Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 234 Please call me Doctor!
Qian Fei felt like he was dreaming the whole time.

As a former air force pilot, he still had some connections, including knowing many people in Shanghai.

"I don't know, I really don't know, because the whole thing is very mysterious. When I first found out about the decision to go to the moon, I also felt that the country was just playing around with Professor Lin, who had just returned to the country."

But later I learned from the immigration office that Aldrin had also come. Everyone has seen the preferential treatment the country gives to scientists. If the country can appease Professor Lin, surely Aldrin doesn't need to be appeased?
The Analects says that at seventy one can follow one's heart's desires without transgressing the rules. Although foreigners do not talk about this, Aldrin was already ninety years old. Given his status and seniority, could anyone force him to do something?

I've heard even more bizarre rumors that Aldrin is selling off all his possessions to invest in this project.

I even asked my classmate who works as a real estate agent in Los Angeles, California, and it's true. Aldrin's villa in Beverly Hills is already listed for sale for eight million dollars.

His villa in Sunshine Beach, Florida, is also for sale.

If there was no hope, could anyone have persuaded Aldrin to contribute both effort and money? This level of financial contribution wasn't just a little spare change; it was like putting one's entire life savings on the table, gambling on historical standing and the judgment of posterity.

After I found out, I felt like they were serious, but whether it will actually work out in the end, I really don't know.

The above information was revealed to Qian Fei by his former comrade-in-arms at Shenhai Customs.

Many people in Shanghai know about this, but few have conducted in-depth investigations.

After all, it's no secret that Lin Ran wants to replicate the Apollo moon landing; he mentioned it at the opening ceremony of Jiaotong University, and it's been reported in the news.

However, the news reports focused on Lin Ran's intention to use mathematics to rediscover the applied mathematics in the Apollo moon landing process.

Media outlets speculate that Lin Ran intends to use this as the basis for a course to solidify the applied mathematics foundation of Shanghai Jiao Tong University in the field of aerospace, making it a required course for future students of the School of Aerospace Engineering at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

As for finding interns, it's because Lin Ran's level is too high. He needs to understand the students' math level in order to design the curriculum to meet teaching needs.

This conjecture has been widely accepted.

Students on social media are envious of universities like Beihang University and Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (Nanjing University is in Nanjing, not Jiangxi). They wonder how Shanghai Jiao Tong University can have such a prestigious university.

After consulting with his customs colleagues, Qian Fei tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep at all; he had never been so nervous before.

Even when he participated in the selection of Chinese astronauts, he was never this nervous the night before the results of the second round of selection came out.

After all, we were young back then. Young people always feel that nothing is impossible and that they still have a chance. Even if they can't go to space, they can still shine in other fields.

Now 45 years old, Aldrin is pursuing a historical status after his death, but he is just an unknown figure in history and has no historical status to speak of.

But now an opportunity has presented itself.

Whether he goes up alone or with Aldrin, he will become the first Chinese person to set foot on the moon.

What an honor this is!

Putting aside the glory, the act of landing on the moon itself is interesting enough, far more so than spending every day flying international flights.

In Qian Fei's view, if he can pass the interview, he can make up for past regrets and start a new chapter in his life.

Most people don't have the opportunity to start a new chapter in their lives at the age of 45.

Qian Fei lay in bed, tossing and turning, regretting that he hadn't understood the meaning of the text sooner and hadn't prepared at all for the job interview.

The next day, he received a text message notification:

"Mr. Qian, congratulations on successfully passing the interview and advancing to the next round of selection. If you wish to proceed to the next round, please reply with 'N'."

He was puzzled; shouldn't the reply be Y? Why was it N? But that didn't stop him from typing N in reply.

Then came the text message informing him of the time and place to report.

That afternoon, he finally met Lin Ran, the person in charge of the entire Apollo project, in Huaqiao.

"Everyone, I am Lin Ran. I believe you all know who I am to some extent."

Yesterday's interview was just a formality to confirm that everyone was emotionally stable, had normal cognitive function, was physically healthy, and spoke fluent English.

