As the starship and spacecraft exploded and disintegrated in the air, images were transmitted to the screen in the control hall. The engineers on site became busy in an instant, quickly analyzing and determining the cause of the situation.

"There was a failure in the thruster separation, which caused the rocket to break apart."

"Launch data transmitted."

In the messy environment, the engineer bent over to study the data, his expression became very serious.

I'm eager to know the specific reason for the disintegration.

It can be seen that everyone is quite confident about this flight test.

Otherwise I wouldn't agree at all.

But no one expected that the starship ignited successfully and flew stably for a distance.

The result is a failure when the thrusters separate.

This caused the rocket to disintegrate and the spacecraft to explode.

A huge and gorgeous firework formed in the sky.

In addition, the sky was still dark, making the explosion and disintegration even more eye-catching.

Don't think about it.

I'm afraid it will soon appear on the headlines of major media outlets.

The main thing is that the situation at the moment is really embarrassing.

They wanted to use the news of the successful flight test of the Starship to enhance their authority in the international space industry and minimize the impact of China's moon landing.

But the result was the opposite.

The failure of the starship test and its explosion and disintegration actually highlighted the complete success of the Long March 10.

It is easy to imagine what the public opinion trend will be like on the entire Internet next.

of course.

The one with the most complicated and angry mood must be Bolsons. His face was very gloomy and he was almost about to start cursing.

If he had known that the Starship, which Musk had high hopes for, was so technically immature and unable to complete the full system flight test, he would never have taken the initiative to propose changing the flight test time to the same day as the launch of China's Chang'e 10.

it's good now.

It was simply a launch that was beaten from all sides.

"Mr. Musk, it seems that your starship is still very immature and does not even meet the requirements for flight tests."

Perhaps it was because he couldn't suppress the emotions in his heart, and finally Bolsons turned his head and couldn't help but say something.

On the other hand, Musk's expression did not change much, and he still maintained a relaxed smile while explaining to Bolsons.

"Conducting a full-system flight test of the starship was a decision made by my team after evaluating the starship. I don't think there is anything wrong with it. As for the starship malfunctioning and exploding, this is a problem that may occur at any time. A single failure will not affect the research and development of the starship."

"On the contrary, I am now more confident in the starship."

After Musk said this, he planned to leave the base and had no intention of continuing the conversation with Bolsons.

As for the consequences of the starship explosion and disintegration, they will be resolved by the base staff.

He doesn't need to worry about anything.

For him, all he had to do was wait patiently for the starship to succeed.

Bolsons looked in the direction Musk left until the other person's figure completely disappeared from his sight. He then withdrew his gaze and looked helplessly at the exploded starship and spaceship on the screen again.

"What a shame!"

He muttered this with a hint of helplessness, and then prepared to return to NASA.

The whole person was like a deflated ball.

He was completely different from the confidence he had shown before.

At this point in the situation, China's successful moon landing has almost become an indisputable fact, and the Starship flight test was unsuccessful and could not compete with the Long March 10 manned carrier rocket. It is destined that the future aerospace field will most likely be led by China.

Their influence and status disappeared.

Unless the starship can be successfully developed, there may be a chance to change the situation.

But judging from today's performance, it is unlikely that the starship will be able to conduct new experiments in the short term.

But there is no other way, since the other side has a genius scientist like Xu Yuan.

And it turns out that the media are indeed very interested in this matter.

Just as the sky gradually brightened and SpaceX was still dealing with rocket debris, many overseas media had already reported in detail on the failure of the Starship launch.

When the heat of the incident spread rapidly and a large number of users learned about it, they were inevitably a little upset.

I can't understand why the Long March 10 on the other side is always a complete success in every test, but when it comes to them, it either explodes or fails in launch.

I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

As the number of users participating in the discussion gradually increases, netizens expressing their opinions can be seen everywhere.

"Why did the launch fail? The thrusters malfunctioned during separation, causing the rocket to disintegrate. Why does it make me feel so unprofessional?"

"The other side's Long March 10 can be successfully launched every time, why can't we?"

“It’s so disappointing.”

"We should give the starship technology to the Chinese to develop. I swear they can do better."

"I really don't see any good prospects for the development of starships."

"We lack talented scientists like Xu. In the future, human civilization's exploration of outer space can only place hope on the Chinese side."

"Fortunately, the Long March 10 was launched successfully, which is very good news for mankind."

"In terms of technological development in the field of aerospace, we have been stagnant for a long time, and now we are far behind them. I feel very sorry about this."

