Chapter 8 Chapter One Set Sail

Dr. Heywood Floyd thought to himself, No matter how many times you leave the earth, you can't help the excitement.He has been to Mars once, to the moon three times, and to the various space stations more times than he can remember.But as the time for takeoff approached, he was still aware of a growing tension, a sense of wonder and awe, yes, and a little uneasy in that sense.He was indistinguishable from any earthling who was baptized in space for the first time. After listening to the president's simple instructions at midnight, he took a jet to come here from Washington, and at this time he was descending towards one of the most familiar but most exciting scenery in the world.Here are the signs of the first and second generations of the space age, stretching twenty miles along the coast of Florida.To the south are giant Saturn- and Neptune-style cradles surrounded by red warning lights. The space vehicles that sent people to planets have now withdrawn from the stage of history.On the distant horizon, a gleaming silver tower stands among the beams of searchlights. It is the last Saturn V, and it has been the object of national commemoration and admiration for twenty years.Not far from it, rising like an artificial mountain, is the gigantic structure of the Vertical Assembly Hall, still the largest building on Earth.

Then the tiny figures hurrying to and fro on the ground made him realize the true size of the ship; the narrow part of the V-wing was perhaps two hundred feet wide.And now this giant machine is waiting for me, Freud can't help thinking of this with a bit of surprise and a bit of pride.As far as he knew, this was the first time an entire operation had been launched to send a single person to the moon. Sorry I can't say anything. But you did meet the president tonight?A familiar voice asked. Oh Mike, hello!I'm afraid you were dragged out of bed for nothing.Absolutely no comment.

You can at least confirm or deny that some kind of infectious disease happened on the moon, right?a television reporter asked, running to keep up, pointing his tiny television camera at Floyd. Sorry.Floyd shook his head. What about quarantine?another reporter asked.How long will I be in quarantine? Still no comment. Dr. Floyd, a diminutive but resolute female reporter asked, what possible excuse could there be for such a total blackout of the moon?Does it have anything to do with the current political situation? What is the current political situation?Floyd asked her coldly.There was a burst of laughter, and then someone shouted, "Bon voyage, Doctor!"He hid in the platform of the boarding ship.

As far as he could remember, it wasn't a situation, but a prolonged crisis.Since the 1970s, the world has depended on two problems that ironically cancel each other out. Birth control, though inexpensive and reliable and supported by all major religions, came too late; the world's population is now six billion, a third of which is in China.Some authoritarian regimes have passed laws limiting a couple to two children, but enforcement has proven unrealistic.As a result, every country is short of food; even the United States has days when it doesn't eat meat. While the need for international cooperation is more urgent than ever, the problem of confrontational frontiers has not diminished since earlier times.In a million years, human beings have not lost much of their aggressive instinct; thirty-eight nuclear powers guard each other with hostility along symbolic borders that only politicians can see.These countries have a total of one million tons of nuclear weapons.Enough to wipe out the entire surface of this planet in one fell swoop.Although miraculously no atomic weapons have been used so far, this situation is difficult to maintain for a long time.

The slender female flight attendant greeted him as he stepped into the cockpit.Good morning, Dr. Floyd!This is Simmons Xiaojin. On behalf of Captain Tynes and Deputy Minister Ballard, first mate, welcome aboard. Thank you.Floyd smiled, wondering why the stewardess always sounded like a robot tour guide! Take off in five minutes.Reach out to the empty twenty-seat cabin, she says, and you can sit however you want, but Captain Tynes recommends the seat to the left of the front window if you want to observe departure activity. Just do it.He replied, walking towards that particular seat.The stewardess greeted him for a moment, then walked back to her cubicle at the back of the cabin.

Floyd sat down in his seat, adjusted the safety devices on his waist and shoulders, and fastened his paper bag on the seat next to him.Moments later, the loudspeaker began to bang softly.Good morning, said Miss Simmons' voice.This is the third special flight, from Kennedy Airport to Space Station One. It seemed that, for the sake of the lonely passenger, she was also determined to go through the routine from beginning to end; as she stubbornly went on, Freud could not help smiling. Our flight time is fifty-five minutes.The highest acceleration is 2G, and there will be 30 minutes of weightlessness.Please do not leave your seat until the safety signal is given.

Floyd turned his head and shouted: Thank you.He saw a slightly embarrassed but charming smile for a moment. He leaned back in the chair and relaxed his body.The trip, he calculated, would cost taxpayers more than a million dollars.If he didn't get results, he'd be suspended; but he could always go back to the university and revisit the interrupted study of planetary structure. The automatic counting procedure starts together.The captain's voice came through the loudspeaker.It was the calm monotone common to radiotelephones. High after a minute. As usual, that minute felt more like an hour.Floyd felt deeply that great power was building up around him.In the fuel tanks of the two spacecraft, the energy of a nuclear bomb is enclosed in the power storage system in the launch orbit.And all this would cost him just two hundred miles from Earth.

