Chapter 418 - 409: Not the Second One

If someone paid close attention to the news released by NACA over the past six months, they would discover an interesting fact:

After the launch of the CZ-10A Remote 2 Rocket, no specific mission information about Artemis II has been disclosed.

The first mission, an unmanned test; the second, an orbit around the Moon; the third, a manned lunar landing—this much was known when the plan began.

Claire had a contingency in place: if the rocket had no issues, the lander had no issues, everything was OK, and there was enough time, then Artemis II would be a lunar landing operation;

if an accident happened or they couldn’t be the first, then they would delay or continue with the lunar orbit mission. Everyone assumed that, right?

But these little maneuvers could barely save face with the public. Congress was only aware that they had passed the bill and provided funding, so they had to be NO.1, and John also couldn’t bluff his way through that.

The events of last month had already shocked the members of Congress, and now they were deeply questioning themselves and fearing their opponents.

Having the Artemis plan, dating back to 2000, lose to the hastily-conceived Dawn plan seemed to the world to say that the place they lived in was no longer the beacon of the world, and it was unmistakably so.

Even if they won and took the lead, the Dawn plan was quick to catch up, which was just as much a heavy blow to their status.

The significance of the Artemis plan was not merely about reaching for the stars and oceans again; aside from war, space exploration is the best way to demonstrate power.

If they really lost...

Although John seemed confident at this time, he was not without preparation.

After six months of planning, the God of War Ares plan had also become quite perfect, the only remaining chance for a possible comeback.

...

Bangalore.

Nazilaze stayed in his luxury hotel suite, watching the CCAV news program through satellite TV.

Starting from June 20th, the Central News Group established a new program called "Our Space" from 10 to 11 AM every day, narrating the history and achievements of the modern aerospace industry since the last century.

Intermittently, it also included some of the most recent breakthroughs. The program quality was very high, and many chief designers who had participated in important projects were invited for interviews, revealing much previously undisclosed information, which Nazilaze found fascinating.

After all, the foundational development of the space agency was given by the Union. In his view, the YF100 was essentially the RD120’s Eastern counterpart.

Before New Yuan appeared, this engine nearly carried the entire future of China’s space industry, which was indeed very interesting.

As for why the chief designer, who came to personally teach the Indians how to build a spaceship, was watching TV programs in a hotel? That’s a long story.

Two months ago, the "Gagan Yang" spacecraft achieved its maiden flight. This not-so-smooth flight was wildly exaggerated by the Indian media, and Modi, with a grand gesture, directly authorized ISRO to take control from Russia and begin "complete self-research."

At that time, the Indian engineers started to get "carried away" and completely ignored the advice of the Russian experts or only listened to half of it.

He remembered something a chief designer from the Sukhoi Design Bureau in Kaliningrad once said:

Both China and India had imported the Su-27. When the former began copying it, they would earnestly note down every word from the Russian experts, carefully digest the information before asking questions on what they didn’t understand, and then painstakingly grasp the original design before continuing their hard work;

The latter, on the other hand, would impatiently interject their opinion after hearing only half and start to refute the teacher, then rely on their own understanding to blindly proceed until an accident occurred and forced them to stop.

Now he deeply understood those words, Russia’s expert consultant group had almost lost their ability to intervene with the Gagan Yang team, and their efficiency and work attitude deteriorated rapidly. Apart from the final card of factory inspection rights, the consultant group was virtually powerless.

So Nazilaze simply chose to foul play, considering that once the Gagan Yang II was completed, he would not let it fly without inspecting every inside and out, determined to thoroughly vex India.

This would probably take a long time anyway, as the second GSLV MK3 wouldn’t be ready until at least October according to their factory’s schedule, and the construction of Gagan Yang II wouldn’t be completed until this year, with a launch planned for next year.

Since he was staying in a luxury hotel every day with top expert treatment, receiving a generous subsidy, and could enjoy the tropical sunshine and beaches, it was much better than the ice and snow of the north.

If India isn’t in a hurry, neither am I.

Only JAXA, which was anxious to collaborate with them for the "Star of Asia," was running around frantically. They were aware of the mishap of Gagan Yang’s maiden flight and nagged ISRO to make improvements relentlessly, as after all, the astronauts from Island Country would have to take it to the Moon.

Seeing how easily satisfied India was, he really wished he could send them all to Heaven’s Punishment.

...

Capital.

After the Dawn III project was officially announced, the space agency began receiving congratulations from countries around the world and requests for Moon cooperation, most of which were directly accepted.

After all, accepting cooperation ≠ sending astronauts to the Moon, and even adding a 10-kilogram payload in the experimental equipment of the Dawn project accounted for a significant cooperative effort.

Standing out among the host of small countries were the four West Asian nations. They too happily retweeted and liked on Weibo, sharing photos of their astronauts training in China.

Abe was a major financier for both the H2 and March projects, almost single-handedly propelling both forward. Lin Ju gave them an additional spot on top of the first Moon landing slot, and then Prince Swetan suggested that two might be a bit awkward, and it would be better to include the other three brothers as well, purchasing two more slots, so each of the four nations would have one.

Last month, when Storm orbited the Moon, Abe’s public opinion surged tremendously, and the astronaut preparing for the Moon landing was once again rewarded by the king and was actively training.

After Dawn III was confirmed, New Yuan officially notified Abe of the first Moon landing time: around the beginning of August.

As expected, Storm would carry out the mission, but the lander would be another "Full Moon" purchased from the space agency, landing a Saudi astronaut on the Moon, just one month after Dawn III.

This timing was earlier than Italy, Germany, France—the three countries that had cooperated more in astronautics, and even earlier than America, which was a significant face-saver.

In fact, for New Yuan, a suitable time would be after October, when their own reusable large lander would be successful and other supporting facilities were almost made; early August was purely to satisfy Saudi Arabia.

After all, just the fee for those concurrent Moon footprints alone amounted to 13 billion US dollars; customer satisfaction had to be ensured.

Prince Swetan, who was then in Beijing, wandered about aimlessly. On the 18th, at Pan Jiayuan market, he carried a big bag of US dollars and stuffed a handful to anyone who caught his fancy. A passing mascot even had nearly half a bag dumped inside its headpiece, the fervor rivaling that of the Moon landing.

However, when Prince Swetan visited the Aerospace Development Committee again on the 22nd, he saw a somewhat peculiar expression on the face of Shen Zuozhou, who was receiving him.

"What’s wrong, Shen? Is the pressure too much?"

Shen Zuozhou timely halted his intention to take out money, internally criticising for a moment before speaking somewhat gravely,

"Your Highness, it’s possible that you might not be the second country outside of us to land on the Moon.

According to our confirmation, the Artemis II mission is going to be launched ahead of schedule, and it’s very likely that a moon landing will take place."