Distress Signal
On the Red Planet, the days continued to drag on, merging into a series of endless storms and sharp temperature changes. Boredom began to weigh on the children, and it seemed to them that in this empty world, nothing interesting was left. Altorn, their father, understood that he needed to come up with something urgently to distract them and give them purpose in this harsh new world.
“Dad, what are we going to do? There is nothing to do here,” Zorin asked, throwing another broken part onto the floor.
Melia sat silently nearby, staring out the window at the deserted Martian landscape. Altorn, inspecting parts from broken devices, decided that it was time to divert the children to something more interesting.
“You know, on Earth, there are these amazing devices — traffic lights,” he began, stepping closer.
The children raised their heads, interested in the new words.
“They regulate the movement of cars and pedestrians at intersections.”
“And what are cars?” Melia asked immediately.
Altorn smiled. He was always glad at how inquisitive his children were.
Альторн улыбнулся. Он всегда радовался тому, насколько любознательны его дети.
“Cars are vehicles that move along roads thanks to engines. They come in many different shapes and sizes: automobiles, trucks, buses. People use them to move over long distances. In large cities, there are multi-level highways where roads intersect, rising to different levels like intertwined threads. And to manage such complex traffic, traffic lights exist.”
He took several colored LEDs out of a box and placed them in front of the children.
“Traffic lights are devices that use light signals: red for stopping, yellow to get ready, and green to move. This allows for the avoidance of chaos on the roads and helps people move around safely.”
Zorin thoughtfully turned one of the LEDs in his hands.
“And how do traffic lights control movement? Do they just flash?”
“Yes, they work cyclically,” Altorn explained.
“The traffic light turns red when you need to stop. Yellow warns of a signal change, and green says that you can move forward. This simple principle saves thousands of lives on Earth.”
“But traffic lights are not the only example of such devices,” Altorn continued, growing animated by memories of Earth’s technologies.
“Earthlings have analogs of traffic lights that help regulate other types of movement. For example, there are semaphores on railroads. These are mechanical devices that use color signals and arm positions to tell trains whether they can move forward or need to stop.”
“What about ships?” Melia interrupted. “Do they have such systems too?”
“Yes, ships have their own signal lights,” Altorn confirmed.
“Ships use special colors and flashing lights to warn other vessels of their location or maneuvers, especially at night. This helps avoid collisions at sea. Each color and its position on the vessel has its own meaning.”
Zorin and Melia listened to their father with curiosity, having already forgotten their boredom. Altorn took one of the LEDs and turned it on.
“I thought that we could use this idea for our SOS signal. If ordinary light cannot break through the Martian dust, perhaps using different colors will help. After all, colors with different wavelengths pass through the atmosphere differently.”
“So, if we change the colors, is there a chance that one of them might be noticed on Earth?” Zorin asked, catching the idea.
“Exactly,” Altorn nodded. “We can program the LEDs so that they flash in different colors. It could be red, green, or blue. We can create a cycle in which the SOS signal will be transmitted in different colors. Perhaps one of them will prove more noticeable for Earth’s telescopes or satellites.”
“It’s like a traffic light for a space highway!” Melia exclaimed, fascinated by the idea.
“Exactly,” Altorn smiled. “We will create our own ‘light highway,’ and who knows, maybe it will lead us home.”
The children looked at each other excitedly, already anticipating work on the new project. Dad was right — this could become their hope for rescue. And now they needed to act, because every new idea could become that very key that would open the door to their salvation.