Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 242 Destiny and Guidance (Seeking monthly votes!)

"Baz, what's the quality of these astronauts?"

America in 1960 was in a frenzy of celebration.

The media are all interviewing them.

Lin Ran had experienced such a moment once.

The atmosphere was much the same after the last successful joint US-Soviet moon landing.

Of course, since this was done solely by America and was broadcast live throughout, the atmosphere was even more enthusiastic.

But there is no difference in essence.

The astronauts are recuperating and resting at the medical center, while the president is giving a speech in Washington, preparing to hold a grand ceremony once the astronauts have recovered.

Lyndon Johnson even invited him to a pre-Christmas celebration at the White House.

However, Lin Ran could tell that Lyndon Johnson was not so sincere. He clearly wanted to enjoy the media spotlight alone to dispel the gloom of the continued defeat in the Vietnam War.

This was at least a highlight of his four-year presidential term.

The passage of the Civil Rights Act was also attributed to Kennedy, but that was largely seen as Kennedy's achievement.

Lin Ran then decided to return to New York to attend the grand New York party he had organized. In addition, the top eight chess players in the United States were eager to show the professor that chess was not as simple as he thought.

Upon hearing this, Lin Ran could sense the relief Lyndon Johnson felt.

Jenny's self-arranged interview is also on its way.

However, at this moment, Lin Ran would prefer to celebrate with Aldrin.

However, it's not Aldrin in 1960, but Aldrin in 2020.

His thoughts, fifty-one years after the moon landing mission.

2020时空的阿波罗登月发生在1969年，2020-1969=51。

Aldrin corrected, "Sorry, Professor, they don't count as astronauts."

They are currently considered astronaut reserves, or rookies. When we were selected by NASA, although we were officially called astronauts, internally, those who had never carried out a space mission would not call themselves astronauts.

This is similar to young cadets at an air force academy; they are cadets, not yet pilots.

November in Shanghai is very cold, as is the case in Kunshan.

Lin Ran and Aldrin were talking on the villa's rooftop. Aldrin really enjoyed talking to Lin Ran.

Despite the significant age difference between them, nearly 70 years.

But Aldrin felt a strange sense of closeness.

At first, he thought it was admiration for a master of pure mathematics. He was a PhD in orbital mechanics, while Lin Ran was a PhD in pure mathematics, and a Fields Medal-winning pure mathematics PhD at that.

He completely solved the twin prime conjecture, and it's no exaggeration to call him a master of pure numbers.

This natural advantage stemming from mathematical ability was the source of Aldrin's initial goodwill.

But over the past three months, we've had some interaction at work and we also chat in private.

Aldrin felt that the other party understood him very well, and also understood NASA and the Apollo moon landing.

Aldrin knew that Lin Ran was collecting information. He had met him, heard about him, or been invited to television programs by him and other guests. Those people were all ardent fans of the Apollo moon landing.

These enthusiasts also enjoy collecting materials, souvenirs, and the like.

But their interests and understanding remain superficial.

Lin Ran, however, is different. In many matters, Lin Ran understands more than all 27 of them combined.

Lin Ran's judgment on many technical details of the Apollo moon landing was correct.

Lin Ran could even point out where Aldrin got the training wrong, including how astronauts should be trained.

This is outrageous.

From Aldrin's perspective, it felt as if, despite his own involvement in the entire lunar rendezvous trajectory and his status as a core researcher, this young man named Randolph Lin knew more about it than he did.

He can readily use various formulas and derivations.

Memorizing it yourself is not as fast as having someone else write it on a whiteboard.

So after three months, they all wholeheartedly called Lin Ran "Professor".

Of course, this is not just about ability, but also a reflection of management ability, specifically the ability to understand people's hearts and minds.

Aldrin would even have the thought that he wished Lin Ran were his son.

"Their physical fitness is excellent; I don't think they have any problems with physical strength, spatial awareness, or mental fortitude."

We want it to be as good as it was back then.

After all these years, our physical fitness, nutritional concepts, and training philosophies are far more advanced than they were back then.

However, their biggest shortcoming is that their scientific literacy is too poor.

I always try to make the training programs second nature, but whenever it comes to topics like the principles of orbital mechanics, orbital mechanics calculations, or the use of navigation tools, I know they seem to be listening attentively, but they are actually resisting.

