In deep space, in lunar orbit, the space shuttle Xinghai and the Artemis moon landing ship are looking at each other from afar, staggering.

On the other side, NASA's Washington headquarters.

The Space Shuttle Xinghai can see the Artemis moon landing ship in high orbit, and NASA can naturally scan the Xinghai through the radar that comes with the lunar landing ship.

Although they can't see each other clearly through the cockpit like Zhai Zhigang and the others, as a competitor in the aerospace field, NASA will definitely pay attention to the live broadcast of the Xinghai moon landing.

At this moment, the control center of NASA's moon landing, the live broadcast footage that was originally in a corner was projected onto the monitoring screen.

Through Hua Guo's live broadcast, looking at the moon that was almost close at hand, at this moment, the moon landing master room of NASA was silent, and the needle drop could be heard, falling into a death-like silence.

Especially Bill Nelson, staring at the familiar spaceship on the live broadcast screen, his eyes were almost stared out by himself.

That shuttle has already reached the moon?

How can it be?

How is this possible!!

Staring at the live broadcast screen, Bill Nelson suspected that he was having serious hallucinations.

Obviously, the day before yesterday, their opponent was able to complete the launch process, how could it be possible to reach the moon in two days?

Damn it! How exactly is this done?

In the general control room, the dead silence passed quickly, and the noisy discussion sounded, and almost everyone was chatting with their colleagues.

"My God, how did Hua Guo do it? If I'm not mistaken, they launched the shuttle just two days ago. ”

"I also want to know, according to the time, it is not even forty-eight hours, not even two days!"

"My God, when did Huaguo's aerospace technology become so terrifying."

"It's incredible, I even just saw our Artemis moon landing ship in their live broadcast room!"

"Shet, I'm suddenly a little flustered, do you think Huaguo should preemptively launch the lunar module that was completed in front of us?"

"No, it won't, right?"

"If they have the ability to send the space shuttle from Earth to the moon in 48 hours, it is not impossible to complete the launch of the lunar module before we do."

"Oh, shit! My God, when you say that, I start to worry. ”

In the general control room, the sound of squirming discussions sounded, and for a while, the whole atmosphere changed.

Originally, they were still immersed in the joy of the upcoming moon landing, but everything changed in the blink of an eye.

In the control room, staring at the sailing footage of the Star Ocean, Director Bill Nelson took a few deep breaths and forced himself to calm down.

What the staff were discussing was what he feared.

If this live broadcast is not fake, then Huaguo's space shuttle has indeed arrived on the surface of the moon and is changing orbits to prepare for the launch of the lunar module.

He didn't know how long it would take for this opponent to take, but he knew exactly how long it would take for their Artemis lunar spacecraft to complete the launch of the lunar module.

At present, their spacecraft is still in a 3.5-hour orbit, and it will need to change the orbit again to complete the work before launching the lunar module, adjusting the orbit to the polar launch orbit.

Although the Artemis lunar lander has been in a 3.5-hour orbit for some time, they will need to operate in a 3.5-hour orbit for at least another week before they can switch orbits and enter a polar launch orbit.

And even if it enters the polar launch orbit, it is impossible to launch the lunar module immediately.

Because the landing point of the lunar module is selected and calculated in advance.

The polar launch orbit is not a standard circular orbit, but an elliptical orbit that is sometimes close to the lunar surface and sometimes far from the lunar surface.

The launch point is generally selected at the point closest to the lunar surface, which is about 15 kilometers above the lunar surface.

Once the first delivery is missed, it will take another week for them to run it again before they can return to the delivery point.

As for the early placement of the lunar module in other positions, that is even more unlikely.

With today's space technology, a drop point error can have extremely serious consequences.

For example, for the lunar module, its own thrust and fuel are not enough to send itself and the astronauts into an excessively high lunar orbit, and if the launch point is abnormal, there is a high probability that the subsequent lunar module will fail to return to orbit and dock with the return module.

Once one of these problems appears, it will be fatal for astronauts.

So even if the Xinghai on the Chinese side may complete the launch of the lunar module before them, Bill Nelson does not dare to let the astronauts carry out the lunar landing work in advance.

Looking at the surveillance footage, Bill Nelson gritted his teeth and frowned, damn it, why did the situation suddenly evolve like this?

