Chapter 684 - 665: Development & Tianwen

"Hah... I am back!"

Bill Nelson stood at the side hatch of the Jiuzhang Spaceship, gripping his hands tightly, excitedly looking at the gray-white lunar surface within arm’s reach, then leaped down from a height of 1.3 meters.

For young people, this height wouldn’t be a problem if they were prepared, and on the Moon, it was merely equivalent to a slightly higher step, but Bill was already 76 years old, and this move completely surprised everyone else.

However, fortunately, he assumed a perfect landing posture in mid-air, and at the same time, gases were ejected downward from the waist of the spacesuit, making the old man’s landing exceptionally smooth.

"Mr. Bill, you must follow the commander’s orders and not make such dangerous moves!"

Matthew, who had descended before him, was the most agitated; this old man was not only a representative figure of authority from America but also 76 years old, just a year younger than the previous record-holder, John Glenn.

And it was this very old man who was in great mental and physical condition, with even a few outstanding training results.

"Don’t be like that, Matthew, you have to trust in science!"

Bill shook his arms carelessly, displaying the protruding exoskeleton on the outside.

This was the already mass-produced "Pioneer II" powered exoskeleton space suit. The first batch to arrive, besides the six team members, was five custom-made exoskeleton space suits.

Originally there were four suits for four long-term stationed astronauts, but considering Bill, a high-risk individual, New Far Base added another suit for his use.

"Pioneer II" had just started serial production, was expensive, and in short supply, and required specialized training to maximize performance, so not everyone could have one.

Each "Pioneer II" was actually considered a semi-finished robot, with a control system no different from a robot, to perfectly coordinate with the user.

For older individuals like Bill, there was even the option to activate an active safety mode that could force the suit into a protective state when necessary, just like how it assisted his gentle landing.

Deng Lei and Liu Ming, who had both familiarized themselves with it in the space station already, were not too worried, but everyone else was genuinely scared, as the medical conditions on the Moon were far from ideal.

But fortunately, Bill was bouncing around without a scratch, and with the help of the "Exoskeleton Space Suit," he actually adapted to lunar gravity faster, making the other four, still in "Pioneer I," quite envious.

Before the nuclear detonation, there were three take-off and landing surveys for Skylight IV mission, each with five team members + two permanent astronauts, expanding to a seven-person team.

However, each landing lasted no more than three days, and being too far from Yushu Base, they couldn’t yet experience the excellent lodging conditions of the already built base, so they had to make do aboard the Jiuzhang Spaceship for a few days.

"Jon, Zhou Heng, remember to bring the flaw detector when you come down, we seem to have left it behind!"

"Roger!"

Deng Lei called out via radio to the two still aboard the spacecraft. This time, the five-member team was composed of members from both America and China, not just for a look around like last time, but also to set up experimental devices.

The "experimental devices" were naturally the validation schemes designed by the two teams from Hefei for the super hydrogen bomb; all four experimental units combined weighed less than a ton, secured inside the already launched "Dawn Two."

Dawn Two, the cargo version of Dawn One, had added the capability of docking with other large cargo modules and propelling them; after being launched into low Earth orbit by CZ-7, it went directly to the Moon.

Of the five participating parties in the explosion test, each required their equipment to be placed around the test site, all contained within it; some were recognizable as measuring instruments, others had unclear purposes, and the entire cargo arrangement and launch process were under joint supervision.

They would be placed in the determined positions by the four permanent astronauts and were expected to be completed by May 6th, that is, one week later.

Aside from the UK and France, whose measuring instruments could be recognized at a glance, the other three parties’ devices looked numerous and somewhat complex, all trying to gain some hints from each other.

Once everyone was down and the equipment was checked, Deng Lei then tested a few moon rovers driven over from the Yushu Base by Explorer, confirmed they were in good condition, and with a wave of his hand, they immediately entered a state of busy work.

...

"The Starship successfully achieved orbit for the first time."

"The fifth Starship launch failed, attitude control was lost and could not be adjusted."

"Our country is about to carry out its first Mars exploration mission."

"A large number of heat shield tiles fell off; experts claim that the Starship’s heat shield tiles do not have the capability to re-enter the atmosphere."

"Tianwen-1, take off!"

"..."

April 29, Jingcheng Command Center.

This afternoon at 14:00, the Tianwen-1 Mars exploration mission was scheduled to launch from Qiongzhou, with the New Far Base responsible for controlling the launch process.

The Jingcheng Command Center was only tasked with establishing a connection, retaining a small number of people to observe.

While others were still nervously concerned about this Mars launch mission, Lin Ju was discussing the fifth Starship launch with Zhong Cheng.

Two days had passed since the Starship launch, but the media were in dispute over how to define this particular mission.

The good news: The Starship spacecraft had entered orbit.

The bad news: A large number of heat shield tiles had fallen off, and the spacecraft was in an uncontrollable, slow spin.

In the live broadcast of SS-5’s launch, the Starship did indeed complete a historic feat, successfully entering a 150-kilometer high orbit, with no unexpected explosions occurring midway. The first-stage booster attempted a controlled landing but exploded due to attitude control loss during the deceleration phase.

But the biggest problem lay with the second stage. From the cameras on the exterior of the Starship, at least 10% of the heat shield tiles on one side had fallen off, rendering it unfit for re-entry into the atmosphere.

In addition, it started spinning along a non-axial line after achieving orbit and ran out of fuel, unable to maneuver for adjustment.

Not to mention, the orbit was too low, which greatly limited it. In summary, compared to the previous launch, there had been progress, but it was still stuck at the 90% to 95% threshold.

However, if industry insiders were to evaluate, the best summary would be that the Starship was one step closer to success, the outlook was quite bright, and the idea of fully reusing the first and second stages had a future.

Zhong Cheng basically shared this view and couldn’t resist revealing to Lin Ju that the Aerospace Development Committee was very optimistic about this approach, suggesting they should also start a similar project.

However, Lin Ju was always not very enthusiastic. When asked why, his response was:

"Full reuse of the second stage is good, but XN90 can be used intact without separation, and so can nuclear-powered aero-space planes."

Zhong Cheng: "What about larger payloads? Both of those options would find it difficult to match the Starship’s lifting capacity. Although our recoverable rockets are already quite mature, this approach could indeed reduce a lot of costs, especially in the construction of near-Earth orbits."

Lin Ju: "Chemical rockets are a technology of the past and not worth investing in. In the future—not too far, within ten years—a revolutionary technology will completely end it, easily transporting millions of tons of materials to space."

"What technology?"

"Space elevators and electromagnetic mass drivers are technologies that are very worth developing."