Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1560: The Soviet Union’s Highlight Moment (Third update, please subscribe)
In this world, no one will ever care about irrelevant people or things.

Perhaps, there are always some "anti-colonialism" rallies in places like Red Square, but in fact, even among the people who participate in the activities, few people believe in them.

After all, Africa is too far away, and reality is too close.

What is reality?

When the new year arrived, what the people of Moscow and the Soviet Union were most concerned about was when the Zhiguli cars would be delivered.

This car, produced with technology imported from SEA Volkswagen, is not only the most advanced sedan in the Soviet Union, but also has a high level of participation from the very beginning. As early as last year, before it went into production, the automobile factory joined hands with the Soviet Union's most influential automobile magazine, Zawrulem, to organize a naming competition for the first product of the Avonovaz Automobile Factory.

Eventually, the factory chose "Zhiguli," a name that comes from the mountains near the factory and a word from the Turkic language that translates to "to harness" or "to tighten the reins."

Of course, people care not about the name, but about the advanced performance of the car.

Since the first batch of cars rolled off the production line at the beginning of the year, Zhiguli has become the darling of the market. Its beautiful appearance and excellent performance made all Soviet people crazy about it.

Those fools who once gave up their houses for cars are now considered "smart people" in everyone's eyes, and Leonov is such a "fool".

Two years ago, he signed to give up the house and chose a car. At that time, he was laughed at by many people, but what about now?
He became one of the first people in Moscow to drive on Zhiguli.

In fact, he was not stupid at all. Although Leonov, who was already 50 years old, had four sons, they were either married and moved into new houses or lived in factory dormitories. Another son was an officer and his troops were stationed in the Far East. As for his three daughters, they had all married long ago.

In this case, what new house does Leonov need?

Compared to a house, he needed a car more. After all, it was more than 30 kilometers from where he lived to the factory's Star City.

In June, the height of summer, Leonov drove his beloved car all the way to Star City, enjoying the scenery of the forest road.

More than half an hour later, Leonov parked the car at the gate. As a guard, his daily job was to guard the gate. In fact, in addition to him, there were also police officers from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and he... was just the "gatekeeper" of Star City.

As soon as the car stopped, Leonov asked curiously:
"Alyosha, it seems that there are more sentries today."

"Yes, there might be something."

Alyosha glanced toward the city and said:

“Who knows what happened there?”

Although they are the guards of Star City, they have never actually entered Star City. They are just guards of the gate, and their range of activities is just near the gate.

Just when they were full of doubts, two Tu-104 aircraft took off one after another from the planet's airport and flew towards the east.

Except for a few people, no one knew that the passengers on the plane were the Soviet lunar crew and backup crew.

A few hours later, the plane landed at Baikonur Airport and the lunar crew members successfully entered the space building.

After learning that the astronauts had arrived, Korolev nodded and said:
"I'll go meet them later."

While speaking, Korolev turned his gaze to the 25-inch color TV in front of him, and on the screen was the rocket launch pad and the N1 giant rocket.

While he was watching the rocket, his assistant Mishin came up to him and said:
"Chief Engineer, we have conducted another comprehensive inspection of the rocket, and there are no problems with any of the components."

"Ah."

Korolev nodded and said:
"Everyone has worked hard. I want to tell you that I have already applied to the Kremlin. After the launch is successful, they will give us a quota of 500 Zhiguli cars..."

This news naturally caused cheers in the entire launch center, but compared to everyone's joy, Korolev's expression seemed very serious.

Mishchen saw his worry.

"You're still worried about that, aren't you?"

Korolev nodded and said:
"They are different. If they fail this time, the next time... I don't know how long it will take."

"They" naturally refers to the owner of the Kremlin. Korolev is well aware that the current owner there is different from the previous one, who fully supported him.
It was with Khrushchev's support that they conducted five launch tests, three of which failed.

But thanks to his support, I can try again after failure.

But what about the one now?
Korolev did not yet feel his support, because he had not yet felt the glory that space travel brought.

"So, we must succeed, and we must also compress the two launch tests into one."

