That plus the fact that even if there had been a survivor, there is no way he could have returned to Earth in just nine months, so his story was impossible. However, I need a good laugh and so I listened.
The Tragedy
The man began his story.
The first anomaly was that entry into the Martian atmosphere started at a higher altitude than expected. The second was that the deceleration rate peaked higher than expected. When the parachutes opened the shock was greater than anticipated, and that is when things really started going bad. For one thing, the computer was getting flight data that was so far outside the expected ranges that it failed to turn on the breaking rockets. Fortunately, it also did not jettison the parachutes, because it made the lading survivable even if quite hard.
However during the crash, the main equipment panel was jarred loose falling on top of and killing the other three crew members, I survived only because my seat was directly under the commander’s seat, which ironically protected me from debris.
After realizing that I was not severely injured and able to move about the cabin, I checked out my crew mates and found them dead. Since the control panel was shattered, I had only one way to see if the cabin’s air was still breathable, so I removed my helmet. Relieved that I had breathable air I checked out the cabin only to find that the lower deck had cracked open and that I was actually breathing the Martian atmosphere.
A quick look around outside the Lander reviled that we had crashed within sight of the supply an equipment vehicle that had landed two years earlier. This meant that I had enough food and water to last several months and a vehicle to explore with.
After burying my crew mates, I settled into the supply vehicle where I stayed for a time.
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