……

Since domestic netizens have also been paying attention to the starship's flight experiments, many people, after watching the launch of the Long March 10, went over the firewall to the external network to wait for news about the starship's flight experiments.

But the final result was an explosion and disintegration.

But to be honest, netizens were not surprised by this result.

In addition to the fact that Starship had to put the flight test time on the same day as the launch of the Long March 10 carrier rocket, people felt that this full-system flight test was rushed. Often when this happens, most of the time the final result is not very good.

After all, as the saying goes, you can't eat hot tofu in a hurry.

If you rush into testing without making full preparations, the probability of failure will indeed increase significantly.

Another reason is the sense of security that Xu Yuan brings to everyone.

It seems that any project that Xu Yuan participates in or is responsible for will be 100% successful.

Since Xu Yuan was not involved in the development of the starship, it was only natural that the test failed.

However, everyone still expressed regret about this matter. After all, from the perspective of human civilization's exploration of outer space, the starship can indeed be regarded as a very powerful project.

If the research is successful, perhaps humans will be able to truly set foot on Mars.

Of course, this matter only occupied the hot search list for a short time on major domestic platform websites, and was soon overshadowed by the topic of manned lunar landing.

What netizens are most concerned about is the docking of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft and the Lanyue lander, which means that astronauts will soon head to the moon. Relatively speaking, the failure of the Starship launch can only be regarded as an episode.

……

As mentioned earlier, CCTV’s special live broadcast of the manned lunar landing mission is still ongoing.

The live broadcast was kept on throughout the process of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft heading for the near-moon orbit and docking with the Lanyue lander.

Experts in the aerospace field were invited to explain the status of the Mengzhou manned spacecraft and the lunar lander.

It is worth mentioning that Xu Yuan also received an invitation from the CCTV.

Originally, we wanted him to take some time to appear in the live broadcast room and personally explain to the audience the entire docking of the spacecraft and the astronauts' moon landing process. After all, this is what the audience is most looking forward to now.

However, since Xu Yuan has been commanding at the space launch site, he is unable to spare the time to return to Yanjing.

Finally, it is worth choosing a polite refusal.

Gao Duo from the Space Technology Research Institute attended the event.

But he still accepted an interview with CCTV reporters at the space launch site.

"Hello, Academician Xu, thank you very much for taking the time to answer questions from the audience in the live broadcast room."

"We all know that our astronauts are now taking the Mengzhou manned spacecraft to rendezvous with the Lanyue lander to complete this historic space date."

"Can you tell us about the rendezvous process and the lunar landing process after the rendezvous?"

Outside the command and control hall of the space launch site, Xu Yuan faced the interview with CCTV reporters with a warm smile on his face and no airs at all.

He listened to the reporter's words and answered immediately without having to organize his words in his mind:

"Ok."

"Currently, the Mengzhou manned spacecraft remains on the planned orbit, and our astronauts are in good condition."

"Next, the Mengzhou manned spacecraft will undergo several orbit changes until it successfully reaches the near-moon orbit and completes rendezvous and docking with the waiting lunar lander."

"According to our scheduled time, this process will be carried out on the morning of the 29th."

"And the plan is to land on the moon in the Rumker Mountains region that evening."

As Xu Yuan answered this question in front of the camera in the live broadcast room, the audience who were watching the live broadcast at the moment suddenly became extremely excited.

Besides being able to finally see Xu Yuan and the sense of security that Xu Yuan brings.

The more important point is the specific time of the moon landing.

Almost at the moment the words fell, the speed at which the barrage of comments refreshed in the live broadcast room increased several times.

If you don't pause it, you can't even see the content of the barrage with the naked eye.

"Seeing Academician Xu, I suddenly stopped worrying. We will definitely be able to successfully complete this moon landing."

"When I saw the video of the starship disintegrating and exploding, I was very nervous, afraid that our moon landing would go wrong. Fortunately, after listening to Academician Xu's words, I felt reassured."

“All I can say is that I trust Academician Xu and that’s it.”

"If we didn't have Academician Xu, we could have landed on the moon today, so there's no need to worry at all."

"If Academician Xu is so confident, then it must be a sure thing."

"Our astronauts boarded the Dream Boat spacecraft and traveled across the vast space to rendezvous with the Lanyue spacecraft waiting in the near-moon orbit. This is simply a romance that belongs only to the field of aerospace."

"Didn't you realize another important point? The 29th is the Mid-Autumn Festival."

"Oh my god, choosing to land on the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival is definitely the most special Mid-Autumn Festival we have ever celebrated."

"It's hard not to suspect that this was done intentionally by aerospace researchers."

