In the spacious satellite control center, Bill Nelson and the elderly president stood in silence in front of the monitoring desk.
The crash of the Artemis lunar module was a major blow to NASA and the entire United States, and it was also an aviation disaster.
To some extent, its severity is even more serious than the Space Shuttle Challenger crash.
After all, at that time, they were clearly ahead of their former opponents, and successfully completed various miracles such as manned spaceflight, manned moon landings, and the launch of space shuttles in the aerospace field.
Moreover, when the Challenger disintegrated, the once great country had already entered the end of its life. They were in the lead in politics, trade, finance, technology and other confrontations, and were not worried about their own situation.
But now, times seem to be reincarnating, and the great country in the east has risen, posing an extremely serious threat to their status and hegemony.
Even in the energy field, the other party is already ahead of them.
If the aerospace field, one of the glorious existences of the United States, fails again, the blow to them will be far more serious than the disintegration of Challenger, and no one can predict what kind of waves the world will create.
But what is certain is that for the United States, this is a quite losing situation.
Especially when the new round of space race has just begun, they have had such a major accident, which makes people doubt whether they still have strong aerospace capabilities.
At this moment, the door of the satellite control center was suddenly pushed open, and a woman in a small suit walked in quickly.
"gentlemen......"
After quickly handing over the document bag in his hand, the secretary who rushed over continued to add: "The latest information, the news about the accident of our Artemis lunar module...has been leaked."
Upon hearing these words, the pupils of the elderly president and NASA Director Bill Nelson standing in the control center suddenly shrank.
Quickly taking the brown paper bag from the secretary's hand, the elderly gentleman took a deep breath, opened it, and took out a document from inside.
What made his eyes froze was that the document inside was not anything else, but a newspaper. On the front of the newspaper, a line of eye-catching headlines caught his eyes.
Not only was the title eye-catching, the newspaper also took up almost half of the page to describe the details of their Artemis lunar module crash.
They even attached some photos that they didn't even have.
That was a picture taken by the Chang'e-5 orbiter when it passed through the low altitude of the moon. From the photo, you can clearly see that the Artemis lunar module and life support unit are located alone at the south pole of the moon. There are no traces on the ground.
Any sign of activity.
Looking at the news in the newspaper, the elderly man's face looked ugly, as if he might be beaten in the next second.
He angrily slapped the newspaper in his hand on the console and cursed angrily: "Damn it! How did the news leak out??"
Beside, NASA's Bill Nelson quickly picked up the newspaper from the table, and when he saw it, he was immediately stunned.
The Artemis moon landing accident was completely leaked by the country opposite.
"Shet! Falk!"
Bill Nelson cursed. He never thought that the Artemis moon landing accident would be leaked at this troubled time.
What can be expected is how much public opinion this report will stir up among the public once it spreads.
And what kind of pressure will NASA, and even the White House, face?
What's even worse is that they are not yet ready to face the doubts of these people.
If he cannot give a reasonable explanation and reason, I am afraid that tomorrow will be the time for him to step down.
........
On the other side, just as Bill Nelson expected, public opinion in the United States exploded immediately after this news report came out.
After the Artemis lunar module landing accident was revealed, media, self-media and users on Facebook, Twitter, blogs and other major social media platforms have forwarded this article.
In news reports, the China Space Administration not only fully released the images taken by the Chang'e-5 orbiter, but also quoted the analysis and opinions of the Xinghai Research Institute.
The 'Artemis lunar module' suffered a damage accident during landing, resulting in two astronauts being trapped inside the lunar module and unable to move normally. The oxygen and material supply in the module will most likely not last more than three days.
time......
Although Xu Chuan's name was not mentioned in the analysis and reports, many people abroad know about this research institute because of its relationship with the Xinghai space shuttle and controllable nuclear fusion technology.
Coupled with the reported pictures of the empty lunar surface with no activity, it immediately aroused intense discussions among the American people in major media.
[WTF? Operation Artemis failed????]
[How is that possible? I remember that yesterday NASA disclosed the progress on its official website, saying that the lunar module successfully landed on the lunar surface. 】
[Damn it, I read the whole news report, and judging from the pictures taken on the lunar surface, there is indeed something wrong with the lunar module, and there are no signs of our astronauts’ activities on the lunar surface. 】
[My God, I know that Xinghai Research Institute. It is the scientific research unit of the famous Professor Xu. He developed controllable nuclear fusion and the space shuttle called "Xinghai". If this is what he said
Analysis, I think there may really be something wrong with our moon landing.】
[Oh, Shet! I went to look at NASA's official website, and the moon landing progress announcements on it have stopped, and now they are still stuck at the point where the lunar module successfully landed on the moon! ]
[I believe in the United States! Even if there is an accident on the moon landing, NASA will never give up any astronaut. The new moon landing rocket must be ready to welcome our heroes back! ]
[But the oxygen on the lunar module cannot last that long. Judging from this report, NASA has less than three days left.]
[These are just China’s analysis. It is impossible to prepare only three days of oxygen supply for the moon landing. The Apollo 11 lunar module had a week’s oxygen reserve. 】
[No matter what, NASA may have concealed the truth! We need to know the truth! 】
As time goes by, not only on the Internet, but also in real life, people are constantly discussing reports of the Artemis moon landing accident.
For the people of the United States, who have always considered themselves to be a major aerospace country and whose aerospace honors are deeply rooted in their bones, the shock caused by the accidental moon landing was particularly strong, especially since the news was broken by a competitor.
This means that NASA and the White House authorities concealed the truth about the failed moon landing from them, which is even more unacceptable to the American people.
