Although America's preparations this time were not as thorough as during the space race of the 1970s, fifty years of technological advancements in aviation still made America's lunar landing very successful.

When the Apollo program was launched, the world only remembered Armstrong for his successful moon landing.

The successful moon landing was achieved by the Apollo 11 spacecraft.

Previously, the first Apollo mission, Apollo 1, was destroyed when the command module caught fire, resulting in the deaths of all three astronauts.

We made a lot of preparations back then, but from a technical point of view, many of the technologies were actually immature. We forced our way in in order to win the competition with the former Russia.

For example, the technology is far from mature in areas such as propellant transfer, cryogenic propulsion systems, and the safety of lunar landing systems.

However, since Russia had taken the lead in manned spaceflight at that time, America needed to surpass its rival in the lunar landing program and adopted a relatively aggressive plan.

In 1962, NASA considered four lunar landing scenarios: lunar orbit rendezvous, blue planet orbit rendezvous, direct flight to a liquid nova, and direct flight to Saturn C-5.

Among them, the rendezvous with the blue planet is the least safe. In terms of probability calculation, the probability of a safe landing is only half that of the other three lunar landing modes.

For this lunar landing mission, NASA adopted an improved lunar orbit rendezvous mode based on technological advancements.

It will first be launched from a spacecraft, and then enter its designated orbit via the Apollo 18 spacecraft.

The command and service module consists of the manned return and entry module of the command module and the service module. It separates in the lunar orbit and docks with the lunar offset module to carry out lunar descent and ascent.

During docking with the Lunar Offset Module, the command module performed propulsion capture, thereby achieving a low lunar orbit. Two of the three crew members then transferred to the Lunar Offset Module to begin their orbital insertion and land on the lunar surface.

After the lunar mission was completed, the two crew members launched from the lunar surface using the lunar ascent module.

The lunar ascent module entered an intercept orbit on the lunar surface to rendezvous and dock with the remaining astronauts in orbit.

This is the general process of lunar orbit docking.

Grindelwald was very excited after returning to the preset orbit:

"Old friend, it's such a shame you didn't make it to the moon."

“The moon is truly incredible. Watkins will go up first, and then I will go up.”

"Only two people live on this huge planet. The last time humans appeared on the moon was fifty years ago."

"After fifty years, human footprints have finally reappeared on the moon."

"I felt the insignificance of humanity and the grandeur of the universe."

"I wonder which planet the mysterious person came from on Earth. I really want to go and see the planet the mysterious person came from."

The mysterious man refers to Merlin; the American authorities have instructed them not to mention Merlin's name directly.

The American authorities are concerned that Merlin might actually be able to hear the conversations when everyone calls his name.

Even if the probability is one in ten thousand, we must avoid this situation.

They cannot interfere with the behavior of ordinary Americans, but they can restrict government employees.

As a senior employee of the American government, Greendron knew some inside information.

The more Grindelwald knew, the less he believed Merlin was from Earth, and the more likely he was an alien borrowing from Earth's mythology.

Hines shook his head and said, "Alright, guys, we need to get ready to head back."

There will always be another chance.

Hines felt helpless and somewhat annoyed.

Whether from the perspective of seniority or ability, he should be one of the two people who walked on the moon.

Watkins is the one who stayed in low lunar orbit to watch over the spacecraft.

You keep saying there will be other opportunities in the future, but what if there aren't?

Is this the only chance to land on the moon?

Because Watkins was a Black woman, she was not only able to walk on the moon, but also to be the first to exit the spacecraft, becoming the first person to walk on the moon fifty years later.

Fifty years ago, when Apollo 11 landed on the moon, Armstrong was the first to exit the spacecraft, and Aldrin was the second.

Armstrong became the first person to walk on the moon, and the world knew almost only Armstrong and was unaware of Aldrin's existence.

There was a third person on board Apollo 11 at the time, the pilot Michael Collins, and even fewer people knew about it.

In this moon landing, Hines played a role similar to Collins' back then.

Fifty years ago, fame was linked to status and benefits, let alone fifty years later.

When Hines first heard NASA's arrangements for them, he cursed inwardly several times: "Damn political correctness."

He could already imagine the scene when he returned to Earth and the Earth's media hailed Watkins to the skies.

A Black woman, the first person to walk on the moon fifty years later—she's got all the buffs stacked up.

But no matter how dissatisfied he was, Hines couldn't change anything. Not only could he not change it, he couldn't even express his dissatisfaction.

If he dared to express even the slightest dissatisfaction with Watkins being the first to land on the moon, his astronaut career would be over.

"The moon landing has been a success, and we now need to return to Earth according to the established plan."

"Our colleagues at NASA on Earth and media from all over the world are preparing to welcome us and celebrate our success," Watkins said, equally excited.

She knew that this successful moon landing would bring her many gains, not only in terms of fame, but also in the possibility of becoming the first Black female president in the future.

But all of this is just wishful thinking until we successfully return to Earth.

"We're getting ready to head back. The recovery ship is already waiting for us on Earth."

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