The elevator continued to rise on the mobile launch platform, and the three of them were getting further and further away from the ground. Zhang Heng raised his head and looked at the distant sky, where a red sunrise was rising from the coastline.
Light and darkness are perfectly intertwined at this moment, like a frozen film.
"I hope we can still see such a beautiful sight." Collins whispered to the side.
Although the astonishing height of the Saturn 5 gave people the illusion that it would never reach the top, the elevator finally stopped in front of the corridor bridge.
The NASA staff opened the elevator door for them and nodded to them. At the same time, the engineers also completed the last inspection before launch. The three walked across the connecting bridge between the rocket and the launch platform and got into the narrow space. In the command module.
Zhang Heng tried his best to prevent his spacesuit from touching the complicated instruments and pipelines around him. At the same time, he found his seat. The door of the command module slowly closed behind him.
At this point, there are only three of them left in the spacecraft.
Both Armstrong and Collins were old men from NASA. They had already carried out space missions before, so they both acted very calmly. However, compared to Armstrong's unchanged expression, it was still possible to see that Collins was a little nervous.
After all, a series of things had just happened at NASA before, including mysterious infectious diseases and crazy attrition in training camps... all of which seemed to be in line with the widely circulated rumor that "God does not want humans to land on the moon."
Even with Collins's psychological quality, it is difficult to completely ignore these interferences.
But when the mission began, he quickly gathered his spirits and devoted himself to the space flight.
Like the historical Apollo 11, NASA still arranged for Armstrong to serve as the commander and Collins to serve as the command/service module pilot. As for Zhang Heng, Buzz Aldrin's position was replaced as the lunar module driver.
Collins was also the only person who did not land on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission, because he needed to stay in the command/service module when the lunar module and command/service module separated. Once Armstrong and Zhang Heng were unable to return from the moon When he comes back, Collins will drive the command module back to Earth by himself.
In terms of safety, he is the tallest among the three, but the price is that he has arrived at the "doorstep" of the moon but cannot go up to take a look. However, in terms of mission priority, he is still higher than the lunar module pilot. of Zhang Heng.
After the contact during the quarantine, Zhang Heng, Armstrong and Collins also became a lot more familiar. Because Armstrong and Collins returned to the team relatively late, the three of them had no chance to train together. This once made NASA's senior officials very worried about the three of them. tacit understanding between them.
But now, they have no better solution. They can only try their best to create an environment for the three of them to get familiar with each other during the isolation period. Zhang Heng also used this to confirm one thing.
That is, what happened in the parallel copy will not be carried over to the normal copy. Armstrong has no memory of the time the two spent together in the Lewis Flight Dynamics Laboratory 14 years ago.
This can also be seen from the expression on Armstrong's face when the two met again later. Armstrong looked at him as if he were looking at a stranger.
Zhang Heng still felt a little regretful, although he also knew that this situation was most likely, because 14 years had passed, his appearance had not changed at all, and there was no sign of aging on his body. This was not a thing in anyone's eyes. For normal things, it is difficult to find credible reasons.
Regarding what happened after the two separated, Zhang Heng had more or less knowledge from the Internet and books of later generations.
Armstrong married Janet Elizabeth Shearon in 1956, whom he met in college. The two had three children together. His daughter Karen was diagnosed with malignant tumors and lost the ability to speak and walk. Karen died on Armstrong and Janet's wedding anniversary.
This incident hit him hard, which is why Zhang Heng felt that he had become even more silent when he saw him for the second time, even though Armstrong had never shown grief in front of anyone.
But when he later applied for a position as a NASA astronaut, in addition to his love for flying, there was also a sense of escape. Perhaps only through intense training and work could he temporarily forget the pain of losing his daughter. In addition, Armstrong's marriage journey was not smooth either.
In 1989, Janet left a note for Armstrong at the dinner table, asking to end their 38-year marriage, in Armstrong's own words later.
——"Our marriage was like a failed flight, silently collapsing... If possible, I would also like to say that I love my wife and I am sorry..."
But at this moment, Armstrong, who was sitting in the command/service module, was not thinking about these things. He had focused all his energy on this mission. This is why NASA evaluated Armstrong as a stable and reliable leader.
In a sense, although Armstrong and Zhang Heng live in different eras, they have many similarities and can see the shadow of each other in each other.
There was a tacit understanding between the two at the Lewis Flight Dynamics Laboratory, and when he returned to the replica of the Apollo training camp fourteen years later, although Armstrong did not remember what had happened before, the relationship between the two was still there. The subtle sense of tacit understanding has not completely disappeared.
Armstrong could also notice this. Although it was just the first time for him and Zhang Heng to meet, it felt like old friends were reunited after a long absence, and Zhang Heng seemed to know his family situation and early experiences very well.
…………
The ground control center in Houston issued a last two-minute ignition countdown command, and all ground staff had already evacuated to a safe area.
Just today, more than a million people came to watch the Apollo 11 launch. In addition, there were dozens of cameras broadcasting the entire process. Zhang Heng used the last moment to check himself again. safety belt to ensure nothing goes wrong.
At this time, the countdown also came to the last 15 seconds, and the internal guidance was started... Then with 9 seconds left, the engine began to ignite, and the five F1 rocket engines of the first-stage rocket were operating at full capacity. About 12,000kg of aviation fuel is burned, which is equivalent to the total afterburning consumption of 1,500 jet fighters.
The red flames ejected from the base brought up a huge cloud of dust all around, and the powerful thrust generated pushed the spacecraft away from the ground.
