Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 454 The Closed Loop of Fate

Compared to the bustling crowds of Houston, this place is rather quiet.

It's also quite diverse.

In Houston, the crew consisted entirely of white men. Regardless of whether any of the workers were of Chinese descent, in the end, apart from the foreign guests, only white men appeared on camera.

The majority of the faces here are of Indian descent, followed by Black people, and then White people, most of whom are Democrats.

NASA's moon landing is a political achievement of the Republican Party, a political achievement of the White House, and an extravagant act of naming the moon after the president.

This is where America Aerospace's true hope for its rise lies, with talent from all over the world working together.

This is what the Donkey Party and its supporters believe.

At present, the mainstream media controlled by the Democratic Party have all mobilized to portray Bezos as the space hero of this era, fighting alone against the evil forces of the White House.

Because Bezos is loyal enough to the Donald Party, his Washington Post has long maintained a public adversarial relationship with the White House.

There are other examples to prove this, such as when Big T hosted a dinner for Silicon Valley bigwigs in the renovated Rose Garden of the White House. Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, and Bill Gates all attended, and these were all staunch supporters of the Democratic Party.

Musk and Bezos were the only ones who didn't go; the former was busy at NASA (in reality, it was because they had a falling out), while the latter was simply acting out of loyalty.

Even Bill Gates, one of the biggest critics of Big T's era, was able to attend, saying that Big T was short-sighted and harmed America's long-term interests.

The most contradictory issue is the pandemic. Bill Gates fiercely criticized it during the pandemic, but at a White House dinner, he said that the president's Operation Warp Speed ​​had successfully developed a COVID-19 vaccine by mobilizing public and private resources in a very short time.

This is in stark contrast to the attitude during the pandemic.

Even Bill Gates can swallow his pride and keep quiet, turning past criticisms into praise, and even if he has to hold his nose, he still has to please Big T.

And Bezos? He simply refused to go, refusing to give them any face.

To the Democrats, what kind of spirit is this? It's immense loyalty, a commitment to and defense of science, freedom, and diversity.

The fact that Tata was willing to invest in Bezos instead of General Aerospace also shows that the Democrats were behind the scenes.

Natarayan Chandrasekaran, president of the Tata Group, shook hands with David Limp, CEO of Blue Origin, and said in a low voice, "This is an honor for our Indian engineers."

We will prove that we can not only build the world's best software, but also the world's most reliable lunar lander.

Yes, the lunar module was designed and built by India and was called "Shiva Wing".

Designed and manufactured entirely by Tata Advanced Systems, a subsidiary of the Tata Group, it incorporates India's technological expertise in materials science and redundancy systems.

Also present was META's chief scientist, Nilanjan.

This Indian figure, a role model in America, thrived because of his mentor, Lin Ran, and the only price he paid was a year in prison.

Nilanjan laughed and said, "This is a perfect example of cooperation between the eagle and the elephant! I believe that in the not-too-distant future, we will also be able to build a lunar base."

He didn't say where.

Antarctica or the Arctic, or perhaps the Tranquil Sea.

After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the rocket was launched.

The launch of "Odyssey" was equally spectacular.

The roar of the F-1 engine was even more penetrating. The rocket, carrying the Tata-manufactured lunar module, precisely completed the first stage separation and second stage ignition.

Houston Control Center, Blue Origin Zone.

The engineers erupted in even more enthusiastic cheers than those from SpaceX.

In their view, they were making an enemy of the world.

The White House doesn't like them, and China is a rival comparable to the Great Demon King.

In the aerospace field, aren't these two the world?
The Odyssey successfully delivered three astronauts and the lunar module into low Earth orbit and completed the injection into the lunar transfer orbit at the scheduled time. This was a complete victory for the rocket launch phase.

Tata executives began embracing each other to celebrate another milestone in Indian space history.

However, after entering the Earth-Moon transfer orbit and successfully decommissioning the main body of the rocket, disaster struck.

The astronauts' mission is to prepare to break free from the transfer orbit and perform spacecraft attitude calibration in preparation for final lunar orbit capture.

At this moment, the spacecraft's autonomous system needs to activate the core of the lunar module, the propulsion and attitude control system.

Astronaut communications: "Houston, we're in trouble now."

The entire Houston control center fell into a sudden, deathly silence, though the astronauts were probably in a better mood.

The astronauts on Shiva's Wings can even make references to Jack Swift from Apollo 13.

When the other party discovered the oxygen tank had exploded, they said: "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here."
Bezos's face turned ashen, and he remained silent.

He knew that his words were useless at this moment. He was not an expert; all he could do was arrange for the right people to do the right things and provide sufficient resources.

Now, all he can do is pray, pray for a good outcome.

Natra Patel, the Tata Group's chief engineer for the lunar module's propulsion system, had his eyes fixed on the flashing red warning light on the main screen.

The warning message is unusually brief: PACS: LOX/LH2 Mixture Sensor Fault. Valve Lockdown Engaged.
In short, the problem is a fault in the liquid oxygen/liquid hydrogen mixing sensor of the propulsion and attitude control system.

