Go back in time and be a chaebol

Chapter 1651: Hope Spreads Its Wings (Second Update, Please Subscribe)

Not a bump, but a collision.

With a crash, the spacecraft stopped on the lunar surface, and then its cabin tilted.

The crew members were injured to varying degrees in the collision, and the spacecraft malfunctioned, causing them to lose contact with the Earth. However, in the end, they managed to restore communications and reconnected with the Earth.

For the astronauts who survived the disaster, all they need now is to complete the next mission.

Gao Binghan took a deep breath, looked at Morrissey with a smile and said:
"Here we are."

Then he looked out the porthole.

This is the moon!

Outside the porthole, the moon is quiet and desolate. The gray-white surface stretches to the end of the field of vision, and the sky is a deep black without a trace of clouds. On the distant horizon, the earth is like a blue gem, hanging in the dark universe, emitting a soft light.

"Prepare to exit the cabin."

Gao Binghan's voice sounded again, and they quickly got into shape and began to check the equipment and life support system. They knew that this moment would be the most important one.

The hatch slowly opened, and Gao Binghan stepped onto the surface of the moon. He then set up the camera and plugged it in. As he turned on the camera, he said:
“I turned the camera on.”

People on Earth also saw the astronaut through the camera. At first, they could only see his helmet. Then Gao Binghan stepped back step by step, and the camera captured him and the flag beside him.

There were two flags, one was the double-star flag of SEA and the other was the Union Jack. At that moment, the whole of Britain and even the entire Commonwealth became excited. In London, there were car horns everywhere, and many people even gathered towards the White Gold Khan Palace, expressing their excitement in their own way.

Britain has reached unprecedented heights!
They even warmly embrace every yellow-skinned Asian, regardless of whether they are SEA or not, just emphasizing that - we are one family!

In the square in front of the Platinum Khan Palace, many people waved the Union Jack and the Double Star Flag, as if at this moment they really became a family.

In fact, it was from this day that SEA went from being a member of the Commonwealth to becoming the core of the Commonwealth in the true sense. This may be the change brought about by space.

Gao Binghan had no idea of ​​all this. He said to the camera from the moon:
"Our landing wasn't smooth, but we always say in the Navy that any landing that you can walk away from alive is a successful one. It wasn't a smooth start to the mission, but we made it through."

As a pilot from the Naval Aviation Force, what he said was indeed impeccable.

We made it!
Their footsteps left deep marks on the soft moondust, as if silently announcing: Human beings have come here again.

In the command center, people looked at the images on the screen with smiles on their faces, while Zhou Kangjie crossed his arms over his chest and said:

"The key now is to bring them home!"

People on the ground saw a familiar scene through the camera: astronauts jumping on the moon, moving like penguins.

But soon, with the whole world watching, they quickly began the next task.

They released a foldable lunar rover from the side of the lunar landing spacecraft. When the lunar rover was released, the people on the ground opened their eyes wide in astonishment and wondered:

"What are they doing?"

Under the gaze of audiences around the world, the vehicle slowly unfolded like a mechanical insect lunar rover, its silver-white body gleaming coldly under the moonlight. The cage-like metal structure wheels were wide and sturdy, able to easily cope with the soft moon dust and rugged terrain on the lunar surface.

"…Now we see the lunar rover. Unlike the Soviet and American lunar landing teams who walked, Gao Binghan and Morrissey will drive the lunar rover to explore the entire Sverdrup-Hansen Crater. The lunar rover is a unique and advanced technology of SpaceX."

Based on the information just obtained, the TV host introduced this special vehicle to audiences around the world.

"In terms of size design, the lunar rover also adopts a large number of folding designs. For example, the communication antenna is foldable, and the detection equipment is also foldable or retractable."

On the TV screen, the lunar rover was being unfolded. A four-wheeled lunar rover that looked simple but was actually the most expensive vehicle on Earth was presented to the world.

"Wan Hu Jiao, the lunar rover has been deployed, the system is normal, and it is ready to start."

Gao Binghan reported to the Earth Command Center through the communication system.

"Received, start the exploration mission."

There was a response from the command center.

