Great Country Academician

Moon surface, Antarctica.

While everyone on the distant Earth was celebrating the success of the rescue operation, the atmosphere among the four astronauts in the Aitken Basin was slightly stiff.

"Our oxygen and return capsule are low on fuel. To be on the safe side, you need to turn on the life support unit to replenish it. Otherwise, it will cause great risks when returning to lunar orbit, and there may even be problems such as docking failure."

On the moon, after spending several hours rescuing the two NASA astronauts from the Artemis lunar module, Zhai Zhigang naturally made a request for supplementary oxygen and supplies.

On the one hand, the oxygen supply unit built into their spacesuits does indeed have little oxygen left.

After all, activities on the lunar surface are quite physically demanding work, and for an adult man, the amount of oxygen consumed per hour during activity reaches an astonishing dozens of liters.

If oxygen cannot be replenished and the first docking is missed, it will indeed be a very dangerous thing for the four people standing on the lunar surface at this moment.

On the other hand, this request was naturally made to ‘incidentally’ visit NASA’s life support unit.

For China, although under the leadership of Academician Xu, they successfully developed an electric propulsion system of small controllable nuclear fusion reactor + aerospace engine, and took the lead in overtaking corners in the fields of aerospace energy supply and propulsion. In front.

However, the aerospace technology developed by the United States and NASA after decades of intensive work in the aerospace field cannot be underestimated.

Whether it is communications, ecological cycle maintenance technology, or some other outer space technologies, it still has advantages at present.

And these technologies happen to be their current shortcomings. If you can get some technological blueprints from the Artemis lunar module, it would also be a very good choice.

As for whether doing so is immoral or taking advantage of others' danger, competition between countries only involves interests and no emotions.

What's more, if the roles of the two sides were exchanged, and they were the ones who needed rescue today, I'm afraid the transaction conditions attached to the United States would not be this point.

Of course, if the astronauts on Artemis are unwilling to turn on the life support unit, they will still rescue the other party.

After all, they have come here, there is no way they can rescue people and then throw them onto the surface of the moon. Although the other party can survive on the life support unit, it may be able to survive NASA's own rescue operations.

But if you do this, you will undoubtedly give someone a leg up.

After all, this is nominally a humanitarian relief operation.

Opposite, standing on the moon, NASA astronaut Smedley Moore fell silent after hearing this request.

From the perspective of lunar rescue, this request is reasonable and reasonable.

In fact, not only were the Chinese astronauts' oxygen reserves insufficient, but he and another teammate also only had about an hour of oxygen left in their extravehicular spacesuits.

Although theoretically, this oxygen is enough to support them until they return to lunar orbit and enter the Xinghai space shuttle.

But for safety reasons, he should indeed cooperate with the other party to open the life support unit and replenish oxygen and supplies.

After all, this is the moon 380,000 kilometers away from the earth. If you want to return to the blue planet safely, with the current human technology, the only option is to do every job well.

But the other party's request to open the life support unit may not necessarily have other ideas.

No, Smedley Moore is certain that the opponent is definitely prepared.

Including the previous request for them to open the database of the Artemis lunar landing module, the real purpose is undoubtedly to obtain information and technology from their lunar landing equipment.

After a long silence, Smedley Moore said with some difficulty: "I need to ask NASA headquarters for this request."

He didn't know what choice he would make, so he could only ask this question to NASA.

But if he wants to go home, the only one he can rely on is the other person.

Although there is still enough oxygen and supplies on the life support unit to allow them to survive on the moon for about a month, no one can guarantee whether NASA can launch another lunar landing spacecraft to rescue them within this month.

Moreover, he had an accident on the moon, so he didn't really believe it, and he was not willing to wait for another month on the moon.

But as a soldier, he could only stick to his inner duties.

After all, the life support unit is the crystallization of their technology, and he cannot make his own decisions when it comes to such important equipment.

"Damn it, I don't want to die on the moon!"

At this moment, another NASA astronaut, McAdam Julia, cursed and swayed towards the life support unit.

NASA's mistake that caused her to be trapped in the lunar module for dozens of hours made her extremely suffocated. If she still wants to put her life in the hands of the people who sit in the office and direct them to the moon, she will Unable to accept such a decision.

Smedley Moore could stay if she wanted to, she just wanted to go home.

Opposite, looking at McAdam Julia walking towards the life support unit, Zhai Zhigang smiled. Smedley Moore, who was looking at him, shrugged and said, "It seems that your teammates have already made their choice. .”

Hearing this, Smedley Moore looked at McAdam Julia who was walking towards the life support unit with a livid face. Damn it, does she know what she is doing?

At this moment, McAdam Julia's exclamation came from the communication headset from not far away.

"Oh, Shet! Why can't the life support unit turn on?"

Hearing the sound coming back from the headset, Zhai Zhigang and Chen Dong's expressions changed slightly. They looked at each other, somewhat unsure of what was going on.

Standing opposite the two of them, Smedley Moore's expression changed immediately after hearing his teammates' voices.

He ignored contacting NASA and ran quickly towards the life support unit.

damn it!

If there is a problem with the life support unit and the Artemis lunar module, then their last hope of staying on the moon will be gone.

"what's the situation?"

Quickly arriving at the life support unit, Smedley Moore asked anxiously.

"I don't know. It reported an error and couldn't start normally. Could it be that it was damaged when it landed."

