live another eight years beyond that? The King of Hell was indeed giving him face.

“You are putting the cart before the horse if you are claiming to be able to live another eight years,” Tomcat impolitely shattered Tang Yue’s beautiful dream. “Next up is to take stock of the food.”

Food was the third necessity that needed stocktaking. Insufficient oxygen would suffocate Tang Yue to death; insufficient water would dehydrate him to death, and insufficient food would starve him to death.

Each one of them were killers.

Tang Yue took lots of effort to take out all the food that he had packed.

Food was different from oxygen and water. Other than its weight and bulk, it occupied space. Most of the packets were leftover supplies from past expeditions.

For some reason, humans didn’t have much of an appetite on Mars. Their taste buds would feel numb, and regardless of how tasty the food was, it tasted like cardboard in their mouths.

Therefore, Tang Yue and company had forced themselves to eat, eating the bare minimum they were required to consume.

The previous expedition’s refill still had quite a lot of food left. Most of it was instant food or semi-processed food.

On Kunlun Station, they didn’t need to resort to eating toothpaste, like their predecessors, for there was a baking oven and a microwave oven. Thanks to Mars’s gravity, there was no worry that cutlery and food would fly around out of control. Therefore, processing food on Kunlun Station was a lot more convenient than on the ISS. The kitchen was almost a replica of the designs on Earth.

In theory, Kunlun Station was equipped with a full set of cutlery that made even the Manchu Han Imperial Feast a possibility.

However, due to the need to conserve water and electricity, all the food sent to Mars were half-completed products that had undergone pasteurization and freezing treatment.

Furthermore, there was no means of transporting fresh fruit and vegetables over, due to the one-year journey it would take from Earth to Mars. Anything would have rotted by the time it reached them.

Tang Yue opened one crate after another.

“Beef, vacuum-packed, salted in preservatives. Shelf date of two years.” Tang Yue took out a huge piece of beef from the crate and placed it on a rack. “20 kilograms. When mixed with other food, this can tide me through for two months without a problem, right?”

Tomcat nodded.

“Chicken breast meat. salted in preservatives. Shelf date of two years.” Tang Yue took out a huge bag of chicken breast meat. “20 kilograms. This can also feed me for two months.”

The large chunks of beef and chicken breast were sealed in soft packaging. These meat products had been pasteurized at high temperatures on Earth and contained a certain amount of moisture. Finally, they were sealed into soft vacuum packs.

Although they were, in essence, canned products, their soft packaging made them much lighter than metallic canned food. Also, they didn’t occupy too much space.

In theory, these meats could be eaten directly, but they were originally used for cooking, such as raw ingredients for steak… Kunlun Station’s permanent headcount was six people, so all the food had been prepared for six people. Twenty kilograms of meat would actually be finished in a week.

But now that Tang Yue was the only one, he could eat that for two months if he tightened his belt.

Tang Yue took out all of the big-sized food ingredients from the crate and piled them on the racks or floor.

“How long can this food last you?” Tomcat asked.

Tang Yue did an estimate. “If I don’t consider my quality of life, I’ll probably not starve to death within a year, I suppose?”