Inside a crater basin with a radius of tens of kilometers.
More than a dozen space capsules are piled up in a mess in a piece of sand. The signs on the capsules are all Terrestrial Alliance +
, Dilian + Lucia.
Apparently these space capsules were launched to the moon by the Earth Alliance.
After they made a big mistake last year, they finally dared not let Musk and the Pentagon launch micro-communication satellites at will.
After all, they have wasted nearly a year's launch volume of the Jeju Island Space Tower project just to remove these space junk.
It won't work if we don't clean it up. If these space junks are allowed to continue to mess around, it will be extremely difficult for the Earth Alliance to even compete with the Homo sapiens company, even for spacecraft to pass through low-Earth orbit.
Therefore, they can only swallow the consequences of what they sow.
Anyway, the Homo sapiens company's spacecraft is armored and has its own dedicated channel. During the launch window, part of the space debris on the channel will be cleaned up.
Terrestrial Alliance does not dare to use the same route as the spacecraft of Homo sapiens.
Don't ask why.
The question is that they have been tricked by the Homo sapiens company.
Obviously, the spacecraft of Smart Company can pass safely, but when their spacecraft passes through that route, the protective layer of the fuel tank is directly penetrated by fine space debris halfway, and then a large amount of space debris is added to the low-Earth orbit.
Therefore, Dilian will not dare to use the same route as Homo sapiens Company at all costs.
After all, the Homo sapiens company's spacecraft has thick skin and very good armor materials. It is also surrounded by death-ray satellites to guard it, so it can naturally ignore tiny space junk.
But there is obviously no way for Di Lian to learn from this bold behavior of an expert.
With no choice but to bite the bullet and devote a lot of its transportation capacity to cleaning up space debris, the Ground Alliance can only do so.
…
Terrestrial Alliance's lunar south pole base.
It was during this period that the space agencies of the four major forces were put together. It took more than a year to launch 21 launch vehicles, of which 5 failed.
In other words, this base currently has 16 space capsules.
Currently, there are no astronauts stationed at this base. Instead, robots are operated through remote control to explore the surrounding area. At the same time, the automated equipment inside the space capsule is used to conduct some simple and pre-set scientific research work.
Recently, the Earth Alliance finally made up its mind and decided to send five astronauts to the lunar south pole base for an eight-month scientific research.
The reasons why the Ground Alliance made up its mind are very complex.
On the one hand, the Homo sapiens company is expanding too fast on the moon. Currently, it has built 3 large bases and 17 small scientific research stations (single space capsule type) on the front side of the moon; there is also 1 large-scale project on the back side of the moon.
and 11 small scientific research stations.
If the progress of the lunar project is not accelerated, the Earth Alliance may completely lose the moon.
On the other hand, there is pressure from within the four major forces. After all, this is a project with an investment of hundreds of billions. Now there is no sound at all. Many people are doubting the ability of Dilian.
In order to quell the internal dissatisfaction, the Ground Alliance had no choice but to bite the bullet even though it knew that the infrastructure of the lunar base was not yet complete.
Another reason is that as space debris becomes less and less, the launch mission of the Jeju Island Space Tower can be gradually adjusted.
At the same time, Seris and Lucia also completed the construction project in the Western Region, which was a larger space tower than the Jeju Island Space Tower.
This wooden space tower can carry an 800-ton launch vehicle for launch on a high-altitude platform.
The project has passed three small-scale tests and can be officially put into use.
Sure enough, pressure is motivation. In order to compete with the Homo sapiens company and not lose the future, the progress of the construction project is extremely fast.
With so much new carrying capacity, Ground Alliance has gained some confidence and started preparations for the manned month.
Finally in June.
It happens to be the third day after the anniversary celebration of the founding of Homo sapiens, that is, June 3.
From the high-altitude platform of the wooden space tower, a large launch vehicle soared into the sky.
Kong De, the president of the Earth Federation Association, and several other senior executives were under the wooden construction platform in the Tianshan Mountains in the Western Region. When they saw the launch vehicle safely lifted off on the big screen, everyone involuntarily breathed a sigh of relief.
"Zhang, when do you plan to launch the second spacecraft?" Kongde asked.
Although he is the president of the Earth Alliance, his job is actually to coordinate the space agencies of the four major forces and mediate internal conflicts.
In daily work, the Terrestrial Federation has no way to interfere in the daily management of the space agencies of the four major forces.
The man thought for a while and then flipped through the small book in his hand: "The second spacecraft has arrived at the waiting area and is undergoing its final inspection. If everything goes well, it is expected to be launched in 10 days."
"OK." Comte nodded.
However, the man frowned and asked: "As for the astronauts, haven't you guys done it yet?"
Hearing this, Comte and others were also embarrassed.
Because just half a month ago, four Europa astronauts (not the same batch) who were originally determined to go to the moon went directly to the Suez branch of the Homo sapiens company during their vacation in Sicily.
This made the Europa Consortium furious.
Obviously these astronauts do not want to go to the moon. As professionally trained astronauts, they know the situation at the lunar south pole base at this time.
If something goes wrong on the moon, it will be very difficult for the Earth Alliance to rescue the moon, especially in terms of time, which is a big problem.
Therefore, the four astronauts secretly discussed the matter and then ran away directly.
There is now one less astronaut to be among the first to land on the moon.
"If there is really no other way, let our astronauts go up!" the man suggested.
However, NASA Administrator Bill next to Conde shook his head, and then said with a smile: "President Conde and I have discussed that the Europa astronauts will be replaced by NASA astronauts."
"Oh? That's okay." The man didn't force it.
After all, in this manned moon landing mission, the manpower distribution of the four major forces was previously divided. Among the five astronauts, there was one from NASA, one from Lucia, and one from Europa.
At this moment, a burst of fierce applause came from the next door.
Conde quickly changed the subject: "It seems that the launch was successful."
"This is just the first step. Let's not open the champagne at halftime." The man reminded calmly.
Others also nodded.
After all, this manned moon landing is of great importance. If it fails, it will have a huge blow to the Earth Federation and the entire free world. They already lack confidence, and if they fail again, they will really be doomed.
Therefore, this manned moon landing must only succeed and not fail.
To ensure nothing goes wrong, three manned spacecraft will be arranged, and three additional cargo spacecraft will be arranged to go to the lunar orbit in three batches.
Even if there is a problem with one of the batches, the spacecraft of the other two batches can be used for emergency response.
These spacecraft will temporarily stop in the low-Earth orbit at an altitude of 800 to 900 kilometers, wait for all the spacecraft to be in place, and then fly to the moon in groups.
Although this solution is very conservative and slow, security is guaranteed.
Now the Ground Alliance and the free world really cannot withstand the blow of failure.
Apparently their caution was correct, because the very next day, the cargo lunar landing spacecraft launched by the Space Exploration Company was attacked by space junk in low-Earth orbit.
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