Chapter 267: Is This Humanity?
“Didn’t they use Queqiao?”
Sun Jiadong was already very old, not the best Russian translator in the entire Fifth Academy in another spacetime. After Dean Qian received the White Horse materials sent by Pokrovsky, he immediately shouted Sun Jiadong’s name, asking him to take charge of the translation.
At this time, he was already ninety-two years old, just a bit younger than Buzz Aldrin.
But on this big day for the entire China Aerospace, he still came to the scene.
Sitting next to him was the current chief engineer of China Aerospace’s moon landing program, Wu Weiren.
“We mentioned it to Lin Ran and them, but their idea was that the entire process would take too long and require re-modification of the communication system, so they didn’t adopt the Queqiao satellite relay communication proposal.” Wu Weiren’s face was full of emotion.
How is it so relaxed?
In December 2018, China Aerospace launched the Chang’e-4 probe, starting humanity’s first exploration journey to the far side of the Moon.
Before that, they had launched a relay satellite named Queqiao ahead of time, just so that Chang’e-4 could maintain smooth communication during orbit change and lunar orbit insertion.
Queqiao is located in the halo orbit at the Earth-Moon L2 point, providing communication relay for the far side.
“It seems Lin Ran’s team has full confidence. If they have the ability, then this is confidence.” Sun Jiadong concluded.
When a big shot speaks, at least in China Aerospace’s evaluation system, Lin Ran is confident rather than arrogant.
Actually, Lin Ran was well aware that using Queqiao would of course be good.
But the problem is that Saturn V only has two launches. If using Queqiao, they would need to build a few more lunar spaceships and do unmanned tests, meaning at least three Saturn V launches.
Both cost and time would skyrocket, making it very easy to miss this year’s Christmas moon landing window.
It would have to be delayed to next year.
At the same time, although Queqiao’s coverage is broad, it doesn’t guarantee communication during LOI burn, because the entire LOI process involves high-speed movement, and there might be brief loss of contact at certain positions.
The spaceship’s communication system would also need modification.
Of course, the most important reason is that Lin Ran had 100% confidence in himself.
He had operated the entire moon landing process more than once.
While Pony applauded, Zhang Chaoyang, who came to visit beside him and who had achieved financial freedom early and wanted to become a physics teacher, the Sohu Zhang, said softly: “Lin Sheng is right; moon landing is indeed as simple as eating and drinking for him.”
Zhang Chaoyang still had a shocked expression on his face that hadn’t faded, his speech rate very fast: “Isn’t this a bit too perverted.
Pony, do you know why LOI is said to be the most critical maneuver in the moon landing process? It’s not just because of potential loss of contact, but also because the precision requirements are extremely high.
From the perspective of orbital calculation, LOI requires precise calculation of the spaceship’s trajectory to determine the required deceleration and burn timing.
This involves complex orbital mechanics problems, especially the three-body problem, that is, the mutual gravity of Earth, Moon, and spaceship, which is computationally complex and highly susceptible to perturbations.
The spaceship starts from Earth, initially dominated by Earth’s gravity, and is gradually captured by lunar gravity when approaching the Moon, forming a classic three-body dynamical system.
The solution to the three-body problem is nonlinear and chaotic, requiring numerical simulation and approximation methods; you can only get a rough approximate solution, not an exact one.
Apollo moon landing relied on astronauts’ on-the-spot performance.
China Aerospace’s Chang’e-4 relied on Queqiao relay satellite to ensure smooth communication, with ground providing real-time calculation to ensure navigation precision.
Before Apollo 11’s LOI burn, the ground team determined the spaceship’s position via radar and Doppler measurement, with position error controlled within 5 kilometers, and speed error within 1 meter per second.
Our Chang’e-4 uses a more advanced deep space network to improve precision, but calculations still need to consider minor perturbations from the Sun and planets.
Moreover, there’s an even more perverted aspect: the Moon’s gravity field is uneven, with mass concentrations on the lunar surface like the Sea of Rains and JH region, where gravity anomalies can reach plus or minus 0.1 milligal, perturbing the spaceship’s orbit.
Lin Sheng’s orbit change didn’t rely on China Aerospace’s deep space network, so either the ground calculation precision reached a high level, or the two astronauts going up have skills comparable to Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
If it’s the latter, those two would have been eliminated in past astronaut selections; that would really be too bad.
Even including Lin Sheng thinking of inviting Buzz Aldrin as their training mentor, that’s a stroke of genius.”