Originally, the test was planned to be the first manned lunar orbit flight and to complete the lunar module Earth orbit test. However, due to funding constraints, Korolev had to add a full lunar landing process rehearsal flight in addition to the lunar landing.

The rehearsal flight of the entire lunar landing process, excluding the lunar landing, was originally supposed to be the next launch mission, but in order to land on the moon as soon as possible, and more importantly to win the support of the Kremlin, he had to move up the plan. Of course, more importantly... the N1 rocket for the next launch mission is being manufactured, and the funds were allocated as early as last year.

"If we succeed this time, we will be able to send our people to the moon in the next few months."

and then?
The new owner of the Kremlin will feel unprecedented glory, and they will fully support him and the space industry like Khrushchev did.

Although he is a space expert, Korolev knows those people too well. They desire and need glory, and all he needs is to use this desire and need to achieve his own goals.

"It will definitely succeed. The performance of the Athlon 2 CPU we used this time has doubled. It has a faster processing speed, better performance, and..."

For this mission, they spent a lot of money to smuggle a batch of central processors to further upgrade the rocket's control system.

"Um……"

Korolev nodded and didn't say anything. He just stood there quietly. In the evening, Korolev went to the Cosmonaut Center to meet the astronauts who were carrying out this mission, just like he did in the past.

Facing Komarov who was carrying out this mission, Korolev just looked at him. Like Gagarin, Komarov was also one of the first astronauts to be trained, but he was older. As the chief engineer, Korolev had age requirements for astronauts, and he did not meet them.

He felt that the maximum age an astronaut could accept was 27. If he was over 27, his body would find it difficult to withstand the high-intensity space training and harsh space environment.

Therefore, even though Komarov had outstanding abilities, he was still given up.

Korolev was a man who loved talents. He did not dare to let Komarov become one of the first astronauts to go to space, but he particularly appreciated Komarov's professional ability, so after hesitating for a long time, he still gave Komarov time to train his physical fitness.

Komarov was not old enough, but he trained day and night and finally reached the physical fitness standard for astronauts. After that, his career as a astronaut began.

Komarov has been to space twice in the past few years, but now?

The task he will undertake will be unprecedented.

At last Korolev broke the silence and said:
"You know, if something unexpected happens, we may not be able to take you back..."

Facing the chief engineer's words, Komarov smiled and said:
"This is exactly why I was chosen. Besides, someone needs to carry out this mission!"

This was the first lunar orbit!
The mission they are carrying out is unprecedented and also extremely risky, and who is his backup crew?
It was Gagarin. He couldn't let Gagarin take the risk.

On June 6, after saying goodbye to his family, Komarov got into the car without hesitation, then entered the launch tower and took the elevator into the spacecraft with two other members.

As the service engineers were helping them fix it, one of them said to Komarov:
"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we will be waiting here for you to come home!"

“We will definitely come back!”

Komarov smiled, and Konstantin Feoktistov and Boris Yegorov beside him also smiled at the engineers.

Soon the hatch closed and the three astronauts waited quietly.

In the command center, Korolev, Mishin and everyone else were quietly looking at the transmission tower. Although they could only watch the launch through a small telephone screen, at this moment, they shared the same mood.

Nervous and full of anticipation.

Can it be successful?

No one knows!

“It should work!”

Gagarin, as a backup astronaut, also came to the command. Since becoming the first Soviet spaceman eight years ago, he has never been to space again and has always been a backup.

This time is no exception, but compared to the previous backups, he is more worried this time. After all, the risk is still very high. After all, this is flying to the moon.

"no problem!"

Korolev said affirmatively:
"I believe everyone..."

What if it fails?

Korolev simply pursed his lips and turned his gaze to the TV screen.

Soon, they arrived at the launch window. After Korolev gave the order to "prepare for launch", as instructions were continuously issued, everyone's mood was tightly gripped.

Finally, with the sound of "ignition", the rocket ignited, and with a huge cloud of flames and smoke, the giant rocket slowly rose towards the sky, towards space, and towards the moon...

(End of this chapter)