Chapter 970
: A 2-Hour Speedrun to the Moon
December 10, 2019, Jiuquan, sunny.
The north wind on the Gobi Desert stopped silently in the early hours of the morning.
Without wind, the sand stopped hitting my face, and the pale light on the horizon was as clean as if it had been washed with water.
The viewing area outside the launch center was packed with people who had come from all over the country. Some were wrapped in thick down jackets and holding binoculars, some had their phones on tripods and aimed at the huge silver-gray object in the distance, and some had brought folding chairs but couldn't sit down at all. Everyone was standing, standing on tiptoe, craning their necks to look in the same direction.
Many more people couldn't squeeze into the viewing area, so they stood on the Gobi Desert, on the roofs of their own cars, or anywhere they could get a higher vantage point.
A father carried his daughter on his shoulders. The little girl clutched a small national flag in her hand and asked her father when the rocket would take off. The father replied that it would be soon, but his eyes never left the silver rocket in the distance.
The Pioneer 2 stands on the launch tower.
The over 100-meter-long rocket resembles a silver-white sword piercing the sky. Sunlight shines on its silver-gray body, reflecting a dazzling light. The rocket is inscribed with the five large characters "Pioneer II," next to which is the star track marker of Galaxy Aerospace.
Eight Hercules engines are arranged in a ring at the rear, and the inner wall of each engine's nozzle is coated with a superconducting coating that gleams with a faint metallic luster in the morning light.
All the staff on the launch pad have been evacuated, leaving only the rocket standing alone on the Gobi Desert, quietly waiting for the moment of ignition.
In the observation room on the second floor of the main control room, Wang Donglai stood in front of the huge explosion-proof glass, holding a cup of Longjing tea that had gone cold.
Only Lu Cheng and two staff members stood behind him; there were no reporters, no cameras, and no extra people.
The control panel was on the first floor, which was Yang Anchao's seat, but he didn't plan to sit there.
In the past few days, he arrived in Jiuquan with the expert group as the chief scientist of Galaxy Aerospace, and participated in many technical discussions and the final system review. However, he handed over all the authority to speak to the outside world and to give command to Yang Anchao.
I only do one thing: watch!
Looking at these brothers who had gone through countless test drives, simulations, and all-night troubleshooting sessions with him, he personally sent the Pioneer II into space!
The command center on the first floor was packed.
All of the more than one hundred workstations were full, and each person had three screens displaying real-time data streams. The sounds of keyboard typing and equipment self-testing beeps mingled together, and no one spoke.
Yang Anchao sat in front of the main control panel, his hands braced on the edge of the panel, his knuckles turning white from the force.
On the large screen in front of him, the countdown numbers were ticking away second by second.
Old Zhou sat at the powertrain workstation next to him, holding a test report in his hand, the cover of which was marked as a data summary of the ninth additional test of the Lisu engine.
He has checked this report dozens of times and can recite every decimal point, but he still carries it with him and keeps it within easy reach like a talisman.
Xiao Zhao, the leader of the guidance team, stared intently at the real-time data stream scrolling across the three screens in front of him. His fingers hovered motionless above the keyboard, and his lips moved slightly as if he were silently reciting something—perhaps guidance parameters, perhaps a prayer, or perhaps both.
"Attention all units, the countdown to launch has begun, which is now in ten minutes."
Yang Anchao's voice was amplified through the loudspeaker system to every corner of the launch center, and also transmitted to all parts of the country and to every screen watching the live broadcast via quantum communication terminals.
His voice was calm and steady, but even through the glass, Wang Donglai could hear the immense force beneath that calm tone.
"Guidance system reporting status."
"Guidance system is normal."
Xiao Zhao's voice came from the loudspeaker, with the crispness unique to young people, but if you listen carefully, you can hear that his voice trembled slightly at the end.
"Navigation accuracy is better than the design specifications, all three redundant attitude control systems are online. The fire control computer has passed its self-test, the inertial measurement unit drift value is within the allowable range, and the star sensor calibration is complete."
"Powertrain system report status."
"The first-stage engine is in normal condition, the thrust vector control is normal, the combustion chamber precooling is complete, the turbopump pre-start self-test is passed, the second stage is normal, the third stage is normal, the attitude control engine is normal, and the response time is better than the design specifications."
Old Zhou's voice was hoarse but steady, like an old engine that had been running for decades. The voice wasn't pleasant to listen to, but every word was perfectly timed.
He flipped to the last page of the test report, glanced at the prominent "Qualified" stamp in the "Conclusion" section, then closed the report and set it aside.
"Telemetry system report status."
"The telemetry system is functioning normally. The signal link has been established, the quantum communication terminal is online, and the traditional radio frequency link is used as a backup. The data transmission rate test has passed, and the bit error rate is within an acceptable range."