"Then, will we be able to see our astronauts on the moon using an astronomical telescope?"

……

Yes.

According to the original plan, the day when the Mengzhou manned spacecraft reached the near-moon orbit after several orbit changes and docked with the Lanyue lander happened to be the Mid-Autumn Festival, which has special significance for the Chinese people.

Landing on the moon on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival can indeed be called a Chinese romance. When everyone is eating mooncakes at night, they suddenly think of the astronauts walking and exploring on the moon 380,000 kilometers away.

This is definitely the most special gift for everyone.

Although Xu Yuan didn't look at the comments in the live broadcast room at this time, he could basically guess everyone's mood.

Because this kind of romance is not understood by overseas people.

Although the technology mastered by domestic aerospace industry in changing the orbit of spacecraft is already very mature.

It can complete the operation completely independently.

However, due to his responsibilities, Xu Yuan will have to stay in the control command hall at all times for the next few days. This way, if there is any emergency, he can contact Yanjing Flight Control in time and eliminate the fault as quickly as possible.

So after briefly answering a few questions from the reporter in front of him, Xu Yuan waved and returned to the hall.

But after Xu Yuan said this, everyone began to look forward to the Mid-Autumn Festival in a few days.

Even the term "Mid-Autumn Moon Landing" instantly topped the hot search lists of major websites and platforms, and the number of views for the topic easily exceeded 100 million in a very short period of time.

In particular, it also boosted the sales of astronomical telescopes.

that's it.

As time goes by, the exciting and anticipated Mid-Autumn Festival finally arrives as scheduled.

-

Today, both students and office workers returned home early to prepare to watch the moon landing in the evening.

Even some people who are still on the road to rush to their schedules have taken out their mobile phones and turned on the live broadcast early, not wanting to miss even a minute of the footage.

2023 9 Month 29 Day.

Friday.

In the command and control hall of the space launch site, Xu Yuan, Zhong Guotao and others were all on high alert.

After several changes, the Mengzhou manned spacecraft has now successfully reached near-moon orbit.

It is located dozens of kilometers behind and below the lunar lander.

At this time, the screen in the command and control hall was showing the camera footage from below the lunar lander.

Sudden.

A bright spot appeared in space.

Although it is so small that you need to look closely to see it, it reflects the light of the sun on its own.

The engineers at the seats immediately became excited, and Zhong Guotao couldn't help but shout.

"That's our Dreamboat manned spacecraft."

At this time, the Mengzhou manned spacecraft and the Lanyue lander were only five kilometers apart in space.

It only takes a few dozen minutes to officially complete the docking.

You should know that the space orbit docking technology of spacecraft was mastered before the construction of the Tiangong space station was started in China, and the first docking test was confirmed to be a complete success, which caused a huge sensation internationally at that time.

No one expected that a newly developed national aerospace team that had never had experience in rendezvous and docking would be able to do this.

It was actually successfully completed during the first trial.

And it was only used for a very short time.

It is precisely by relying on this advanced technology that China successfully completed the construction of the Tiangong space station within a few years.

By now, we are already very familiar with this technology and have rich experience.

Even when the spacecraft was continuously performing rendezvous and docking missions, the Aerospace Research Institute optimized and upgraded the technology.

This allows two spacecraft to dock together more accurately and quickly in a space environment.

For example, previous docking required the setting up of multiple parking areas so that the orbit could be adjusted to the ideal position, while also preventing the docked spacecraft from being unable to evacuate in time after a malfunction occurred.

But now there are fewer docking areas, which shortens the time spent on the docking process to a certain extent.

At this time, Xu Yuan naturally also saw the Mengzhou manned spacecraft in the camera screen below the Lanyue lander.

Then he said to Zhong Guotao: "Let's get started."

"Ok."

The latter nodded, and his whole expression immediately became serious.

While issuing instructions to the astronauts in the Mengzhou manned spacecraft, it was docking with the Lanyue lander.

As everyone expected, the whole process went very smoothly.

"Mengzhou is approaching Lanyue."

……

"Spacecraft docking structure has been launched."

……

When the docking ring of Mengzhou touched the Lanyue lander, the engine at the tail of the spacecraft ignited again before docking, gently pushing the spacecraft into the embrace of the Lanyue lander.

At the same time the docking lock is precisely activated.

Then, a broadcast was heard in the control and command hall.

And synchronize with Yanjing Flight Control.

"Mengzhou and Lanyue docked successfully."

It can be said that the next second after the announcement was made, warm applause broke out in the hall.

Celebrating another important step in the moon landing mission.

