Watkins echoed this sentiment, saying, "Yes, the Apollo program, dormant for fifty years, will be restarted in our hands."
The last Apollo spacecraft was Apollo 17, which was successfully launched in 1972. No new Apollo spacecraft were ever built.
NASA has repeatedly said it would restart the lunar landing program, but it has remained just talk.
No concrete action was taken.
"More than fifty years have passed since then, and the moon must have undergone many changes in that time."
"With the latest data brought back by the lunar orbiter and lunar circulator, we need to reconsider the lunar landing site."
“Cooperation with China would be best. We could go to the Chinese lunar space station first, and then travel to and from the moon from there,” Lindgren said with a hint of complaint in his voice.
Watkins gestured for him to be quiet: "Are you crazy?"
“We are in direct competition with China. We were able to cooperate with Russia on the International Space Station, but we did not cooperate with China.”
"The Chinese have built their own space station, not to mention their lunar landing program."
"If cooperation were so easy, we wouldn't have been able to complete the moon landing program independently back then."
"You need to be more careful. NASA's top officials were already in an awkward position because of the Chinese."
"Their lunar space station has taken up NASA's original planned orbit, which was the best orbit for the moon that NASA calculated first."
"It will benefit future lunar travel. NASA has investigated this matter several times, and they suspect that someone passed the information to China."
"If you reveal this kind of thinking, you will definitely be investigated by the higher-ups, and it may even affect this moon landing."
The three of them trained together for a long time for this lunar landing mission.
Several years ago, when Watkins first traveled to the International Space Station aboard the Freedom Dragon spacecraft, it was Greendron who led the team.
The two had developed a certain friendship, so Watkins' first reaction upon hearing Greendron's remarks was that you should be careful with your words.
Realizing the inappropriateness of his words, Grindelwald lowered his voice and said:
"That's exactly right. We should launch a lunar orbiting space station first, and then consider landing on the moon."
"Fifty years ago, the Apollo moon landing selected ten landing sites before launching."
"And this time? There are only five lunar landing sites, half the number."
"The lunar landing sites currently selected are all located on the near side of the moon in mid-to-low latitudes."
"Due to the spatial distribution of available landing sites, many core lunar science objectives cannot be fully achieved."
"This is somewhat of a moon landing for the sake of landing. It feels like a hasty moon landing plan that was carried out without being fully prepared."
“I asked Bob, and he told me that scientists did not agree that we should rush to the moon.”
"This was a hasty plan driven by NASA officials for certain interests."
There are very few landing sites on the far side of the moon.
Corresponding fieldwork such as on-site dating, in-situ elemental and mineral analysis, and low-frequency radio observations on the far side of the moon cannot be carried out effectively, which will hinder the scientific objectives research provided by NRC.
For example, the bombing history of the inner solar system, uniquely revealed on the moon, is impossible to observe.
Because the Moon’s largest impact basin (SPA) is located on the far side of the Moon, landing on the near side of the Moon would lack effective in-situ exploration.
Furthermore, the lack of landing sites in high-latitude regions will result in insufficient support for in-situ analysis and the return of samples cryopreserved at the lunar polar regions.
This would hinder the research objective: the lunar poles are unique environments that could witness the fluctuating fluxes of the later solar system history.
The Amerikan moon landing program was viewed from the perspective of higher-ups; it was merely a prelude to future, more frequent moon landings.
It is America's activity of showcasing its strength worldwide.
With such frequent lunar missions and high R&D investment, America's official financial situation is deteriorating.
America's dollar bonds hit a new high.
This kind of soft propaganda, coupled with the hot wars in some regions forcing capital to flow back, has led to a situation where capital is being forced to return to China.
This is America's usual practice.
The moon landing was America's way of creating turmoil and getting capital back to the country.
Grindelwald cares about the research objectives, but the American authorities don't seem to care much.
Because there will be many more moon landings in the future.
Watkins: "I understand what you mean."
"This moon landing was indeed very rushed."
"The five chosen lunar landing sites are all located on a smooth plain in the lunar equatorial region, forming a diffuse ellipse."
"The geology of these areas was formed by countless volcanic flows."
"The landing site is located in one of the youngest regions of lunar volcanic topography."
"But as astronauts, even knowing this is a rushed plan, can we give up?"
"Even if it were a rushed opportunity, I would still choose to go to the moon without hesitation when it was presented to me."
"Moreover, this Apollo 17 spacecraft is 2.5 times larger than the one from fifty years ago."
"There are many more security measures in place, so don't worry too much. I rarely see you so anxious."
Grindelwald sighed: "I'm not worried, to be honest, I'm not afraid of dying."
"I'm just afraid that after this moon landing, the next moon landing will have to wait another fifty years."
"I hope this moon landing will achieve enough research goals and answer more of the unknown questions of humankind."
Watkins laughed and said, "Didn't NASA tell us that there will be many more moon landing programs in the future? This is just the beginning, isn't it?"
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