"The measurement and control system reports its status."
"Jiuquan Station is normal, Tangdu Station is normal, Yuanwang-7 is normal, Yuanwang-8 is normal. The global tracking and control network is ready, and the signal coverage is 100% complete. The maritime tracking and control fleet has entered its designated positions, and the tracking antennas have been locked."
"The weather system is reporting its status."
"The wind speed at the launch site is seven meters per second, heading northeast, which meets the launch conditions. The high-altitude wind speed is within a safe range. The temperature, humidity, and air pressure are all within the launch window envelope. The meteorological conditions are expected to remain stable at the time of ignition."
Yang Anchao paused for a moment.
His gaze shifted from the screen to every face in the control room.
Old Zhou clutched an enamel mug containing the most common Fu tea from the Gobi Desert. The tea leaves had turned black from steeping, but he hadn't drunk it.
Xiao Zhao's fingers remained suspended above the keyboard, his fingertips trembling slightly from maintaining the same posture for so long, but his gaze did not waver at all.
Those veteran aerospace workers who switched from the national team, and those young faces who have just joined the company for a little over a year, are all sitting at their respective workstations, their eyes fixed on a set of fluctuating numbers on the screen.
The lobby was so quiet that only the beeping of the equipment self-checking and the faint sound of the air conditioning vents overhead could be heard. Some people were swallowing, some were quietly wiping the sweat from their palms onto their trouser legs, and some were taking a deep breath and then slowly exhaling.
"Everyone."
Yang Anchao suddenly spoke, his voice softer than ever before, but it could be heard clearly throughout the entire hall.
"We have been waiting for this day for many years. From today onwards, we will have a home on the moon. This is not my achievement alone, but the collective achievement of everyone here, including those who are not in this hall now but have contributed their efforts to this rocket."
He pressed the call button and shouted those two words with all his might: "Ignition!"
The countdown has reached zero.
The eight engines at the rear of the Trailblazer II ignited simultaneously.
The entire Gobi Desert trembled at that moment.
Orange-red flames erupted from the nozzle, reaching temperatures exceeding three thousand degrees, instantly vaporizing the cooling water in the guide channel.
White steam billowed outwards like a giant wave, accompanied by a deafening roar, causing even the glass in the command center to tremble slightly.
The roar pierced through the explosion-proof glass, and even the floor of the observation room on the second floor trembled slightly underfoot.
In the viewing area, some people instinctively covered their ears, some were forced to take a half step back by the wave of heat, and some stared wide-eyed with their mouths agape but could not make a sound.
The little girl sitting on her father's shoulders didn't cover her ears. The moment the flames lit up, she raised her hand holding the national flag high and shouted something, but her voice was swallowed up by the roar. All that could be seen was her excited smile and the red flag fluttering in the wind.
The rocket slowly lifted off the launch pad. It was an almost solemn, breathtaking ascent.
The colossal object, over a hundred meters tall, was lifted by the powerful thrust of eight engines, gradually breaking free from Earth's gravity.
It doesn't shoot into the sky with a "whoosh," but rather climbs steadily upwards at a solemn and dignified pace, like a giant who doesn't rush to sprint at the start of a race, but first accumulates strength with steady steps, and then gets faster and faster.
The exhaust trail drew a bright arc in the sky, gradually changing from orange-red to bright white, and then from bright white to a dazzling blue-white, illuminating the entire launch site and the faces of everyone who looked up.
"The first-stage engine is working normally, the thrust is stable, and the combustion chamber pressure is within the rated range."
Old Zhou's voice came through the loudspeaker, still hoarse, but every word was on the right beat.
He didn't look at the test report; the data was already etched into his mind.
"The turbopump speed is stable, the fuel mixture ratio deviation is minimal, and the nozzle temperature is within the normal range."
"The arrow's attitude is normal, and its trajectory deviates very little from the theoretical curve."
Xiao Zhao's fingers finally landed on the keyboard, but not to make any corrections; he simply recorded a set of data out of habit.
"The speed increase is in line with the predetermined trajectory, and the angle of attack and sideslip angle are both within the controllable range."
The rocket pierced through the clouds and passed the edge of the atmosphere.
The tail flame gradually turned dark red in the thin air, then purple, and finally almost transparent blue.
It burst out of the atmosphere and plunged into that dark, star-studded deep space.
The moment the fairing was jettisoned, sunlight shone directly on the exposed payload bay, reflecting a dazzling silver light in the live broadcast.
"First-stage engine shutdown."
Old Zhou's voice came through, tinged with barely suppressed excitement: "The engine shutdown sequence is normal, and the thrust decay curve closely matches the theoretical value. The booster has separated."