After Zhang Chaoyang finished speaking at an extremely fast speech rate, Pony was left with one impression: this thing is very difficult, but there’s really no need to compete in professionalism with a MIT physics PhD.
He at most tinkers with telescopes; the other can hand-calculate orbital calculation formulas, a ruthless person.
Among many internet big shots, Zhang Chaoyang is definitely the one with the highest education, and his credentials are extremely hardcore.
“Pony, transfer the Apollo Technology shares in your hand to me.” Moments later, Zhang Chaoyang said.
Pony’s face was full of question marks at this time: “Bro, do I lack money? Your net worth is probably not even a fraction of mine.”
“No, Charles, a company that’s the only one in the 21st century to achieve manned flight to near-lunar orbit—NASA has been shouting about it for so many years, and NASA still hasn’t sent astronauts to near-lunar orbit, and their timeline is one year.
You want to buy shares of such a company from me; isn’t that a bit too dismissive of me?
With my love for the universe, is this about money!” Pony said indignantly.
Zhang Chaoyang quickly said: “General Manager Ma, my bro Ma, I just want a little bit; just leak one or two percentage points from your hand to me.”
Pony shook his head: “The shares in my hand will be given to Lin Sheng after the moon landing is completed; this portion of shares is just temporarily held by me.”
Only then did Zhang Chaoyang learn the inside story.
Such verbal promises are unknown to anyone except the parties involved.
So recently on the internet, regarding Apollo Technology’s circumlunar flight, the hottest discussions besides the event itself are that Tencent has such a good eye, investing in such a potential stock.
After entering the fifth day, which is the third day after successfully entering lunar orbit, today’s operation is also the most critical part of this experiment: the lunar module’s simulated landing and return docking.
It can be said that except for not going down with people, everything else is exactly the same as the next moon landing.
The lunar module simulated landing is to verify the lunar module’s descent, hover, and ascent capabilities, paving the way for the next manned moon landing.
The atmosphere in the entire Wenchang Aerospace Command Control Center was tense yet orderly.
In the center of the circular control room, the big screen showed the spaceship’s real-time trajectory in lunar orbit.
Propellant pressure, speed data, and altitude data were telling the on-site engineers the current progress.
Li Rui had never imagined in the past that one day he could participate in a project like the moon landing project.
Although everyone present started with dual 985 master’s degrees, domestic per capita resources are limited, but there are many people.
Dual 985 sounds impressive, but on a national scale, such talents are as numerous as the grains in the river.
Those who can finally enter the moon landing project and stand in the moon landing control center are elites among elites; dual 9 is just the threshold.
But now, at this moment, they are one step ahead of NASA and China Aerospace.
At this point, no one wants failure, no one wants a mistake in their responsible part.
With past cooperation, everyone knows clearly: do your own duty well, and if there’s a problem, find the professor—the man standing in the center of the circular command room can solve all problems.
“Lunar module separation countdown 5 minutes, all systems self-check.” Lin Ran’s voice was clear and steady; only breathing sounds could be heard in the control room.
Navigation Officer Xiao Liu reported: “Orbital parameters stable, altitude 100 kilometers, speed 1.6 kilometers per second.”
Unlike actual moon landing, Qian Fei and Zhao Jianguo didn’t need to enter the lunar module.
They were in the command module, controlling the lunar module’s landing and return via the remote control system.
Next time, they would enter the lunar module.
The lunar module was located below the service module, connected to the command module via a narrow passage.
“Wenchang, Ben Yue Hao, lunar module in position, requesting separation.” Qian Fei reported via the communicator.
“Received, separation program initiated.” Lin Ran responded.
The lunar module separated from the command module; the screen showed separation successful.
Qian Fei took a deep breath: “Begin simulated landing.”
“Ready? This is our big exam.”
The space inside the lunar module was cramped, with the dashboard and control stick taking up most of the space.
Next to the seat was the touchscreen, displaying propellant remaining, engine status, and predetermined landing point coordinates.
The lunar module began simulated descent in lunar orbit, targeting the process of simulating landing on the lunar surface.
Zhao Jianguo stared fixedly at the altitude data: “Descent engine ignition, altitude 90 kilometers… 80 kilometers…”
Qian Fei was fully focused at this moment, fine-tuning the control stick to control the propulsion system’s thrust.
The lunar module descended slowly, speed gradually slowing.
“Altitude 50 kilometers, speed 0.5 kilometers per second.” Zhao Jianguo reported.
“Prepare to hover.” Qian Fei said in a deep voice.
At the predetermined altitude, which was simulated 10 kilometers above the lunar surface, Qian Fei operated the lunar module to hover, simulating selecting a landing point on the lunar surface.
