48 Hours a Day

Zhang Heng felt like he was in an unprecedented earthquake. Everything around him was vibrating wildly. The magnitude of the metal parts sway even raised fears that they would break apart in the next moment.

When the rocket leaves the ground, it creates a powerful acceleration that pushes the people in the command compartment firmly onto the aluminum seat. It feels like there is a gorilla sitting on your chest, and even the simple movement of lifting your arms during the weekday becomes extremely difficult, but it is good that Zhang Heng was trained in the space center before that, and this is not a strange situation.

The numbers on the main display board are beating wildly!

… 135 seconds after take-off, the central engine shut down… 150 seconds, the four F1 engines in the perimeter were also shut down, and the fuel in the first stage rocket had been burned out, while the Apollo XI had also reached an altitude of 68,000 kilometres.

The explosive device detonated the first-stage rocket and the intermediate ring, which, together with the launch escape system at the top of the spacecraft, fell into the deep sea after running out of speed.

On the other hand, secondary rockets have also begun to work, and J2 rocket engines have lifted the speed of flight from the previous 9,200 kilometres per hour to the horrific 24,600 kilometres per hour, taking the spacecraft with them to the upper atmosphere.

The whole process lasted a full six minutes, after which the secondary rockets completed their mission were separated, and it was the third stage rocket's turn to start relay ignition, and the Apollo 11 velocity continued to climb upwards, although the vibration was much smaller at this time than it had just taken off, although the heavy acceleration was still present.

Until 2.75 minutes after the firing of the Class III rocket, the engine shut down and the spacecraft successfully entered Earth's orbit at a speed of 28,000 km/h.

At this moment, the ground control centre in Houston was filled with joy, as it meant the successful completion of the launch phase.

With the main engine shut down, the thrust dropped to 0 in just half a second, and the pressure on the chest suddenly disappeared, switching to a free-fall state, although the seat belt still secures him firmly in the seat.

Although in the real world he had seen many space-related book films and witnessed the launch of Shenzhou 5, and at the Apollo training camp he had a thorough understanding of every step of the Moon Climbing Program, the moment did come, and it was a very different feeling to be among those who lived there.

Now they're in space 166 kilometers from the surface of the Earth, with their helmets removed, suspended like feathers, and they can see the Earth underneath them through the starboard window.

It is difficult to describe such a scene in words, a azure blue planet alone in a velvety dark sky, with curved horizons hidden in blue atmospheric mist, clouds flowing silently across the sea of blue, the entire ground like a giant palette of colors, bright colors, blending with transitional colored water milk, those yellow deserts, undulating mountains, inky green rainforests… an indescribable shock and emotion.

Even with Zhang Heng's constant calmness, it is rare at this moment to faint.

Meanwhile, he's got a series of system tips in his ear.

[Looking at Earth in space, mission accomplished...]

[Will return in 4 days...]

[Successfully boarded Saturn 5 carrier rocket with +10 Game Points to view relevant information in the Character Panel...]

[Successfully entered Earth orbit with +20 Game Points, you can view relevant information in the role panel...]

[Successfully maintained for more than 500 consecutive weight-loss seconds, with +10 Game Points, you can view relevant information in the character panel...]

“Beautiful, isn't it? ”

Collins also unbuckled his seat belt, slipping his legs and floating to Zhang Heng's side, "Such a sight can never be forgotten once, congratulations, David, you are now a true astronaut, but your golden brooch will have to wait to return to Earth to receive it. ”

Armstrong's face on the other side also had a rare smile on it, and whether this was his first mission, it was hard not to indulge in seeing the beauty of the Earth from that angle.

But now they have other work to do, and Apollo 11 will be moored in near-Earth orbit for some time, flying around the Earth, where the ship will conduct its final inspection, after which Saturn 5 will ignite again and take them officially on a journey to the Moon.

This step is also known as the Earth Moon Orbital Injection.

So far, while Zhang Heng's main mission has been completed, he has also earned 50 game points, but he is more than four days away from the date of his return. He is in space, and he has no choice but to complete the moon climbing mission with Armstrong and Collins.

Confirming that everything was in good condition and that there was no problem with the direction of the ship, Saturn 5's J2 engine ignited again after 148 minutes and completely detached from Earth with the remaining final fuel.

The Saturn 5 carrier rocket also successfully completed all its tasks.

And then it was time to test the three men on the ship.

The entire spacecraft was designed to board the moon compartment in the protective layer of the rocket, and to pull it out, the command service compartment needed to be separated first.

The astronauts then rotated 180 degrees in the separate command service compartment, finished turning around, and went back to the rocket before docking with the moon compartment inside and dragging it out, while discarding the level-III rocket, which was no longer working.

While some of this is also assisted by ground control centres, the entire docking process is manual and any minor operational failures can have catastrophic consequences.

“The next part is yours.” Armstrong against Collins Road on the side.

The latter nodded and took a deep breath.

He manipulated the command cabin and the rocket to successfully separate, flipped 300 metres away, and then approached Saturn 5 again at a relative speed of 2 metres per second.

To avoid Collins' distraction, Zhang Heng and Armstrong stopped talking throughout the process, just watching the docking process quietly through the overhead starboard window.

Collins used his thrusters to carefully adjust the angle and position of the ship, as if he were clamping diamonds with tweezers, his hand holding the joystick was always stable, and eventually, with a slight tremor in the cabin wall, the little head at the top of the command service cabin successfully plugged into the docking ring on the rocket, almost exactly the same.

Three and a half hours after takeoff, Apollo XI officially said goodbye to Earth and flew to the moon 300,000 kilometres away.