After the relevant news was revealed, NASA, whether it is the Washington headquarters building, its local branches, and even Space-X, Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin and other companies involved in the Artemis program, have all been affected.
I was chased and intercepted by reporters.
Many media reporters with long guns and short guns blocked the door of the NASA headquarters building, waiting for NASA to give a reasonable explanation.
For the NASA authorities, it is obviously not a good time to hold a press conference at the moment.
They could not find a way to safely bring back the astronauts who were 380,000 kilometers away, nor could they find a reasonable reason to explain the failure of the moon landing, especially the work of concealing the failure of the moon landing.
Although they have the ability to launch another lunar module, time is running out.
However, in the face of the excited public and media reporters, NASA had to stand up and give a reasonable explanation.
"Director Bill, what is the current situation of the Artemis lunar module? Did our moon landing really fail?"
"Is the news disclosed by China true? Are our astronauts still trapped in the lunar module?"
"Have NASA not considered rescuing the two astronauts? How long can the oxygen and supplies in the Artemis lunar module be supplied?"
"Please answer our questions head-on. We have the right to know the truth!"
Standing at the press conference, Director Bill Nelson faced the microphone that was almost thrust into his mouth, listening to the reporters' questions, with a headache on his face.
He really wanted to leave this interview to others, but obviously, in the face of the excited media reporters and the public, it was impossible to drag any employee out to take the blame.
Looking at the reporters in front of him, Bill Nelson took a deep breath and explained loudly: "Regarding the Artemis moon landing, NASA will announce relevant information in a timely manner if necessary. Please rest assured that everyone will be able to land on the moon."
The two astronauts on the moon are in good condition so far, and we have sufficient preparations and means to ensure their safety..."
Regarding the current situation of the Artemis lunar module, he could only choose to answer some irrelevant questions by avoiding the important ones.
If the American people knew that they were prepared to give up the lives of the two astronauts and discussed how to keep the relevant situation confidential to the greatest extent possible, public opinion would probably completely collapse.
But obviously, after the opponent completely revealed the situation of the Artemis lunar module, the media reporters present were not satisfied with this answer.
If the news reports are true, then their astronauts may have less than three days left.
.......
After briefly dealing with the media reporters outside, Bill Nelson wiped the sweat from his head, breathed a sigh of relief and walked into the building.
"Damn *country, mind your own business..."
In the elevator, Bill cursed and complained that if China had not exposed this matter, NASA and the White House would not have such a headache.
If there is no way to solve this problem, I believe that the person will not hesitate to throw him out as the scapegoat to shoulder the responsibility for the accident.
Returning to the satellite main control center, Bill Nelson's head grew bigger again when he looked at the information transmitted back from the monitoring center.
Twelve hours have passed since the accident of the Artemis lunar module.
Calculated based on the remaining amount of oxygen, the two astronauts can survive for less than two days, only forty-three hours to be precise.
In forty-three hours, even if they launch another BRF rocket, it will be too late.
"damn it!"
Staring at the information on the screen, Bill Nelson cursed again, thinking about how to solve this matter 1.
If the moon landing accident had not been revealed, they could have minimized the impact of this incident.
But now, if this problem cannot be solved optimally, not to mention NASA, even the White House will suffer a major blow to its prestige.
At this moment, NASA Deputy Administrator Bill Gerstenmaier opened the door and walked over quickly.
"The Chinese side just contacted us..."
Hearing this, Bill Nelson frowned: "Why did they contact us?"
Bill Gerstenmaier: "On the rescue of two astronauts trapped in the Artemis lunar module."
Hearing this, Bill Nelson was stunned for a moment, frowned and asked: "What do they mean?"
Bill Gerstenmaier hesitated for a moment, then said: "China said that if we need it, they can provide rescue operations."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Haha~" Upon hearing this, Bill Nelson snorted disdainfully and retorted without thinking: "They can do things that we can't even do.
....."
Before he finished speaking, he remembered something and fell silent.
The Xinghai space shuttle indeed has the ability to land on the moon within 48 hours.
If China takes action, perhaps their astronauts can indeed be saved.
However, if China is entrusted with saving people, where will NASA and the United States put their faces?
Doesn’t this prove that the United States’ aerospace capabilities are inferior to China’s?
damn it!
Rather than this, it would be better to let the two astronauts die on the moon. Both NASA and the authorities will arrange a glorious funeral for them and give them adequate compensation.
They can even guarantee that they will send a spaceship to pick up their bodies in the future so that no American citizen will be left homeless.
The way he and the gentleman discussed it before was exactly the same. Since the accident was inevitable, it would be better to do the follow-up comfort work.
Maybe when they welcome back the bodies of the two astronauts, they can use this opportunity to re-promote their culture of not giving up on every citizen.
Looking at the hesitant and hesitant Director Bill Nelson, whose expressions on his face were constantly changing, Bill Gerstenmaier reminded: "I have to remind you, this is not only related to the safety of the two astronauts."
"Now that China has revealed this accident, all-out rescue is the only route we can take now. If we choose to give up on them, the impact behind them will be something that you, me, and even the White House cannot bear."
After a pause, he took a deep breath and added: "What's more important is that China has proposed rescue. If we refuse, if they expose this negotiation, the public opinion will be even more unbearable for us.
"
Upon hearing this, Bill Nelson's pupils suddenly shrank, and the whole person fell silent.
If they choose to give up when rescue is possible, it will be a fatal blow to the credibility of NASA and even the United States.
Giving up the life of an astronaut when it can be saved means that the American government may give up the life of any American citizen at any time.
No one in power in a civilized country would dare to do such a thing.
.......
PS: There will be another chapter later, but it will be quite late, it is the end of the month, please vote for me, thank you guys