Just as Nelson was staring at the surveillance screen, the door of the main control room was suddenly pushed open.

A middle-aged woman in a small suit walked in quickly with two assistants.

Bill Nelson turned his head to see that the person who broke in was Ms. Melita Corinna, the affairs adviser of the NSC National National Committee, who belonged to the president's civilian administrative secretary and was also his confidant.

He was not surprised by the arrival of this lady Melita Corinna.

This return to the moon is of great significance to the United States, everyone is watching, and she is obviously coming in place of the elderly gentleman with limited mobility.

"Advisor Melita."

Seeing the other party coming over, Bill Nelson took the initiative to nod and say hello to the other party.

Although the NSC committee does not have the right to decide, only the right to make recommendations on various matters, but the seven officials in front of the prime minister, the other party is a close confidant of Mr. President, so he still has to give this face.

"I received a message that something unexpected happened to the moon landing this time? Is it possible that Huaguo will land on the moon one step ahead of us? ”

After greeting Director Bill Nelson, Melita Corinna asked with a serious face.

Bill Nelson nodded and said, "I don't rule out this possibility, judging from the current intelligence, that Xinghai has arrived in a 12-hour orbit around the moon and is in the process of orbiting it." ”

"Although the other party's progress is behind ours, considering that the other side can send the space shuttle from the earth to the moon in less than 48 hours, the power system and propulsion system used by the Xinghai are very likely to be more advanced than our budget, so it is not impossible for them to arrive at the launch point first to launch the lunar module."

“Shit！”

Melita Corinna scolded, looked at Nelson and asked quickly, "I need to explain why our Artemis moon landing ship departed three days earlier than the other party, and instead it may be one step behind the moon landing?" ”

Bill Nelson glanced at her and replied, "You should ask the CIA people this question, why we still don't know and can't determine what the propulsion system of that Xinghai is." ”

"NASA has done everything it can to go to the moon, and no other country in the world can do it in such a short period of time."

Melita Corinna stared at him and said with an unkind face: "But that space shuttle did it, not even 48 hours, and it completely surpassed your progress." ”

Bill Nelson almost laughed at the woman, and he quickly said, "If you can get that space shuttle, I can also land on the moon in forty-eight hours." ”

"In addition, Xinghai has not fully surpassed our progress, they are still in a 12-hour orbit, and we have reached a 3.5-hour orbit."

Standing opposite, the blonde-haired Melita Corinna was silent for a while, and after half a sound, she stared at Bill Nelson and said, "I need to make sure I can finish the moon landing before my opponent!" ”

"It can't be!"

Bill Nelson retorted without hesitation: "All the steps of a manned lunar landing are planned and calculated in advance, and we must strictly follow the instructions of the lunar landing steps to ensure the success of the lunar landing and the safety of the astronauts." ”

Melita Corinna said quickly: "I think you should know very well how serious the consequences will be if this moon landing is preempted by Huaguo." ”

Hearing this, Bill Nelson was silent for a moment.

Indeed, if this moon landing is preempted by China, I am afraid that it will be an unbearable blow to them.

Since the space race between the red and blue sides in the last century, their strength in the field of space has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people, and no country can catch up with them.

Even, this has become the national culture of the United States, and countless science fiction movies in the space field have been established here, which is talked about.

If there is a failure in the moon landing this time, especially if they are the first to set off and fall behind the moon landing, the public opinion of the masses will be overwhelming, not to mention NASA, I am afraid that even the White House will have to stand up and explain.

However, if the Artemis lunar landing ship is released in advance, it will be a major change for the entire lunar landing program, and it will be an unprecedented adjustment.

After all, in the lunar landing projects of various countries, there has never been a temporary adjustment of the lunar landing plan after the moon landing. With today's space technology, this is an extremely difficult and dangerous thing.

Standing across from Bill Nelson, Melita Corinna added: "And, let's not forget that there was also a female astronaut on the Artemis moon landing ship, and I think you should know very well what it means for her to go there." ”

"If she gets to the moon and falls behind the country opposite"

Hearing this, Bill Nelson's pupils suddenly contracted.

He almost forgot that there was also a female astronaut in this return to the moon, and the meaning of this was naturally to compete for the title of the first woman to land on the moon.

