Huaguo Space Agency is fast.

After learning of the news that the astronauts were trapped in an accident on the Artemis lunar landing spacecraft, NASA immediately held a meeting within the space agency and decided to let the Chang'e-5 orbiter, which is still in lunar orbit, go over to see the specific situation.

For them, this is not only a good opportunity to compete for the first place in various ways, but also a good opportunity to strike at the country across the Pacific.

Jinling, Xiashu Space Center.

After Xu Chuan's short rest for a while, the Chang'e-5 orbiter, which is far away in the lunar retrograde (DRO) orbit, also completed the orbit adjustment synchronously.

While the Chang'e-5 orbiter had other missions, it is clearly more important for the time being to confirm that NASA's Artemis lunar module had an accident.

After all, now is the time for the space race to be hot, and the two sides are competing for the node to land on the moon. If it is revealed that one side has made a major mistake in landing on the moon, it will be a major blow to the reputation and strength of the aerospace field, and even to the international situation.

If there is really an accident in the Artemis lunar module, the Mi Guoyan will definitely be reluctant to make such news public, and will even deny it vigorously.

But they didn't mind helping the old adversary, after all, it was a matter of human life.

In the satellite control center, the signal transmitted from the space agency has been analyzed.

Standing in front of the monitoring screen, Xu Chuan touched his chin and stared at the screen in front of him with interest.

Judging from the images transmitted by the Chang'e-5 orbiter, at this moment, in the Aitken Basin at the south pole of the moon, a lunar module and a set of life support units are lying quietly on the lunar surface.

There was no sign of activity on the ground, and the Star-Spangled Banner of the United States was not seen.

As Wu Yuankang said, the Artemis lunar module, which landed on the moon first, did have an unexpected situation.

"Judging from the footage filmed, the attitude tilt angle of the Artemis lunar module is somewhat serious, and it cannot be ruled out that one of the landing gear has been damaged."

Standing beside Xu Chuan, Academician Chang Huaxiang looked at the clear picture transmitted by the Chang'e-5 orbiter and analyzed: "It's just that I don't know why this serious problem occurred. ”

"After all, theoretically speaking, even if the landing gear is damaged, it should not affect the normal opening of the lunar hatch."

On the surveillance screen, the images transmitted by the Chang'e-5 orbiter are quite clear and the monitoring is quite clear.

To complete the mission, it switched from a retrograde lunar orbit (DRO) to a polar launch orbit.

And in return, after the completion of this footage shooting, it will crash on the surface of the moon.

Because the fuel it has left is no longer enough to support it to complete another orbit change, it can be said that it will use its 'life' as a price to help the motherland complete this mission.

As for the reason why the Chang'e-5 orbiter was deployed instead of using the more convenient space shuttle, Xinghai still had its own missions to perform.

Not only because of the need to put in materials for the construction of a lunar base and scientific research experiments, but also to ensure the safe return of the two astronauts, Chen Dong and Liu Yang.

If there was no need, it would be impossible for Xu Chuan to allow the Xinghai to leave his orbit rashly.

After staring at the Artemis lunar module on the screen for a while in the satellite control center, Wu Yuankang, director of the space agency, suddenly said: "Do you think their lunar module will damage the controller that opens the hatch or something?" Causing the hatch to not open properly? ”

Standing beside him, Xu Chuan shook his head and replied: "Theoretically, there is such a possibility, but NASA will definitely consider this situation." ”

"Generally speaking, there are two ways to open the lunar module, just like our moon space, one set of electrical signal control, and the other set can be manually opened in case of damage to the electrical signal control."

"In the event of damage to the individual electrical signal controller, it is also possible to open the hatch manually. So this is unlikely. ”

For the aerospace field, whether it is an ordinary aviation aircraft flying in the atmosphere, or a manned spacecraft that goes to outer space exploration.

The opening and closing of the hatch, or in other words, most of the control systems, are generally set up with two systems.

Apollo 11, which achieved a manned landing on the moon that year, was like this.

When they landed on the moon that year, when Aldrin or Armstrong went out of the capsule, they broke an important circuit breaker switch because of the spacesuit!

It is located on the right side of the lunar module, on the control board of No. 16, and this switch is called "Engine Start Override".

The Chinese translation is: 'engine start-up override'.

If the switch is broken, it means that the engines of the lunar module cannot be started under the control of Aldrin or Armstrong, which means that they will be stranded on the moon.

But NASA is far more thoughtful than usual. In the lunar module, they arranged two power systems, each powered by different batteries.

The equipment of the lunar module is connected to the two sets of equipment separately to obtain power.

However, some critical equipment, such as engine launch control equipment; It is possible to obtain electricity from either of these two systems.

So even if the lunar module completely loses some of its power distribution system, it can still ignite its engines. As long as any of these circuit breakers, and their associated power distribution systems, are functional, they are fine.

But if you think that's the end of it, you're wrong.

Computers and automatic circuits are not the only way to start the engines of the lunar module.

In the lunar module, the engine starts the core equipment, and there is a completely independent 'start' button, which only needs to be adjusted and pressed to start the engine.

Multiple guarantees are the key to the successful completion of the Apollo 11 moon landing, otherwise Aldrin or Armstrong would have been permanently stranded on the moon in the last century.

As for now, to be honest, Xu Chuan doesn't think NASA will make such a 'low-level' mistake.

Judging from the footage captured so far, it is certain that the Artemis lunar module was damaged, at least according to his judgment, there must have been an accident with the landing gear that sank into the lunar soil.

However, as Academician Chang Huaxiang analyzed, why the damage to the landing gear will lead to the failure of the hatch to open the reason, only based on these monitoring can not be effectively analyzed and judged.