The valve's self-locking mechanism has been activated.

"Report! The astronaut's attempt to unlock remotely failed! The main valve is locked by a hardware-level security protocol!" a young American engineer shouted hoarsely.

Patel lunged at the control panel and, with trembling fingers, pulled up the sensor data.

Patel murmured, “No, that’s impossible. To achieve the ultimate dry weight ratio, we eliminated the redundant backup of the sensor.”

We've tested its reliability thousands of times; it shouldn't fail.

A moment later, he realized that the problem was not due to a physical malfunction.

“This is not a physical malfunction! It’s a complete power failure of the sensor or a failure of the core chip!” Patel’s voice was urgent, tinged with an Indian accent.

Lisa Carter, Blue Origin's chief engineer, calmly directed, "Immediately pull up the sensor's external structure vibration log and installation records. Our top priority now is to find out why it lost power."

The data stream analysis results came back quickly: the sensor readings dropped from the normal range to zero in an instant, and then a minor vibration sensor recorded a tiny, unexpected sway.

The senior executives sat on the sofa, dumbfounded, with people coming in from time to time to report the latest developments.

Obviously, none of this news is very good.

The Blue Origin livestream remained peaceful, with the Black female anchor calmly telling viewers how remarkable the launch was, what percentage of the crew were Black, and how many Black engineers were present—an unprecedented number.

She wasn't sure about the malfunction, but she vaguely sensed something was off, because the back-end control hadn't given her any new content for a long time, leaving her to do whatever she wanted.

She even started singing those folk songs about the universe that were popular among Black people in the American South.

For example, "Space Is the Destination" is by The Sun La, a Black jazz singer.

In this song, he portrays spaceships and interstellar travel as tools to escape racial oppression on Earth and create a new Black civilization.

In the tense atmosphere, an engineer who was in charge of Tata's supplier audits suddenly caught an incredible detail.

The engineer reported, trembling, "Chief Engineer, we've found it."

Vibration recordings show that a fixed interface around the sensor experienced a very slight displacement before the failure! This likely caused a momentary disconnection of the power or data cable!

Patel strode over.

He saw the high-resolution assembly diagram of the lunar module's thruster section.

The faulty fuel mixture sensor was fixed to the propellant line by a three-millimeter special alloy screw.

Lisa Carter roared, "Check the screw purchase and installation records! How could such a critical sensor be loose?"

Patel's face turned deathly pale.

Because he knows what it is.

In order to keep project costs within budget, the Tata Group adopted a strategy of 'localization' and 'cost optimization' in the procurement of non-critical fasteners.

Patel explained in a low voice, “Chief Engineer, those are alloy fixing screws supplied by our local subcontractor in Mumbai, India.”

Lisa Carter immediately understood, "Did you hand-polish it? Or did you use a high-precision CNC machine to mold it in one piece?" Patel didn't answer, but Lisa Carter had already gotten the answer she wanted.

The massive vibrations during launch caused this cheap, defective screw to loosen first, resulting in a momentary malfunction in the key sensor it was securing. The system then determined that the fuel mixture ratio was out of control, triggering a hardware self-locking mechanism.

In the enormous control room, everyone understood the gravity of the situation: the lunar module's main thrusters were now useless.

In deep space, where there is no atmospheric drag and no rescue base, they lost their braking ability.

The problem was located very quickly, within an hour.

But this hour was agonizing for the astronauts.

Inside the Odyssey spacecraft, Commander Carl Jensen and two crew members kept a close eye on the alarm lights.

The spacecraft is hurtling toward the moon at a speed of tens of thousands of kilometers per hour.

Jason had never regretted taking the mission to the moon so much.

He is a former astronaut who led two Black female astronauts to the moon.

This moon landing was with him and another Black woman.

His emotions were a mixture of anger and despair.

As an astronaut, he was mentally prepared to sacrifice himself, but not for this reason, not because of such a morbid malfunction.

Jason didn't know the specifics, but his expertise told him that it must have been a very basic problem to cause the lock-up during flight.

He would rather die in a failed landing than starve to death adrift in space. What kind of despair is that? It's painful to even think about.

“Houston, confirm our orbital parameters. What can we do if we can’t brake?” Jason forced himself to calm down.

He must buy time for himself and his teammates.

The ground control center replied, "Commander, based on the current orbit calculations, you will fly over the moon and enter a highly eccentric heliocentric orbit."

We are urgently calculating rescue plans.

Flying over the moon means they will completely escape the Earth's gravitational pull and enter the depths of the solar system.

They are turning into ghost ships in space.

The atmosphere in the control center became delicate.

The lines between America's engineers and Tata's engineers have become blurred, yet filled with accusations.

“Mr. Patel, why not use a redundant design?” Lisa Carter’s voice was low, but it carried a powerful sense of pressure.

Patel answered with his eyes closed, "To meet the load and thrust-to-weight ratio requirements in the contract, we must reduce weight! This is a risky design undertaken by our Indian engineers in pursuit of ultimate performance!"

