Chapter 48: The Plan to Land on the Moon

  After the turmoil of the Sino-Japanese War, things gradually returned to calm. China began to slowly develop its own strength after realizing its inadequacies. The Soviet Union seemed to focus its main efforts on Afghanistan in Central Asia, while the United States remained entangled in European affairs. The whole world appeared to have entered a strange balance, and under these circumstances, people all over the world lived very dull lives.

  Just at this time, news suddenly came out from Taiwan Province of China that China would launch the "Chang'e" spacecraft and land on the moon. The news spread all over the world, and everyone's attention was focused on Treasure Island Taiwan. After all, this is the second time humans have landed on the moon, since the United States' Apollo mission, no human has set foot on that land again.

  This lunar expedition is Lin Feng's first step in exploring the universe, and to reasonably utilize the moon base, Lin Feng must gradually improve China's space technology. Now Taiwan's overall technological strength has reached the level of the early 21st century, and the Chang'e spacecraft is the crystallization of Lin Feng's collection of Taiwan and mainland China's technological elite after two years of hard work, of course, with some design technical support and special processing provided by Lin Feng.

  Although a spacecraft is the simplest kind of manned spacecraft, it is still much more complex than an unmanned spacecraft (such as satellites), and although small, it has all the internal organs. Spacecraft have similarities with return satellites, but to carry people, many special systems are added to meet the diverse needs of astronauts working and living in space.

  For example, environmental control and life support systems for air renewal, waste water treatment and regeneration, ventilation, temperature and humidity control, communication systems, instrumentation and lighting systems, space suits, manned maneuvering units and escape systems. Moreover, mastering the technology of spacecraft re-entry into the atmosphere and safe return is also crucial. Especially for spacecraft, in addition to limiting the deceleration overload within the human tolerance range during the return process, it should also have a higher landing accuracy than return satellites, so as to timely discover and rescue astronauts.

  Former Soviet manned spacecraft once fell due to poor landing accuracy, resulting in astronauts being trapped in the icy forest and almost freezing to death. Future spacecraft will develop in three directions: with multiple functions and purposes; the control precision of returning to the landing point is improved to within a hundred meters; the return cabin can be reused after proper repair.

  For astronauts entering outer space, cosmic rays are one of the most serious threats. Under current technical conditions, spacecraft mainly use aluminum alloy shielding to protect astronauts from harm caused by cosmic rays, but this is mainly suitable for near-space exploration. The Mars trip is too far away and takes a long time, using traditional aluminum alloy shielding would be too heavy, too fuel-consuming, and even impossible to launch.

  The Chang'e spacecraft has a new design shape different from the traditional one, which is composed of the main cabin and four evenly fixed metal protective balls around the main cabin. The four metal protective balls are precisely calculated relative to the main cabin's position, forming an electrostatic radiation protection circle that protects the main cabin. Through precise calculations, it is found that in order to achieve the best electrostatic radiation protection effect, the diameter of each metal protective ball should be between 10-20 meters, and they should maintain a distance of about 50 meters from the spacecraft's main cabin.

  This allows the charged metal shield to deflect streams of charged particles heading towards the spacecraft, thereby protecting the astronauts. Compared with traditional shielding technology, this radiation protection design enables the spacecraft to gain more space while reducing its mass, and more importantly, the charged metal shield is made of hollow aluminum, while the protective layer of the main cabin uses a new material synthesized from carbon nanotubes and aluminum, which makes the spacecraft very light but strong enough to withstand the impact of heavy ions (heavy ions will collide with atoms in the shielding material after entering the shielding layer).

  Chang'e 1 spacecraft is scheduled to launch in July this year, with a total of five crew members. After careful consideration by Lin Feng, two of the four passengers are pilots, and the other three are the first batch of Chinese astronauts to land on the moon. The three landing quotas were given by Lin Feng to the mainland, one to be selected internally in Taiwan. Now, the selection of ordinary people to land on the moon has been widely discussed in Taiwan, with every islander extremely excited. The conditions for astronaut selection and registration are very broad, and any Chinese citizen who meets certain physical conditions can sign up to participate.

  Currently, the registration points in major cities across Taiwan are crowded with people, and every Chinese person hopes to be the lucky one to land on the moon. With this trend, a wave of space travel enthusiasm has risen across Taiwan, and everyone is discussing topics related to "landing on the moon", "aliens", "UFOs" and so on. Various articles and videos about space travel are circulating online in Taiwan.

  As the economy develops and technology advances, the material life and spiritual food of Taiwan's people have become extremely rich. Especially after the opening of the network and the popularization of computers, the sense of pride and happiness index of Taiwan's people has jumped to first in the world. This year is the third year of the implementation of Taiwan's new economic plan. Last year, the per capita income on the island exceeded $3,500, and the annual fiscal revenue exceeded $70 billion. In addition, the implementation of various security systems on the island has made the people of Taiwan more supportive of the government. Especially after another round of civil servants' "self-examination" and mass network anti-corruption supervision activities, the government's prestige has risen even higher.