They learn slowly and lack motivation.

Professor, do you understand this feeling? They always feel that since there's ground-based computing in space, all they need to do is operate the spacecraft and follow the instructions of the ground control center.

The problem is that the ground control center cannot provide you with services at all times.

Back in 1966, during the Gemini 12 mission, the tracking system failed. I used a sextant, pencil, paper, and slide rule to measure the angles between the Earth, stars, and Agena, and manually calculated the trajectory required for docking.

Professor, do you know what Agena is?

Lin Ran nodded and said, "Of course, the target aircraft you need to dock with." In his heart, Lin Ran was actually thinking, how could I not know? I was watching from the control center at Cape Canaveral after you completed that mission.

"That's right. If we encounter this situation during the mission, it's a small matter if we can't complete the mission, but it would be even worse if the spacecraft malfunctions and everyone dies."

Therefore, it's impossible to rely on external objects or the ground forever. Machines always have a chance of breaking down. When problems occur, your level of knowledge determines your chances of completing the task according to the original plan or even surviving.

Well, people today think completely differently from us back then. Even Alan Shepard and John Glenn had their calculations done by Catherine before their missions, but they still learned from her exactly how to do the calculations.

The astronauts we are currently training do not pay much attention to this aspect; to be more precise, they always feel that machines are more reliable than humans.

Subconsciously, they felt that in space, their own calculations were certainly less accurate than those of the system. Even if the system malfunctioned and they couldn't contact ground control for help, finding a way to restore communication with ground control was more reliable than trying to calculate it themselves.

Aldrin was very talkative; this was his biggest takeaway from spending time with these prospective astronauts. (Clora Kathleen Johnson, an African American mathematician, was very difficult to tell from the photo when she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2015.)

During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessors, she was renowned for her expertise in complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers for tasks. NASA claims she was one of the first African American women to serve as a scientist at NASA, playing a historic role.
Lin Ran understood perfectly after hearing about it.

Let's set aside the fact that pilots are not required to learn orbital mechanics principles, orbital mechanics calculations, or the use of navigation tools.

Even if they learned this knowledge when they were young and running for astronauts, and mastered it quite well back then, so many years have passed now, and they are at least forty years old. Wouldn't it be difficult to ask them to learn orbital mechanics, calculus, ruler and compass construction calculations again?

This is like forcing someone to relearn high school knowledge twenty years after the college entrance exam; they won't know how, and they won't know how.

Moreover, there are risks that wouldn't have existed in the first place.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Ran said, "Well, there's really no other way. We can only offer empty promises."

They don't value it enough right now. Once the probability of a moon landing increases, we will include the theoretical knowledge exam score as an important reference criterion for final selection.

In addition, to prevent students from not studying hard during this period and then having to catch up later, we have been holding an exam every month for the past three months.

I'll give myself an extra reward for being in the top three in the final comprehensive exam.

After listening, Aldrin agreed with the former. He understood Lin Ran's meaning, which was simply that the importance attached to the project was not high enough. He felt that the probability of landing on the moon was less than 5%, and he did not want to burn his brain cells for that 5%.

He was somewhat puzzled by the latter: "A reward? Money?"

Lin Ran shook his head: "No, it's the professor's math tutoring class."

Among these aspiring astronauts, some have children still in school, ranging from junior high to high school and university.

Besides, even if the children have graduated and started working, they can still use the money for their children's children's use. I'm only 23 years old, and my children's children's use can also benefit from it.

Aldrin grinned. "Professor, your method should work. I know all too well how far Chinese parents can go for their children's education."

Lin Ran smiled as well: "This is only a temporary solution. Ultimately, we still need to show them long-term hope. Only when they see that we can really land on the moon will they truly seek change from the bottom of their hearts."

Lin Ran then asked, "Baz, so what were you thinking when you returned to Earth after successfully landing on the moon?"

(In 1969, Nixon met with astronauts Armstrong, Collins, and Aldrin aboard the USS Hornet aircraft carrier upon their return to Earth.)
Without hesitation, Aldrin replied, "The moon is a tranquil ocean."

