Chapter 33: Flight to the Moon

Page 1 of 3

November 13, 7:00 a.m.

The three astronauts had entered the cabin and completed all their checks.

The cabin was now sealed, and the rocket had entered the final stage before launch.

“Brother Zhai, are you nervous?”

Chen Dong held the astronaut operations manual in his hands, his voice betraying a hint of tension.

“Nervous? Who wouldn’t be? We’re going to the moon!”

Zhai Gang laughed and raised the manual in his hand, his voice firm.

“Just follow the manual, and I guarantee we’ll have a good stroll around the moon!”

“Old Nie, what are you thinking about?”

Zhai Gang noticed that Nie Zheng seemed distracted and immediately asked him.

“Oh, I was just wondering what pose I should use when I get down there, and what I ought to say afterward.”

Nie Zheng was not nervous at all.

With his wealth of experience, nervousness was hardly an issue.

A laugh escaped them.

After hearing what Nie Zheng had been thinking, both Zhai Gang and Chen Dong smiled.

“That’s a good question. We’ll ask Wenchang properly while we’re on our way to the moon.”

“All units, attention. One minute remaining until launch!”

As the three men chatted, a clear, ringing command reached their ears.

Upon hearing it, all three immediately focused their attention.

The astronauts had nothing to do during the launch phase.

The spacecraft’s flight was controlled automatically.

Manual control would be activated only if something went wrong.

Outside, the beach along the South China Sea was packed with people.

Crowds had come from every corner of the country. Some companies had even brought their employees here for team-building activities. The entire beach was overflowing.

This was a moment that stirred the blood.

China was going to the moon.

It was a scene destined to go down in history. No one had any reason to miss it.

Someone had even set up a large screen on the beach free of charge.

The screen was broadcasting the live stream.

“One minute left in the countdown!”

“Everyone, pay attention! One minute remaining!”

The beach, which had been full of noise, fell utterly silent.

Everyone gazed expectantly toward the towering rocket standing motionless on the artificial island across the water.

“Thirty seconds!”

The young man issuing the commands spoke with firm authority.

There was something inexplicably reassuring in his steady voice.

Hearing him, the nervous hearts of the people on the beach and in the live-stream audience settled slightly.

“Ten seconds!”

“Ten, nine, eight…”

Page 1 of 3

Page 2 of 3

At that moment, the tens of thousands gathered across the beach began counting down in unison with the launch controller.

“Three!”

“Two!”

“One!”

“Ignition!”

In an instant, the entire beach fell deathly silent.

Every eye was fixed on the launch platform opposite them.

A spark of fire burst from the igniter. The engines, which had been forcefully expelling fuel, ignited in an instant.

The rocket engines had come to life!

Violent flames erupted from the nozzles.

After swaying slightly, the rocket began to climb steadily.

Under the gaze of the entire nation, it rose slowly, accelerating all the while.

“Rumble—”

The tremendous roar of the engines reverberated through heaven and earth.

As the rocket climbed into the sky, its enormous exhaust plume reduced it to little more than a ball of fire.

For a moment, two suns seemed to hang above the South China Sea.

The rocket continued its steady ascent.

It soon disappeared into the clouds, becoming indistinct to the naked eye.

Everyone on the beach therefore shifted their attention to the live stream.

At the command center, cameras mounted on the rocket began transmitting images.

The footage showed that the rocket was still operating normally.

“Liftoff occurred at 7:25:03.000 on November 13. All units, monitor the rocket’s attitude.”

“Wenchang, optical radar tracking is normal.”

“Yuanwang, remote-sensing signal tracking is normal.”

“…”

“Dawn, the astronauts’ vital signs are normal!”

Each announcement, every time the word “normal” was heard, was met by another wave of cheers from the beach.

Everyone’s heart was bound to that rocket.

“Two hundred seconds. Successful separation of the first and second stages!”

“Second-stage engine ignition is normal!”

“Boom!”

The command hall erupted in excited cheers.

The people on the beach fell into wild celebration as well.

The second-stage engines had ignited successfully. The launch had succeeded!

The launch had succeeded!

“Four hundred seconds. The spacecraft has successfully entered the trans-lunar injection trajectory and is expected to reach the moon in three days.”

After celebrating, the command hall immediately returned to its demanding work.

Liftoff was only the beginning of the lunar-landing mission.

The crucial task ahead was ensuring that the spacecraft landed safely in its designated region on the moon.

They still had a great deal of work ahead.

Page 2 of 3

Page 3 of 3

For the people on the beach, however, the place had already transformed into a paradise of celebration.

Whether strangers or old acquaintances, people embraced one another through tears, shouted at the tops of their lungs, and sang without restraint.

They had succeeded. The rocket had launched successfully!

Now all they had to do was wait three days for the moon landing!

“We’ll stay right here and wait until the third day!”

A middle-aged man holding a national flag stood in front of a tent and shouted into a reporter’s camera.

The moon landing would take place in three days.

How could anyone sleep soundly if they did not wait here for those three days?

Since excitement would keep them awake anyway, they might as well not sleep at all.

They would fight on until dawn!

Later, at nine o’clock, reporters stationed at the site made an astonished discovery.

Of the tens of thousands who had originally filled the beach, five thousand were still there.

Half the crowd had chosen to remain on the beach, pitching tents and making camp to endure the arduous three-day wait.

At the same time, news that China’s crewed lunar rocket had launched successfully spread like wildfire across the world.

The timing was simply too perfect.

The United States had suffered a disastrous launch failure on the twelfth. Barely a day later, its rival, China, had succeeded.

It was enormous news.

The United States, which had dominated the headlines for decades and had always been regarded as the world’s foremost aerospace power, had suffered an unprecedented defeat in space exploration.

Was that not enough to seize the world’s attention?

Meanwhile, a massive shockwave swept across Europe and the United States. The America that had always seemed invincible in their eyes, so arrogant and untouchable, had been defeated head-on with a single blow.

The American myth—relentlessly promoted by the media as an invincible superpower and the pioneer of civilization—shattered completely in their minds.

The myth had died.

The people who had long slept within the information bubbles carefully woven by the media suddenly realized that the spiritual promised land they had praised and yearned for could, after all, be defeated.

As it turned out, America was not so extraordinary.

It was merely ordinary.

As for a certain great power in the East, the last remaining aura surrounding the United States had been shattered completely.

After all, there could be no hurt without comparison.

The two countries had launched almost simultaneously. One had succeeded; the other had failed.

And China was the one that had succeeded.

Who was it?

Who would still dare to heap praise on the other side now?

Anyone who continued doing so would be nothing but a complete clown.

Either they were being paid, or they were fools.

Why call them fools?

Because even five hundred thousand wouldn’t be enough to make them worth the trouble.