Chapter 78: Success is the Accident

"... After the spacecraft enters the scheduled orbit, it will begin to lose control. The spacecraft begins to roll to the left, the roll rate is about 1 degree per second, ASCS failed to correct this problem, and the roll rate subsequently increased to about 10 degrees per second."

After Lin Ran finished reading, he said: "Just as I said at the hearing in Washington, NASA internally has serious problems in quality control, risk assessment, and overall project management.

This is just another verification of past problems."

After Lin Ran finished reading, there was an uproar off the stage; both American reporters and overseas reporters had expressions of disbelief.

On one hand, it was that you could actually predict this launch failure, and on the other hand, it was that since you knew it would fail, why didn't you remind NASA in advance to postpone this launch?

The reporters' hands off the stage were raised very high, and every reporter had countless questions in their hearts.

And NASA's executives had black faces.

James Webb and Lin Ran looked at each other, and he stood in the center of the podium and said:

"Next, President John Kennedy will deliver a speech!"

That's right, Kennedy had arrived at the Cape Canaveral launch site early in the morning.

No matter if this launch was successful or not, he would stand out and face the media to give a speech.

A successful launch was one set of rhetoric, and a failed launch was another set of rhetoric.

After Lin Ran set the plan, the entire plan had been discussed with James Webb and the White House side in advance.

The reason why they watched the spacecraft crash was also a key factor: under Lin Ran's reminder, James Webb obtained a key piece of evidence from within NASA.

This key piece of evidence ultimately brought about the formation of Lin Ran's plan.

Lin Ran also dug out a truth of history and verified his guess.

"Good morning, reporter friends.

Originally, we were going to mourn the death of the American astronaut with a heavy heart today, but fortunately, our new Special Assistant for Aerospace Affairs, Professor Randolph Lin, discovered the risk in advance and prevented this accident."

Alan Shepard sat under the stage with a heavy expression, his fists clenched tightly.

Because Freedom 7 was a two-system setup; if the automatic pilot system failed, he could still save Freedom 7's life through manual operation.

It didn't mean it was certain death.

Alan Shepard was both scared afterward and unhappy; scared because the White House side really predicted that Freedom 7 would have problems, and unhappy because his opportunity to be the first to enter space was gone just like that.

He didn't know when he would have to wait for the next time.

"I know everyone will feel how we knew the Freedom 7 launch would fail, and since we knew it would fail, why did we still let it continue to launch.

The former is because I believe in the judgment of professionals; Professor Lin is undoubtedly a master-level figure in the aerospace field no less than in the field of mathematics. Also, it couldn't be because Lin Ran caused the Freedom 7 launch failure.

His visit to the scene was accompanied throughout by Kurt Debus, the Launch Operations Director of the Cape Canaveral launch site.

Professor Lin did not have any physical contact with the rocket or the spacecraft.

The latter is because we knew that someone within NASA had been obstructing the smooth launch of Freedom 7; he didn't want to see NASA successfully launch, even if it meant letting the astronaut pay with his life and making America lose face because of it."

The big news came one after another.

First, James Webb and Lin Ran staged a prediction drama, and then Kennedy ran out to say that someone within NASA was playing tricks.

The discussion off the stage became more and more heated, and even an American reporter couldn't hold back and interrupted:

"Mr. President! Who! Who is so vicious!" The Washington Post reporter stood up with a loud voice, "And do you have evidence?"

"Of course, gentlemen, of course I have evidence!

In 1959, NASA recruited 110 test pilots from the Navy and Marine Corps, hoping to select test pilots from them for the space program.

From these 110 test pilots, 7 astronauts were finally born, officially joining the Mercury program.

Among them was our Colonel Alan Shepard.

That is to say, Alan Shepard was the astronaut carefully selected from 110 pilots to execute this manned space mission.

However, NASA concealed his huge physical risk; he is a patient with Meniere's disease.

This is a very rare disease, the symptoms of which are sudden dizziness, tinnitus, hearing loss, and a feeling of swelling in the ears.

Such a serious disease was clearly checked out in the NASA physical examination, but it was deliberately concealed.

This is the physical examination report before deletion that we found from the NASA Medical Center, which clearly wrote the doctor's opinion:

Alan Shepard suffers from Meniere's disease and is not recommended to execute space flight missions.

But Alan Shepard's final physical examination report was healthy.

Everyone can think about it: if Colonel Alan Shepard really entered space, when Freedom 7 had a malfunction, could he really complete the operation in the simulated environment under the influence of Meniere's disease and successfully return to Earth?

I'm afraid the probability is small enough to be pitiful."

Kennedy stood on the stage waving the physical examination report in his hand.

"Wow!" The reporters off the stage were full of shock.

NASA had failed too many times in the past; combined with Kennedy's revelations, everyone began to suspect whether all of NASA's past failures had conspiracies behind them.

In history, even if Freedom 7 had a malfunction, Alan Shepard successfully completed the manned space mission by relying on his own operation.

But Lin Ran felt very strange when reading this history, very strange; Shepard completed the mission, but the subsequent '62 manned orbital mission didn't let him go up, but instead was executed by John Glenn.

In 1963, Mercury-Atlas 9 was selected to be executed by Gordon Cooper, with Shepard standing by as a backup astronaut.

Not long before the launch, Cooper felt dissatisfied because technical personnel changed his spacesuit without permission, so he piloted an F-106 fighter jet to fly low over the NASA building at Cape Canaveral.

The supervisor therefore planned to call off Cooper's mission and have it executed by Shepard, but ultimately still decided to continue having Cooper complete it.

Cooper was so disobedient to orders, but the NASA side still insisted on letting Cooper execute it. Clearly, Shepard perfectly executed the mission in 1961.

Finally, he was diagnosed with Meniere's disease in 1963.

No matter how Lin Ran read it, he couldn't understand why NASA would operate like this.

Coming to this space-time, combined with James Webb wanting to transform NASA, history and the current situation intersected at this moment, and Lin Ran grasped that flash of inspiration.

Freedom 7 was someone within NASA deliberately making trouble, wanting this mission to fail, so they specifically selected Alan Shepard.

Alan Shepard's diagnosis of Meniere's disease wasn't in 1963, but much earlier; the internal physical examination at NASA had already known it.

So Freedom 7's success was the accident; it was supposed to fail.

The original physical examination report found by James Webb with the cooperation of the *IA verified Lin Ran's guess. ===== CHAPTER 79 =====