Chapter 304 Hello, Houston
I thought about it for a long time.
Chen Yun finally decided to throw this newly made beyond-visual-range orientation sensing token somewhere randomly.
as a lunar anchor.
The coverage of this thing depends on the coverage of Chen Yun's mental power. It cannot cover the entire moon anywhere.
At the same time, considering that there seems to be no place on the moon that requires special attention.
therefore.
Just throwing it anywhere is the best option.
Mainly because there was nothing to choose from.
After placing the cube-shaped over-the-horizon orientation sensing token that was smelted at high temperature on the ground.
Chen Yun continued to wander around the huge moon.
Although the moon is only a satellite of the earth, it may seem small in size.
But in fact, if only the surface area is considered, the area of nearly 38 million square kilometers is almost four times the area of China's 9.6 million square kilometers.
This is definitely not too small.
For him, who had been traveling slowly for several weeks without leaving China, the surface area of the moon seemed to be enough to travel for a long time.
certainly.
The same lunar scenery became boring after seeing a few craters.
However, Chen Yun still enjoyed shopping.
As if looking for something.
Actually.
He was indeed looking for something.
What he is looking for is naturally not the Jade Rabbit and Chang'e, or the Jade Gui and Guanghan.
What he is looking for is actually a lunar rover.
Apart from the uniform lunar soil, the only thing on the moon that is slightly special is the creation of humans on Earth.
No matter which country it is from, he just wants to see this thing.
Before evolving, he was an ordinary online writer who had never read many things.
The reason why Chen Yun decided to start traveling around the world was because he wanted to experience various aspects of life and gain experience by seeing how big the world is.
now.
There is an opportunity to learn more.
Naturally, he has never seen anything as cutting-edge as the lunar exploration rover.
Or to be precise, most people have never seen this thing with their own eyes.
He was more curious, was this thing just a large remote control car?
Now that I have the opportunity, I can just go and play around a little bit.
Thinking.
Chen Yun speeded up a little excitedly.
Although he didn't pay much attention to the aviation field, from the corners of his ridiculously clear and massive memory, he still found information about the news and the Internet that he had glimpsed.
The Apollo 15 lunar rover of Lighthouse Country was located in the Apennine Mountains, the Apollo 16 lunar rover was located in the Descartes Highlands, and the Apollo 17 lunar rover was located in the Tauras-Littero Valley.
The lunar rover of the Furry Bear Country is located on the western plain of the far side of the moon and near the Lermentovo crater, also on the western plain.
China's Yutu comes from the Chang'e-3 mission and is located in the Rainbow Bay area on the front side of the moon. Yutu-2 is from the Chang'e-4 mission and is located in the Von Kármán impact crater on the far side of the moon.
Asanjia's Vikram lander attempted to land near the moon's south pole, but failed to achieve a soft landing. Although the Vikram lander carried a small rover, the rover did not start working due to the failed landing.
This is the distribution of lunar exploration rovers from countries around the world that have a certain influence on the moon.
Nowadays.
The Apollo-era lunar rovers should still be stuck at their respective landing sites. They are probably unable to operate due to the lack of energy supply.
The Lunar Rover-1 and Lunar Rover-2 of the Mao Xiong Country are also inactive, and their positions should remain unchanged.
China's Yutu has stopped operating, while Yutu-2 continues to conduct scientific investigations on the far side of the moon, and has not encountered any equipment failures so far.
These are summaries based on historical data that have appeared in the news.
It should be noted that due to communication interruptions or other technical limitations or lack of complete information in the news, the specific positions of some lunar exploration rovers may be slightly offset.
But overall, they should still be within the general area mentioned above.
Based on the information in his mind that could not be forgotten once it appeared, Chen Yun made a little judgment about his position.
After comparing the data of the lunar exploration rovers that existed in history, I had a rough idea of my next destination.
The Apollo 17 lunar rover was located in the Taurus-Littrow Valley, which is relatively close to where I am now.
