As a mage, I just want to pursue the truth

Chapter 208 Success and Failure

Although America was not as well prepared this time as it was during the space race in the 1970s, fifty years of advances in aviation technology meant that America's moon landing was still smooth.

During the Apollo program, people only remembered Armstrong who successfully landed on the moon.

The Apollo 11 spacecraft successfully landed on the moon.

Previously, the first Apollo, Apollo 1, had a fire in the command module that killed all three astronauts.

A lot of preparations were made back then, but from a technical point of view, many of the technologies were actually immature, and they were forced in order to win the competition with the former Russia.

For example, the transfer of propellant, the cryogenic propulsion system, and the safety of the lunar landing system are far from mature.

It was just that Russia had been the first to achieve manned space flight at that time, so America needed to surpass its competitors in the moon landing program and adopted a relatively radical plan.

In 1962, NASA considered four lunar landing modes: lunar orbit rendezvous, blue star orbit rendezvous, liquid nova direct flight, and Saturn C-5 direct flight.

Among them, the Blue Star Orbit rendezvous is the safest. From a probability calculation perspective, the probability of a safe landing is only half of that of the other three lunar landing modes.

For this moon landing plan, NASA adopted an improved lunar orbit rendezvous mode based on technological advances.

It was first launched once from a spacecraft, and then entered the predetermined orbit through the Apollo 18 spacecraft.

The Command Service Module, which consists of the Command Module’s crew return and entry modules and the Service Module, will separate in a trans-lunar orbit and perform lunar descent and ascent when docked with the Lunar Excursion Module.

The command module performed a propulsive capture while docking with the Lunar Departure Module, taking advantage of the opportunity to reach low lunar orbit. Two of the three crew members transferred to the Lunar Departure Module to begin their orbital insertion and landing on the lunar surface.

After the lunar mission was completed, the two-person crew launched from the lunar surface using the Lunar Ascent Module.

The lunar ascent module entered an intercept orbit on the lunar surface and rendezvoused and docked with the remaining astronauts in orbit.

This is the general process of lunar orbit docking.

Grindren was excited after returning to the preset track:
"It's a shame you didn't make it to the moon, old man."

"The moon was incredible, and Watkins went there first, and then I went there."

"There are only two people on such a huge planet. The last time humans appeared on the moon was fifty years ago."

"After 50 years, human footprints finally appeared on the moon again."

“Feel the insignificance of human beings and the greatness of the universe.”

"I don't know which planet the mysterious man came from. I really want to go to the planet where the mysterious man came from."

The mysterious man refers to Merlin, and American officials asked them not to say Merlin's name directly.

The American side was worried that Merlin could actually hear what everyone was talking about when they shouted his name.

Even if the possibility is one in ten thousand, we must avoid this situation.

They could not interfere with the behavior of ordinary Americans, but they could restrict government employees.

As a senior employee of the American government, Grindren knew some inside information.

The more he knew, the less Grindren thought Merlin was from Blue Star, and the more likely he thought Merlin was an alien who borrowed the myths and legends of Blue Star.

Hines shook his head and said, "Okay, guys, we have to prepare to return."

“There’s always next time.”

Hines felt helpless and a little unhappy.

Whether from the perspective of qualifications or ability, he should be one of the two people who landed on the moon.

It should be Watkins who stayed in the low lunar orbit to guard the spacecraft.

You say there will be opportunities in the future, but what if there is no opportunity?
Maybe this is our only chance to land on the moon?
Because Watkins was a black woman, she was not only able to land on the moon, but also be the first to leave the spacecraft, becoming the first person to land on the moon fifty years later.

Fifty years ago, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, Armstrong was the first to exit the cabin and Aldrin was the second.

Armstrong became the first person to land on the moon, and the world almost only knew about Armstrong and was unaware of Aldrin's existence.

There was a third person on Apollo 11 at the time, pilot Michael Collins, and even fewer people knew about it.

In this time's moon landing, Hines plays the same role as Collins did back then.

Fifty years ago, fame was linked to status and interests, let alone fifty years later.

