In the sky above the moon and the lunar sea, a silver-white space shuttle swayed quickly across the orbit with faint white light.
In the cockpit, Zhai Zhigang concentrated on controlling the Xinghai into the preset orbit, carefully controlling the speed and altitude.
The moon is very close, but with the current flying speed of Xiangxinghai, it is almost impossible to land on the moon.
He needs to control the space shuttle to slowly reduce its speed, and work hard to adjust from a 12-hour orbit to a 3.5-hour orbit, and then to the polar launch orbit.
Only in this way can the lunar module be launched when it is close to the surface of the lunar sea.
Driving the Xinghai, with the help of his teammates and the ground command center, Zhai Zhigang successfully lowered the spacecraft from a 12-hour high orbit to a 3.5-hour orbit.
He carefully checked the orbit, altitude, speed and other indicator information through radar measurement, real-time tracking and other equipment. After confirming that there were no problems, he quickly reported the current status to the ground command center and drove the Xinghai towards
The final polar launch orbit is underway.
With the switch, Xinghai's trajectory around the moon successfully changed from a standard circle to an ellipse, and its flight speed, altitude, and direction were further adjusted with the help of the small auxiliary Hall thruster.
finally......
With the arrival of the orbit and the successful attitude switch, a sound of 'Orbit successful!' sounded in the ears of the three people in the cockpit.
After a long breath to relieve the tension in his chest, Zhai Zhigang reached out and pressed his helmet, quickly contacting the ground command center.
"This is Xinghai, call the command center. We have arrived at the polar launch orbit. According to the current orbit, we will arrive at the first launch point in sixteen minutes. The two lunar landing astronauts are ready and request approval for the launch.
Lunar module launches lunar landing operation!"
In the headset, after a brief silence, the voice from the ground command center was quickly transmitted back.
"This is the ground command center, approve the request! Please make sure everything is normal in the moon landing posture. I wish you all the best!"
"Xinghai received it!"
In the cockpit, Zhai Zhi just ended the call with the ground command center, looked at the two team members, nodded, and said with a smile on his face:
"The command center agrees to land the first round of launch points on the moon, so get ready!"
Hearing this, both Chen Dong and Liu Yang showed bright smiles on their faces and nodded simultaneously.
"Um!"
After a long journey, they are finally taking the first step to belong to China!
With a smile on his face, Zhai Zhigang looked at the two people and gave a new instruction: "One last time! Check the status of the lunar landing spacesuit and make sure all equipment is in good condition!"
"yes!"
"receive!"
In response, the two of them unlocked the seat safety buckles and quickly helped each other check the condition of the extravehicular spacesuits.
The spacesuit has already been put on, and it is impossible to wait until the eve of the moon landing to prepare it.
After all, if no one helps, it will take at least forty or fifty minutes to put this thing on from start to finish, and this is even for experienced people.
If it is your first time to wear a spacesuit, it is normal to spend two or three hours.
"The inspection of the life support device has been completed. The current oxygen storage capacity is 100% and can sustain extravehicular activities for six hours!"
"The emergency oxygen supply device inspection is completed! The system is normal!"
"The active injection system test is completed! The system is normal!"
"Call and camera check completed!"
"Extravehicular operation tools are fully inspected!"
"...."
"The physical condition check is completed, and the oxygen inhalation and nitrogen removal work before leaving the cabin is completed!"
Under the supervision of Zhai Zhigang, Chen Dong and Liu Yang completed all test procedures one by one in accordance with the inspection order.
Chen Dong: "All pre-inspections have been completed according to the steps for lunar landing and exit. Everything is normal now!"
Liu Yang: "All pre-inspections have been completed according to the steps for lunar landing and exit. Everything is normal now!"
Standing in front of the two people, Zhai Zhigang nodded, took a deep breath, saluted and said: "Carry out boarding and prepare to land on the moon!"
Relying on the fixed pole, Chen Dong and Liu Yang returned a military salute simultaneously, then floated towards the cabin behind them.
