Mars X - In Space No One Will Hear You Scream

[Run And Hide Gamer]

A few days ago I started a gameplay series on the Run And Hide Gamer channel showing the Mars X mod for Rimworld. I thought it might be interesting for you out there who watch my videos to also read the story of the Mars X Crew as their journey to Mars begins with setting up a base on the Moon.

Space is a hostile environment and while up there your crew is exposed to many dangers such as space radiation, carbon dioxide exposure, Intracranial Hypertension, and decompression sickness.

On top of that your crew is highly trained to solve any of the problems that arise daily.... problems that could make your crew very sick or worse.

Today's video has my crew facing a critical problem.... oxygen levels in the ship and the base are falling and the crew is becoming sick.... and so far no one knows why the oxygen levels are falling.

This is day 2 of the mission.

Our written story here will begin where it started a few days ago..... the moment where The Eagle Will Land.

Chapter 1 coming out here in the next 24 hours.

[Run And Hide Gamer]

Chapter 1
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Mission Commander Pearson could not help but be impressed by what she could see on the other side of the lander's main window. Pearson was 39 and she was the commander of the first Mars X mission to set up a functioning base on the lunar surface. She had landed on the Moon several times over the last 3 years, preparing for today when mankind would finally take that step to set up the first lunar base.

Bright sunlight shone on the double-glazed glass window as she looked out at the lunar landscape on the other side of the window. The Sun was slightly overhead and somewhat to the port side of the lander..... highlighting the drops of vapor that had formed on the lander's window.

Pearson held her breath as she looked out at the Moon's surface stretching out far and wide... The lander had touched down 5 minutes ago, and there was still lunar dust hanging in the air that had been kicked up by the lander as its engines safely guided the craft to a gentle touchdown.

Actually, it was incorrect to say the lunar dust was hanging in the air. Unlike Earth, the Moon had no atmosphere, therefore no air. What she was looking at were the very fine particles of lunar dust slowly drifting in space after being disturbed by the arrival of the lander.

Some people believed that the Moon had no gravity, but in fact, the Moon had a gravity that was one-sixth of what it is on Earth, but it was still there. For that reason, the minute particles of dust would take some time to fall back to the lunar surface.

Snapping out of her daydreaming, Pearson disconnected her safety harness and looked over to her fellow crew members.

Technical Engineer Robbie looked at her and smiled. He was 41 and older than her but the look on his face was the same as a kid who had just seen all the presents beneath the Christmas tree. Well, let's face it........ arriving on the Moon as they just had would put a smile on anyone's face.

On the other side of Robbie, who was still struggling to release his harness, Chief Engineer Tate was monitoring his instruments which provided all the information he needed about not only the lander but the surface of the Moon around them. Tate was 54 and had decades of experience working with prior Mars X projects.

Tate looked over towards Pearson and gave a thumbs up...... "All readings are A-Ok Commander...... a perfect touch down exactly on target. No damage to the lander."

Pearson smiled and then called out "OK guys..... time to put on our helmets and step outside. Remember..... we need to start working on our living space quickly before the temperatures fall 40 degrees C below zero."

Walking over to the back of the lander, Pearson grabbed her EVA helmet and locked it into position. For the next few minutes, they checked for any leaks that would compromise the suits. The last thing any of them needed was to exit the lander and find they had an oxygen leak or a rip in the suit which exposed them to the below-freezing temperatures of space.

Getting the thumbs up from both Tate and Robbie, she turned around and opened the Lander hatch, climbed down the small metal ladder running down the side of the lander,  and took her 8th step on the lunar surface.

[Run And Hide Gamer]

Chapter 2
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24 hours later Commander Pearson passed through the double door airlock system which separated the colony base from the vacuum from space. She sighed as the second airlock door closed and sealed behind her. It had been a busy day since they had arrived in the lunar crater and none of the three crew had got much sleep since they had arrived.

