In the endless dark sky, the Xinghai sailed with blue-white light swaying.
For the three astronauts sitting in the cockpit, sailing in the vast universe is a quite amazing feeling.
Because they followed the moon's path, they sometimes faced the sun directly as they sailed.
At this time, except for the incandescent bright star, what you see is pitch black, and only a trace of light from a distant star flashes at the edge of the viewing angle.
At this time, they felt as if they were sailing in the abyss. Except for the light from the sun, the surroundings were pitch black and dead, as if they were on an endless seabed.
And when you sail away from the sun, or when the sun is blocked by the earth, the endless stars glow and merge into the Milky Way.
This is a gorgeous scene that is ten thousand times brighter than the sky seen on earth, making them feel as if they are in the vast world.
The two wonderful feelings are intertwined and addictive.
...
After nearly forty hours of sailing, the silver-gray bright moon outside the Xinghai was finally in sight.
Looking at the planet covered with craters visible to the naked eye, Zhai Zhigang, who was holding the steering column, took a deep breath, pressed his left hand on his helmet, and said quickly and clearly:
"This is Xinghai, call the control center. We are about to arrive in orbit around the moon. We are ready to switch navigation orbits and request approval!"
In the headset, after more than a second of silence, along with a faint sound of electricity, the voice of the ground command center was transmitted.
"The ground command center received and approved the request!"
"receive!"
Holding the joystick tightly with both hands, Zhai Zhigang took a deep breath, exhaled slowly, and looked at his companion in the passenger seat next to him.
The two looked at each other, nodded to each other, and steered the Xinghai towards the silver-gray planet.
In the cockpit, sitting in the passenger seat in the back row, staring at the planet getting closer and closer to him, Liu Yang felt that his heartbeat was accelerating.
Anticipation, nervousness, apprehension, excitement... and many other feelings that she couldn't explain well came to her heart at this moment.
With the adjustment of the orbit of the Xinghai space shuttle, the atmosphere in the live broadcast room was like a summer heat wave, coming one after another.
【It’s here! It’s here! It’s finally here!】
[However, I am uneducated, so I can tell the world with just one word of shit, shit, that’s awesome!]
【Me too!】
[Comrades, don’t be fooled, we don’t have this kind of technology, this is a PS video shot on Wangwang Snow Cake, it’s true (//?//)]
[The War Bureau is online (dog head)]
[The moon has been our country’s inherent territory since ancient times. Our country has indisputable support for it!]
[Tell me loudly, what is our journey to the moon?]
【Grow vegetables!】
【cooked rice!!!】
【Having three babies!!!】
[This moon is dry, with a pitted face, not round at all. Pan it!]
[Hey~ there are so many pits, it looks like a person’s face is covered with acne, or the acne pits are left after being popped...]
[Sure enough, distance creates beauty. The moon is so beautiful when viewed from the earth, but at such a close distance, ugh, it’s really ugly. 】
.......
As the moon gets closer and closer to the Xinghai, the emotions in the live broadcast room are boiling higher and higher, and countless people are looking forward to it.
And those who are looking forward to it are not only the hundreds of millions of viewers squatting in front of their mobile phones, computers and TVs, but also all the staff of the space center.
Looking at the bright planet that seemed so close and within reach, everyone in the control center held their breath involuntarily, for fear that the movement on their side would disturb the Xinghai ship hundreds of thousands of kilometers away.
The success of entering orbit will determine the success of the subsequent moon landing.
Although Xinghai has the ability to re-adjust even if it misses its first orbital entry, there is no doubt that the risk of doing so is greater.
For everyone at the space center, the successful first orbital launch is not only a long-awaited return, but also an affirmation of their strength in the aerospace field.
On the other side, above the distant lunar orbit.
In the cockpit of the Xinghai, Zhai Zhigang controlled the space shuttle and slowly drove towards the moon.
Before entering the perilunar point and launching the lunar probe, they must first enter the moon's orbit, commonly known as a 12-hour orbit, which means that the time it takes for the satellite to orbit the planet is 12 hours.