Meeting these conditions will allow you to pass the interview.

The real competition officially begins today.

There were 14 candidates in total, but only one was ultimately chosen to carry out the mission with Aldrin.

The competition for first place among fourteen people isn't particularly fierce, considering I've reviewed everyone's resume. You all have impressive pasts in the Air Force, and I believe many of you know each other.

But the competition is fierce, and our spaceships are limited.

Because I'm going on a mission with Aldrin, you all think that the old man America standing next to me looks to be in good health and quite energetic.

However, during the mission, don't expect him to do anything for you. He can't even be a radio switcher, responsible for relaying signals from the ground control center.

It's even possible that he might accidentally faint during the launch due to the enormous pressure changes.

Therefore, during the journey to the moon, all operations will need to be completed by one of you.

You're under a lot of pressure, aren't you?

If Aldrin were to collapse during launch, the psychological pressure would be immense.

Therefore, we only need the best of the best.

We expect to complete our first space handshake in July next year. This space handshake will only involve two people, which means that the round of 14 to 2 is only about six months away from today.

"Keep it up, everyone. I won't say anything more about hard work; that would be an insult to you all."

Lin Ran was speaking, and the candidates, lined up in two rows, stared directly at Lin Ran and Aldrin in front of them. The entire conversation was in English.

Everyone was surprised that Lin Ran bluntly told Aldrin in front of him that the other party was just a mascot and might encounter accidents during the launch, and Aldrin listened to it without any expression.

"Finally, is there anything you want to ask me?" Lin Ran said.

Qian Fei was the first to raise his hand, and Lin Ran pointed at him: "You."

"Professor Lin, I'd like to ask what the selection criteria are?" Qian Fei asked, as this was his biggest concern.

The other candidates also perked up their ears.

"Aldrin will be with everyone throughout the entire training process. He may not be able to complete the training movements, but he will accompany you."

So ultimately, it's up to him to decide who gets the job.

After all, you have to consider that whoever teams up with him to go to the moon means that he is entrusting his life to one of you.

The person he chooses must be the most capable person for this task.

Aldrin would never risk his life, nor would he let personal likes or dislikes supersede his judgment of mission success.

Qian Fei nodded, agreeing that this was indeed the case.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, he left, and Aldrin organized them to begin formal training.

According to Aldrin, the current training conditions are rudimentary, but they have already spoken with the Chinese Astronaut Center and will borrow facilities and equipment from the center for subsequent simulation training sessions.

After a week of training, Qian Fei returned home with a very peculiar feeling.

Because they are both professional and unprofessional.

The reason it's professional is that the training is very practical, focusing on learning rocket and spacecraft systems.

For some designs, 3D printing technology is used to print out the control panel directly so that you can start using it directly.

In addition, there is technical training, including basic knowledge of propulsion, trajectory, astronomy, and astrophysics.

The feeling of picking up books again is also quite peculiar.

Aldrin also gave very practical training on emergency procedures for carrying out missions.

After all, he is the only person to have been to space.

The unprofessional aspects lie in the fact that the training includes centrifuge training to familiarize oneself with accelerated stress, experiencing zero-gravity flight through parabolic aircraft flight, flight training in jet aircraft capable of supersonic speeds, aerobatic maneuvers, and high G-loads, and pressure suit testing under different thermal environments and decompression conditions.

There are none of these.

When it comes to high-precision equipment, they say they don't have it. When asked, they are told to wait and coordinate with the astronaut center, as they need to borrow their equipment.

There was no training using terrain that simulated lunar conditions.

Another thing that Qian Fei found both reasonable and unexpected was the money: a monthly subsidy of 1 RMB, and that was it.

But then I thought about it again, Aldrin pays to work, so they get paid, so it's not a bad deal.

In May 1966, at Cape Canaveral, Aldrin was filled with excitement and tossing and turning, because the next night he was to carry out Project Gemini 12. This was also the last scheduled mission before Project Gemini.

The next one is the moon landing, which is expected to take place at the end of next year.

Being selected to carry out this mission means that he will most likely participate in the lunar landing next year as well.