Taurus-Littrow Valley is a very famous place on the moon. It is located on the near side of the moon, close to the east side of the moon's equator. This is the landing site of the Apollo 17 mission.
It is between the Taurus Mountains (MontesTaurus) and the Littrow Mountains (Montes Littrow).
This area is characterized by multiple large impact craters and a relatively wide and flat valley. The valley is surrounded by a series of mountains on both sides, forming a relatively closed space.
After Chen Yun determined his goal, he headed towards the Taurus-Littero Valley where the Apollo 17 lunar rover was located.
Because there is no atmosphere on the moon.
So he's still able to move in a way that's almost unimpeded.
He moves extremely fast and can cover a large area almost instantly.
The next thing I found was the best, and I just had the opportunity to play with the large remote control car.
It didn't matter to him if he couldn't find it.
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The Johnson Space Center in Houston was established in 1962 and is the development center of the Lighthouse Nation's manned space shuttle. The base and manned space flight base and operation and control center are also one of the largest space research centers under the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) of the lighthouse country.
It was also the control center for the first human mission to land on the moon in 1969.
The first word spoken by humans on the moon was "Houston", which also made "Houston, we're in trouble" a classic line.
In a corner of the Houston command center, there is an inconspicuous small office.
This office is small, with several desks and an old computer inside. A photo of the Apollo 17 astronauts hangs on the wall, recording that glorious moon landing mission.
The time has come to the summer of 2024. Half a century has passed since Apollo 17 set foot on the moon for the last time in 1972.
With the development of science and technology and the continuous deepening of human exploration of space, the glory of the Apollo era seems to have become part of history.
However, in this small room, time seemed to stand still.
Everything here maintains the style of the 1970s, with a ticking clock on the wall and a few yellowed technical manuals scattered on the table.
Old-fashioned computer monitors display real-time data from the moon.
Here, the team responsible for managing the Apollo 17 lunar rover are enjoying their morning at leisure.
The group consists of five members who are as close to each other as a family.
The core figure of this team is an old engineer named Jack. He has been working at NASA for nearly thirty years and has witnessed countless historic moments.
Sitting next to Jack is Emily, a young and promising female engineer who is full of unlimited enthusiasm for space exploration.
The other three members are Daniel, a technical expert, Lisa, a communications expert, and Mike, a mechanical engineer.
The first ray of sunlight in the morning shines into the room through the windows, bringing a touch of warmth to this slightly old space. Everyone started the day according to their own habits.
Jack likes to get up early and is always the first one to arrive at the office.
Today was no exception. He had made coffee early and used the old-fashioned coffee machine to brew a pot of fragrant Americano.
Emily followed with a homemade breakfast, a healthy salad and a piece of whole wheat bread, eating while listening to Jack tell stories about his son's football game the night before.
At the same time, Daniel had opened his laptop and started checking the operating status of the lunar rover. Lisa was adjusting the frequency of the communication system to make sure everything was ready.
Mike was playing with some parts in the corner and occasionally humming a few songs.
Although their work may be considered insignificant to the outside world, for this group, every day's work is an affirmation of their expertise.
As time went by, the office gradually became lively.
There was banter between Daniel and Mike, while Emily and Lisa discussed plans for the weekend.
Jack stood quietly by the window, looking at the busy command center in the distance, with an indescribable emotion surging in his heart.
He thought of the dreams he had when he was young and the faces of his colleagues who had struggled together.
Today, everything has changed, but the love for space exploration has never changed.
At this moment, Emily's voice broke Jack's meditation: "Jack, how are the solar panels today?"
"Everything is fine," Jack replied. "The solar panels charged well last night and we can continue with our daily schedule today."
Emily nodded and said, "Then let's get started!"
With preparations in place, team members began the daily routine of the Apollo 17 lunar rover.
Jack and Emily sat in front of the console and carefully observed the data displayed on the screen. Daniel and Lisa respectively monitored various functional indicators of the lunar rover. Mike is standing by, ready for any technical issues that may arise.
