Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The next day.
The sun rose from the horizon as usual.
This was the last day of the National Day holiday. This day was extra meaningful to most people.
The first to announce the news was Everyone Daily.
The cover of the latest issue of the daily newspaper had two eye-catching headlines.
[Six Tons of Load in Orbit!]
[These Astronauts Are Fighting at the Frontier of Civilization!]
This report was like a bomb, thrown into a calm lake, instantly blowing up and creating waves of discussion.
The first to be affected was the academia and university circle.
For people in the aerospace engineering field, many of them had already heard about the successful launch from various channels before the official news came out…
At an aerospace design laboratory in Beijing.
A group of scientific researchers gathered around a computer. They talked excitedly while looking at the news and photos on the screen.
“Look, look! Photos of Academician Yuan!”
“Nutty! Standing with the president.”
“Academician Lu is next to him, right?”
“Sigh, he’s also a millennial… Why is he so successful?”
“I think it’s better not to think of him as a millennial. He can longer be regarded as a human being; he’s a monster. His achievements shouldn’t be measured by his age.”
“Damn it, I’m so jealous!”
After the news was published in “Everyone Daily”, major media outlets all jumped on the bandwagon.
Instantly, new reports swept across the world, and they quickly occupied the trending page of major Internet platforms.
People who were still immersed in the military parade and celebration show were shocked at the astonishing news.
Can a six-ton load be shot into orbit?!
What the hell?
It wasn’t until people read the Everyone Daily report did they realize what was going on.
Everyone was stunned.
“F*ck me! Jesus!”
“A cannon on the Moon!”
“Academician Lu is insane!”
“Don’t think Academician Lu is behind everything, is he even involved?”
“But his name is in the research team…”
“Oh, okay, my bad.”
Tens of thousands of comments flooded Weibo and Everyone Daily’s comment sections. People were discussing everything from the screws on the lunar mass driver to the relatives of the astronauts. They even talked about Academician Lu’s love life.
It was like the media no longer cared about celebrities and singers. Almost everyone was concerned with the “lunar cannon”.
They were shocked!
Astonished!
In disbelief!
The traditional transportation method of using the return cabin equipped with a power system to transport the cargo to the lunar transfer orbit was out of date?
Which meant that they were entering a new era of aerospace?
Even people who had no knowledge of spaceflight could tell from this report that this would definitely become a milestone in the history of aerospace!
They didn’t expect to wake up this morning and witness history.
This was amazing!
…
The discussions on the internet continued to explode.
The discussions quickly spread around the world.
When people saw the aerial photos displayed on the official website of the Moon Palace, almost everyone was stunned by the silver bullet piercing through the night sky.
People who didn’t pay attention to this matter were amazed after they heard the story.
On Facebook.
There was a ton of discussion about the lunar surface mass driver.
“Moon cannon? The hell is this?”
“Electromagnetically accelerating a cargo to lunar escape speed, they must be crazy!”
“Yes, this is crazy! What’s the next step? Are they going to aim the cannon at us?”
“Jesus… Our Lunar Gateway project has only just completed the second phase, whereas the Chinese are already transporting lunar materials! This is ridiculous!”
The Americans were panicking about the lunar cannon and losing their space advantage. A news article published on NASA’s official website added oil to the fire.
After a long discussion and repeated demonstrations, NASA’s outer space spacecraft observation team finally, and reluctantly, admitted that China had indeed launched a spacecraft from the surface of the moon using electromagnetic acceleration and successfully entered the lunar transfer orbit.
The signal from this spacecraft was merged with another signal source, and they guessed that the Chinese probably recovered the cargo using the Magpie Bridge.
For the time being, more specific details couldn’t be confirmed just based on the observational conditions. They could only wait for China to disclose more details to the international community.
After the news was released, it seemed like the blame was turned on to NASA.
Outside the NASA building, media vans and newspaper reporters from all over the country had blocked the entrance.
Since the reporters had affected their work, NASA had to announce a temporary press conference. They invited the reporters, who were at the entrance, to the reception room and answered their questions.
The press conference began.
The first to ask a question was Columbia Television.
A female Latino journalist holding a microphone asked a difficult question, “Sir, does this mean that we have lost the space race?”
The NASA intern was speechless. His face turned pale as he spoke.
“This is not how we should interpret this event. In fact, mass drivers are not the perfect choice. We have many alternatives. Such as space power lifts and…”
“And outsourcing the work to the Chinese?”
“Uh… This is of course one of the options, but it is not the best choice. We have other alternatives, such as…”
The sun was rising on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean.
Lu Zhou finished with the follow-up work of the launch. He left the celebration party and went home.
Even though a few old friends wanted him to drink with them, Lu Zhou still insisted on going back home.
He was busy all night. He had no energy to post on Weibo. He just wanted to lie in bed and sleep.
And to receive his mission rewards before sleeping.
Lu Zhou closed his eyes and entered the system space.
When he opened his eyes, he was met with a mission completion notification…