Before Aldrin could finish speaking, Lin Ran interrupted him: "Baz, I'm not a reporter for the New York Times, and you're not the Baz from sixty years ago."

During this time, Aldrin felt that he got along very well with Lin Ran. He sincerely believed that Lin Ran could complete the Apollo moon landing in this time and space, and he also trusted Lin Ran's management skills.

Lin Ran demonstrated an understanding of many things beyond imagination. He could even readily recall the personalities, habits, and backgrounds of many NASA employees from the 60s.

However, Lin Ran also has problems in some details, and there are many seemingly correct but actually wrong errors in the details.

For example, Rudolf worked until the 80s before retiring, and Lin Ran often mentioned that the person in charge of the orbit calculations was a different person. Although Haines also remembered that person as part of the orbit calculation team, he was clearly not the person in charge.

Just like before, the professor is exceptionally rigorous in mathematics and numbers. He not only claims to never make a mistake, but he also never makes a mistake. When it comes to calculus calculations, his approximate values ​​are comparable to those of a calculator.

The result was that it was clearly 51 years ago, and he was not the Buzz from 51 years ago, but the professor liked to say 60 years.

Even if you round up, fifty-one is still less than sixty.

Aldrin gathered his thoughts and began to recall: "Emptiness, endless emptiness."

Professor, you know very well that before the moon landing, we estimated that the success rate was only 60%, but we succeeded. We not only got to the moon, but we also set foot on the lunar land, and even took a nap on the lunar surface before returning to Earth.

It was a perfect day, but the feeling after returning to Earth wasn't so wonderful.

We crashed into the Pacific Ocean at 12:50 p.m. on July 24 and were then isolated, supposedly to protect Earth from any bacteria that might have been contracted from the moon.

That's right. Speaking of quarantine, we should have been the first to be quarantined. We were quarantined for a full month.

This is actually very hypocritical, because when we were salvaged in the Pacific Ocean, the hatch had already been opened, because it was necessary to open the hatch to bring us back.

The moment the hatch is opened, all those damn bacteria have already escaped.

The isolation is merely a vanity project.

During the month I was in quarantine, I felt very empty.

I am well aware that, just like Gagarin, after completing his space mission, he was protected by the Soviet Union at every level, preventing him from participating in any new space missions, supposedly to protect their space hero.

In reality, it is a spiritual totem for protecting oneself.

However, America was luckier than the Soviet Union, I've always thought so. Armstrong and I survived safely and healthily, while Gagarin died in an accident.

Our moon landing was successful, while the Soviet moon landing failed.

In short, I know that after returning, I will need to face the gravitational pull of reality again.

To protect us, and more importantly, to protect the spiritual symbol of America, we will not be permitted to carry out any more potentially dangerous space missions.

I need to live a new identity, but no identity or life can compare to being an astronaut.

The struggles of marriage, family, and depression led me to turn to alcohol.

So, Professor, I am very grateful to you for creating this opportunity for me again, a chance to potentially repeat the pinnacle of my life.

Neil wasn't as lucky as me; he didn't live to see you, Professor.

I think life is truly amazing.

51 years ago, Professor—not 60 years ago, but 51 years ago—I bid farewell to my astronaut career with a long period of isolation. And 51 years later, I began my astronaut career again with another long period of isolation.

Professor, do you know? If it weren't for this quarantine, if it weren't for this sense of destiny, I might not have trusted you so much.

It's like a calling from God to me.

Aldrin was an elder of the Presbyterian Church, and he became the first person to hold a religious ceremony on the moon.

He received communion in private, which was not permitted by NASA, but he did it anyway.

This is also the first time that humans have consumed food and liquids on the moon.

In the late autumn night of November in Shanghai, Aldrin's words seemed to haunt the air like a ghost.

After hearing this, Lin Ran found it hard to believe that quarantine was actually a good thing.

However, he also had to admit that for a white man with faith, it was hard not to think of such a thing as fate and guidance when he was about to reach the end of his life.

Standing atop a New York skyscraper overlooking Central Park, Lin Ran made phone calls to each of the astronauts isolated at Kennedy Space Center to offer his greetings.

The first one is Aldrin.

"Hey, Buzz, how's it going in quarantine?"

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(End of this chapter)