No longer the old-fashioned five-four-three-two-one-zero command, which puts too much pressure on the human nervous system. Fires after fifteen seconds.Start taking deep breaths to get more comfortable. This is good for the mind as well as the body.Floyd felt his lungs filled with oxygen.Dare it all, that's when the launch orbit began to lift that kiloton load over the Atlantic. It's hard to say when they de-orbited into the air, but when the roar of the rocket suddenly doubled and Floyd found himself sinking deeper and deeper into the cushion of his seat, he knew the first-stage engines had taken over.He wished he could look out the window, but it took some effort even to turn his head.However, he didn't feel uncomfortable; in fact.The pressure of acceleration, the overwhelming thunder of the engine, and an uncharacteristic sense of ease.His tinnitus was ringing and his heart was pounding, and he felt more alive than he had in years.He was young again, and he wanted to sing loudly, but no one would hear him.

The emotion passed quickly, and he suddenly realized that he was leaving Earth, everything he had loved.Down there on Earth were his three children, motherless since his wife's fatal flight to Europe ten years ago. (Ten years? Impossible! Yet it has been ten years) Maybe for them he should have married again He had almost lost track of time when the pressure and noise suddenly subsided, when it was announced in the small room: ready to leave the low class.start! There was a little vibration, and suddenly Floyd recalled a quote by Leonardo da Vinci that he once hung in the offices of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration: The big bird will take off on the back of the big bird, and give it the nest where it was born The nest brings glory.

Well, the big bird is now flying far beyond all da Vinci's dreams, and the exhausted companion is flying back to the earth.The empty low-stage rocket will glide into the atmosphere along a 10,000-mile long arc, trading speed for distance, returning to JFK.A few hours later, overhauled and refueled, it will be ready to send another partner into the glorious sky that it will never go to. Now Freud thought we were on our own, half way to orbit.As the higher rockets fired and regained acceleration, the force of propulsion was much more muted; in fact, he felt no more than normal gravity.However, it is impossible to stand up and walk, because the opposite side is facing upwards directly in front of the cabin.If he was foolish enough to get off his seat, he would immediately fall against the back wall of the cabin.

The effect is a bit unnerving, as the ship appears to be standing upright on its tail.For Floyd, who sat at the very front of the cabin, all the seats seemed to be nailed to a wall directly below him.He was trying his best to dispel this illusion, when suddenly dawn came overboard. In a few seconds, they burst through the layers of red, pink, gold and blue curtains, and entered the dazzling day, although the windows were thickly painted to reduce the glare, this time slowly swept across the whole city. The cabin sunlight still blinded Floyd for several minutes.He was in space, but he could still see the stars without a problem. He covered his eyebrows with his hands and tried to look out the window beside him.Outside, the skimming wings of the ship reflected sunlight like white-hot metal burning; all around the ship was absolute darkness, and in fact that darkness must have been filled with stars that were invisible to the naked eye. The weight is slowly decreasing; the rocket is throttled as the ship glides into orbit.The thunder of the engine reduced to a muffled roar, then to a soft hiss, and finally there was silence.Floyd would float out of his seat if it weren't for the leash; his stomach felt like it was going to float out anyway.He hoped that the pill he took half an hour ago (before sailing 10,000 miles) would do what the instructions said.In his career, he fainted only once during spaceflight, but once was not an infrequent one. The captain's voice, coming through the cabin loudspeakers, is firm and confident.Please follow all OG rules.In forty-five minutes we will be docking at Space Station 1. The female flight attendant came along the narrow aisle on the right side of the seats with small intervals.Her gait was a little sloppy, and her feet barely lifted off the ground like glue.She walked without leaving the bright yellow Viller-Corot carpet that ran from one end of the cabin to the other, as did the roof.The carpet and the soles of her shoes were covered with countless thin hooks that could be tangled together like burdocks.In a free-fall environment, this knack for walking can be a huge reassurance for overwhelmed passengers. Would you like some coffee or tea, Dr. Freud?She agreed happily. No, thank you, he said with a smile.Always felt like a baby when he had to suck on that plastic straw. He slammed open his briefcase to take out his papers when the stewardess circled around him concernedly. Dr. Floyd, may I ask you a question? certainly.He replied, looking at her over his glasses. My fiancé is a geologist in Tadjo, said Miss Simmons, choosing her words carefully, and I hadn't heard from him for over a week. Yeah?Maybe he left the base and couldn't be reached.She shook her head.Every time this happened, he always reported me in advance.You can imagine how worried I was and the rumors.Is it true that there are infectious diseases on the moon? Even so, there's no reason to panic.Remember, there was a quarantine in 1998, because the flu virus mutated.Many people got sick but no one died.And that's all I can say.He finished firmly. Miss Simmons smiled gaily, and straightened up. Anyway, thank you, Doctor.Sorry to bother you. Never mind, he said graciously, but not the truth.Then he buried his head in the pile of endless technical reports, trying to make a final assault on all the usual arrears. At the moon, he wouldn't have time to look at the material.