103: Chapter 103 The Hasty Landing of "Artemis"

While the Dragon Country was immersed in the joy of discovering the Helium-3 enrichment zone and the excitement of planning a future energy blueprint, the highly anticipated Pretty Country's "Artemis III" crewed lunar landing mission finally reached its final landing moment under immense political pressure and hasty technical preparations.

Global eyes, including those at the Dragon Country's "Guanghan Palace" base and the "Zhulong" safe house, were focused on the lunar lander named "odyssey" through a public live broadcast signal. It was detaching from lunar orbit and descending toward the designated landing site on the edge of the Shackleton Crater near the lunar south pole.

Compared to the effortless, precise, and stable landing process of the Dragon Country's "Chang'e" series missions, the descent of "odyssey" was filled with a heart-wrenching sense of uncertainty.

"Navigation data is fluctuating... attempting to recalibrate..."

"Main engine throttle response is slightly delayed, backup system is online..."

"Landing radar echoes are being interfered with by complex terrain; altitude data is jumping..."

Intermittent communications between the astronauts inside "odyssey" and the Houston command center revealed an ill-concealed tension. Although the live broadcast footage had been processed, one could still feel the instability of the lunar module's attitude and the turbulence of the lunar dust kicked up by the engine's plume.

"Their control system is clearly struggling to cope with the complex terrain," an engineer responsible for orbital dynamics analysis commented in a low voice over the internal channel at the "Guanghan Palace" base. "The landing site was chosen too close to the edge of the crater. The terrain is rugged, and there are subtle anomalies in the gravitational field. This is a massive test for the autopilot system."

At the Earth command center, Elder Chen watched the live broadcast and shook his head slightly: "Haste makes waste. Such a rush is putting the lives of the astronauts at unnecessary risk."

Inside the "Zhulong" safe house, Lin Mo watched calmly. In his perception, that lunar module was like a toddler taking its first steps, every move terrifyingly precarious, forming a sharp contrast with the fluid, precise control seen during the construction of "Guanghan Palace."

Finally, after a suffocating final few minutes of swaying, the landing legs of the "odyssey" lunar module barely touched the ground, kicking up a cloud of lunar dust. The hull was visibly tilted at an angle, far from a perfect horizontal state.

"Houston, the Eagle has landed." The astronaut's voice came through, filled with a sense of relief and exhaustion, yet lacking the expected fervor and joy.

Before the global live broadcast signal, the hearts of the Pretty Country's citizens finally settled, and a cheer erupted. However, many professional aerospace agencies and veteran observers remained silent; they could see how forced and lucky this landing had been. A tilted landing meant that the subsequent takeoff would face greater risks and more complex calculations.

Immediately following that, something even more embarrassing happened. According to the plan, the astronauts needed to exit the module for symbolic lunar surface activities and plant their national flag. When the commander attempted to open the hatch, they found that due to the improper landing posture, the hatch mechanism was under additional stress. The opening process was exceptionally difficult, even producing a disturbing sound of metal grinding. Ultimately, the hatch only opened a gap that was insufficient for a person to pass through smoothly.

After an emergency assessment by the ground command center, the lunar surface extravehicular activity for this mission was forced to be canceled for safety reasons. The two astronauts could only look through the narrow porthole at the lunar surface just a pane of glass away, while that meticulously prepared national flag could only remain awkwardly inside the cabin.

The live broadcast image froze on the tilted silhouette of the lunar module and the partially opened hatch. Pretty Country officials attempted to save face with statements like "successfully achieved a crewed lunar landing" and "obtained valuable data," but the haste and embarrassment had already been transmitted to the entire world via the live signal.

The internet was in an uproar.

"This... this is how it ends? They can't even open the door?"

"I feel like their technology has regressed compared to the Apollo era decades ago?"

"Look at the Dragon Country's base, then look at this... the difference is night and day!"

Inside the "Zhulong" safe house, Lin Mo turned off the live broadcast. This hasty landing was more like a risky performance for the sake of prestige; its technical sophistication and level of preparation were worlds apart from the Dragon Country's steady and solid lunar development strategy.

Space exploration allows for no luck. A true deep-space journey requires absolute strength, thorough preparation, and a reverence akin to walking on thin ice, rather than reckless advancement driven by politics.

The hasty landing of the "artemis program" was like a mirror, reflecting the inevitable outcomes of different developmental paths.