Both this mission and next year's moon landing fill him with excitement and anticipation.

In addition, this mission also requires EVA (Extravehicular Activity), which means that during the flight, he needs to go outside the spacecraft and carry out a mission in the vast universe.

This is also full of unknown challenges.

Aldrin knew very well that the professor favored him, otherwise he wouldn't have entrusted him with such an important task. In order not to disappoint the professor, he had to complete this task perfectly.

However, what he thought was a little different from what actually happened.

Aldrin thought the professor appreciated him because he was the only PhD among the astronauts and the only one who could share common interests with the professor.

I can talk to professors about Aldrin circulators and orbital equations, but can I talk to other people? Do they even know how to write differential symbols?

This is the confidence of a PhD!

Because of Lin Ran's presence, Aldrin even instructed NASA staff to call him "Doctor," not "Dr. Aldrin," and certainly not "Dr. Huihe."

Don't you know that I'm the only PhD in the entire astronaut group?

Of course, the administrators will listen to him and give him face, but the astronauts will not.

The more he acts this way, the more people like to call him Doctor, even though the name is quite difficult to pronounce.

The following afternoon, Lin Ran's private plane finally arrived at Cape Canaveral launch site from Redstone Base. After all, this was the last Gemini mission, and Lin Ran, who hadn't been to the site for a long time, decided to come to the control center to personally direct the operation.

Aldrin felt deeply honored. When he heard the news in the conference room, he glanced at his colleagues and thought, "Do you guys get this kind of treatment?"

If I hadn't been carrying out this task, would the professor have personally taken command?
On the open ground of Launch Complex 19, Commander Jim and Pilot Aldrin, dressed in white spacesuits with "THE" and "END" badges on their backs, stood together.

Lin Ran, wearing a white shirt, walked over to Jim and Aldrin and patted them on the shoulder respectively, saying, "Wait until you come back safely."

The two men stood at attention and saluted, saying, "Yes, sir!"

At 3:46 PM Washington time, which is 8:46 PM local time, the countdown entered its final stage.

In mission control, Flight Director Gene Kranz's voice came clearly through the headset: "Ten, nine, eight..."

The staff held their breath, checking the radar system's final readings.

Inside the spaceship, Jim gripped the control lever tightly, while Aldrin focused intently on checking the instrument panel.

"Ignition!" With a deafening roar, the Titan II rocket spewed out blazing flames, and the spacecraft shuddered violently as it soared into the sky.

Lin Ran stared at the trajectory data on the screen. When the first stage of the rocket separated, the oxidizer tank ruptured, spewing out a cloud of white mist, but the spacecraft still rose steadily.

Jim's voice came through the radio: "Control center, Gemini 12 is ascending, all is well."

A few minutes later, the spacecraft entered its designated orbit. Aldrin looked up out the window; the blue arc of Earth gleamed in the dark space.

He whispered to Jim, "Jim, look at that, it's breathtakingly beautiful."

Jim smiled and replied, "Don't stare, Doctor, we still have work to do."

During the mission, we still have to give Aldrin some face.

Lin Ran's voice came through the radio channel: "Gemini 12, orbit confirmed, best of luck."

Kranz: "Gemini 12, control center, you have confirmed you have entered orbit. All systems are normal."

Jim: "Roger that, control center. We're on track and ready to begin the rendezvous procedure."

Lin Ran said to Kranz beside him, "We succeeded, but the real challenge is yet to come."

The rendezvous and docking of Gemini 12 was achieved through manual docking by astronauts outside the spacecraft.

The reason Gemini chose to have the astronauts manually dock the fuel tank during the lunar landing was because, in the past, the Soviet Union relied on Yuri Gagarin to manually transfer and dock the fuel tank during the lunar landing.

Lin Ran had this idea because he saw in historical records that the Gemini 12 docking was done manually by the astronauts.

The entire manual docking process in this spacetime has become an ouroboros, and it's hard to pinpoint its exact origin.

