Chapter 849: The Colonists Set Sail
Translator: _Min_ Editor: Caron_
The entire lunar colonization program was divided into three steps.
In order to display the aeros.p.a.ce strength of Celestial Trade to the public, the entire colonization process would be broadcast on the official website to the world, 24 hours a day.
The rocket launched first was named Celestial 4, which was the largest carrier rocket for Celestial Trade. As a moon landing rocket, unlike the other rockets in the Celestial series, it used a similar three-stage propulsion mode to a normal rocket. As the first rocket, it would carry the colonists’ tools, materials, some necessities, and two pilots.
Kelvin and other s.p.a.ce launch center staff had been preparing for this day for too long.
Within the launch center, not only the staff, reporters, and observers from the United Nations were present, but representatives from the UA, France, Hua, Russia, and Britain, and Jiang Chen were all gathered there as well.
When ignition was ordered, a dense fog quickly dispersed into the launch site. With a long trajectory, Celestial 4 carried the hope and pride of Xin and soared into the blue sky.
Landing on the Moon entailed a long waiting process.
After the launch of the rocket, the rocket didn’t fly in a straight line to the Moon; it had to go through several orbital changes in the process.
Celestial 4 first entered the parking orbit, which was a circular orbit around Earth where the s.p.a.cecraft operated like a satellite. The two pilots conducted various checks on the s.p.a.cecraft and after confirming that all equipment was normal, they would then decide whether to proceed to the Moon. If there were any problems, they would return to Earth and cancel the launch.
Everyone’s hearts were thumping rapidly. Their eyes were locked onto the holographic screen in front of them along with the green dot orbiting around the Earth.
After a few hours of waiting, a message stating that “everything is normal” came back from the parking orbit.
Kelvin was relieved and let out a long breath of air. He wiped his sweat with his palms and ordered, “Celestial 4 is functioning normally, march towards the Moon!”
“…Roger that.”
After receiving an order from the ground command center, Celestial 4, in standby, circled one and half times before the third-stage rocket reignited and seized the opportunity to enter the Moon orbit at a speed of nearly 11 km/s.
By now, the entire launch project was almost successful.
Kelvin wiped the sweat off his face with the back of his hand while he let out a sigh of relief.
He didn’t do much labor, but he was soaked.
Journalists and anchors from major media outlets came forward in attempt to take photos and interview him. However, he just waved his hands and gave his a.s.sistant the opportunity to speak before he headed to the lounge.
“Congratulations, Mr. Jiang. Until now, the launch process has been going smoothly. If there are no accidents in the next 60 hours, you will be the second country in the world to successfully send humans to the Moon.” In front of Jiang Chen, Henry, a UN special observer, smiled and extended his hand.
Since the launch of the first Celestial Trade rocket, he has been stationed on Coro Island because of Xin’s frequent s.p.a.ce activities. At first, he was resentful about this, but Jiang Chen treated him well and he couldn’t really complain. In the past two years, he put on a few more pounds and also grew accustomed to life in the country.
After the completion of Penglai City, he bought a house there. He planned to retire there and not return to the UA.
It wasn’t farfetched to say he saw the leaps Xin made in aeros.p.a.ce from the beginning to the manned Moon landing that just happened. Despite his position, he genuinely felt happy for Celestial Trade.
“I will take your word for it,” Jiang Chen said with a smile. He glanced at the reporters attempting to break through the wall of bodyguards and said, “Let’s eat something together. Since this morning, I haven’t had a single thing to eat yet. ”
“Me too,” Henry smiled back and walked with Jiang Chen to the cafeteria.
Because of the large number of foreign guests, the cafeteria staff made a sumptuous dinner, going above and beyond their usual performance. Jiang Chen saw the UA delegation sitting in a corner, chewing on pork chops, fried shrimp, and ham while talking about Celestial Trade’s launch that day.
Obviously, they were shocked that the launch of Celestial Trade went so smoothly.
Although they successfully sent people to the Moon in the 1960s, their failure from Apollo 1 to 10 finally taught them the secret to success. Only NASA would know how much sweat, sacrifice, and money went into this success.
However, some of the most difficult obstacles to the Moon landing were easily tackled by Celestial Trade. While the UA delegates were stunned, it also deeply infuriated them.
Perhaps as revealed by the officials of the Ministry of National Defense, Celestial Trade had already surpa.s.sed the UA in missile technology, and launch vehicles were just another manifestation of this technological advantage.
After dinner, Jiang Chen met with representatives of the UA, France, Hua, Russia, and Britain. Regardless of their positions, they all congratulated him. At the same time, however, these representatives from various countries also inquired about his next step.
Jiang Chen was open with the intelligence that could be revealed.
As for his corporate secrets, Jiang Chen kept his mouth shut despite their incessant questioning.
Reporters from major media outlets lingered in the reception hall of the launch center until ten o’clock. Instead of spending time on these reporters, Jiang Chen went to the dormitory the staff arranged for him. He planned to stay on the island until the entire launch mission was completed.
He wouldn’t miss his chance to witness history!
Representatives of other countries also shared the same thought. They turned down the hotels arranged by Celestial Trade and asked staff to stay in dormitories. Even if the accommodations were simple, no one complained.
The next day, “Celestial 4” shuttled through dark s.p.a.ce. The third-stage rocket was already extinguished and the rocket was moving slower and slower. When it approached the midpoint between the Earth and the Moon, the speed slowed down to 3 km/s.
On the third day, Celestial 4’s third-stage rocket reignited and entered the Moon’s...o...b..t to be captured by the gravitational pull of the Moon.
At that point, Celestial 4 arrived at the perigee.
However, it didn’t start landing immediately. At this time, the rocket was still fast and needed to be adjusted several times on an elliptical orbit. It had to drop from a 12-hour orbit to a 127-minute orbit before landing could begin.
The command center on the ground and the astronauts on the rocket also welcomed the most crucial moment before landing!
If the rocket’s speed wasn’t controlled at this time, the remaining fuel wouldn’t be enough to correct the orbit. The end result would be that the entire rocket would become uncontrolled “s.p.a.ce debris.” The astronauts could only enter the hibernation chambers and wait many years as the technical conditions allowed before being retrieved.
Fortunately, no accidents occurred.
According to the orbit calculated by the quantum computer, Celestial 4 successfully arrived at the landing site on the Moon surface.
It lasted 67 hours.
When the dust of the surface rose, all staff, including Kelvin and observers, all erupted in cheers, applause, and roars.
Even though they were from different nations, at this very moment, they were all witnessing the first step taken to march into the vast galaxy as one humanity.