Thrill on the Martian Surface

Our spaceship faced problems heading towards Earth, so we landed here impromptu. Our communication system was damaged, and we were no longer in contact with the Earth. We needed help with how to reach our home.

That night I suddenly woke up feeling freezing cold. My entire body was shivering. I screamed so loudly that it penetrated the ears of my friends sleeping by me.

” Why did you scream so loudly?” Rupesh asked with an angry face.

“It is too cold. I am freezing. How come this winter season is pretty cold, I never felt such cold weather in my entire life?” I replied, bewildered.

“Oh, friend, it is not our mother Earth. It is Mars. We have been here for a month. Didn’t you remember?” Krishna replied abruptly.

“I was in a deep sleep, friend,” I replied.

“Wear this cold shield jacket,” Rupesh suggested.

I thanked him.

“I am starving. Can you prepare food for me?” I requested Krishna.

“Sure, wait a moment. Let me get you food from the tent.” Krishna said as he looked for something to give me to eat.

I just took off my spacesuit to have food; however, I abruptly felt suffocated.

We took some food and walked out to see the beauty of the red planet Mars. Red soil, red rocks, and everywhere red give us more thrill and peculiarity. Krishna was clicking pictures and taking videos. He was asking me which song I like to make some TikToks. However, I denied it because I was still feeling cold.

” See, those are polar caps. That tall mountain is Olympus Mons, nearly 25km tall,” Rupesh pointed towards the north.

“Oh my god! It is much taller than mount Everest.” Krishna replied.

We joked if we could climb it and set a Guinness record. But it seemed very far, and we couldn’t dare to do so.

“I am feeling very light. My body is going to fly.” Krishna said with a gesture.

“Not again, Krishna, be serious. You are not in a romance with your spouse?” Rupesh replied.

” It is true, Rupesh. The gravity of this planet is weaker than that of Earth. It’s merely 3.7m. So, we lost our weight substantially and felt light.” I added Physics.

“Is it so?” Rupesh replied.

“It is nearly 5:00 PM. Let’s get back to our domicile; otherwise, we meet darkness. “Krishna said, looking at his wristwatch, which was already synchronized to the Martian time zone.

“Is the day and night of 12 hrs. here just like on Earth?” Rupesh said, thinking for a moment.

“Yes, its day is 24 hrs 37min and 22 seconds, nearly equal to Earth; however, one year here is nearly equal to 686 days, unlike on Earth,” I replied

“What a surprise! “Rupesh replied.

We set our journey back. Rupesh tried to light his cigar on the way, but all in vain.

We felt easy while walking and not getting tired. We weren’t feeling the heft of our spacesuit. We reached our domicile in nearly an hour. As soon as we arrived, a powerful storm blew off. The entire space became red and dusty. Our vision blurred, and we swiftly packed our tent and got inside the spaceship. Unlike on Earth, the storm was so powerful that it could blow off rocks and stones.

After three hours, the storm calmed down, and we came outside. However, it was as glittering as a bright sunny day.

“What a miracle! There are two Moons up there, see guys?” I said being, surprised.

“These two celestial objects are not Moons. They’re Phobos and Deimos,” Krishna said, laughing.

“OH, I see,” I said.

The Phobos was fully bright, and Deimos was half bright.

“What a mysterious universe!” I murmured inside.

The following day, we saw a strange vehicle approaching us with a loud noise and suddenly realized it was a Curiosity rover.

” There are two rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance, here and one lander called Insight and one helicopter named Ingenuity here on Mars. Maybe we meet them.” Rupesh added immediately.

“Oh, “I said.

We had a three-wheeler vehicle powered by uranium fuel inside the spaceship. We took it out and set out across the Martian surface. As we traveled, we witnessed that most of the time, the weather was cold, stormy, and dusty giving poor visibility. It was tough to drive.

There were rivers and canyon-like structure void of water.

We were shocked that we saw a strange paw and leg-like impression on the desert. We stopped our vehicle and took a picture.

“This seems to be the paws or legs of an alien or some Martian,” Rupesh said, being inquisitive.

We moved ahead. However, it started lightning and thunder, and heavy rainfall was triggered. We hid inside the rover and didn’t move until the rain stopped. However, to our surprise, as soon as the rain stopped entire water turned red and evaporated suddenly and get dried. The rain wasn’t less than bleeding from the sky.

We had moved nearly a hundred kilometers off our domicile.

“What is that peculiar object?” Krishna inquired, pointing to a distant place.

I saw carefully and figured out that it was a tall building.

” How come is a tall building lying here in this empty world?” I said, bewildered and shocked.

We moved swiftly closer to the building and reached there. It is a highly sophisticated building void of any creatures or any alien.

As soon as we reached it, an automated voice welcomed us.

” How did you reach our base camp? “A strange guy named Vex said, appearing on the big screen.

” What is this base camp for? Where are you speaking from?” We asked him, responding to his query.

” I am from a planet called Omega-53 in Andromeda Galaxy. We control the activities of the entire solar system and Milky way Galaxy from this Martian base camp.” Vex replied

I requested he uses their system to contact Earth.

” I am happy to help you. Let me give you access to our system.” He said, being happy.

He gave us access to his system to communicate on Earth. We breathed a sigh of relief and again gained hope that we reach our home safely.

Suddenly the entire building started shaking heavily.

” I think this is a Marsquake, but don’t worry, this building is Marsquake resistant, and you are safe. Don’t move until it ceases. Such quakes frequently happen on Mars. Usually, it lasts for 2 to 4 hours.” Vex told, giving courage.

We stayed nearly three hours until the Marsquake stopped, and we drove our vehicle and returned to our domicile.

Kamal Dhungel

The writer holds an M.Sc. degree  in Physics and is currently teaching Physics in Colleges, Nepal.