Standing in front of the life support unit, McAdam Julia anxiously pressed the start and deployment buttons over and over again, and pulled the door handle of the life support unit to try to open it.

But each attempt ended in failure.

"I'll try."

After speaking anxiously, Smedley Moore took over the position of his teammate and tried to unlock the life support unit.

However, it didn't help that, just like the damaged lunar module, the life support unit in front of them could not operate normally.

"Damn it! Call NASA headquarters. This is the Artemis lunar landing team. There is an unexpected situation in the life support unit. We cannot open it normally."

"Repeat, there is an unexpected situation in the life support unit. We cannot open it normally. Please request support from the headquarters!"

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Earth, NASA, which has received Smedley Moore's report, said in a makeshift video call during the lunar rescue operation, Bill Nelson gritted his teeth and said through the video with an angry look on his face:

"Damn it, you're robbing!"

Unlike the database of the Artemis lunar module, the life support unit is the real crystallization of technology.

The data in the database is at most the log cache of some equipment operations and the orbital route of the Artemis.

It doesn't matter if these data are obtained by China.

But the life support unit contains technology from all the top aerospace companies in the United States. There are even technologies from non-aerospace companies such as Boeing, UCS, Johnson \u0026 Johnson, and Ireland.

After all, if astronauts are to live on the moon for more than a month, life support, liquid water recycling, excrement disposal, etc. are all comprehensively needed technologies.

If the life support unit falls into the hands of the other party, this means that there is a possibility that these technologies will be leaked.

Although it is unlikely that the other party will dismantle the life support unit or bring it back to China, even if it is so, if they go up and take a look, it will be a huge loss for the United States!

And now, just as he feared, the Chinese had set their sights on their life support units.

If NASA hadn't temporarily activated the headquarters' authority to lock it down, they might have succeeded.

In the main control room of Jinling and Xia Shu Space Base, Xu Chuan looked at Director Bill Nelson through the screen with a calm face and replied:

"I don't know what you're talking about? What robbery?"

Hearing this, Bill Nelson stared at Xu Chuan as if he was going to explode, and said word by word: "You did this on purpose! Obviously the oxygen supplies in the spacesuit and return capsule are enough to carry them back to space. airplane!"

Xu Chuan shrugged and said, "But what if the docking fails? If the first opportunity is missed, they will need to stay in the lunar orbit for at least dozens more minutes, and the oxygen supplies will have a serious impact on their life safety. "

"As an astronaut, I don't think you understand this kind of risk. Landing on the moon itself is a very difficult job, let alone an unprecedented operation like lunar rescue. The safety of astronauts' lives is the first priority. s Choice."

Opposite him, Director Bill Nelson's face turned red from suppressing his emotions, and he wanted to kick that face that he thought was extremely hateful.

As the director of NASA, the most advanced space agency in the world, does he need someone to teach him these things?

What the hell is the life safety of astronauts?

If it violates humanitarian principles, what does it mean in the face of the national interests of any country?

What's the point of sacrificing two astronauts if nothing can be done? For a country, human life is the least valuable thing.

However, he couldn't refute Xu Chuan's words.

Just as they were forced to ask each other for rescue, at least on the surface, no country dared to openly abandon its own citizens.

If we really do this, it will be a complete disaster for those in power.

If the lives of the four astronauts during the lunar rescue operation were put in danger because they refused to turn on the life support unit, it would be a catastrophic blow to their credibility.

Even more deadly than the lives of the two astronauts they gave up.

After all, this is a lunar surface rescue operation involving not only their own astronauts, but also two other astronauts who went to the Antarctic Aitken Basin for rescue.

If aerospace problems arise due to their choices, their reputation in the international arena will suffer a fatal blow, and it will not only affect the credibility of the authorities.

Looking at Bill Nelson who was gnashing his teeth and wanting to eat him, Xu Chuan smiled kindly and said, "Maybe you have another choice."

After a slight pause, he continued: "Now that the Artemis lunar module has been opened and your astronauts have been rescued, maybe you can choose to let your astronauts continue to stay on the moon. Anyway, you There’s also a life support unit, right?”

Bill Nelson looked at Xu Chuan and couldn't help but move the corners of his mouth. He really wanted to curse.

Shet! It would be better not to mention this suggestion.

Now the two astronauts on the moon have noticed that there is a problem with the life support unit and cannot be opened normally, although they know that it is only a temporary lock.

But in this case, would the two astronauts Smedley Moore and McAdam Julia dare to choose to stay on the moon?

Even if they dared, in this case, NASA would not be able to choose to let the two of them stay on the moon.

After all, the life support unit showed signs of damage and could not be opened normally. Even if they turn on and deploy the life support unit this time, no one can guarantee whether problems will occur again in subsequent operations.

Under such circumstances, it is obviously impossible for NASA to choose to allow its astronauts to risk their lives and continue to stay on the moon.

If something really goes wrong, there will be no second lunar rescue operation.

And aside from these things, for NASA, there is another point that is more critical to this lunar rescue operation.

They need Smedley Moore and McAdam Julia to board the Xinghai to help them confirm the true situation of the other party's space shuttle.

For that alone, they had to get Smedley Moore and McAdam Julia on board the shuttle.

After all, until now, the United States cannot be 100% sure what the power system and functional system used by the Xinghai are.

If it is indeed the legendary miniaturized controllable nuclear fusion reactor and electric propulsion system, then it is urgent for them to re-evaluate the true strength of the country opposite them.