In the cockpit, watching the two people leave, Zhai Zhigang looked at the hatch that was gradually closing in silence, blessing silently in his heart.
"Take care! Please go well!"
All the preparations are in the next moment.
In another quarter of an hour, their footsteps will be imprinted on the land beneath them, and success or failure will depend on this.
Taking a deep breath, he silently returned to the driver's seat. Although he regretted not being among the first to land on the moon, there was no doubt that his task was equally arduous.
As the captain, he has to stay on board the Xinghai to ensure that everything is normal on the space shuttle.
Because this is the only way home!
.......
While the Xinghai was making final preparations, on the other side.
In the Aitken Basin at the south pole of the moon, the Artemis lunar lander and life support unit, which were successfully separated from the Orion multi-purpose manned spacecraft, are lying quietly in a huge impact crater.
But surprisingly, the scene was eerily quiet. Apart from the two lunar landing equipment, there were no signs of astronaut activity on the moon.
However, the atmosphere inside the lunar module was one of anxiety.
Two astronauts, a man and a woman, kept tapping the hatch opening button to contact NASA.
"Damn it! The hatch won't open, there's something wrong with it!"
Inside the Artemis lunar lander, Smedley Moore, who was wearing an extravehicular spacesuit, kept pressing the button to open the hatch with fear, uneasiness, nervousness and anxiety on his face.
However, there was no movement at the hatch behind him.
Next to her, another female astronaut, McAdam Julia, also had an ugly look on her face and was constantly contacting the ground command center.
"This is the Artemis lunar landing ship! Call the ground command center, our spacecraft had an accident during the moon landing, and the hatch cannot be opened normally!"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Repeat, our spacecraft had an accident during the moon landing, and the hatch cannot be opened normally!"
The short delay seemed extremely long at this moment. McAdam Julia looked a little flustered, breathing rapidly and licking her lips nervously.
Fortunately, the voice from the ground command center was transmitted smoothly.
"This is the ground command center. The message has been received. Please report your current situation in detail."
The originally calm voice now also contained some anxiety.
Standing in front of the monitoring station, Director Bill Nelson stared at the monitoring footage transmitted back from the Artemis lunar landing craft with an ugly expression.
A few hours ago, after communicating with the four astronauts on the Artemis lunar landing ship, NASA agreed to Melita Corinna's request, and finally approved the early moon landing.
After successfully undergoing several orbit changes, they successfully switched from the 3.5-hour orbit to the polar launch orbit, and found a critical point closest to the launch point in the Aitken Basin.
The only imperfection is that this critical point is nearly 5,000 meters higher than originally expected, reaching a distance of about 20,000 meters.
But time waits for no one. If they want to continue to lower their altitude, the Orion multi-purpose manned spacecraft will have to repeatedly repair its orbit. Their time no longer allows this.
After careful verification and confirmation that the Orion multi-purpose manned spacecraft had the ability to return 20 kilometers away, they finally chose to release the lunar module and life support unit.
However..., there seems to be a problem with their moon landing.
During the short wait, the signal from the Artemis lunar landing ship was transmitted back.
"This is the Artemis lunar landing ship. It is currently confirmed that the door of the lunar landing module cannot be opened normally, the cabin is tilted at an angle, the communication system is normal, and the oxygen supply system is normal..."
The hurried report came back from the Artemis lunar module, and Bill Nelson looked extremely ugly.
Damn it! They have obviously conducted tests, how could such a problem occur?
Taking a deep breath, Bill Nelson ignored the obviously anxious control center, forced himself to calm down, and asked quickly:
"This is the command center. We are discussing ways to ask the Artemis lunar lander to report the remaining time of oxygen supply!"
"The current oxygen storage in the lunar module is 100%, which can last for forty-eight hours. The oxygen storage in the extravehicular spacesuit is about 97%, which can sustain four hours of activity. The spacesuit's oxygen storage in the reserve module is 100%, which can sustain three hours of activity.
.”