After entering this orbit, they will first orbit for a period of time, repeatedly check the space shuttle and lunar landing equipment, and only after confirming that they are correct again will adjust the orbit and continue to descend.
Just as Zhai Zhi was switching tracks, Liu Yang, who was sitting in the back seat in the cockpit, seemed to notice something. She climbed over on her hands and knees and stared in front of the driver's window.
Far ahead, a spacecraft that looks like a cone, cylinder and bacteriophage connected together is sailing in orbit around the moon.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Yang spoke cautiously with some vibrato: "Captain, Brother Dong, look over there!"
Hearing her voice, the two of them followed their gaze and moved away.
When the spacecraft floating in the lunar orbit came into view in the distance, both of them were stunned for a moment.
Looking at the spaceship sailing in mid-air in the distance, Zhai Zhigang said with a somewhat skeptical tone: "Is this? The Artemis lunar landing ship from the United States?"
His good vision allowed him to clearly see the spacecraft passing quickly in front of the cockpit, and his rich aerospace knowledge allowed him to recognize at a glance what the strange device flying by was.
Although there are some lunar exploration satellites launched by various countries that have not crashed on the moon, he knows the shape of those satellites very well, and none of them can match the spacecraft he sees here.
Moreover, because of the uneven gravity distribution of the moon, in order to maintain longer-term detection, lunar exploration satellites generally maintain a higher orbit and are unlikely to appear at their current altitude.
Of course, what made him confirm that this was the core factor of NASA's Artemis lunar exploration spacecraft was that before the moon landing, he had seen NASA's press conference and also seen the lunar lander displayed by NASA.
.
There is no doubt that the spacecraft quickly passing through the lunar orbit in front of us is the Artemis lunar lander launched by NASA a few days ago.
What puzzled him was that, judging from the shape, it seemed that the other party had not yet launched a lunar lander?
The thoughts in his mind were flowing quickly. After a moment of silence in the cockpit, Zhai Zhigang and his two teammates looked at each other and swallowed uncontrollably.
If the Artemis lunar lander has not been launched yet, will they have a chance to land on the moon first?
Thinking about it, the breathing of the three of them became a little heavy.
Especially for Liu Yang, as the only female astronaut among the three, if she can land on the moon before NASA, she will be the first woman to land on the moon!
I originally thought that this opportunity had been taken away by the United States, but I didn’t expect that there seems to be a chance now?
Taking a deep breath, Zhai Zhigang quickly reached out and pressed the button on the space helmet, quickly calling the ground command center.
.......
On the other side, in the space base.
Not only the three astronauts saw the passage of the Artemis lunar lander, but all the staff in the control center also saw this scene simultaneously, recorded by the radar and camera equipment of the Xinghai.
The Artemis lunar landing craft passing by from low orbit caught Xu Chuan's eyes, causing him to stand up suddenly.
Beside him, Wu Yuankang from the space agency also stood up excitedly, with his fists touching each other and his face flushed.
As predicted, the American Artemis lunar landing craft has not yet completed the moon landing, and they still have a chance to land on the moon first!
Taking a breath, he quickly walked to Xu Chuan's side and asked excitedly: "Academician Xu, what do you think are our chances of landing on the moon first?"
Hearing the inquiry, Xu Chuan turned around, thought for a moment and replied: "Not sure. Judging from the information previously disclosed by NASA and the current picture, the Artemis lunar landing craft has arrived at the 3.5-hour circular orbit.
On the track, we are ahead in comparison.”
"But when they switched from the 3.5-hour circular orbit to the polar launch orbit, we don't have accurate information and can't judge."
Aside from their unique method of live broadcasting the entire moon landing this time, in traditional aerospace moon landing activities, the relevant node information is generally disclosed to the public after the spacecraft successfully arrives at the node, and then the space agency publishes it on the official website in real time.
.
This process has always been the same for previous multi-national unmanned exploration operations and the process of NASA's Artemis lunar landing ship landing on the moon this time.