Just 22 hours ago they had deployed the solar generator and battery which gathered solar energy and stored it as power for the base equipment. The base itself had been installed fairly quickly with pre-fabricated aluminium walls and the atmospheric generating system nearby had begun operating as soon as it was installed. Oxygen was pumped through pipes into the base which allowed the astronauts to remove their suits once inside.

Pearson removed her suit and glanced at the grey lunar regolith which clung to the legs of her suit. The regolith clung to everything and the best way she could describe it was that it was like a sticky powder made from shards of glass. Though it was just dust it was really dangerous in many ways.

For expeditions to Moon and Mars NASA had identified 20 risks that needed to be resolved before Man could go to other worlds. Not surprisingly dust was the number one problem facing future missions. Long-term exposure to the dust could cause any one of a number of health issues for the crew so it was important they kept the interior base clean of dust.

She smiled as the portable cleaner in her hand sucked the dust from her suit and, looking down at the floor, she could see her footprints in dust brought in from the soles of her boots. She turned the cleaner on the floor, scooping up the dust before it could be spread by the base airconditioning system.

She walked over to the nearby window and looked outside the base at the lander parked nearby. She could see both her companions, Robbie and Tate, gathering equipment from supply crates near the ship and assembling wires and machinery designed to keep the base safe and secure.

Pearson looked at the heater next to her which was warming the air around her... one of the most valuable pieces of equipment in the base because space was cold and it would be 50 or 60 celsius below zero if the heater was not functioning.

She moved across to the kitchen area and opened up a freeze-dried ration pack and started eating the contents. Despite what it was it actually was pretty tasty...not like what the rations packs were like some 10 or 15 years ago.

Sipping on a hot tea she had poured, she looked up as Robbie and Tate entered through the airlock and began removing and cleaning their EVA suits. Tate walked over to Pearson and checked her vitals with a medi-scanner, shaking his head as he looked at the results.

"Sorry Commander", he said. "Not looking too good I'm afraid. The level of Hypoxia in our system is much worse than before..... you have 17% Hypoxia at the moment and it is still climbing. The same case for me and Robbie".

"Always with the bad news first, Tate", Robbie called out. "Tell the Commander what we found out there."

Tate grinned."He's right.... we do have good news".... We were fault checking the gas pipes leading from the lander to the AGS system and the base. The pipes were good...no leaks or blockages..... but Robbie did notice a fluctuation with the Atmospheric Generating System. One of the power conduits was malfunctioning and this was preventing the AGS from converting enough CO2 into Oxygen. In summary, we were breathing in more oxygen than the AGS was supplying... That was why we were developing Hypoxia.".

Pearson looked over at Tate with a concerned look on her face. "Did you manage to repair the conduit?"

"Sure did", he replied. "In a matter of hours, we should see the Hypoxia levels beginning to stabilize and then fall."

Pearson smiled. "Good job guys. I was getting a little worried we were going to have to report this as a problem to Mars X Command".

Standing up, Pearson stretched her legs. "I don't know about you guys but the last 24 hours has left me feeling pretty tired..... and the Hypoxia isn't helping either. I suggest we make it an early night...."  She looked out at the Sun appearing over the horizon...."  uuum....early morning I should say. A couple of hours sleep and then we need to work on the shower and sanitation system..... another day like this and we will all be stinking something awful".

Robbie and Tate agreed and headed off to their bunks. Pearson scanned her notes she had jotted down earlier. They were going to need to set up the Atmospheric Water Generator and H2O storage tanks first, then run meters of water pipe from the lander to the base as well as to the AWG.

It should be a standard operation to get the water running to the base..... but Pearson knew that missions in space often had setbacks where things could go horribly wrong. After all, that is why Mars X Command had got her on the mission.... her problem-solving skills. Even then, she knew if the water system failed to operate properly, and Robbie couldn't fix the problem, their mission to the Moon could be well and truly over.

Pearson sighed, closed her eyes, and went to sleep.

[halinagable]

Please continue, this is awesome