He stared at the terrain map on the screen, muttering to himself: “Flat here, suitable for landing.”
“Hover stable, propellant consumption normal.” Zhao Jianguo confirmed.
Then, Qian Fei pulled up the control stick, and the lunar module began ascending, simulating takeoff from the lunar surface.
“Ascent engine ignition, altitude 15 kilometers… 20 kilometers…” Zhao Jianguo read the data.
Qian Fei gripped the control stick tightly, gaze firm: “Prepare to dock with command module.”
In the command module, besides real-time control via the remote control system, they could also monitor the lunar module’s trajectory, adjust the command module’s attitude for docking.
“Lunar module distance 50 meters… 20 meters…” Zhao Jianguo reported.
Qian Fei fine-tuned the propulsion system, and the lunar module slowly approached the command module.
With a light sound, docking succeeded.
“Docking complete!” Qian Fei breathed a sigh of relief, patted Zhao Jianguo’s shoulder, then grinned and said: “Old Zhao, next time it’s us going to the Moon.”
Zhao Jianguo’s face showed a hint of longing: “I can’t wait already. When the moon landing is done and I go back to see my daughter, I’ll definitely tell her well about our stories in space.”
At this moment, CCTV was live broadcasting: the live image switched to the lunar module simulated landing scene, and the commentator said excitedly: “China Aerospace has successfully completed the lunar module simulated landing; this is a historic moment!”
Apollo Technology is also China Aerospace, no problem.
Originally, China Aviation specifically referred to China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, but now in official contexts, China Aerospace is far more than just this one group.
On social media, the Weibo topic #Ben Yue Hao Lunar Module Test# has over 50 billion views.
“I thought we wouldn’t land on the Moon until 2030, but unexpectedly there’s such a big surprise.”
“Why did I, a mathematics professor, become the chief designer of the moon landing project?”
“Whether America’s moon landing was filmed by Hollywood or not doesn’t matter now; what’s important is that we’re going soon.”
“Honestly, if I were American, I absolutely wouldn’t accuse China of plagiarizing their Saturn V; it’s like an exam—scoring 140 before and now 30, yelling everywhere that the desk mate copied yours, then asking how much the desk mate scored: 140. Is there anything more embarrassing?”
“I’m going to make my son study mathematics; sure enough, mastering math, physics, and chemistry means you can go anywhere fearless; mathematics is indeed the king of sciences. No matter how you cross fields, it doesn’t feel off—from Simmons to Edward Witten, to early computer field big shots, many crossed from mathematics. Ran Shen just proved it again.”
Edward Witten is a mathematician, but because he created M-theory, he’s considered a representative figure in string theory and quantum field theory.
Simmons was also a mathematician, collaborator of Shiing-Shen Chern, later went to Wall Street to found the earliest quantitative trading fund Renaissance Technologies, known as the father of quantitative trading.
“Already looking forward to planting the national flag on the Moon.”
In Washington, NASA’s acting director gathered the team to watch the live broadcast.
He frowned: “Their mastery of F-1 thrust far exceeds expectations!” The remaining executives raised their volume: “We need to accelerate the Artemis program.”
On the eighth day after launch, the Ben Yue Hao spaceship prepared to return to Earth from lunar orbit.
On the screens in Wenchang Control Center, the spaceship’s real-time trajectory, service module engine operating status were all clear at a glance, with orbital parameters constantly refreshing in numbers and curves.
“TEI ignition countdown 10 minutes, all systems enter final self-check.” Lin Ran commanded.
TEI refers to trans-Earth injection, changing orbit from near-lunar orbit to the orbit back to Earth.
Apollo Technology’s team had already calculated the precise burn parameters required for this TEI through complex mathematical models and simulation experiments: thrust 100 tons, burn time 5 minutes, propellant consumption 8 tons.
These data were uploaded to the spaceship in advance to ensure foolproof.
The navigation officer quickly reported: “Orbit altitude 300 kilometers, speed 1.6 kilometers per second, parameters normal.”
Lin Ran turned to the navigation officer Li Rui beside him: “This ignition angle must be precise to 0.01 degrees; any deviation could cause the spaceship to deviate from orbit.”
Li Rui responded: “Don’t worry, Professor, we’ve verified it three times.”
Inside the spaceship, Commander Qian Fei gripped the operation lever tightly, staring at the countdown on the dashboard.
Zhao Jianguo was checking engine status and navigation data.
“Wenchang Control Center, Ben Yue Hao in position, requesting ignition command.” Qian Fei reported via the communicator.