The accusations lasted only a short time and were negligible throughout the entire process.

An hour and a half later, Lisa Carter met with Bezos and Natalayaan Chandrasekaran with a contingency plan.

The two billionaires looked as dark as the far side of the moon, devoid of sunlight.

They are facing a deadly crisis for the Odyssey mission: three astronauts are drifting into deep space.

Lisa Carter said:

"Gentlemen, we have confirmed the malfunction of the Shiva Wing lunar module; sensor failure has caused the thrusters to permanently lock up. The spacecraft will fly past the moon and enter an irreversible heliocentric orbit."

They must abandon ship immediately.

Lisa then projected a briefing onto the screen with the title: "Project Stardust: Earth-Moon Transfer Survival Maneuver".

“Our only hope lies in China’s space program,” Lisa said bluntly, causing Bezos and Chandra Sekaran’s expressions to freeze simultaneously.

"The Wings of Shiva have a lightweight escape pod, originally intended for emergency ascent, and we must hope that this lightweight escape pod has not malfunctioned."

Lisa couldn't resist adding the last sentence.

"If the lightweight escape pod malfunctions again, then we can only watch the astronauts go to God's embrace."

Then she pointed to the lunar module's structural diagram, "The astronauts must blow open the main module and make an emergency separation with the escape pod before the moon's gravitational potential energy reaches its peak, that is, within T+6 hours after launch."

The escape pod's main thrusters have very little thrust, and the fuel is only enough for minor attitude adjustments.

It must ignite near the apex of the main spacecraft's orbital parabola to propel itself into a free-return orbit captured by Earth's gravity.

This is an operation with an extremely narrow window and extremely high computational precision requirements.

If the escape pod fails, it will follow the main spacecraft into deep space.

Our astronauts also face risks. During acceleration, they will experience high G-forces, and the intravehicular life support system can only sustain them for 72 hours.

Natarayan Chandrasekaran astutely picked up on the question in Lisa Carter's words: "Since we can make it be captured by Earth's gravity and put into a free return orbit, why do we still need to cooperate with China?"

Lisa raised her voice and became agitated. She was very dissatisfied with the Indian billionaire in front of her and also felt that the question was very unprofessional.

But she suppressed her emotions: "Even if it enters the free return orbit, the escape pod cannot return to Earth's atmosphere on its own; it does not have sufficient thermal protection."

If you let it come back on its own, it will burn up in the atmosphere and become a firework that can't even be described as beautiful.

"We have to capture them while they're still in orbit." Lisa's voice slowed, emphasizing the most crucial part.

"SpaceX and our rockets both need time to prepare."

Only China possesses readily available and tested manned capabilities, as well as experience in conducting complex operations near the moon.

Their launches are frequent enough, every month, that going to the moon is as easy as going home. It's not that only China can do it, but that only China has the greatest chance of success.

Considering the safety of the astronauts, we would have better seek assistance from China.

Bezos clasped his hands tightly as he looked at Natalayaan Chandrasekaran.

For the first time, the expressions on the faces of these two business tycoons were remarkably similar: pain, humiliation, and utter helplessness.

Natalaya Chandrasekaran said with difficulty, "So, we spent five hundred billion dollars to build one of the most complex rockets in human history, and now we have to ask our biggest competitor for help?"

Jeff Bezos's eyes were filled with complex emotions. He thought about the possible mockery from Big T, and even more so about that young Chinese man.

Bezos is in a slightly worse position.

Because back then, there was clearly an opportunity. At Harris's campaign video party, a young man named Lin Ran clearly approached him and even showed that he wanted to become his boss.

As it turned out, I was careless at the time and thought that the young man who said he wanted to replicate the Saturn V was joking.

Now, after all this trouble, the Saturn V has been launched, but it's still going to cause problems for that young man.

If I had known, why go through all this trouble? I should have agreed back then. Even if that young man only wanted one hundred million dollars to test the feasibility, if I could go back to that time, I wouldn't have batted an eye at ten billion or even a hundred billion.

Lisa watched as her boss's expression changed even faster than the weather.

Bezos closed his eyes one last time, and after a moment he sighed, "I'm going to talk to Randolph. I believe he will help me."

Prepare for a public press conference to announce the problems we've encountered.

He looked directly at Natalayaan Chandrasekaran: "This issue must be exposed. It is your responsibility, and it is also your responsibility in terms of public opinion!"

At this point, Bezos's eyes sharpened.

He can accept this scandal, but the blame should be shifted to the Indians.

Natalaya Chandrasekaran readily accepted, "Isn't this what we do?" "Of course, of course it's our problem. With Boeing's example before us, it's easy for the public to accept."

A small, insignificant problem with something made in India has led to big consequences.

This happened once before, two years ago, with astronauts adrift on the space station.

Bezos finally stood up: "Lisa, you must bring the astronauts back. I'll contact Randolph right now."

As he reached the door, Bezos said without turning his head, "This might not be such a bad thing."

　The previous chapter had several hundred words cut, so it might seem disjointed to you. It's not some kind of AI.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)