  However, Lin Feng was very clear that just letting the people live a happy and fair life is not enough. What's most important is to give the people a goal to pursue or set up an "imaginary enemy" for the nation and ethnicity, so that the people won't feel empty and idle. Now, with the launch of Chang'e No. 1, the attention of the whole nation was suddenly drawn to the vast universe, and the people's minds became broad-minded in this moment. They found that they had one more thing to pursue.

  Just as the world was bustling with the selection of astronauts, US President Carter extended an invitation to China's new leader, Chairman Deng Xiaoping, who has already clearly stated that he will make a friendly visit to the United States at an appropriate time. If previously the US still looked down on the Chinese in their hearts and thought their strength was not comparable to their own, then after the Sino-Japanese naval battle, the Chinese navy had become the third largest naval power after the US and the Soviet Union.

  Especially after the announcement of China's new naval plan, once this plan is successfully implemented, China will surpass the Soviet Navy, which cannot be ignored by the United States. Now that China's space lunar landing program is about to be implemented, China has become the second-largest space power after the United States. In order to avoid a new arms race between the two countries, President Carter felt it necessary to strengthen exchanges and contacts between the two countries across the Pacific. The victory of the Sino-Japanese War and the disclosure of the lunar landing plan greatly enhanced China's prestige in the world, and many countries are now actively seeking to improve their relations with China, including Jordan, which formally established diplomatic relations with China on April 7, 1977.

  According to Lin Feng's understanding, there are three conditions for traditional manned spaceflight: in addition to developing a manned spacecraft, it is also necessary to have a large carrying capacity and high reliability. The impact of the high-altitude environment and flight environment on the human body should be clarified, and effective protective measures should be found.

  Chang'e No. 1 spacecraft is different from previous spacecraft, it can use its own power system to break free from the Earth's gravitational constraints. In addition, the latest simulated gravity device and simulated earth ecological system technology are installed inside the spacecraft, allowing personnel inside the spacecraft to live and work normally like on Earth. At the same time, due to the application of the latest protective technology, astronauts do not need to wear cumbersome spacesuits inside the spacecraft, they can just live like on Earth. This spacecraft can be said to be Lin Feng's experimental ship for future interstellar travel, and all future interstellar travel vehicles will be based on this. Lin Feng must ensure that the Chinese nation occupies a dominant position in the interstellar era, so as to guarantee that national interests are not infringed upon.

  On July 3, 1977, the Chang'e No.1 spacecraft arrived at the launch center in northwestern Taiwan. At 8:15 am, leaders of the Taiwan region, Chiang Ching-kuo and Lin Feng, entered the launch center one after another. Since this launch was a live broadcast to the world, all preparations were required to be even more stringent.

  Five astronauts, apart from military and government representatives, the most attention from the outside world is a girl named Guo Mei Yang who was selected from ordinary people. This girl was originally an ordinary farm girl in Taiwan, but in March, she was unexpectedly selected as the first woman to land on the moon after two months of selection.

  This time, the astronauts selected, except for two military representatives, are all ordinary people who have not received special training. As long as these ordinary people pass this test, it means that Lin Feng's interstellar plan has taken its first step. After all, the main body of future interstellar travel is still the vast majority of ordinary people. If every space mission requires some specially trained people to participate, then there is no practical significance.

  At 09:05, China's first manned spacecraft Chang'e No.1 was launched from the Taiwan Launch Center Manned Spacecraft Launch Site.

  "5 minutes ready!" The 5 astronauts re-checked and adjusted the restraint straps, closed the face window, and calmly waited for the arrival of the flying moment.

  “……5, 4, 3, 2, 1.” As the zero commander gave a clear and powerful countdown order, everyone held their breath. “Ignition——” The control commander quickly raised his right arm and pressed down on that thumb-sized red button. 1500 meters away, on the mobile launch platform, a orange-red flame suddenly shot out from the bottom of the Chang'e No. 1 rocket.

  Inside the launch control center, the lights are on. Two giant electronic screens on the wall displaying live scenes of the launch site were instantly filled with red and yellow smoke. In front of rows of flashing computer screens, hundreds of technicians stared intently at the constantly jumping data.

  A deafening roar suddenly burst forth, like a thunderclap rolling over, as if the heavens were splitting apart. Thousands of meters away, spectators on the observation deck simultaneously felt the scorching heat wave and intense eardrum vibrations. Soaring! Soaring! The spaceship accelerated its ascent, a dazzling golden flame slashing across the dark blue sky...