When Hines heard about NASA's arrangement for them, he cursed several times in his heart: "Damn political correctness."

He could imagine the scene where the Blue Star media would praise Watkins to the sky after he returned to Blue Star.

A black woman, the first person to land on the moon fifty years later, has had all the buffs stacked up.

But no matter how dissatisfied he was, Hines couldn't change anything. Not only could he not change it, he couldn't even express his dissatisfaction.

If he had dared to express the slightest dissatisfaction with Watkins's first moon landing, his career as an astronaut would have been ruined.

"The moon landing has been successful. Now we need to return to the blue planet according to the established plan."

"Our NASA colleagues on the blue planet and the media from all over the world are preparing to welcome us and celebrate for us." Watkins was also very excited.

She knew that she would gain a lot from the successful moon landing, not only in terms of fame, but also in the possibility of becoming the first black female president in the future.

But before successfully returning to the Blue Star, all this is empty.

"Let's get ready to go back. The recycling ship is waiting for us on Blue Star."

"America launches Apollo 18 manned spacecraft to the moon on the th"

"Jessica Watkins, Shel Grindlund, and Robert Hines successfully landed on the moon on August 2024, 8"

“Once again heading to another world”

About 14.7 billion people watched the live broadcast of the moon landing. NASA sold the live broadcast rights of the moon landing to the world.

America's successful moon landing also gave the media a lot of topics to talk about, and governments that knew the inside story were happy to shift the public's attention to the space industry.

Landing on the moon was possible with past technology, but building a base on Mars is not that easy.

This field requires a large number of talents, and once the Mars base is built, there will be a large gap in subsequent aerospace talents.

It is not impossible to build large cities on Mars in the future.

This requires a large number of aerospace talents, and the guidance of public opinion can encourage more young people to join the aerospace industry.

When Gagarin entered space and Armstrong landed on the moon, it inspired many people.

This era needs new space heroes.

Americain chose the combination that best fits their background.

China will naturally also introduce their own space heroes.

There has been no groundbreaking progress, so subsequent astronauts are far less famous than the first astronaut in manned space flight.

But the lunar space station and subsequent manned lunar landing are good opportunities.

You should know that no other country on the blue planet has successfully landed on the moon except America.

America's moon landing plan was successful, and Chinese astronauts also successfully entered the lunar space station. But this does not mean that Blue Planet's space industry is smooth sailing.

The launch of the space station independently developed by India failed.

As early as 2020, India’s Space Minister announced that they would build their own space station before 2030.

At that time, India claimed that testing of the engine, cryogenic stage, crew escape system motor and service module propulsion system was underway.

Originally, China launched their Tiangong-1 space station, which was already envied by India.

The successful launch of the lunar space station in 2024 made Asan realize that he could not wait any longer.

Realizing the dream of sending astronauts to space and having a space station comparable to the world's major powers is seen by them as a historic feat.

Especially after the success of India's manned space flight Gaganyaan program in early 2024, they immediately started launching their own space station.

However, this plan was not as simple as they thought, and the space station obviously failed.

Asan’s failure is not news in China, his success is news.

Just like the successful manned space flight by India at the beginning of the year, it also sparked heated discussions in the Chinese media.

A small number of opinion leaders in China even expressed on social media:
"If you can look at the past records of China and India from an objective perspective, you will have a clearer understanding and a correct understanding of India's aerospace capabilities."

"From nuclear tests to anti-satellite tests, India has been catching up with China at a very fast pace."

"China conducted its first nuclear test in 1964, and India conducted its first nuclear test in 1974. It took them about a decade to catch up."

"China launched its first lunar mission, Chang'e-2007, in 2008, and New Delhi launched Chandrayaan- in ."

"China conducted its first anti-satellite weapon mission in 2007, and India followed in 2019."

"India is catching up with China in the field of aviation. We need to correctly view India's scientific research strength and competitiveness."

At that time, this Weibo post caused a certain degree of heated discussion.

But later, China's astronauts successfully entered the lunar space station, while India's space station disintegrated in space and was declared a failure.