The four boosters detached from the rocket body, like petals falling from a flower stamen, tumbling in the thin air as they plummeted towards the sea.
Their mission is complete; now it's time for the second-stage engines to take center stage.
"The second-stage engine ignition is normal."
Old Zhou continued his report: "The combustion chamber pressure is established, the thrust vector control is activated, and the rocket body attitude transitions smoothly."
"Fairing jettisoned."
Xiao Zhao picked up the conversation: "The payload bay has been exposed to a vacuum, the star sensor has recaptured the navigation star, and attitude adjustment is complete."
"The second-stage engine shut down, and the third-stage engine ignited for the first time, propelling the rocket into its parking orbit. The Pioneer 2 flew smoothly at an altitude of about 200 kilometers above the ground, like a giant ship briefly moored in a harbor, waiting for its next voyage."
As the third-stage engine shut down, Yang Anchao let out a soft breath.
He had been holding that grudge in his heart ever since the day he took over the Arrow to the Moon project, for far too long.
He picked up the microphone, his voice regaining its usual calm: "Kaituozhe 2 has entered Earth parking orbit. All units are proceeding with the planned Earth-Moon transfer ignition preparations."
A burst of applause erupted in the command hall, but it was quickly drowned out by the reports coming from various posts.
Everyone knows this is just the first step.
The rocket still needs to travel hundreds of thousands of kilometers to reach the moon, and then it needs to make a soft landing on the lunar surface.
The real test is yet to come.
Some people in the viewing area cried.
A middle-aged man wearing a thick cotton hat repeatedly shouted "Success! Success!" into his phone screen. He did this several times before realizing that his voice was so hoarse it didn't sound like his own.
A young man next to him, holding a national flag, looked up at the trail of flame in the sky that was about to dissipate. Tears streamed down his face, but he didn't wipe them away. He just raised the flag even higher.
The barrage of comments in the Douyin live stream room was so dense that it was impossible to see any of the words. Occasionally, a few would peek out from between the layers of characters.
"I'm in tears," "I was holding my breath and my hands are still shaking," "My grandfather used to be an aerospace worker, and he just saluted the screen."
Most of the comments were just a long string of repetitive characters; it wasn't that they had nothing to say, but that they couldn't express it.
In the observation room on the second floor, Wang Donglai stood in front of the explosion-proof glass, looking at the people clapping below.
Old Zhou was wiping his glasses, but the lenses were covered with a layer of fog that he couldn't get rid of no matter how much he wiped. So he simply took off his glasses and wiped them repeatedly with his sleeve.
Xiao Zhao finally removed his fingers from the keyboard, slumped into his chair, his shoulders still trembling slightly.
Several young engineers patted each other on the shoulder, some laughing, some crying, and some laughing and crying at the same time.
Yang Anchao did not applaud. He was picking up the microphone to deploy the preparations for the Earth-Moon transfer ignition. His voice had returned to its usual calm and steady tone, as if the earth-shaking ignition just now was just an ordinary test run.
But Wang Donglai saw that after Yang Anchao put down the microphone, he quietly pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. The action lasted for less than a second before he put his hand back on the control panel.
Wang Donglai's lips twitched slightly.
It was a very faint smile, almost imperceptible.
He turned to Lu Cheng and said, "I'll leave this to you," before quietly leaving the observation room.
He was going to the cafeteria to have a meal with the astronauts, just as he had promised.
But before that, he picked up his phone and sent Yang Anchao a message with only two words.
The two words were emitted from behind the glass of the observation room on the second floor, passed through several layers of encrypted relays, and finally appeared on Yang Anchao's mobile phone screen.
Yang Anchao glanced down at his phone, put it back in his pocket, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.
What happened next shocked the entire global aerospace community.
According to the previous mission plan, the entire process, from Earth parking orbit to Earth-Moon transfer and then to lunar landing, would take several days.
This is both from the perspective of maximum safety and due to practical technological limitations.
However, this time, the Pioneer 2 initiated its Earth-Moon transfer ignition less than a few hours after entering Earth parking orbit, and adopted a completely new orbital design.
This scheme has been optimized thousands of times by the Waiyong quantum computing platform, which maximizes the super thrust of the Hercules engine and the high temperature resistance of the Xirang coating. The rocket no longer approaches the moon slowly along the traditional lunar orbit, but directly cuts into the lunar gravity capture zone at a faster speed. At the same time, it uses the AI autonomous navigation system to calculate the optimal deceleration curve in real time and accurately initiates reverse thrust braking when approaching the lunar surface.
The entire Earth-Moon transfer time was compressed to less than twelve hours. (End of Chapter)