According to the plan, before getting in the car, Gao Binghan said to Morrissey:
"Morrissey, you drive it!"

"It's my pleasure!"

Morrissey said excitedly,

He will be the first driver to drive on the moon.

This is a seat that the UK bought for $15 billion - just a driver's seat.

And so, the astronauts boarded the lunar rover and started the vehicle.

The rover's motor started to work. Because it was in a vacuum, it did not make a low humming sound like on Earth. There was no sound. The wheels turned slowly, raising a cloud of fine lunar dust. As the speed gradually increased, the rover drew a graceful arc on the lunar surface and began to explore the Sverdrup-Hansen crater.

Under the camera's shooting, humans can clearly see the situation inside the crater every time.
On Earth, hundreds of millions of viewers watched this scene via live television broadcast.

In the picture, the lunar rover is speeding across the desolate lunar surface, and the moon dust kicked up by the wheels is drifting away like a mist. The gold film on the astronauts' helmets reflects the sun's rays, and their figures sitting in the driver's seat of the lunar rover look so sci-fi.

The audience held their breath and stared at the screen intently, their hearts filled with shock and excitement.

"Oh my god, they're really racing on the moon!"

someone exclaimed.

“This is like a science fiction movie!”

exclaimed another.

As people watched, the rover stopped from time to time to collect lunar soil and rocks with a hammer. The rover soon reached the edge of the Sverdrup-Hansen crater.

If you look from the air, the crater is huge and deep, with steep walls, but the bottom of the crater is a flat lunar sea. However, there are still some gentle slopes on the edge of the crater, which is like a passage leading to the top. As long as they want, they can drive the lunar rover to the top of the crater.

"Want to try?"

Morrissey asked excitedly:

"Do not."

Gao Binghan shook his head and said:
“That’s not within our mandate.”

The astronauts drove the lunar rover slowly along the wall of the crater, carefully avoiding huge rocks and cracks. Soon, they found a flat area. Looking at this area, Gao Binghan stepped on it after getting out of the car and said:

"Mark this location. We can land here next time. There are no rocks here."

"Yes, if we fly for two more seconds, they can get here. Then, the landing will be smoother."

After Morrissey collected the samples, they drove the lunar rover again to continue their exploration. This is the perpetual daylight zone of the crater, and under the sunlight, they can see everything clearly.

Suddenly, a dark shadow on the pit wall attracted Gao Binghan's attention. He pointed in that direction and said:

"Morrissey, see that? Go over there and take a look!"

Soon, the lunar rover arrived at a place several hundred meters away from them. When the lunar rover stopped, the people at the Wanhujiao Command Center also saw it through the camera. "It looks like a cave."

"It could be a lava cave!"

The geologists in the command center looked at the lava tube excitedly.

"We found a lava cave to the north of the landing site. The entrance is about fifty meters ahead. We are now ready to explore."

Gao Binghan reported through the communication system.

"Received. Stay safe and keep communications open."

The command center responded.

The lunar rover slowly stopped in front of the entrance to the lava tube.

The astronauts got off the vehicle and carefully observed the mysterious cave.

The entrance to the lava tube is more than ten meters high and seven or eight meters wide. It is broad and deep, like a giant mouth, swallowing up the surrounding light. Some sunlight shines into the lava tube, allowing them to feel the depth of the lava tube.

"The depth of the lava tube can be very great."

The astronauts turned on the lights on their helmets, and the beams of light shone into the cave, revealing the internal structure, which was indeed very deep.

"The lava tube is about ten meters high and five to six meters wide. The interior is flat. Please enter and explore."

Gao Binghan reported.

"One person is allowed to enter, but please be careful."

The command center gave instructions. Morrissey stayed behind in the lunar rover while Gao Binghan slowly drove into the lava tube. With the help of the helmet light, you can see that the cave is spacious and deep. The helmet light casts long shadows in the cave. Gao Binghan is both excited and nervous as he explores the interior.

"The lava tube may be several hundred meters long, or even longer, and its internal structure is stable, with no obvious dangers found."

Gao Binghan continued his report. On Earth, viewers watched the scene inside the lava tube through television screens and were amazed.