If they lagged behind in this regard, the riots of those women's boxing organizations would be unimaginable.

Taking a deep breath, the thoughts in his mind spun rapidly.

As the director of NASA, he is naturally well aware of the entire plan for the Artemis moon landing.

On the basis that the spacecraft has already reached the 3.5-hour orbit on the surface of the moon, it is not impossible to compress a little time to land on the moon early.

For example, the current orbit adjustment preparations are saved, and the Artemis lunar landing ship can use fuel to enter the polar launch orbit in advance, and then make minor orbit adjustments in the polar launch orbit.

This saves at least a few hours of time.

After all, the circumnavigation time of the polar launch orbit is much shorter than that of the 3.5-hour orbit, and they have more time to process.

For them, it is possible to do it, because every moon landing will take into account the deviation of the orbit, and the lunar ship will also need to adjust the orbit through fuel.

The Artemis lunar landing ship is also designed with the ability to change orbit and adjust the orbit and fuel multiple times.

But correspondingly, under this adjustment, the danger of the moon landing will also increase, and the probability of success will be lower than the original plan.

After all, a temporary track cannot be more perfect than a perfect preparation, and its risk naturally increases.

It's just that he is not thinking about this now, but about the various situations that may arise after adjusting the track. If everything went well on the moon, it was a great joy.

But if there is an unexpected situation in adjusting the orbit and carrying out the lunar landing work in advance, this will be a major blow to him, NASA, and even the entire United States.

At that time, public opinion will only be more ferocious than that of backward China.

If the situation were to get worse and there was an accident to the astronauts, it would be even more unimaginable

The thoughts in his mind quickly flowed again, and Bill Nelson, who had calmed down, looked up at Melita Corinna, shook his head, and said:

"I'm sorry, there's nothing I can do, landing on the moon is quite a delicate job, and we can't and don't have the ability to get the Artemis moon landing ship ahead of schedule."

The lesser of two evils, no matter what, he has to choose the most beneficial way to deal with himself and the United States.

It's good that he succeeded in landing on the moon ahead of schedule, but if he fails, he will definitely not be able to withstand this backlash.

“Shit！ What a rubbish! Melita Corinna scolded.

Bill Nelson's face did not change, and he did not care about the other party's words. Compared with the successful landing on the moon ahead of schedule, for him, whether from a personal perspective or from the perspective of NASA as a whole, seeking stability is the best way for him to deal with it at present.

At this moment, another voice came from the main control room.

"To complete the early moon landing. It's not impossible. ”

Hearing this, Bill Nelson and Melita Corinna turned their heads at the same time.

Both of them looked at the engineer who spoke, but the emotions in their eyes were completely different.

The former almost didn't scold directly, while the latter had surprise in his eyes.

Watched, the speaking engineer coughed, gathered his thoughts, and repeated what Bill Nelson had thought in his head before.

"It's just that there are some risks associated with that."

The voice fell, and before Bill Nelson could speak, Melita Corinna quickly asked, "Very risky?" ”

Hearing this, the engineer thought for a while and said: "Theoretically speaking, the Artemis lunar landing ship has the ability to change orbit many times, and through radar detection, real-time tracking support and other calculation methods, the distance between the spacecraft and the ground is controlled, and the risk of landing on the moon in advance will theoretically not exceed five percent compared with before." ”

On the side, Bill Nelson said: "But the landing of the lunar module is a high-precision job, and the error of five percent is quite high for astronautics, and I refuse to land on the moon in advance." ””

Looking at the engineer who spoke, Nelson had a hint of coldness in his eyes, and he knew that this matter was probably going to go wrong again.

Damn idiot, can you figure that out?

As he expected, Melita Corinna, who was standing on the sidelines, spoke.

"Even if the success rate is reduced by 5 percent, there is still more than 95 percent, I think I can give it a try."

After a pause, he looked at Bill Nelson and continued, "Director Bill, I know it may be difficult, but we need a victory, a victory that is enough to give an account to Congress and the people!" ”

Bill Nelson was silent for a moment, sighed lightly in his heart, and said, "Contact the astronauts on the Artemis, explain the situation to them, and ask their opinions." ”

(End of chapter)