Space Ground Command Center.

At this moment, there was a group of people standing in the dark.

Among them are Director Li, the number one leader of the Bureau of Science and Industry, Hou Guang, director of the Aerospace Research Institute of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Academician Yuan Huanmin, chief engineer of the Aerospace Group, and Lu Zhou, who has just rushed over from Beijing......

and, an old man with a special status.

In this regard, it is related to the aerospace industry, and even the total number of people. At an important moment in the future of the country, almost all the high-level members of the lunar orbit construction committee appeared here.

On the large floor-to-ceiling screen in front of the control room, there are a pair of eyes full of expectations and complex feelings, just like the closed door of the delivery room.

It's just that it's not a baby that's behind it.

It's something called hope.

"It doesn't matter if we fail, we can try slowly."

Hearing the voice coming from the side, Lu Zhou shook his head slightly.

"It's impossible to fail."

It's not just the people of the whole country who are waiting for the results, but the eyes of the whole world are focused here.

He could even bet that media outlets like the BBC and CNN must have already written two press releases. One of them corresponds to a successful outcome, while the other corresponds to a failed situation.

Which press release will make the headlines tomorrow depends entirely on their results today.

Hearing Lu Zhou's confident speech, the old man smiled and nodded.

"It's naturally best to succeed at one time, and I'm just talking to you about it. Aerospace is a century-old undertaking that benefits the future. We can afford to win and lose this marathon about the future. ”

"But speaking of which, build cities on the moon...... Is it really possible? ”

As soon as he heard this, Lu Zhou immediately understood what the old man was thinking at the moment.

Obviously, the celebration program called "We" may have infected the audience and driven his emotions.

For this question, Lu Zhou thought seriously for a while.

It was about half a minute before he spoke.

"From a practical point of view, there is a need for this, and from a technical point of view, there are difficulties, but it is not completely hopeless."

In fact, the Moon is not a perfect candidate for colony, with too low gravity, large temperature differences, and no protection from the atmosphere and magnetic fields. However, at present, it is the new continent that the earth's civilization has the best hope of reaching first and benefiting from its development.

It existed like the island of Terceira in the Atlantic Ocean, which was small in size and not rich in produce, but it became a springboard for the Renaissance to travel from Europe to the New World.

With the breakthrough of controlled fusion technology, the earth civilization has entered the second half of the early space age, and has obtained a ticket to a distant world. However, if you want to travel to more distant places, Earth civilization also needs a springboard.

Clearly, the Moon has such potential.

It is simply a natural "harbor" and a testing ground.

If they can overcome the harsh lunar environment and go a little further, it should not be too much of a problem.

As if he had received an answer from Lu Zhou that met his expectations, the old man nodded and put his hands behind his back.

"Then I'm relieved...... Speaking of which, how long does it take to start? ”

Lu Zhou glanced at the time on his watch and replied.

"It's already about to start!"

As he spoke, the hour hand had reached the right time.

The uniformed staff in the command room were like clockwork gears, and they were busy in an orderly manner.

The units quickly completed the final inspection of the equipment, and as everything was properly answered from the moon, the commander of the ground command center finally gave the command to "start loading".

With the issuance of this order, it is hoped that on the moon more than 300,000 kilometers away, an experimental cargo module shaped like a bullet will be put into a launch orbit with the efforts of the staff of the lunar research station.

The entire cargo hold weighs six tons and is filled with biological research samples such as lunar soil rocks collected from the moon, space crops and seeds harvested from the planting unit, and Dr-111's active substance.

If these goods were brought back to Earth through the original method, the cost per kilogram would be at least 200,000 yuan or more.

However, if the cargo can be accurately launched directly from the lunar surface to the Earth-Moon transfer orbit through the almost zero-cost superconducting magnetic rail instead of the return capsule driven by the chemical thruster, and then the Queqiao Queqiao, which is making a round-trip movement along a specific orbit, can collect and pull these goods back in a centralized manner, the cost per kilogram of cargo can even be compressed to less than 2,000 yuan.

It may sound strange, but it's exactly what it is.

If this project can be realized, at least dysprosium and terbium, which are worth more than 1,000 yuan per kilogram, and scandium rare minerals worth more than 10,000 yuan per kilogram, these strategic resources that are related to the lifeline of high-tech industries, can be obtained from the moon.

If this project can be realized, it will undoubtedly be a milestone in the history of spaceflight.

Now, all the preparations are in place.

Everything is on the way!

As the green light on the big screen turned on, everyone standing in the command room involuntarily clenched their fists, waiting for the fateful countdown to sound.

"Ten."

"Nine."

"Eight."

“……”

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"Zero."

"Launch!"

The sonorous sound was like the sound of a starting pistol.

