Super technology leader

A team of lunar rovers sped across the gray world, the pristine lunar surface crushed under their wheels, leaving behind tracks.

If there were no later disturbances or other vehicles passing through, these tracks would remain forever; the lunar soil is a faithful and reliable recorder of history.

Unlike Earth with its atmosphere, water, and plants, the physical properties of the lunar soil, also known as regolith, are very simple, shaped almost entirely by impacts.

Large chunks of bedrock are constantly broken, mixed, and overturned by the impacts of small celestial bodies, eventually forming this layer of fine sand on the lunar surface.

Although solar winds and cosmic rays can also alter some properties of the lunar soil, this influence is more on the chemical composition, such as forming hydroxyl and water in the lunar soil particles, and has basically no effect on the physical shape.

Therefore, these tracks will forever remember this historic lunar rescue.

Of course, as long as this area is not hit by an asteroid creating a new large impact crater.

The convoy consisted of three powered lunar rovers, linked together with cables. The driver of the first rover was Peng Zizhen, the driver of the second was Lin Yang, and the last rover was in follow mode.

Although they were driving relatively fast, they were mainly going in straight lines and making wide turns, without quick, sharp maneuvers, so following wasn't a big problem. The third rover even towed two unpowered cargo trailers behind it, carrying supplies.

The three rovers were linked in a chain to prevent the lead vehicle from accidentally falling into a crevice. After all, with the two vehicles behind and the cargo trailers, if the lead vehicle had an accident, it could easily be pulled out.

In addition, with the guidance of the orbiting probe satellite and the careful observation of the 'lead car navigator,' they could ensure they reached the rendezvous point relatively quickly.

"Hiss~ Huff~ Hiss~ Huff~"

Oxygen was constantly decreasing, and their journey was constantly increasing.

"Zizhen, according to the plan, we've traveled about one-fifth of the way. Let me navigate," said Lin Yang in the second car to Peng Zizhen in the lead car.

"Okay, Sister Lin. This is a straight section. We'll start decelerating in 30 seconds, and the speed will drop to zero within 20 seconds," Peng Zizhen said.

"Okay."

Because the three vehicles were linked together, stopping also required coordination. Soon, they stopped as planned.

After the vehicles stopped, they weren't in a hurry to get back on the road. Instead, they walked around the lunar rovers, doing a simple vehicle inspection.

A craftsman must sharpen his tools if he wants to do his work well.

After all, this was the moon, and the places they were passing through were very primitive, not like highways on Earth. If there were any cracks that the self-detection system couldn't detect, it might give you a nasty surprise at any time.

That way, not only would they fail to save anyone, but they might also get themselves killed.

After checking and confirming there were no problems, Lin Yang stood in the driver's seat of the lead car, Peng Zizhen got into the second car, and they started the vehicles, including the intelligent unmanned car in the rear, and continued towards the rendezvous point.

In fact, their actual speed wasn't slow. They weren't limited to a speed of just over ten kilometers per hour. In flat, open areas, they could reach speeds of over twenty kilometers per hour.

When the terrain was more uneven and near large impact craters, they would drive at ten kilometers per hour or even slower.

The terrain near large impact craters is relatively complex. The craters contain areas of cooled impact lava, while the outside is filled with ridges and cracks created by the impact. They had to be very careful when traveling in these areas.

Ridges were easy to deal with; they could go around large ridges and drive straight over small ones. The hidden cracks were the most dangerous.

Less than 20 minutes after setting off, they suddenly stopped because the lunar rover's detector found something resembling a crack across the road ahead.

Although it was only 'suspected,' the team couldn't be reckless and had to stop to investigate.

Lin Yang was the navigator during this time, so she went down to check.

The inspection wasn't done with the naked eye but required a vibration detector.

When the device is inserted into the ground, it radiates vibration waves outward at a frequency of several times per second, and then collects the reflected waves. Finally, it generates a geological model based on these multi-layered waves.

After the inspection, it turned out to be a large crack, with only a fragile structure on top. If the car drove over it, it would definitely crash.

Although the width of the crack wasn't enough for the entire vehicle to fall in, if half of the lunar rover fell in, it would definitely be scrapped, and the astronauts would even be injured.

The team stopped early enough, making it easy to turn around without having to make sharp turns or reverse.

After bypassing this area, they returned to the planned route.

All of this was watched by the audience watching the live broadcast.

The American astronauts waiting for rescue weren't having it easy, and the Heavenly Xia astronauts going to rescue them weren't either. To be able to lend a helping hand at this time was a great act of kindness.

"This is too dangerous. If it weren't for today, who would have thought that humans could travel more than four hundred kilometers on the moon for a rescue!"

"Yeah, but precisely because it's so dangerous, we can see who we can count on in critical moments."

"It's not only dangerous but also agonizing. The longest single spacewalk time for humans is nearly 9 hours, and this time both sides will be doing more than a day of 'spacewalking.' The burden on both their minds and bodies is too great."

"Yeah, more than a day of spacewalking, eating, drinking, and relieving themselves all in their spacesuits. Putting aside the physical aspect, the astronauts must be under great mental pressure."

"Ugh, just thinking about it sends chills down my spine. Astronauts really aren't ordinary people. I can't stand that feeling anyway."

"To be fair, yes, being able to go out and rescue under such dangerous conditions and mental pressure, the Heavenly Xia astronauts are truly amazing. This shows that Heavenly Xia is also a reliable country."

"The navigators are the same. Their equipment also played a key role. Without their equipment, these two American astronauts would be dead."

"Yeah, if the Navigator's Benyue spacecraft was still on the moon, it could take off directly to save those two astronauts."

"But humanity's technology tree is still a bit low. Even though the Navigator is so powerful, it still takes several days to refuel the spacecraft."

"I think humans still need to develop together and hold each other accountable. Once we leave Earth, we humans are too weak. Even landing on the moon can lead to accidents, and it will definitely be more difficult further away."

"I hope the astronauts can be safely rescued, and I also hope that after this incident, the two countries can cooperate and jointly lead humanity towards the stars."

People were hoping that the rescue would go smoothly, but bad news suddenly came from the American side.

The lunar rover fell into a crack, and the wheel was directly damaged, making it impossible to move forward.

All the hopes of the 'entire village' were pinned on the rescue team.

Chapter Two 11:40