Chapter 564 - 552 Naming

"Camera operator, take a few steps back; we need to capture the entire spacecraft in the shot."

Wearing a spacesuit, Guo Fan stood under the launch tower, directing the camera operator who was donned in a spacesuit as well to adjust the angle.

Behind him stood Xinyuan Launch Site’s newly added No. 3 giant mobile launch platform, and towering on top of it was the Pioneer spacecraft.

There were still four hours to go before takeoff, and not long after they finished taking photos, they would need to board the spacecraft.

Almost two years had passed since the start of filming "The Wandering Earth," and Lin Ju’s promise of shooting in space was about to be fulfilled.

The entire film crew, including the actors, numbered 12 people in total, which was quite lean, and almost everyone had to perform multiple roles to ensure the shooting went smoothly.

Additionally, there were 14 astronauts accompanying them, 8 of whom were base engineers who had never been to space. Hence, the Pioneer would be sending 26 people to the Forward Space Station this time.

During the anticipated 14-day shooting schedule, the Forward Space Station would be docked with three H2-type spacecraft simultaneously, using three of the four large docking ports, and resident personnel would peak at 38 people, which was about to break the records for the crew size and weight of a crewed spacecraft.

Clearly, the original crew cabin of the Pioneer wasn’t large enough for so many people, but this time its cargo bay was fitted with the passenger cabin originally intended for 108 people, now set to accommodate 21 passengers.

However, the extra space wasn’t wasted; aside from reserving 24 seats, the rest of the 14 rows of seats were removed to transport goods, delivering 7 tons of scientific equipment and as much as 20 tons of supplies to the Forward Station.

Two and a half hours before launch, Guo Fan climbed into the cargo bay, where piles of white packages sat below, looking very secure.

The film crew’s 12 members and actors were all snugly situated in the crew cabin, but after much coaxing by Guo Fan, they were allowed to set up a camera in the cockpit to capture precious real-life takeoff footage.

Despite the cramped 3+3 layout, the cargo bay was quite spacious with its nearly 8-meter width. The only drawback was the lack of windows which was a great disappointment to Guo because he couldn’t see outside.

So he had no complaints about Wu Jing grabbing a spot next to the cabin wall; after all, it made little difference to everyone else.

Securing the 21 people’s postures and strapping them in for the upright flight took quite an effort from the staff. By the time they finished, they had little more than an hour until launch, and Guo Fan was beginning to feel some sweat on his body.

"If only we were on the Chapter 9, it’d be perfect to fly straight from the Earth to the space station and dock, without the need for any post-production for a quality sci-fi film."

Wu Jing: "Too bad Mr. Lin isn’t here... We almost got him to make a cameo in space."

Guo Fan: "Boss Lin has been grounded, but if you ask me..."

"Ahem." Commander Shen Zuozhou from the ground control center interrupted their wild speculation, instructing them to continue with their pre-flight preparations.

With a year of intensive launches under its belt, the H2’s flight missions had become routine, and the command center had trained several adept teams, so the atmosphere was quite relaxed.

An hour passed swiftly and, upon receiving the ignition command, the Xinyuan No.2 Rocket, which had completed five missions, took to the skies once more, carrying 26 astronauts upward.

In the footage returned by the rocket, Guo Fan and Wu Jing both opened their eyes wide, experiencing the immense overload from the 21 engines.

The crew was young this time, and for them, it was just a slight pressure.

The overload didn’t last long. After sending the spacecraft into low orbit, the rocket promptly separated, and the Pioneer started its own engines a few minutes later, scheduled to dock with Forward Station in two hours.

...

"Brother Jing, give me a hand here!"

"I can’t even stand still myself!"

Guo Fan, spinning helplessly in the air, tried to reach out to Wu Jing for assistance, but the latter was equally struggling to "stand" firm. The initial encounter with zero-gravity was somewhat uncomfortable for these ordinary folks.

Two and a half hours since launch had passed, and after the Pioneer had successfully docked, they unbuckled their safety belts, but apart from moving a few times as they initially intended, they were now in a state of complete chaos.

Fortunately, the other 9 base astronaut trainees were able to help. With their guidance, the film crew also quickly got the hang of it and after some adjustment, they were able to climb up to the space station.

At the docking port of the service module, Li Sheng welcomed the arriving film crew and emphasized the confidentiality discipline.

The 12 people who got up here all underwent official background checks, received more secrecy education than actual space training, and were all brought under official confidentiality agreements, all very cooperative.

After that, the film crew and others were led to the "Mouse" cabin to gather and prepare for the welcome ceremony, leaving Li Sheng and some of the Xinyuan engineers who had come along behind.

They tacitly returned to the Pioneer’s cargo bay and started unwrapping the top layer of packages, revealing a series of coffin-like composite material boxes.

An engineer opened one and revealed a beautiful woman lying inside with her arms wrapped around herself.

She was wearing a light blue one-piece dress that revealed much of her snow-white upper body including the shoulders, with the skirt covering most of her thighs.

If the color of the dress were white, Li Sheng would have thought she was a beautiful hostess or bridesmaid, as her delicate features seemed to belong only in such scenes to him.

His first reaction was feeling that his angle of view was somewhat impolite, and even as he tried to convince himself that she was just a robot, there was no way to tell from her appearance.

Sleeping Beauty was his first impression.

However, the engineer who lifted the lid evidently wasn’t as shocked. With so many Type A Robot life butlers that even outnumbered dogs at the base, he was desensitized to them.

He briskly pressed a spot on her snow-white skin on the chest, and her eyes opened immediately. The blue glow that did not belong to humans appeared in her lifelike eyes and shone accurately onto the engineer’s face.

"Authorization detected: BA35045, you have entered developer mode. I am Type A Intelligent Multipurpose Life Butler Number 2101, at your service."

The sudden speech from 2101 startled all the astronauts at the station since her tone and lip movements were extremely natural, not at all like a robot, without a hint of stiffness.

The engineer looked back at Li Sheng:

"According to the rules of the space station, you are the person in charge now. It’s up to you to name her."