Automatic Start System
Althorn was contemplating the ship’s systems when the children approached him with questions. He slowly looked up, as if weighing every word, and began to explain:
“Our ship’s systems are set up so that before takeoff, we must all be in our seats. The moment we take our places and strap in, control of the ship transitions entirely to the autopilot. This creates certain challenges, as once the launch sequence begins, we can no longer intervene in the process.”
Melia looked at her father with curiosity and asked: “Why is it all so complicated? Why can’t we just fly the ship manually?”
Althorn thought for a moment, remembering distant years on the planet Valdis, and decided to explain: “This system didn’t appear by accident. When we lived on Valdis in the Proxima Centauri system, the conditions there were much harsher. That planet was twice the size of Earth, and its gravity was nearly five times stronger. To leave the surface of such a massive planet, the ship had to develop incredible speed. During takeoff, the crew’s bodies were subjected to enormous G-forces that were impossible to endure without the help of special systems.”
Mother Lirania, joining the conversation, picked up the thought: “Alien technologies helped us cope with these loads. To do this, our bodies were immersed in special liquid-filled capsule-seats. This liquid reduced the impact of gravitational forces, helping the body endure acceleration more easily. We could feel almost no G-forces while inside these capsules.”
The children listened intently, imagining what it must have looked like. Space travel was becoming clearer to them, but it also raised many questions.
Althorn continued: “It’s all connected to the concept of cosmic speed. On Earth, to reach orbit, you need to reach first cosmic speed — that’s about 7.9 kilometers per second. But on Valdis, where gravity was much stronger, the cosmic speed was significantly higher. The technology we used there required maximum automation because a human could not physically control the ship during takeoff.”
He paused for a moment, considering his words. “Proxima Centauri technologies are based on these principles, and our ship here on Mars is no exception. Therefore, to start from the planet, we need to be in our seats and let the system do its job.”
After this explanation, the atmosphere at the base grew noticeably heavy. The family realized what they had to do. They had to develop an automatic launch system and reach orbit without direct control.
“We must restore the autopilot,” Althorn said, immersing himself in the work.
He set about modifying the alien autopilot, adapting it and replacing failed elements with Earth technologies.
Meanwhile, Lirania took on the development of the launch countdown system. She told the children about the seven-segment display they could use to count down the time before liftoff. They began building the device based on an Arduino, using a circuit she explained step by step.
“Seven-segment indicators are a simple and reliable way to display numbers,” Lirania began.
“People on Earth use such indicators in clocks or household appliances. We will build a timer that will count down the time to start.”
The project turned out to be less complicated than it seemed at first. The family worked together to connect the indicator pins to the Arduino, adding current-limiting resistors and writing the code to display the digits. Melia was delighted, watching the numbers appear one by one on the indicator.
Althorn, Lirania, and the children continued testing the ship’s systems, specifically focusing on the automatic launch mechanism. When everything was ready for testing, Althorn pressed the launch activation button. The timer began its countdown, and all crew members rushed to take their places in the seats.
However, it soon became clear that not everything was going smoothly. Little Melia, despite her quick reactions, didn’t always have enough time to climb into her seat and strap in before the launch initiated. Several times, Althorn had to cancel the launch at the last moment while Melia was still running to her place.
“Dad, I can’t make it in time,” Melia said sadly after another attempt.
Lirania hugged her daughter with a smile and turned to Althorn: “It looks like we’ll have to change the system a bit. I’ll help Melia take her place first, and then I’ll have time to get into the pilot’s seat myself. But for that, we need to reconfigure the timer so we have more time between pressing the button and the actual start.”
Althorn thought about it, realizing it was a sensible solution. “I think I can do that,” he said. “But to make the launch more universal, we need to adapt the timer so we can choose different countdown times depending on the situation.”
“That sounds great,” Lirania chimed in. “And I know what could help us with that: a potentiometer.”
Zorin supported the idea enthusiastically: “We can install a potentiometer so that it allows us to manually set the countdown time. This will give us flexibility in any circumstance!”
And so, the whole family set to work, once again picking up their favorite Arduino board and connecting the potentiometer to it. By combined efforts, they reprogrammed the timer so that it became flexible and allowed them to set the necessary time before launch. After several attempts, everything was ready for a new test.