After all, no one can guarantee whether they will be able to smoothly follow orbital calculations and plans before actually landing on the moon.
As for the more detailed 'orbit planning', 'delivery plan' and corresponding time nodes, that is information that only insiders of the space agency will know. Even if the moon landing is completed, under normal circumstances, countries will not make it public
.
This is also the reason why Xu Chuanhui previously deduced that they had a chance to land on the moon first based on the information provided by Director Wu Yuankang.
Because they didn't know the progress and situation of NASA at the beginning, they could only learn about it after NASA announced the moon landing node and time information.
This is also the reason why they didn't think too much about this aspect before.
After all, who would have thought that NASA, which was able to control the timing of multiple Apollo manned moon landings by about 100 hours in the last century, would actually take more than 150 hours to land on the moon this time?
Looking at the shooting pictures sent back by the Xinghai, the contacts from the Xinghai were also sent back through the headset.
"This is Xinghai. We have learned about the situation in detail. After discussion among the three of us, we are now applying to shorten the lunar orbit time of 12 hours, launch the Lunar Lander in advance, and carry out the moon landing work!"
In the headset, the calm voice of the astronaut team leader Zhai Zhigang was transmitted back from the distant surface of the moon.
Not only did the control center hope to complete the manned moon landing before NASA, they also eagerly hoped to be able to set foot on the moon one step ahead.
In aerospace, in addition to various scientific research activities, it is also the mission of all countries to win various firsts.
If we can land on the moon before NASA and complete the miraculous latecomer, first arrival, this will undoubtedly improve China's status in the aerospace field by a lot!
If possible, the three of them are willing to sacrifice everything, including their lives, to complete this transcendence.
In the control center, standing in front of the monitoring station, looking at the astronauts who were watching the camera and communicating with them through the monitoring screen in the cockpit, Xu Chuan refused without hesitation.
"No, compressing the lunar orbit time and landing on the moon early is extremely risky. The first priority for the first lunar landing is to successfully complete the lunar landing project, not to land on the moon before NASA and continue to perform the mission according to the original plan!"
He flatly rejected Zhai Zhigang's application to land on the moon first.
After a short delay, the sound of the Xinghai was transmitted back again.
"With the propulsion capability of Xinghai, I am confident enough to drive it to complete the moon landing in advance! Please approve the moon landing in advance."
"Continue to perform the mission according to the original plan!"
Staring at the surveillance camera, Xu Chuan once again rejected the applications of the three astronauts without hesitation.
Indeed, with the propulsion capabilities of Xinghai, it is not impossible to compress the orbiting time and forcibly lower the altitude, but expansion beyond the plan always carries great risks.
Especially the work of early landing on the moon is 380,000 kilometers away. If an unexpected situation occurs, they can't even rescue them.
If this preemption required three astronauts to risk their lives at extremely high risks, he would rather not do it.
"yes!"
After a brief reply, the communication between the Earth and the Moon fell into silence again.
In the control center, standing behind Xu Chuan, Wu Yuankang smacked his lips twice, but finally said nothing.
He knew that this arrangement was the safest.
...
On the Xinghai, the co-pilot looked at the Artemis lunar landing ship that had disappeared into the sky. He sighed with regret. He glanced at Zhai Zhigang unwillingly. After hesitating for a while, he still tentatively
He opened his mouth and said:
"Captain, if we can advance..."
In the driver's seat, Zhai Zhigang shook his head resolutely and looked at him seriously: "Execute the order!"
"yes!"
Heaving a sigh of relief, Chen Dong focused his attention back and fully cooperated with Zhai Zhigang to continue driving the Xinghai to complete the orbit switching work.
The application to launch the lunar probe before Artemis landed on the moon was a joint discussion among the three people. Although the discussion time was very short, all three people approved this proposal without any objection.
Unfortunately, the ground command center rejected their application.
Although this was a refusal to protect their lives to the greatest extent, it still made the three of them feel a little regretful.
After all, as a soldier, they are more willing to dedicate themselves if the country needs it.