The scale of the lava tube was far beyond their imagination, like an underground tunnel.

Of course, for people on Earth, they just thought it was an unexpected discovery and didn’t know that this was also one of their tasks - if they found a lava tube or cave, they would go in to investigate and determine its size and solidity.

Gao Binghan recorded geological data and images along the way. Finally, after going about 200 meters deep inside, Gao Binghan began to use a hammer to knock on the rocks to take samples. When knocking open the rocks, he noticed that there were quite a few crystals in the rocks. Looking at the mineral crystals, Gao Binghan had more questions. Although he was not a geologist, he still felt that this kind of crystal was different from those on Earth.

“Maybe it’s a special mineral.”

As he collected these minerals, he continued to explore inside. As he explored the inside of the lava tube, people on the ground were also paying attention to some data.

The most important thing is the temperature data. The temperature on the lunar surface is between -170℃ and 110℃, with a temperature difference of 280℃. However, the temperature inside the lava tube without light is completely different from the lunar surface. The temperature inside is only minus ten degrees Celsius, and some areas are even only a few dozen degrees.

This was just speculation in the past, but now Gao Binghan's detection has confirmed this.
While collecting this data, a staff member unexpectedly discovered an abnormal data.

"The detector shows that the humidity here seems to have changed."

"what?"

People were immediately attracted by this discovery.

The data was retrieved quickly.

"Through data comparison, we can find that as Gao Binghan went deeper into the cave, the humidity in the cave changed. Although the increase was slight, it is very likely that..."

"water!"

Zhou Zhonghui uttered a word with some excitement!
ice!
Originally, they speculated that there might be water ice at the South Pole of the Moon. Since the lava tube is a permanently shadowed area with very low temperatures and low terrain, it is possible to collect water ice on the Moon.

But this is just speculation. Although it is just a change in humidity now, it indicates a possibility.

"How about letting them drive a lunar rover in and explore deep inside?"

Faced with this suggestion, although the discovery of ice on the moon would be extremely tempting, Yuan Jialiu shook his head and said:
"No, they have been exploring for five hours. Now, the most important thing is to bring them back!"

Others also expressed their agreement, but no matter what, their discovery this time was still extremely amazing. It not only provided valuable information for scientific research, but the exploration of lava tubes also laid a solid foundation for the construction of a permanent base on the moon.

People outside don't know about all this.
Gao Binghan stayed in the lava tube for an hour, explored more than 300 meters deep, collected a large number of unique samples, and took a large number of images. When he finally walked out of the lava tube and returned to the lunar surface, warm cheers broke out on Earth.

Soon they returned to the landing site, and after completing the final task, Gao Binghan and Morrissey entered the lunar module.

Because the spacecraft collided during landing and was in a tilted state, they also needed to reduce weight and move many parts and even food and other supplies out of the cabin.

Meanwhile, on the ground, engineers were doing calculations, but the results were not promising.
"Returning to the vertical position will consume a lot of ascent fuel, and they may not be able to rendezvous with the Santa Maria!"

Yuan Jialiu, the head of Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, looked at the report and said:
“There are no loopholes in the plan.”

Zhou Kangjie looked at Yuan Jialiu, and Yuan Jialiu looked at him. After a moment, he walked to the command platform and said:

"Hope, you can take off!"

"Roger that, Wan Hu Jiao."

Gao Binghan told Morrissey:
"Morrissey, start the engine."

As Morrissey started the engines in sequence, Gao Binghan said:

"Hans, I'll see you later, get us some beer."

Hans laughed at his friend's voice:

"Roger that, Hope."

"Abandon the descent stage!"

The adventure began. As the ejection capsule was ejected, Gao Binghan worked hard to restore the spacecraft to a vertical position while it was spinning in the air.
"Wanhujiao, we are spinning!"

At this time, everyone was staring at its ascending trajectory, which was constantly changing.

"Gradually stabilizing!"

Finally, after regaining his balance, Gao Binghan said:

"Wings of Hope!"

In an instant, the entire command center was filled with cheers!

The Hope was rising steadily, and continued to rise until it docked with the Santa Maria in orbit.

After completing the docking, they started to go home!

(End of this chapter)