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Chapter 5 - Chapter 5: Mars on a Budget

October 17 – November 5, 2020

Results were still a week away.

To Rajat, that meant time—too much time.

He needed a challenge. Something absurd. Something that screamed:

> "This is physically impossible."

So naturally, he decided to:

Turn his phone into a Bitcoin mining rig

Build a custom cooling system

And develop a camera so powerful it could snap pictures of Mars

All while keeping the same Xiaomi Note 5 Pro body.

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The Build Begins

His mind, empowered by Essence of Skill Mastery, processed engineering blueprints, quantum cooling techniques, and chip design theory in mere minutes.

Step 1: Strip It Bare

The Note 5 Pro's motherboard was surgically removed. He gutted unnecessary components, rewired the board, and created modular slots for chip extensions.

Step 2: Frankenstein Hardware

With scavenged laptop chips, old PC graphics cards, and parts from dumped smart devices, he built a tiny external computation module. It connected via USB-C and fit in his jacket pocket—acting as a co-processor.

He soldered an ultra-compact custom ASIC mining chip together in 3 days. Pure madness.

> "Efficient? Barely. Functional? Absolutely."

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Step 3: Supercooling

Rajat engineered a micro-pump-based active liquid cooling loop using aquarium tubing, a hacked deodorant compressor, and aluminum scraps.

The coolant? A custom mixture of ethanol, water, and heat-dissipating nanofluids.

> "This rig could stay below 30°C while pushing full compute."

And all of it was stored in a power bank-sized enclosure strapped to the back of the phone.

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Step 4: Mars Rover Camera

The camera upgrade was… excessive.

He crafted a multi-lens sensor array using microscope-grade glass, adapted from an old school lab kit and DSLR lenses from e-waste.

He wrote a custom camera firmware that:

Used AI-assisted stabilization

Simulated long-exposure stacking

Could enhance raw data at the quantum noise level

Added adaptive atmospheric filtering algorithms to filter out haze

He once spent 2 hours hand-holding the phone aimed at the night sky.

And when he processed the image…

> There it was. Curiosity Rover. On Mars.

Faint. Grainy. But real.

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Mining Profits?

Did it work?

Technically, yes.

The hash rate was low but non-zero.

After running non-stop for 9 days, he mined 0.000071 BTC.

> "At this rate, I'll make lunch money by next March."

But it wasn't about profit. It was about proof of concept.

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By November 5

His phone now:

Ran a custom OS

Had modular external hardware

Mined Bitcoin

Acted as a portable observatory

Stayed cooler than most laptops

But no one knew.

He still sat at home, an "average student" on paper, waiting for NEET results.

> "They'll never know what this phone has seen. What I've seen."

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