Chapter 321 - Apollo Training Camp (1/2)

Chapter 321 Apollo Training Camp

On a silent moon, the entrance platform slowly opened, and a camera was turned on as well. Armstrong walked out of the hatch and climbed down slowly along with the landing gear. He first checked the four load-bearing legs to make sure they were good order so the Lunar Module could use the entire descent stage as a launchpad when they lifted off. They would just need to fire up the ascent stage’ engines to return to lunar orbit and dock with the Command and Service Module.

A voice from Mission Control came over the communications channel.

“The camera is good. We can tell you, Neil, you are looking good.”

“Thank you, Houston.”

Armstrong looked up to Zhang Heng in the lunar module. He then nodded at him.

“A textbook landing.”

After that, Armstrong continued to climb down the ladder.

(The following were the original words of Armstrong when he landed on the moon) “…I’m at the foot of the ladder. The LM footpads are only depressed in the surface about 1 or 2 inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine-grained, as you get close to it. It’s almost like a powder. Down there, it’s very fine.”

After he was done talking, Armstrong turned around.

“I’m going to step off the LM now.”

Millions of people had been sitting in front of their TV’s biting their nails and holding their breaths until Armstrong’s left foot moved from the ladder to the surface.

“… That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Armstrong said.

However, due to a transmission problem with the sound equipment, and distance from the Earth, the sentence became intermittent when transmitted to the television. Coupled with Neil Armstrong’s strong Ohio accent, many people did not hear what he said.

Then, the audiences in front of the TV began whispers of, “Wait, what did Armstrong say when he landed on the moon?”

“Well, it seems like he said, this is a small step for man, but also a big step for mankind?”

“It all sounds very philosophical, but is this a small step or a big step for mankind?”

1111

It wasn’t deliberate, though. In fact, n.o.body who watched the broadcast, NASA’s own mission control in Houston included, heard the letter ‘a’ in the middle. At the same time, the press had already begun writing their articles. Every journalist was now in the race to be the first to report the big scoop. It wasn’t until Armstrong returned to Earth that he re-explained what he said on the moon.

All those things would only happen way after Armstrong returned to Earth. Zhang Heng followed Armstrong down the ladder and took his first steps on the moon’s surface. What attracted him the most was an equally desolate but magnificent scene. This was a monochrome world of gray, undulating with craters and jagged surfaces. There was nothing but rocks and dust around him. No sound or life existed there as well. Eternal silence was the only thing one could find. That said, it was all undeniably a breathtakingly beautiful sight to behold. It was no wonder Armstrong later said, ‘I have been to the moon, so, where else on Earth can attract me?’

Beauty and scenic value aside, however, things didn’t look so good for the human body. Without the protection of the ozone layer, the temperature on the moon’s surface could reach a scorching 160 degrees during the day, and at night, it would drop to an unG.o.dly minus 180 degrees. Coupled with the ubiquitous radiation and lack of oxygen, astronauts needed to be in their s.p.a.cesuits at all times.

Zhang Heng couldn’t look at his watch, but mission control told him the time on Earth over the radio. He only had apparently less than thirty minutes left before the end of this quest. In other words, the journey was about to come to an end.

“Neil, I’m going to stroll around,” Zhang Heng told Armstrong, who stood not far away from him.