Chapter 626 - 612 Meeting

"Report the status."

"Both cabin segments are at normal pressure, the airlock is sealed properly, spacesuit dust levels are below threshold, and the air particle index is normal; we can proceed to the next step."

Inside the Osmanthus Tree Living Cabin... at the Yushu Base’s organizational office, four astronauts dressed in basic flightsuits sat around a folding table.

Li Wei took his seat against the wall of the cabin, right behind him, three flags representing the Canopy Number Three mission.

His expression was serious, with a recorder next to him.

"Comrades, I declare the first official branch meeting of the Yushu No.1 Base begins. First, let’s have the leader of the Canopy Number Three Vanguard Team speak!"

After he had spoken, he joined the other three in a round of applause, all looking towards Deng Lei.

The latter stood up with a solemn and serious demeanor, as if he was back in his Air Force reporting days.

"Hello everyone, this is..."

His speech wasn’t long, just a brief overview of the work status and progress since landing, and then it was the other three’s turn to speak in turn, with Li Wei giving the summary at the end.

The meeting ended in 40 minutes, and after the recorder was turned off, everyone relaxed simultaneously.

The meeting just held was more symbolic than anything, mainly to prove one thing: from now on, the Moon has its own branch!

And there’s also a permanent office location; the significance is extraordinary.

The footage from the meeting would definitely be edited and featured prominently in the central news broadcasts, something the team had rehearsed twice in advance.

After the meeting, Fu Xiangjie and Liu Ming carried over a large box and opened it to reveal a variety of vacuum-packed foods, particularly several packets of processed green vegetables ready to eat after simple heating.

Despite the progress in space food technology, allowing astronauts to eat solid meals instead of paste from a toothpaste tube, the pursuit of culinary delights is never-ending. The Tiangong and U-Tu space stations are already able to maintain a very generous supply of fresh vegetables and fruit; the next phase is reportedly to allow astronauts to eat freshly prepared meals on the Moon.

Not microwave-heated ready meals, but real stir-fries and stews made on the spot.

After all, the Moon’s low gravity has already provided the foundation for open cooking—it’s conceivable to put in some effort to allow astronauts to whip up a plate of stir-fried beef with scallions or braised pork intestines.

If some of the raw materials could come from lunar greenhouses, then it could be said that Chinese People have truly taken root on the Moon, the significance as important as the existence of an organizational office.

Deng Lei picked out a bag of preserved vegetable and pork shredded rice, imagining what New Year’s Eve meal he could make on the Moon.

Celebrating the New Year on the Moon is not just talk; the entire Canopy Number Three mission, with over a hundred people, will last at least two months. If nothing unexpected happens, all four astronauts now present will stay until after the New Year.

In the short term, they’re pivotal, as there’s still a difference between astronaut moon landers and permanent Moon residents.

Having gravity on the Moon doesn’t mean it’s exactly the same as Earth, and it certainly differs significantly from space itself—living there for an extended period takes quite some time to adapt to.

Just take their work over the past few hours; even experienced astronauts like Deng and Li fell several times. If not for the flexibility of their "Pioneer I" Passive Exoskeleton Spacesuits, even getting back up would have been challenging.

Eating, drinking, and the like all require extra caution; the only thing that doesn’t need adapting is using the toilet. Not needing to aim carefully at the toilet seat and the relief provided by the vacuum toilet suction made you want to cry tears of joy. Rumors of future Moon Base tryouts of squat toilets were even more alluring.

There were other benefits too, taste and smell had greatly improved, as senses began to operate orderly under gravity again, and facial congestion was much less noticeable than on the space station, which also helped with long-term residency on the Moon.

Even without the lure of working on the Moon, these benefits were sufficiently attractive.

The only pity was that these had to be waited for, as the first two months were still somewhat torturous.

The four of them carefully ate with spoons under the Moon’s gravity, and also discussed "next door’s" Artemis III.

Although they hadn’t gone over to say hello, they knew everything Victor and his team were doing, as robots were monitoring everything from a few kilometers away.

Liu Ming was very interested in Victor’s electric donkey and thought he might have a chance to try it out, while Fu Xiangjie wanted to taste America’s space meals.

The ground had already sent clear information that they could pick a time for a meet-and-greet after obtaining permission and giving prior notice, but they should not delay the normal work schedule.

The last time there was such a groundbreaking encounter in space was back in 1975 when Apollo 18 docked with Union 19, and astronauts from America and the Union shook hands in space for the first time.

As for the first handshake on the Moon, it had to be a bit ceremonial, right?

...

On the 26th, in Qiongzhou, at Xinyuan Launch Site.

The Tengyun Aeronautic Aircraft was pulled out of the hangar; waiting outside were the 11 crew members about to embark on their flight mission.

These included two professional astronauts and five nuclear specialists from different countries, led by their respective two-person teams under Yang Xinjun and Zhu Bingguang.

The professional astronauts were merely escorting the crew from Earth to the Tiangong Space Station; the remaining nine specialists would travel in three groups to the Moon on the Dawn One spaceship, which had already returned and docked with the space station, to carry out survey missions.

The first group to go was Zhu Bingguang’s team, which had the best training scores on the ground, and UK nuclear specialist Jamie Stevenson; the rest would continue to acclimate to life in space at the station, waiting for the remaining two flights.

Carrying only three people allowed Dawn One to have more space for other equipment and supplies, which would be transported by the more cost-effective aero-space plane.

Every mission related to the Canopy Number Three project after its launch was contracted by United Mining, and saving a little was always a plus.

Under the massive shadow of the aero-space plane, the nine payload specialists surrounded in the center flashed bright smiles, leaving behind the most diverse group photo in history.

"Old Zhu, no good, how come your training results are only a B? I got an A+!"

Zhu Bingguang, with a dark face, looked at Yang Xinjun, who was pleased with himself. For whatever reason, the seat arrangement had them in the same row.

"I focused my energy on research. What’s the use of good training? I’ve already produced an upgraded prototype, got the water application approved, and this time I’m going to directly pave a section of road. Facts will determine who is superior!"

"You old thing, the big trend in space development is industrialization, simplification! The versatility of space cement is by far the best. What massive applications require is simplicity and reliability, not a few percentage points higher in certain indicators!"

"You are the antique! You are using outdated thinking for new problems. It’s only by ..."

"Cough cough, please prepare everyone, we’re about to take off."

The announcement from the cabin’s speaker interrupted their argument, and perhaps to prevent them from starting up again, the two pilots quickly carried out the takeoff procedures, quieting the cabin with G-forces.