Immediately afterwards, the astronauts in the Mengzhou manned spacecraft manually opened the hatch and entered the Lanyue lander.

As the commander, Zhai Zhihang also reported to the ground immediately.

"I have entered the lunar lander and am in good condition."

"Yan Jing understands."

Along with the Mengzhou manned spacecraft and the Lanyue lander, they are formally rigidly connected to form a combination.

Astronauts also need to change into lunar suits and wait for the lunar module and Dream Boat to separate and head to the lunar surface.

It is worth mentioning that an astronaut is needed to stay in the Mengzhou manned spacecraft to deal with emergencies in the cabin. The same situation will also occur in the lunar module.

This means that only two astronauts will be responsible for driving the lunar rover out of the cabin and carrying out the exploration mission.

The main goal is to win steadily.

After all, this is only the first time that China has landed on the moon, so safety must be the top priority in all aspects.

What's more, China will definitely not be like overseas, where after a few moon landings, they announced the suspension of the project and would no longer carry out subsequent moon exploration missions.

This means there will be many opportunities to land on the moon in the future.

In addition, according to the plan for future space development, a lunar science research station will also be built.

There are astronauts stationed there.

At this point, it can be said that it has reached a critical point. The lunar module needs to choose the best time to separate and head to the moon.

So you still need to wait patiently.

Just like that, when the time came to more than seven o'clock in the evening, the Mengzhou manned spacecraft and the Lanyue lander combination reached the orbit above the predetermined lunar area. Under the command of the ground control center, the lunar module successfully separated and headed for the lunar surface under the power of the engine.

"Always pay attention to the height of the lunar module from the lunar surface."

"Choose a suitable area for landing."

At this moment, Xu Yuan also changed his usual relaxed and calm demeanor, and his expression became unusually serious.

Quickly arrange the tasks of all staff in the hall to ensure the safe landing of the lunar module.

From the altitude displayed on the main screen, you can see that the lunar module is getting closer and closer to the surface of the moon. During this process, the engine needs to brake to control the descent speed.

In addition, the instruments and equipment on the lunar module will automatically scan the environment on the lunar surface below.

This can control the descent direction and select the best landing point.

After all, if the landing is on the rugged lunar surface, it is very likely that the lunar module will roll over. If this happens on the moon, it will undoubtedly be a very bad thing for the astronauts.

at the same time.

The audience and netizens who were watching this scene in front of the screen couldn't help but hold their breath.

I was quite worried.

Even if you believe in Xu Yuan and his own lunar module, you can't control the situation when facing such a scene.

Fortunately, not long after, when the lunar module was about to land, the engine ignited again for braking, successfully stabilizing the descent speed and landing smoothly.

"The lunar module has reached the lunar surface and is preparing for the exit."

When the voice of astronaut Zhai Zhihang was transmitted to the ground, warm applause rang out in the hall again.

At this point, there is basically no suspense.

The astronauts, who had already put on their lunar suits, only needed to open the hatch and walk down.

Leave your footprints on the moon.

Just put down the lunar rover, ride it, and complete the corresponding scientific exploration mission.

As the much-anticipated historic moment is about to arrive, both the countless viewers and netizens in front of the screen and the aerospace researchers at the flight control center and the space launch site are extremely excited.

Even Xu Yuan's eyes were fixed on the screen at this moment, showing the images transmitted back by the lunar lander's camera.

Finally, after the preparations of the astronauts in the lunar module, commander Zhai Zhihang manually opened the hatch door and became the first person in the country to leave the module to let the moon witness the arrival and greetings of mankind.

"Astronaut Zhai Zhihang requested to leave the cabin."

"Zhai Zhihang is allowed to leave the cabin."

Following the issuance of the ground order, Zhai Zhihang no longer hesitated and immediately walked to the cabin door and opened it manually.

However, because the lunar suit is relatively thick and heavy, manual operation is relatively inconvenient.

As a result, the usually simple action of opening the cabin door took Zhai Zhihang some time.

Fortunately, Zhai Zhihang is an old astronaut after all and has very rich experience in space flight. In this situation, he was not anxious or panicked, and still maintained a calm mind to open the hatch.

Not long after.

Under the attention of countless people on Earth, Zhai Zhihang successfully opened the hatch of the lunar module.

When the environment on the lunar surface came into view, an indescribable feeling suddenly emerged in Zhai Zhihang's heart, and finally thousands of words were condensed into three simple words.

"so beautiful!"

Then, Zhai Zhihang slowly took steps and stepped on the surface of the lunar soil, leaving a footprint for the first time as a Chinese.

……

(End of this chapter)