The primary objective of the mission is to rendezvous and dock with the Agena target spacecraft. Agena was launched 98 minutes ago by an Atlas rocket and is in orbit awaiting launch.

Gemini 12 began to approach Agena on its third orbit, but when it was about 74 miles away, its radar system suddenly malfunctioned.

Aldrin immediately reported: "Control center, we lost radar lock at 74 miles, and the computer cannot acquire data."

In the control room, Kranz's heart sank. She quickly checked the system and confirmed that the radar malfunction could not be fixed immediately.

Lin Ran calmly replied, "Received, Gemini 12. Baz, prepare for manual calculation!"

Aldrin replied firmly, "No problem, I'll handle it with a sextant and a slide rule."

That's right, Lin Ran doesn't need to call him Dr. Aldrin; Lin Ran usually refers to him as Buzz.

Aldrin's doctoral research focused on orbital mechanics, and his expertise came in handy at this moment.

"Baz, pay attention to adjusting Agena's angle relative to the horizon," Lin Ran said.

“Understood!” Aldrin replied.

He took out a sextant and measured the angle between Agena and the horizon through the spaceship window. His slide rule slid rapidly as he calculated complex orbital parameters.

The staff in the control room held their breath, watching the data transmission intently.

A few minutes later, Aldrin entered the adjustment parameters, and the spaceship began to approach Agena precisely.

Faced with the unexpected situation, Aldrin remained calm and even revealed a hint of pride in his tone: "Professor, I am measuring Agena's angle with a sextant, and the slide rule is ready."

Because he knew that anyone else would have failed in this mission, only he could manually set the orbital parameters.

Lin Ran said, "Okay, Buzz, stay calm and tell me your calculation results."

Aldrin: "We need to adjust the speed, increase it by 15 feet per second, and the angle is..." He quickly rattled off a string of numbers.

Lin Ran commanded, "Control center, Bazz's calculations are correct, begin inputting commands."

Kranz remained calm. In this control center, he had witnessed countless miracles of the professor's brain calculating more accurately than IBM computer clusters: "Is it difficult for the professor to challenge space with pen and paper?"

Staff at Cape Canaveral launch site jokingly say that if the professor were permanently stationed in the control center, there would be no need to buy IBM computers.

28 minutes later, Gemini 12 successfully docked with Agena. The spacecraft gave a slight jolt, and the lock was complete.

Jim reported to the control center: "Control center, docking complete."

Kranz let out a long sigh of relief, and a round of applause erupted in the control room.

Lin Ran said with a smile, "Well done, Buzz, you almost made the hearts of our colleagues in the control center stop."

The original plan was to use Agena's main propulsion system to propel the combined spacecraft into a higher orbit, but due to abnormal turbopump speed during Agena's launch, the ground control decided to abandon this operation and instead adjust the orbit to observe the total solar eclipse in South America.

Another core objective of Gemini 12 was to validate the astronauts' ability to work in space. Previously, the Gemini program's extravehicular activities had been frequently hampered by astronaut fatigue and equipment problems. Aldrin conducted extensive underwater weightlessness training to address this, and designed new foot restraints and handheld devices.

The first standing EVA mission began 19 hours and 29 minutes ago: On November 12, Aldrin opened the spacecraft hatch and leaned his upper body out of the cabin for 2 hours and 29 minutes. He installed a camera, collected micrometeoroid samples, and took photos of the total solar eclipse.

Through his helmet, he saw the Earth like a blue jewel in the darkness and couldn't help but exclaim, "My God, it's so beautiful!"

Jim chuckled from inside the cabin, saying, "Don't forget your mission, Doctor."

Aldrin reports: "Control center, the standing EVA is progressing well, and the handheld device is working very well."

During this EVA, Aldrin also took the first selfie in space.

He adjusted the camera and said to himself, "Okay, let me lift up the mask and smile."

He pressed the shutter, capturing a photo of himself with Earth, a classic moment in the history of space exploration.

(Aldrin's space selfie)

It is precisely because of so many wonderful moments in his past life that Aldrin in 2020 was unwilling to grow old like this.

(End of this chapter)