Chapter 319

Chapter 319 Moon Landing

“Err, have any of you seen my gloves?” Collins asked . He was hugging a bowl of pork and dehydrated baked potatoes when he popped out of nowhere like a specter .

“I don’t know . But I think it floated past my head a minute ago,” Zhang Heng replied .

“And you just watched it fly away like that?”

“It seems so . ”

“Alright . ”

“You can go look in the Lunar Module . It probably went in that direction . ”

“Collins, did you take the wrong toothbrush?” Armstrong poked his head out from the door, his expression grim .

“Did I? I remember putting my name on it . ”

“Yes, and you put it on my toothbrush,” Armstrong grunted . “Also, remember to clean the fuel cell . Whose turn is it?”

Zhang Heng raised his hand, “It’s mine . ” “I’ll do it,” Collins cut in . “Don’t the two of you have something really big to do today?” he chuckled and patted Zhang Heng on the shoulder . “You must return safely . ”

“Don’t worry about me . Neil will return safely,” said Zhang Heng . Collins’ brows furrowed, unable to understand what Zhang Heng meant .

Right at that moment, mission control came over the radio, “Apollo 11, this is Houston . You will enter the moon’s orbit in fifteen minutes . Over . ”

“Roger that, Houston . We’ll be ready . Over,” Armstrong answered . He turned to Zhang Heng, “You haven’t had breakfast, right . Eat more . We have lots of work waiting for us once we land on the moon . We won’t have much time then . ”

Zhang Heng nodded, knowing anyhow that he wouldn’t be staying long on the moon . He looked at his Tissot watch and saw that only one minute was left before 5:55 . According to his calculations based on the game’s time flow, he only had four hours left in this quest .

It was also why he told Collins that Neil would return safely . He himself, on the other hand, would leave the scene and never set foot inside the Command and Service Module again .

Twenty minutes later, the three stopped what they were doing and stood in front of the porthole . The view outside was much clearer, and they saw the surface of the moon in great detail . Right now, Apollo 11 was only a hundred kilometers away from the moon .

The moon itself didn’t emit its own light, but it could reflect approximately 7% of visible light . Through the porthole, they could see craters and ravines that pockmarked the surface of the moon-much like a honeycomb . Zhang Heng knew that it was plagioclase, a type of volcanic rock that resulted from the cooling and crystallization of magma which formed the lunar crust . The lunar mantle was of stronger basalt, containing more iron than the crust . As for the innermost core, molten iron with a small amount of sulfur and nickel made up most of it .

“Alright, looks like we’re at our destination,” said Collins . “We’ll have to separate soon . I hope you won’t miss me too much . ”

“Thank you, Michael . When I’m not around, you can eat all the chicken salad you want,” said Zhang Heng .

“I won’t take that as a joke,” Collins pretended to look serious . Then two seconds later, he continued, “Take care, the both of you . I will be waiting here . Let’s return to earth together . ”

Armstrong merely nodded, saying nothing .

Zhang Heng spent the remainder of his time preparing for the landing, omitting all the daily necessities, only carrying his game items . He put on his EVA spacesuit and entered the lunar module “Eagle” with Armstrong . Armstrong then closed the hatch behind them .

“Houston, this is Eagle . David and I have entered the Lunar Module . Landing legs are deployed . Everything’s in position . Over . ”

“Eagle, this is Houston . Please confirm that you are using ethylene glycol line 1 . ” “This is Eagle . We are using line 1 . Over . ” Zhang Heng answered .

Then Collins’s voice came over the radio . “This is CSM Columbia . All twelve latches are fastened . Switching to manual mode . Eagle will separate at an estimated time of twenty minutes . ”

“Roger that . ”

“Wish you guys good luck . ”

To reduce as much weight as possible, no seats were installed in the lunar module . Instead, Zhang Heng and Armstrong had to stand in front of the control panel . As the lunar module’s pilot, Zhang Heng would take on the task of flying it . He would need to gingerly maneuver the Eagle and land it at the designated coordinates .

This would be a massive challenge for him, but it was at times like this that Zhang Heng was at his calmest .

At first, Armstrong was worried that Zhang Heng wasn’t trained enough, but when he saw the look in his eyes, he knew that he was ready .

“OK, we are about to begin . ” After counting down, Collins pushed the button to separate the CSM from the Lunar Module .

“This is Houston . Please remain in flight mode . Eagle, keep an eye on your fuel . Your maximum continuous ignition time is 910 seconds . ”

“Roger that, Houston . ” Zhang Heng became extra focussed, as he prepped the Lunar Module for landing .

However, it did not take long for them to run into trouble . The warning light on controls suddenly flashed .

“Executive overflow . We lost radar,” said Zhang Heng as he glanced at the warning indicator .

“Roger that, Eagle . Land at your discretion . ”

“Roger that, Houston,” Armstrong answered .

But before the two of them could even breathe, the warning light started flashing again . “Program alarm,” Zhang Heng frowned, “Error code 1202 . What is this, Houston?”

“Houston to Eagle, 1202, received . Please hold . We are checking . ”

Zhang Heng turned off the alarm manually . Lo and behold, less than a minute later, the program alarm rang yet again . Then, one of the worst things that could happen, actually happened . The altimeter suddenly froze at 4000 feet . It meant Zhang Heng would have to land relying on his bare judgment and the naked eye . He was practically flying blind .

The situation was not looking optimistic, but the two had no other options . When they descended to about 2500 feet, Zhang Heng and Armstrong realized that they had overshot the predicted landing zone .

Now, as if to mock them in the face, the fuel gauge failed a short while later . Zhang Heng last confirmed that with the fuel left in the propulsion system, the engines could still ignite for about 30 seconds . A large, deep valley appeared in front of the Eagle . With the radar out of service, there was no way for Zhang Heng to gauge how deep or wide the valley was .

He had to make a split-second decision whether to risk a high-speed crash landing in the deep valley or find a way to fly past it .

At this critical juncture, the wireless AirPods that Zhang Heng put alongside the game items suddenly came on by itself . Then a familiar voice said, “Friendly reminder, you have only 23 seconds of fuel left!”