Chapter 437 - 428 Advertising_1

"Beep—"

The camera emitted a cue sound, and the green indicator light began to rhythmically pulse and flicker.

This was the internal camera of the Dawn III Command Cabin, transmitting images back to Earth alongside the external cameras on the spacecraft, which, after adjustment, perfectly captured both the lunar lander and the Moon.

Audiences with even a moderate interest in space were already familiar with the lunar surface. Last year’s Chang’e missions had been broadcast, as had the Dawn 2 mission, and just a couple of months ago the Skylight 1 mission around the Moon offered another glimpse. Both the far and near side landscapes of the Moon had been scrutinized thoroughly.

But people’s interest in the Moon hadn’t diminished at all; for now, it seemed impossible to tire of watching it.

From the perspective of the cabin camera, Zhang Zhiguang and Fang Lin, already suited up in the "Feitian III" semi-hard-shell extravehicular space suits, squeezed into a corner of the command cabin, which seemed rather cramped.

On the front of their chests, the exquisite golden embroidered mission patch of Dawn III was extremely conspicuous against the white background.

They were not engaging in the interactive activities typical of near-Earth orbit broadcasts but were focused on their mission tasks.

Ding Jihua slightly adjusted the camera to move the view closer to the docking port, where the two bulky astronauts carefully entered the lunar lander feet-first, almost completely obscuring its interior from view.

Robot 14 was fixed on the other side of the camera’s view, completely out of sight from the current angle.

Just the simple action of entering the lander took nearly ten minutes.

That was already considered fast, and all three astronauts had previous space station experience, boasting ample practice in zero-gravity conditions, which is difficult for ordinary people to comprehend. In zero gravity, what seems like freedom from constraints actually presents constant limitations.

Any change in momentum caused by an action would induce something, never nullified by gravity. One must move gently, but with precise control of their power.

Fang Lin was now very thankful for Robot 14, which, despite never experiencing zero gravity, adapted much more quickly than humans due to its pre-determined programs. For the cabin inspections, which under normal circumstances would take 2 to 3 hours, the ’individual’ moved through the cabin like a jellyfish in the ocean, completing the complex mechanical checks swiftly and accurately, greatly reducing the workload for the astronauts.

He went through the inventory list one last time: essential food and water, two emergency rescue packs, an electric folding flagpole, a sculpture... everything was accounted for, the list memorized.

"Zhang, how much longer do we have?"

"Let me check..." Zhang Zhiguang pressed his wrist, and the HUD on his visor displayed the time remaining until they reached the descent point—82 minutes.

This was humanity’s first landing on the far side of the Moon, in the south pole region. Dawn III not only had to wait for the spacecraft to pass over the Kuom Impact Crater before decelerating, but it also had to land when there was sunlight on the moon’s far side. Otherwise, the television broadcast would feature nothing but darkness, also making it challenging for manual confirmation of the observation point.

Finding the right window for the landing meant aligning the Moon’s revolution and the spacecraft’s rotation in their orbits, fortunately, there were several opportunities available.

Twenty minutes after entering the lander, Zhang Zhiguang prepared to evacuate the air inside.

The hatch to the docking port was slowly closed by Ding Jihua, who took one last look at the faces of the two men—there was no fear or worry, just a fearless determination.

Although their radio communications were not being broadcast directly, Ding Jihua still refrained from speaking and simply raised his hand in salute.

The two inside the lander didn’t speak either; they silently saluted in response, a scene witnessed by viewers across the nation and around the globe.

They still served as active duty military personnel, choosing their unique way of executing the most complex form of communication.

The live broadcast then switched to an external view of the cabin, with the next phase being the wait for separation.

Ground Control Center.

Lin Ju could of course see the cabin feed and took the microphone to speak directly to the two astronauts:

"Dawn, Dawn, Robot 14 has now been connected to the lander’s computer. If you encounter a situation that requires manual correction later, don’t mind it. After the mode switch, the joystick commands will still take priority."

"Understood, Dawn."

Lin Ju was somewhat concerned about Robot 14 encountering unexpected issues, given it was a last-minute modification. Although theoretically sound, it wasn’t as precisely designed as the first one.

In particular, the walking and posture control system in zero and low gravity—while theoretically just running a simulation on a supercomputer should suffice, whether problems would arise in reality was uncertain.

Fortunately, its onboard AI was self-learning, and as long as there were no major malfunctions, it could correct errors using its database. There shouldn’t be any major issues.

"Mr. She, how are the viewership numbers looking?"

Academician She held up three fingers:

"After ten minutes of broadcasting, the global television viewership is around 3 billion."

"That many!"

"Online streaming and rebroadcasts aren’t even included! Although there’s a high repeat rate, I estimate it must be over 4 billion."

What did 4 billion signify? Roughly the combined population of Asia, and even on a global scale, it already surpassed half of the total population of 7.5 billion.

Even more boldly, perhaps up to 5 billion people.

After all, it wasn’t like the 1970s when TVs were only prevalent in developed areas; the internet, which had risen in just a few years, as well as satellite TVs from the new millennium, had nearly reached global coverage, allowing those with the means to watch the broadcast.

"If we had taken some advertising fees, we’d be making a fortune. No, I have to reselect the advertisers for Skylight II’s mission."

"You haven’t made enough already? You’ve even printed ads on the space suits!"

When it came to advertising, Academician She remembered how New Yuan took the Skylight II space suit some days ago to start adding advertising logos.

Zhang Yingming, paying a hefty price, used part of the shares in TikTok and Douyin to exchange for the best placement. Right above the mission patch on the chest was the advertising logo, and the second advertiser was Xin’an Motors, the ’son’ successfully securing naming rights for the Moon rover.

Unlike the "De Lu" rover from the Space Agency, Skylight II’s rover, though still open-top due to lander capacity constraints, had improved speed and obstacle-avoidance capabilities, developed in collaboration between the base and Xin’an.

The most significant aspect was that Xin’an managed to manufacture an extremely lightweight foldable shell from shape-memory alloy. Once the rover unfolded, it would display a shell, giving it the appearance of an open-top sports car.

The rover was named in the XC series, skipping the unreleased model to be positioned as XC10, hence called XCX, like "De Lu," adopting the name of a renowned horse, "Red Hare."

Similar-looking XCX models had already been unveiled but not the specific model, simply awaiting Deng Lei to unfold the Moon rover, coinciding with the launch event and acceptance of pre-orders.

Of course, there were many more advertising slots available, each commanding a hefty price.

This unrepeatable advertising method by New Yuan was set to bring in huge profits, a source of envy for Academician She.

As the ads alone were able to recoup some of the funds, if the Space Agency could do the same, approval of their plans would likely go much smoother, right?