The report from the Artemis lunar landing craft came back, and Bill Nelson breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the oxygen system was functioning normally, and there was still some time for them to find a solution.
Taking a deep breath, he spoke quickly: "Please stay calm now, check the equipment on the lunar module according to the procedures, and stay in contact. We will definitely find a solution to take you home!"
After quickly comforting the two astronauts who were 380,000 kilometers away, Bill Nelson temporarily cut off the call and shouted to the crowd behind him:
"Shet! Where are the people from Blue Origin and SpaceX?"
Hearing the roar, two experts from Blue Origin and SpaceX quickly walked over and explained quickly:
"After preliminary inspection and judgment, it is possible that the landing point of the lunar landing site has deviated, causing collision and damage to the landing gear, which in turn caused a chain reaction..."
As the two companies involved in the manned lunar landing project, they naturally have corresponding experts participating in the lunar landing work in the control room.
As soon as the information data was transmitted back, they made a preliminary judgment on the relevant situation.
And just as they judged, if someone stands on the moon and observes, it can be clearly seen that the landing posture of the Artemis lunar landing ship is tilted. One of its landing gear seems to be tilting when landing.
It was so damaged that the originally designed balance was broken, so that the astronauts in the lunar module were unable to open the hatch.
"Shit! How did you promise me before?"
After listening to the explanations of the two experts, Bill Nelson rushed forward quickly, grabbed the Blue Origin expert by the collar, and roared:
"Damn! Now that this kind of injury accident occurs, how do you want me to explain it to the president and our people?"
"Shet! That's the moon, not your fucking bathroom! Tell me, what do we do now? How do we get our astronauts back!"
Being grabbed by the collar and roared, the Blue Origin expert wiped the saliva from his face with embarrassment and said quickly: "We have design-related backup plans, but now we still need to follow the Artemis moon landing.
Judgment will be made based on the specific conditions of the ship."
As a major project like the moon landing, the lunar landing ship will naturally consider various problems and will also set up various backup plans and means to solve the problems.
Although no one wants to use these, they can indeed save lives in emergencies.
Now we have to look at the specific damage to the Artemis lunar landing craft. I hope everything can be done in time.
Loosening the expert's collar, Bill Nelson said with a gloomy face: "Damn it, if we can't solve this problem, I swear, I will get rid of you before I leave the position of director!"
After speaking, he looked at Melita Corinna and the engineer who had provided the solution with cold eyes, without saying anything.
He swore that these two damn fools would be sent in for murder!
...
On the other side, above the moon's low Earth orbit.
After a quarter of an hour of navigation and orbit adjustment, Xinghai finally arrived at the location where the Lunar Lander was launched.
As the hatch opened, a silver-white elliptical cylindrical lunar lander separated from the Xinghai.
At this moment, the small chemical fuel propulsion engines on the sides and bottom of the Lan Yue lunar landing craft had started. Like a meteorite that was not very fast, it drew a slight arc in the lunar sky, heading towards the
The moon soil fell away.
On the other side, the Xinghai was already far away, and the two looked at each other in mid-air, drawing a figure-7 curve.
The close-to-earth launch distance of fifteen kilometers is not long. With the slowdown of the propulsion engine, the Lan Yue has already reached the ground.
With the long delay of moon dust, whether it is Zhai Zhigang sitting on the Xinghai and driving the space shuttle away, or at the space center 380,000 kilometers away, or squatting in front of the mobile phone computer TV to watch the delayed live broadcast
Hundreds of millions of viewers, at this moment, everyone's hearts were lifted.
At this moment, countless people are holding their breath, clenching their fists, gritting their teeth and tightening their heartstrings, waiting silently, praying and looking forward to the motherland and the two astronauts who will land on the moon.
Time passed bit by bit, and as the retarding engine stopped, amidst the floating clouds of moon dust, the door of the lunar module of the Lantern... slowly opened!
At the same time, a figure wearing a spacesuit stood at the door of the cabin and waved slowly towards the filming device deployed on the lunar frame...