The team members each sat in their own seats, drinking coffee and staring at the computer screen, preparing for their daily routine - using the solar system of the Apollo 17 lunar rover to turn on the vibration dust removal function, and at the same time turn on the The front-facing camera observes the lunar surface and transmits images back to Earth.
It is generally believed that the Apollo 17 lunar rover was scrapped decades ago, but in fact it can still play a certain role.
Although it cannot be moved due to various reasons and the fuselage is damaged in many places, the solar system, front camera, communication module and vibration dust removal function are all miraculously preserved.
In view of the high cost and limited practical significance of repair, the lighthouse country did not consider sending a new lunar rover to repair this aging lunar rover.
However, as long as it still works, it has some value.
It doesn’t require any additional investment anyway.
Therefore, every day, team members will follow established procedures to remotely activate the vibration and dust removal function of the lunar rover to prevent it from being covered and corroded by lunar soil dust.
Next, they turn on the front-facing camera.
Observe the lunar surface ahead as it has remained unchanged for decades and transmit the images back to Earth.
These images are usually monotonous and lack any variety.
This work is just to try not to waste the remaining value of the Apollo 17 lunar rover. However, because it cannot move and only has a front camera, this lunar rover that can only photograph a fixed area in front of it has no substantial scientific value.
At first, the top leaders of the Lighthouse Nation expressed interest.
But as time went on, the group's presence became less and less visible.
Some in senior leadership began to view this monitoring as almost pointless.
As a result, in the decades after the Apollo 17 mission ended, the lunar exploration rover, which could only send back the same information every day, was gradually ignored, and related funding was also reduced day by day.
The team members responsible for supervision have also been reduced to five of them. They are crowded into a small independent office and continue this seemingly meaningless work.
It is said that NASA has recently been considering disbanding this meaningless department and reducing redundant personnel salary expenses.
Fortunately, this idea has not been implemented yet.
The relevant group members can continue to dawdle.
The group members are also quite satisfied with this kind of life, and they don't hate such a dawdling life.
For those who remain, the job is more like an escape from reality, a safe haven from the fast pace of social life.
Repeating the same job every day.
Occasionally, we talk about the past and imagine the future when humans return to the moon.
However, on such an ordinary day, everything suddenly changed.
When the engineers turned on the front camera as usual, they were surprised to find that the rover seemed to have been moved.
The surrounding scenery changed.
Because the built-in positioning system was damaged and the field of view was limited, the engineers temporarily did not know where the lunar rover was being used.
But judging from the data records from decades until yesterday, it is obvious that this is not the location where the lunar rover was before.
Unfortunately, the functions of the lunar rover are damaged, and new energy problems every day will only turn on the camera for a short period of time.
As for what happened when the camera was turned off, I can only say that I have no idea at all.
"Did it move due to some kind of hurricane?"
Mike subconsciously wondered.
But Jack, who frowned, interrupted: "This is not Mars. It doesn't even have an atmosphere. Where did the hurricane come from?!"
The words fell.
All five people were silent.
I don’t understand why the lunar rover suddenly and inexplicably changed its position.
While several people were meditating.
Emily suddenly said in surprise: "Look at the ground carefully!"
Hear the words.
Everyone observed carefully.
I saw a clear line of scratches in English left by some unknown force on the lunar ground in front of the lunar rover:
"Hello, Houston".
This sentence translates to:
"Hello, Houston."
These few simple words instantly plunged the entire room into silence.
Then there were exclamations of disbelief.
"This is impossible!"
"What's going on? Who would write a message like this on the moon?"
Old engineer Jack couldn't help but said loudly.
Emily quickly pulled up a higher-resolution image, trying to confirm if it was actually a line of English.
And the result is...
This is not a trace that looks like English, but it is definitely English!
This scene made everyone in the office feel incredible.
Who wrote this?
Is it the work of aliens?
Or are there other unknown forces at work?
(End of this chapter)