After staring at the surveillance screen for a while, Xu Chuan turned his head to look at Wu Yuankang beside him and asked, "Director Wu, NASA shouldn't have released the news of the accident in the Artemis lunar module, right?" ”

Wu Yuankang nodded and said, "Not yet, my side has arranged to pay attention, if the other party makes it public, my side can receive the news as soon as possible." ”

After thinking for a while, Xu Chuan smiled and said, "Then do you want us to help them?" ”

"Help?"

Wu Yuankang was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a moment and asked: "The above means that we can use this opportunity to negotiate interests with the United States, Academician Xu, do you think?" ”

"Nope."

Xu Chuan shook his head and said with a smile: "You misunderstood, I didn't mean to help the other party's astronauts for free." Rather, we helped them publicize the news of the accident of the Artemis lunar module landing on the moon. ”

"As far as my personal guess goes, NASA hasn't made this matter public so far, so I think they're ready to keep it secret."

"If NASA doesn't come up with a way to rescue these two astronauts, I suspect that the other side may not even disclose the death of Artemis, but will think of other reasons to prevaricate."

After a slight pause, he squinted at the Artemis lunar module in the surveillance screen, and continued: "As for the United States asking us for help and asking us to rescue the two astronauts, to be honest, it seems to me that it is not very likely." ”

"It's not unacceptable for them to die two astronauts. If there is no way to rescue it, it is not impossible to wait for the dust to settle and then come forward and announce that there is an accident on the moon that the astronauts have encountered something. ”

"After all, there are always risks in aerospace, and it is normal for accidents to occur, and the follow-up is at most a drop in the stock price of the aerospace sector, and NASA's credibility suffers some blows."

Saying this, Xu Chuan hooked the corners of his mouth and said: "So instead of this, it is better for us to take the initiative to open up this matter, doesn't Mi Guoyan always say that every citizen has the right to know?" What would they have done if they had known that NASA had concealed their own space accident? ”

"I don't believe that the people of those countries will watch their astronauts die on the moon and be indifferent."

On the side, Wu Yuankang's eyes were bright, and he continued with a smile on his face: "In this way, if they don't have enough strength to rescue, the only thing they can do is to ask us for help." ”

As he spoke, he gave Xu Chuan a thumbs up, patted his sycophants and said with a smile: "It is worthy of Academician Xu, and he is really thoughtful." ”

In fact, this plan is not just Xu Chuan's idea, but also the practice they are ready to implement.

After confirming that Artemis really had an accident, the space agency and its top management were already thinking about how to maximize the benefits of the accident.

For the competitor of the United States, they don't have much 'care' at all.

So far, only one of the two countries can stand at the top.

This is the trend, and it is also an inevitable competition.

It is impossible for them to let go of this opportunity, and the competition between countries is related to the happiness of more than a billion people.

Once they relent, they will inevitably fail.

Listening to Wu Yuankang's sycophancy, Xu Chuan smiled dumbly, shook his head and continued: "But in addition to asking us for help, they actually have another way, such as choosing to directly give up the lives of the two astronauts. ”

"Even, I think they're more likely to give up."

"After all, if you give up two astronauts, they only need to compensate the astronauts' families."

"But if you ask us for help, it will not only lead to the loss of the prestige of the United States in the aerospace field and bring risks such as technology leakage, but also be knocked out by us."

"From this point of view, I think NASA may choose to give up the two astronauts outright."

Hearing this, Wu Yuankang laughed and said, "Please rest assured, Academician Xu, as long as the Artemis moon landing accident is made public, there is actually only one way they can go." ”

"Giving up the lives of two astronauts is normal if it really can't be rescued. But if we make the information public and say that we can rescue it, and NASA doesn't, it's a completely different concept. ”

"No matter what the reason is, it is impossible for the authorities of the United States to watch their astronauts not choose to rescue when they can be saved."

"If they choose to do it, it will be a better thing for us"

On the side, Chang Huaxiang added with a smile: "If the life of an astronaut is given up if it can be saved, it means that the authorities of the United States may give up the life of any citizen of the United States at any time." ”

"This would be the deadliest disaster for a country."

At the same time, on the other side,

United States, NASA Washington headquarters.

The elderly president had already been at NASA's command center and was talking to the two astronauts on the Artemis lunar module.

As the president of a country, when such a major accident occurred in a manned landing on the moon, he naturally needed to stand up as a load-bearing pillar to deal with the relevant situation.

"Please rest assured, we are doing our best to find a way to rescue you, don't give up, you will definitely come back!"

After a brief call to comfort the two astronauts trapped on the moon, Mr. Geriatric looked at NASA's Director Bill Nelson with exhaustion and anger:

"Tell me, what is your solution! What about the plan to bring our astronauts back? Where is it?! ”

Standing opposite, Bill Nelson was silent for a long time before he said heavily: "Although we have the ability to launch another lunar spacecraft to the moon by the BRF launch vehicle, it will take at least a week of preparation time."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a wave from the old man, who looked at Bill Nelson coldly and said, "But the astronauts on the Artemis can't last a week!" ”

"That's your shit plan?"

Hearing this, Bill Nelson fell silent.

No one knows better than him how long the two astronauts on the Artemis lunar module will last, even if they don't eat or drink, counting all the oxygen reserves, the two astronauts will lie there doing nothing, and they will be able to last two days at most.

And judging from the latest feedback data, it is even more impossible to get the lunar module to restart its engine and return to lunar orbit.

They tried to have two astronauts do an ignition operation, but the data they passed back showed that one of the side engines had been damaged by the damage to the landing gear during landing, and although it was still able to start, it was no longer able to maintain normal balance.

This means that returning to lunar orbit to call for help from the astronauts on the Orion multipurpose manned spacecraft is also impossible.

For NASA, and even for the United States, there is no doubt that this moon landing accident has turned into a disaster.