27: Chapter 027 Moon Palace Departure: Secret Launch
At a top-secret launch site in the northwest, codenamed "Heaven's Gate."
The night was as dark as ink, with only the launch gantry illuminated by cold spotlights, bright as day, like a sharp sword piercing the darkness.
A slender, obscurely painted new type of carrier rocket, the "Long March 9 Modified," stood silently on the launch pad.
Unlike previous missions, the payload for this one was strictly classified, and even the launch window was chosen for the late night to avoid the overflight times of most foreign reconnaissance satellites.
At the top of the rocket was not the usual satellite or spacecraft, but a strangely shaped, cylindrical structure covered in a dark gray new material—this was the "guanghan palace no. 1" lunar lander, manufactured based on the [LC-1 Composite Material] provided by "Patriot X."
Inside, it not only carried equipment and sample collection devices to verify the "Lunar Regolith Solidifier," but more crucially, its attitude adjustment and orbital maintenance system had been retrofitted with a miniaturized version based on "sky patrol" ion thruster technology!
Elder Chen and Long Zhantian personally visited the launch control center.
Elder Chen's expression was grave yet excited, while Long Zhantian was as stern as ever, though his tightly pursed lips betrayed a hint of nervousness.
This was the first comprehensive, practical test of the "Patriot X" technology system; it was of great significance and could not afford any errors.
"One-minute preparation!"
"All systems status normal!"
"Ion Thruster subsystem self-test passed!"
The sound of commands echoed through the control center.
Everyone held their breath.
"...Five, four, three, two, one! Ignition!"
A tremendous roar tore through the silence of the night.
Orange-red flames spewed from the tail of the rocket, pushing the rocket body to rise slowly, then gaining speed, like a retrograde meteor, firmly piercing the firmament.
The rocket's first and second stages separated smoothly, entering the predetermined parking orbit.
Next came the most critical step—the upper stage ignition, sending "guanghan palace no. 1" into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.
Just at this moment, on the large screen in the control center, the orbital line representing a high-precision surveillance satellite from the "Pretty Country" was approaching the area where "guanghan palace no. 1" was about to change its orbit!
"Report! Detected that 'Peeper 3' will arrive at the optimal observation position in seven minutes!" the intelligence analyst reported urgently.
If the detailed parameters of the orbit change process were captured by this satellite, especially the special spectral signal of the ion thruster during operation, it would likely expose the great breakthrough the Dragon Country had made in propulsion technology!
Long Zhantian's eyes turned cold, and he was about to issue a preparatory order to initiate the electronic jamming plan.
Just then, the engineer responsible for orbital control suddenly reported: "The 'guanghan palace no. 1' autonomous navigation system has issued a command, requesting to perform the first orbital correction in advance! The correction plan has been generated, and the efficiency... is far beyond expectations!"
Elder Chen and Long Zhantian exchanged glances, both seeing the astonishment in the other's eyes.
Was this the intelligent control system hidden within the "Patriot X" technology at work?
"Approved!" Elder Chen said without hesitation.
In space, the nozzles of several Miniature Ion Thrusters on the side of "guanghan palace no. 1" quietly flickered with a faint blue light.
A weak but continuous thrust acted on the probe, causing its orbital parameters to undergo an extremely subtle change.
Seven minutes later, when the "Pretty Country" satellite "Peeper 3" swept past the airspace, its high-performance camera captured only emptiness.
The target had long since deviated from its optimal observation window at a tricky angle, leaving behind only a rapidly receding, hard-to-analyze blurred light spot.
"Evasion successful!" A suppressed cheer rang out in the control center!
Over the next few days, "guanghan palace no. 1" relied on the stable and efficient thrust of the ion thruster to continuously correct its orbit, flying steadily toward the moon.
Its precise orbital control and maneuverability, far exceeding that of conventional probes, left the ground control personnel amazed.
Several days later, the probe successfully entered lunar orbit and began its descent.
"Powered descent initiated!"
"Radar locked onto the predetermined landing zone!"
"...Landing struts deployed!"
"Buffer engines ignition!"
A series of commands were executed methodically.
Finally, under the nervous gaze of everyone in the control center, the status light representing "guanghan palace no. 1" on the screen turned from red to green.
"Report! 'guanghan palace no. 1' confirmed soft landing successful! Located at the predetermined coordinates! Repeat, landing successful!"
"We did it! We succeeded!"
A tremendous sense of joy and pride instantly engulfed the entire control center.
People hugged to celebrate, and many shed tears of excitement.
Elder Chen tightly grasped Long Zhantian's hand, his eyes streaming with tears: "Zhantian, do you see? We did it! With our own strength, we have stood firmly on the moon! This is only the beginning!"
Long Zhantian nodded heavily, a look of excitement appearing on his resolute face.
He looked at the first high-definition photo of the lunar surface transmitted back from 380,000 kilometers away on the screen, his heart filled with indescribable gratitude and amazement for the young man hidden behind the scenes.
At almost the same moment, a system prompt sounded in Lin Mo's mind:
[Key technological node 'Extraterrestrial soft landing and preliminary exploration' has been achieved.]
[Influence on the progress of civilization significantly increased. Reward: Points × 800.]
[Related task 'Establish primary civilization early warning and defense consensus' completion: + 5%.]
Watching the skyrocketing points and task progress, Lin Mo let out a long sigh of relief, a gratified smile appearing on his face.
The Lunar Palace has already set sail.
And this road to the starry sky will become wider and faster under his promotion.
Just as the Dragon Country was celebrating this secret and successful launch, at CIA headquarters, James Craig looked at the analysis report submitted by the technical department regarding "Peeper 3" failing to capture detailed data on the Dragon Country probe's orbital change, with only a blurred trajectory; his face was so gloomy it was almost dripping water.
"Once is a coincidence, twice... is inevitable!"
He slammed his fist onto the table, "Dragon Country, just how much are you hiding?!"