After a second's delay, a slight tremor suddenly sounded 300,000 kilometers away under the lunar soil, and climbed up the soles of the astronauts' boots standing next to the launch orbit along the solid lunar soil rocks.

The long-accumulated electrical energy was released in an instant, converging into a solid-like plasma in the vacuum titanium alloy pipe, wrapped in a terrifying thrust, pushing the silver "bullet" forward.

In an instant, that white light seemed to pierce the space and distort the light!

Tens of kilometers of tracks are crossed in less than a minute!

The cargo compartment that suddenly shot from the surface of the moon to the sky was like a projectile discharged from the muzzle of a gun, and rushed to the vast starry sky with the rolling lunar dust that was lifted.

The angle of view gradually lengthened, and the camera switched to the Moon Palace.

Under everyone's gaze, the silver-white bullet was like one of thousands of stars, with a green beacon flashing above its head, rising rapidly from one side of the moon, and then drawing a narrow arc, speeding away in the direction of the Earth-Moon transfer orbit......

Half the battle!

However, no one in the ground command center dared to take anything lightly.

The first half of the launch mission is mainly responsible for the Tsukinomiya, while the second half of the orbit merger, docking and final return are completely guided by the ground command center.

The battlefield that belongs to them has just begun!

"The cargo cabin control system is successfully connected, and the operation of the instrument is being verified......"

"The gauge parameters are all in order! Access to the Active Navigation System! ”

"The navigation system has been successfully activated! With a cargo hold speed of 2.77 km/s, it is approaching the Queqiao 3 cargo spacecraft at a relative distance of 507 km, and it is expected to make contact in 183 seconds! ”

In the radar, two arcs outlined by pale yellow curves intersected, and two flashing green dots were slowly moving along the two arcs and slowly approaching.

As they got closer and closer, the hearts of everyone standing in the command room began to speed up in unison.

Many young scientific research dogs with average psychological quality repeatedly take deep breaths in an attempt to control the disordered heart rate. And some old engineers, even if they are experienced, are not very optimistic at the moment, and some people have even found a prepared heart-saving pill from their pockets, ready to swallow one at any time.

It's impossible not to be nervous.

You only get one chance!

Whether it's success or failure, it's all up to you!

Just using a cannon to hit the cargo hold into the sky is not a win, only if you can bring back the cargo hold that hit the sky, then it can be regarded as a real success. Otherwise, no matter how much they can achieve the muzzle velocity back into the cargo hold, it will not be a real victory.

When the two flickering green dots dropped from km to m in the unit of distance between each other, almost everyone's heart rose to their throats, and they subconsciously held their breath.

This quarter of a second seems like a century long.

Without the slightest sound, the two flickering green dots on the screen fused together as if they were a matter of course under the gaze of countless expectations to be realized.

Everything is so natural.

No fragmentation occurred.

So much so that there are even some ......

Simple?

However, it was such a simple result, and at the moment when the number was zero, the deafening cheers exploded like a lit detonator throughout the command room.

"Oooo

"We made it!"

"Woooooooooo......oo Finally, finally...... GTMD, we really did it! ”

Applause.

Whistle.

Cheers.

Excitement and joy filled everyone's chest and eyes.

Director Li clenched his fists excitedly.

Academician Yuan Huanmin's eyes were chewing tears, and his dry lips trembled slightly, not knowing what he was saying.

Countless engineers from the Hangke Group, as well as researchers from the Aerospace Research Institute of the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, all shouted excitedly.

Even the old man standing beside Lu Zhou couldn't help but raise his arm and wave his right fist and shout, "Okay!" ”

Years and decades of hard work have all been given practical meaning at this moment.

Just today, they conquered the moon!

Bathed in the thunderous cheers, Lu Zhou stood motionless in the center of the command room like a statue. The ecstasy that was almost overflowing from his chest made him speechless for a moment......

Through the cacophony of voices, Lu Zhou faintly heard from the headphones on his head, the communication announcing victory from the Queqiao-3 cargo spacecraft.

"This is the Queqiao No. 3 cargo spacecraft, and the package has been successfully recovered."

"We will bring back a gift from the moon in three days."

"Please remember to pick up the wind for us!"

In fact, for him, this announcement of victory seemed a bit redundant.

Because at the moment when the two green dots met, a line of light blue dialog boxes had gradually been printed in the black eyes that were suddenly blurred because of excitement.

When he saw the moment that line of words appeared, Lu Zhou didn't know how to describe the emotions in his heart at this moment.

How long has it been?

From the successful launch of the first aerospace aircraft into orbit, to China's first manned landing on the moon, to the comprehensive catch-up and overtaking of the Moon Palace and the Lunar Hadron Collider, and the subsequent world boiling caused by this......

All the hardships and sweat are connected in this moment.

This long-term task chain has finally come to the end by him.

["Earth and Moon Control" task chain——]

【Done!】 】