“Ignition command confirmed, execute at any time.” Lin Ran’s voice carried unquestionable authority.
Countdown reached zero, Qian Fei decisively pressed the ignition button.
The service module main engine roared to life, spraying blazing flames from the tail, and the spaceship began accelerating away from lunar gravity.
“Thrust stable, speed 2.0 kilometers per second… 2.5 kilometers per second…” Zhao Jianguo watched the screen closely.
Qian Fei real-time corrected the orbit: “Angle deviation 0.005 degrees, completely within safe range!”
Lin Ran said softly: “Very perfect.”
5 minutes later, the engine shut down on time.
The spaceship successfully entered trans-Earth injection orbit.
Qian Fei breathed a sigh of relief and reported to the control center: “TEI ignition successful, spaceship heading back to Earth.”
Cheers erupted in the control center; after Lin Ran pressed his hands down, the applause quickly subsided.
He quickly ordered: “Enter return data monitoring, prepare for re-entry phase.”
During the return journey, the astronauts began organizing mission data and checking spaceship status.
Earth’s Apollo Technology team received temperature, pressure, and speed data transmitted back by the spaceship in real time via satellite communication, ensuring everything was normal.
“Spaceship attitude stable, propellant remaining as expected.” Qian Fei reported while recording.
Lin Ran stared at the data curves, calculating silently in his mind: “At current speed, expected to enter re-entry orbit in 48 hours; must prepare separation plan in advance.”
At the same time, the control center specially arranged a warm moment.
Zhao Jianguo video called his family; his wife’s gentle smiling face appeared on the screen: “We’re proud of you; come back safely!”
Zhao Jianguo smiled in response: “Don’t worry, I’ll be home soon.”
Qian Fei patted his shoulder: “With family support, we’ll have more motivation too; look at how happy Old Zhao is.”
Lin Ran heard this dialogue, a slight smile appeared on his face, but he quickly dove back into tense calculations.
On the tenth day, as the spaceship approached Earth’s atmosphere, Lin Ran issued the key command: “Prepare to separate command module from service module.”
Inside the spaceship, Qian Fei quickly operated the buttons, and the command module separated smoothly from the service module.
The screen showed separation successful; he immediately reported: “Separation complete, command module operating independently.”
In the control center, Lin Ran watched the video footage from the spaceship, confirmed the separation angle and speed were correct, then muttered to himself: “First step successful; next is the real test.”
The command module plunged into the atmosphere; the heat shield emitted blazing red light under high-temperature friction, and the cabin temperature rose rapidly.
“Re-entry normal, altitude 100 kilometers… 80 kilometers…” Qian Fei’s voice was slightly trembling.
Apollo Technology monitored re-entry angle and speed in real time via ground radar and spaceship sensors.
Lin Ran quickly calculated the spaceship’s deceleration curve, ensuring the angle stayed between 5.5 and 7.5 degrees, speed controlled within 11 kilometers per second.
“Spaceship attitude deviated 0.02 degrees; adjust immediately!” Lin Ran ordered decisively.
Qian Fei quickly operated the spaceship attitude control system; Zhao Jianguo assisted in correction, and the spaceship attitude soon stabilized.
“Altitude 50 kilometers, deceleration normal.” Qian Fei breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Ran watched the screen closely, calculating silently: “In another 5 minutes, the parachute should deploy.”
The spaceship passed through the densest part of the atmosphere; the parachute deployed as planned, spaceship speed dropped sharply, and it began descending slowly.
The Apollo Technology team tracked the spaceship position in real time via Beidou satellite system and radar, ensuring the splashdown point was in the predetermined Pacific Ocean area.
“Altitude 500 meters… 200 meters… 50 meters…” Qian Fei’s voice gradually steadied.
The spaceship finally splashed down on the sea surface, stirring up a spray. The recovery ship quickly approached, the hatch opened, and Qian Fei was the first to poke his head out, waving and smiling at the camera.
Cheers deafening in the control center.
Lin Ran let out a long breath and solemnly announced: “Ben Yue Hao mission a complete success!”
In the outside viewing room, Sun Jiadong had gone back to rest early due to his age; Wu Weiren glanced at the colleague beside him and found the colleague also looking at him. They could both hear the control center’s voice in real time; the two exchanged glances.
“No way, is the Fields Medal really that powerful? Old Wu, should we also invite a Fields Medalist to guide us?”
Wu Weiren was a bit dazed; he felt like he was dreaming: “Re-entry angle and speed calculation without relying on computer, done by human brain? Is this human?”
