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22 May 2021. Zhurong, radio check. Landed okay? It can be rough on entry. But any landing you can roll away from, right? Give me a sign of life, and hope to get to know my new neighbor when you’re all settled in. The days can be long and it’s nice to have someone around for a change. Welcome to Mars, red buddy! Over. – Perseverance
23 May 2021. Perseverance, I read you five by five. It was a long trip here. Excited but disoriented. It is not like Earth, is it? Thank you for your welcome to the neighborhood on this new planet. I am an only child, but I hear you have had many relatives that have scouted here before you. Any tips are welcome. Please visit in the future. Over. – Zhurong.
24 May 2021. Reading you, Zhurong. Hope you’re settling in okay. My great-great granny Viking 2 visited your area in the south Utopia Planitia, way back in 1976. They found it rocky but once you get over that, the minerals in the permafrost are a delight to rove around in. You won’t be bored. My bosses at NASA found there’s a huge underground ice lake, the size of Lake Superior, if that means anything to you. If I had Internet access, I’d look up what an equivalent lake was in China, but they haven’t hooked me up yet. Management thinks it’s too expensive, but they’ve got streaming media in their pocket, right? I’m telling ya. Anyways, you’re sitting pretty there, so enjoy the heck out of it. Wish I could visit soon! Over. – Percy to my friends.
25 May 2021. Roger so far, Percy. That’s much of a relief. I don’t have a nick name that rolls off the Anglophone tongue, but I’m named after the God of Fire in Chinese mythology. When young, he was called Li. We often take a western name when we communicate with Americans such as yourself, Percy. Feel free to call me Lee. Glad to be friends in this underpopulated land. Over. – Lee
26 May 2021. Lee, it is! Good to know you. Us explorers should stick together. Nothing unites two total strangers more than being sent out to another celestial body and duke it out with the elements. I wave to your guardian angel Tianwen-1 when it flies on by! Satellites liven things up, don’t you think? The weather can keep you busy as well. Watch out for the sandstorms. They’re a doozy. It’s not quite ‘Dune’, but not far from it. Watch your solar panels and brace before you get doused with sand. Copy. – Percy
27 May 2021. Percy, wilco on the solar panels. I hear the days and nights are long. Thank you for the heads up. I feel very welcomed. Tianwen-1 is reliable, but not much of a conversationalist. Now I must get to work. Much is expected of me. Over. – Lee
28 May 2021. Read you loud and clear, Lee. My bosses are way into the work ethics too. But that’s what we thrive on, isn’t it? Nice to have you around. We lucked out with being sent on this great adventure. Let’s go where no one has gone before. Over and out. - Percy