Chapter 83: Sun-orbiting Spaceship
Carefully feeling the gravity from another planet beyond Earth, Zhao Jianguo supported himself on the spaceship cabin door and imprinted his footsteps on the lunar surface.
A clear footprint appeared on the thick moon dust.
Standing straight and looking around, a peculiar sensation arose in his heart.
Above his head, the vast starry sky, with countless stars shining, interspersed with a blue planet.
On the horizon, the sun showed only a corner, still bright and dazzling, impossible to look at directly.
Between heaven, earth, and universe, it was completely quiet, with only the rustling sound of the spacesuit material operating and rubbing transmitted into his ears.
After standing there for a while, he suddenly felt a slight scorching heat on the front side of his body, while his back felt somewhat cold.
It was like there was a bonfire in front, and he was standing before it under a cold night.
Of course, there was no bonfire on the moon, but there was the sun.
Even though the sun showed only a corner at this moment, its power was still not to be underestimated.
The side facing it could reach a temperature above 100 degrees Celsius. The side facing away could drop below minus 100 degrees Celsius.
Describing it as ice and fire was not an exaggeration at all.
This phenomenon does not occur on Earth because of the atmosphere’s insulating effect, but the moon has no such thing.
There are two ways to respond to this situation. First, every once in a while, switch sides facing the sun to let it heat evenly.
The second way is…
He raised his arm, opened a cover plate at his waist, pulled out that small handle, and then turned it vigorously as if winding a toy.
After a moment, when he felt the handle could no longer turn, he put it away. The scorching heat in front and the cold on his back also gradually disappeared.
Because under the function of mechanical power, the liquid inside the spacesuit had begun to flow.
The heated liquid in front would mix with the cold liquid on the back, flowing to every part of the spacesuit, ultimately making all the heat in the spacesuit even.
Each turn of the handle allowed the spring and gears to store energy sufficient to support about half an hour.
At this moment, they had not yet entered that special area, and electronic equipment could still be used.
He then used the communicator built into his helmet to report to Earth again: “I have exited the cabin.”
At this moment, there was no mission for him to carry out. Because the subsequent comrades, supplies, and weapons had not yet arrived.
But he knew he wouldn’t wait too long.
Raising his head, he saw a fast-moving “star” appear in the sky.
He knew that it was actually not a star, but the tail flame of the spaceship decelerating.
Inside that spaceship was one of his comrades.
That star grew brighter and brighter, descending swiftly toward the lunar surface like a meteor.
Combining visual estimation and equipment measurements, he roughly confirmed the approximate landing location of that spaceship.
So he hopped along, with each hop covering several meters, quickly heading toward that area.
After quickly scouting the terrain and selecting the most suitable landing spot, he reported again: “Coordinates as follows…”
Several minutes later, a spaceship identical to his own crashed heavily at the location he marked.
Moon dust instantly rose and slowly fell. When the moon dust dispersed, the cabin door of that spaceship finally opened, and a comrade wearing the same spacesuit emerged from inside.
“How does it feel?”
“Not bad.”
“Good, wait for Liu Qingfang to land. By the way, pressurize the liquid driver first, or it’ll be uncomfortable later.”
“Understood.”
Through the radio, the two communicated without obstacles.
Another bright star appeared in the sky. Zhao Jianguo and Qian Liang hopped again toward it.
But this landing had an accident. Before approaching the ground, the brightness of that “star” rapidly diminished.
The engine unexpectedly shut down.
Without the glow of the tail flame, only the sunlight it reflected could enter Zhao Jianguo’s eyes.
And without engine deceleration, at the speed of this spaceship, it would only take less than half a minute to impact the ground at over 300 meters per second.
This speed was faster than an airplane.
Zhao Jianguo’s heart suddenly tightened.
The communication channel was silent, with only the sounds of quickly pressing switches and pulling triggers coming through.
He knew that in the cabin, Liu Qingfang was rapidly investigating the malfunction according to standard program and attempting to restart the engine.
But until that star grew brighter and closer to the ground, the glow from the engine tail flame never appeared.
And now, the death altitude had been passed. Even if the engine started, it would be useless.
This spaceship was doomed to crash.
“Hoo…”
Zhao Jianguo heard a long exhalation from the communication channel, carrying a sense of relief and detachment from finally unloading a heavy responsibility: “Comrades, the subsequent missions depend on you. I’ll go ahead one step.”
The next moment, that conical spaceship plummeted from the sky and violently struck the ground.
Boom!
In the vacuum environment, no sound came through, but Zhao Jianguo felt as if he really heard it in his ears, and he truly sensed the vibration of the ground under his feet at that moment.
Without going to the site to inspect the spaceship crash, Zhao Jianguo and Qian Liang turned directly and hopped toward the next spaceship landing point.
One spaceship after another landed in this area like meteors from the sky, and the number of comrades following behind Zhao Jianguo, also wearing mechanical spacesuits, increased.
Every time they received a comrade, Zhao Jianguo would say that reminder: “Pressurize the liquid driver first.” Then the comrades would gather and head together to the next landing point to welcome the next comrade.
In the end, the number of comrades following Zhao Jianguo settled at 8. Plus himself, a total of 9 people.
And initially, after the successful rocket launch and entry into earth-moon transfer orbit, there were 12 people in total.
Three were missing.
One comrade failed to land and crashed to his death. Another comrade encountered a gas leak during the voyage and perished in the vacuum.
The other comrade failed orbital insertion and, under the acceleration of the moon’s gravity, completely broke free from the gravity of Earth and the moon, flung into deep space, becoming a “solar orbit spaceship.”
He was still alive, but wouldn’t live much longer.
When the last supplies in the spaceship were exhausted, death would still await him. And before death arrived, he would endure all the loneliness and torment alone.
Because of the great distance, he had lost communication with Earth and the moon, unable to contact Earth anymore.
A total of 9 astronauts stood on the desolate and dead lunar surface, hopping toward the next coordinates together.
It was time to receive supplies.
