Chapter 764: The Moon Palace Enters Orbit!

NASA.

Satellite control center.

In front of the horseshoe-shaped console, stood a mass of dark figures. Among them are engineers from NASA, officials from the White House and Congress, and professionals from famous North American aerospace companies such as Space-X and Blue Space.

The atmosphere at the scene was quite depressing, and a pair of eyes converged into a single point on the big screen on the console.

Everyone was staring at the same position, as if waiting for a result.

Three days ago, carrying the core module components of the Moon Palace space station, Huaguo Xiangrui lifted off again, successfully broke through the atmosphere and entered low-Earth orbit.

The eyes of almost all space agencies around the world are focused on this space plane headed for lunar orbit.

If the launch plan is successful, Huaguo will become the first country in the world to launch a space station in lunar orbit, and it will also become the only country in the world that has been proven capable of constructing lunar orbits.

For the United States, this is obviously not good news.

If there is no accident, their "Deep Space Gate" lunar orbital space station will have to wait until next year to launch the first formation. Although the success of the Ares project has allowed them to take the lead in the Mars colonization plan, if this is the case Losing the moon seems to be a bit of a loss.

Since three days ago, the footage of NASA's moon observation satellite has been firmly locked at the exit of the Earth-Moon transfer orbit, waiting for the spacecraft that has left the synchronous orbit for a long time to appear in the footage again.

If there are no accidents, today should be the time for the Xiangrui to reach the lunar orbit...

Staring at the big screen on the console with gloomy eyes, Chief Carson stood there with his hands behind his back for a long time, then suddenly glanced at his watch impatiently, and said.

"Hasn't it appeared yet?"

Standing next to Director Carson, Bill, the director of the satellite control center, opened the folder in his hand and quickly reported to him.

"According to our calculations and analysis, they still have about ten minutes to reach the lunar orbit...Of course, the possibility that they did not use the traditional Earth-Moon transfer orbit and cut into the Moon's orbit through other methods is not ruled out."

At this point, Bill glanced at Director Carson, and continued with a slightly subtle expression.

"...If this is the case, we need more accurate lunar surface altitude data to make accurate observations of their spacecraft."

Chief Carson curled his lips.

"...You can make a call and ask the Huaguo Space Administration, maybe they will tell you."

The voice of Bill, the director of the satellite control center, faltered slightly, and the smile on his face was slightly embarrassed. Standing not far from Director Carson, the President glanced at his watch impatiently and said.

"...We can't wait here endlessly, maybe next time you can give me a more accurate time."

Director Carson: "Please don't worry, my Mr. President, regardless of whether the situation is optimistic or not, we will see the results in at most two hours..."

If possible, he certainly hoped that the damn space plane never showed up. Better to be like a runaway comet, disappearing forever at the end of the Earth-Moon system...

NASA needs a competitor who is right behind them, not a player who is half a step ahead. No matter what field they are in, they must be the best. This is not only an honor, but also a damn political correctness.

However, Carson also knew that his expectations were not even a luxury.

There is no reason why the Xiangrui, which has already succeeded in manned moon landing, can't even do simple things like delivering satellites.

Sure enough, as if to confirm his guess, the moment the needle pointed to the right time, there was a burst of startled commotion in front of the console.

A NASA engineer standing under the screen suddenly pointed to a certain place on the screen and shouted uncontrollably.

"It's the Xiangrui! I saw it!"

Looking in the direction the engineer was pointing at, Director Carson's pupils instantly shrank into a single point.

Appeared!

It's Xiangrui!

...

In the sky above the moon, a pitch-black night was pierced by faint arcs of light and the icy silence.

A bright silver aerospace plane, like a silver shuttle coming from deep space, smoothly completed the orbit switch and slowly merged into the 127-minute orbit.

All operations are done in one go, without any muddling.

Staring at the pitted moon, Nie Yun, who was sitting in the driver's seat, had a smile on his lips, and his mind was full of thoughts.

back here again...

I remember the last time I came here was two or three months ago.

No matter how many times he saw such a beautiful scene, he couldn't help but fascinated him.