Netizens below were ruthlessly digging up the past and slapping the face.

"Asan himself doesn't even know how awesome he is."

"I have no problem licking your daddy, but can you please not lick just any country?"

The netizens’ exhumation and slapping of his face forced the blogger to delete his post and pretend to be dead.

It is not only the opinion leaders in China who praise India, but also the European and American bloggers on Twitter.

"Australia is a country with rapidly growing scientific and technological strength. I am optimistic that they will surpass China in the 21st century and become the most influential country in Asia."

"The success of manned space flight shows India's strong scientific research capabilities. We should have a better understanding of them."

It's just exaggeration.

After Asan’s space station failed, a large number of Asans who realized the gap spontaneously organized themselves and criticized these bloggers.

"Please face the reality. We are not your tools to deal with China."

"Your boasting about India's technological prowess is just an attempt to cover up your own failure in curbing China's technological development."

"Hypocritical Europeans."

On Twitter, Indians are much more combative than Chinese. They stick together, while Chinese and ethnic Chinese fight among themselves.

Asan's failure made the European Union realize that it should be more cautious.

The Europa Alliance had limited accumulation in the aerospace field before and has been greatly surpassed by China in recent years.

Data from a certain year showed that China's investment in the aerospace field was 1.6 times that of the European Union, 5.7 times that of Russia, and second only to America.

After losing its ally England, Japan, which can only make do with its fellow sufferers the Kangaroo Country, is even less able to invest heavily in aerospace.

There is not enough funding and talent for them to participate in the investment in the Mars base.

Neon is planning to change direction. Landing on Mars is a relatively stable project with high investment and high returns among bounty missions.

But this is not the only project. There are many other projects with low investment and high returns to choose from.

For example, unified time rules in the universe, more advanced artificial intelligence, etc.

After England's successful return to the Europa League, Wiles has gone to work at the Europa League Institute in Brussels.

After deciding to place the bet, England carried out research according to its established plan.

Their main goal is to develop more advanced artificial intelligence, preferably one that can pass the Heber test.

Even if this is not possible, England hopes to achieve full automation of some manufacturing industries.

When artificial intelligence can gradually replace manual labor, the time will come for manufacturing to return to the European Union.

At that time, England could not only gain market share but also achieve market monopoly.

Anti-monopoly laws within the Europa Union do not provide a good solution to monopolistic behavior at the national level.

Moreover, England can use artificial intelligence technology to penetrate deeper into Europe's manufacturing industry and collect more data to optimize its technology.

At the same time, there will also be dependence on their technology.

England's idea is to use artificial intelligence as the core technology of the future to lead the return and revitalization of the manufacturing industry in the European Union.

The low- and medium-end manufacturing industries were previously undertaken by China. Later, as China's labor costs rose, part of the manufacturing industry was transferred to Southeast Asia.

When artificial intelligence can replace manpower in mid- and low-end manufacturing industries, manufacturing can be completely located locally or in areas covered by the European Union.

Wiles is in Brussels, but that does not stop him from leading England's artificial intelligence research and development programs.

He is the central figure in the plan.

The essence of artificial intelligence is mathematics. Wiles was already a top mathematician before using the Magic Brain. After using the Magic Brain, his attainments in mathematics reached a new level.

His underlying thinking logic has evolved fundamentally, and he can more easily touch upon the key to a problem when thinking about it.

This improvement cannot be quantified by a percentage increase in intelligence. The qualities required for mathematical research are also completely different from the IQ understood by the general public.

The artificial intelligence program led by Wiles is progressing rapidly.

England has become the first country in the European Union to test fully autonomous trucks.

China needs to conduct many rounds of tests before it can fully relax the restrictions, but England relaxed the restrictions after testing for half a year and finding no issues.

They even started selling this technology to other European Union countries.

Autonomous driving technology and AI chips are packaged and sold.

France, which was troubled by the truck drivers taking to the streets, was the first to respond and purchased a small amount of England's autonomous driving technology for trial.

(End of this chapter)