The only regret was that this time he also couldn't stand on that gray land.

But he believes that, in the not-too-distant future, there will be a day when traveling to the moon will be as common as taking a flight across the ocean.

And when that time comes, that little wish in his heart may not be a wish at all.

Stretching out his hand to press the helmet, Nie Yun spoke in a clear voice.

"...This is Xiangrui, we have successfully entered orbit."

After a short pause, a noisy voice came from the communication channel.

"...This is the ground command center. I'm glad to hear this news. Your flight mission has been half-successful... Now please go to the designated airspace immediately and prepare for the next stage."

"receive!"

Stretching out his hand and pressing on the control panel, Nie Yun switched the flight mode from the orbit change mode to the automatic cruise mode, and skillfully opened the cabin door pressure measurement system.

Sitting in the co-pilot seat, Nie Han confirmed the data between the plane and the moon on the rangefinder, and at the same time spoke in a chatty tone.

"The altitude of the orbit is normal, and we are approaching the target area...Maybe we can hurry up, and if the situation is optimistic, we may still be able to catch up with the test flight of Xiaguang."

Hearing her words, Nie Yun smiled and said, "Don't think about it, the test pilot has already been decided, and they are two young men from the space brigade."

Nie Han sighed with a slightly regretful expression: "Really? That's really a pity."

It is said that Xiaguang has a double-wing design, and four of the five engines can control the jet direction at a large angle. This new type of aircraft will be able to complete the flight from the surface to the orbital section with lower loss of working fluid and in a safer way.

Such an aircraft must be more interesting to fly than the Xiangrui.

Nie Yun: "There is nothing to regret, we have other test flight missions, I guarantee you will be interested."

Nie Han: "What test flight mission?"

Nie Yun said with a smile: "Your old job is to drive a transport plane... to shuttle back and forth between the Earth-moon orbit and the geosynchronous orbit."

Some time ago, he heard that Xingkong Technology is considering using the propulsion system of Xiangrui to develop an interplanetary electric propulsion spacecraft that can transfer from the earth to the moon and back and forth quickly.

If this research is successful, it may not be long before the Xiangrui will withdraw from the stage of history.

At least, back off from civilian launch missions.

Nie Han rolled his eyes: "I'd rather pilot the Xiangrui. I applied for this task because I was tired of driving a transport plane."

Nie Yun joked in a relaxed tone: "Isn't it because you can fly higher?"

Nie Han: "Have both...we are here!"

While talking, the two had arrived at the target area.

The flight path is gradually deviating from the 127-minute orbit and entering an elliptical orbit.

This is the best place to launch a lunar satellite. Under the joint action of the earth, the sun and the moon's gravitational force, the core module operating in this orbit can last up to 36 months without the use of a propulsion system. Stable operation.

And with the help of the propulsion system, only a small amount of working fluid and energy is needed to maintain the space station in this peaceful orbit for decades...

After confirming the orbital parameters and restraining the excitement in his heart, Nie Yun took a deep breath, reached out and pressed the side of the helmet, and spoke in a steady and firm voice.

"This is Xiangrui, we have arrived at the space station's delivery orbit."

Not long after, the order from the ground command came.

"...Activate the cargo compartment!"

"Received," Nie Han in the co-pilot exchanged a firm look. He reached out to release the safety gate of the cargo compartment, and then pressed the red button that popped up.

"Opening the cargo compartment!"

A slight muffled sound floated up along the soles of the feet, accompanied by a slow shaking, the silver-white cylindrical spacecraft was thrown into the deep space behind by the Xiangrui...

Looking at the four green words [Separation Successful] that popped up on the screen, Nie Yun said loudly in an excited voice.

"The cargo compartment has been activated successfully!"

"The Moon Palace has successfully entered the scheduled orbit!"

"We made it!"

-

(The new month has started again, please ask for a monthly pass~~~ Hey, I am so excited, I am going to skydive tomorrow, it is said that it is 13,000 feet, but I don’t know if I can fly so high. Anyway, this is for collecting materials! Insurance has been bought , wish me luck everyone!)