Crewed Moon Landing

The Artemis Program had officially begun.

The SLS rocket stood on the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center, its silver body reflecting the dim star sinking at the far horizon. The Orion spacecraft was already mounted atop it, with less than three hours remaining until ignition and launch.

The media area outside the space center was packed.

Gao Jian sat in the viewing area, a CNSA observer's badge still hanging from the collar of his dark navy shirt, his feelings a tangled mix.

In the end, we couldn't catch up.

Back in 2025, NASA had announced a timetable for the United States' return to the Moon in 2028. While nations around the world remained skeptical, NASA had completed a series of preparations with astonishing efficiency, including uncrewed surveys of the lunar surface and the deployment of Gateway, the lunar orbital transfer station.

In just three years, the United States had completed every preparation for returning to the Moon.

This was something the China National Space Administration had not anticipated.

Compared with NASA's blistering pace, CNSA's own lunar program had only just reached the testing stage for uncrewed landings and orbital docking. At least another two years of preparation were needed before a formal crewed lunar landing.

By now, catching up was impossible, a fact that left countless CNSA space professionals helpless.

Yet Gao Jian felt little regret.

The original owner of his body had been a researcher, and although that man's obsession affected him, its influence was limited. Besides, he had always harbored profound doubts about landing on the Moon.

The Moon Palace in the heavens was the abode of immortals. How could mortals possibly reach it?

In the world he came from, even mighty cultivators who could move mountains and fill seas had never entertained the delusion of ascending into the sky. Everyone cultivated diligently, and an occasional genius who survived tribulation and ascended once in a thousand years was already extraordinary.

Ascending into the heavens to grasp the Moon was something even the greatest cultivators dared not imagine.

Yet the mortals here not only dared to imagine it, they dared to do it-and had even succeeded six times. During the Cold War, a full twelve mortals had set foot on Taiyin Star. The shock this gave Gao Jian was immense.

His doubts about the lunar landings when he first transmigrated had led him to post many ill-considered remarks online. Amateur science cranks and conspiracy theorists had doxxed and bombarded his real-name account, and the emails had been a relentless nuisance. But when he learned that the lunar landings were real, Gao Jian had undoubtedly been excited.

In fact, attending NASA's lunar launch as a CNSA observer was something he had fought hard to secure. His superiors had originally chosen someone else, but Gao Jian had volunteered, argued his case, and employed a few little tricks that influenced people's minds. Only then had he gotten his wish.

He wanted to land on the Moon too.

Gao Jian's goal was simple: slip into the astronauts' ranks and see whether he could reach Taiyin Star as well. As the abode of immortals, the Moon Palace might have spiritual veins, might it not?

Gao Jian's cultivation had barely reached early Foundation Establishment, giving him a lifespan of only two hundred years. In this land devoid of spiritual energy, his cultivation could not advance an inch. If he could not find spirit stones to improve it, sooner or later he would die of old age in this foreign world.

That would be utterly humiliating.

A true disciple of the Mystic Sect, blessed with a heavenly spiritual root-if he died of old age before even reaching Nascent Soul, wouldn't word of it disgrace his sect and make him a laughingstock?

Of course, there was another reason he wanted to slip into the astronauts' ranks. Influenced by certain people online, Gao Jian wanted to see with his own eyes just what sort of world he was living in.

Ever since he had transmigrated two years earlier, the original owner's memories, online information, and television news had all assured him unequivocally: this was Earth, a blue planet orbiting the Sun, a speck of dust in the vast Milky Way.

Gao Jian found it hard to believe.

One point in particular: Earth was a ball.

The land in this world had a curve, but that curve was minuscule. How could it be a ball?

In his previous life, his ancestral master had taken the young Gao Jian on journeys across the world, traveling eighty thousand li in a single day. Wherever they went, the sky grew higher and the land broader. Heaven and earth were vast and boundless, yet distinctly separated. As far as the eye could see, the world was square and level. Where did a ball come into it?

This counterintuitive fact struck Gao Jian as absurd, yet the scientific knowledge in his memories told him it was reasonable. Add the repeated harassment from followers of crank science, and this traditional, conservative, classical, pedantic, orthodox young cultivator was thoroughly bewildered.

Media could deceive; seeing was believing. Faced with this conflict in his understanding, he could only go and look for himself.

Still, there were risks.

In the 1980s, the space shuttle Challenger had exploded in midair, and seven astronauts had perished in the flames. The force of the explosion was equivalent to a Fourth-Tier Explosive Talisman. The footage had shaken Gao Jian. After careful consideration, he concluded that if he had been aboard that shuttle, he would probably have struggled to survive.

His cultivation was too low. He had transmigrated too soon.

If he had waited until reaching Nascent Soul before transmigrating into this world, he would have been much safer.

Gao Jian was already one of the key engineers on the Long March 10 rocket, responsible for part of its propulsion system design, and a member of CNSA's new generation of young technical specialists.

He had originally intended to slip aboard China's crewed lunar mission two years later. But now that NASA was going first, there was no point waiting. He might as well hitch a ride. After all, two years was neither particularly long nor particularly short, and he could not afford the delay.

Without cultivation, every day felt like a year. Taiyin Star was his last hope.

He had to go up and try, no matter what.

Ancestral master above, your disciple is ignorant. In this world, I have failed to find spiritual veins or an opportunity to pursue immortality. This journey to the Moon Palace is my last hope. Should I perish high in the sky, I beg your forgiveness-I truly have no other options.

Gao Jian silently recited the prayer once, then abruptly rose.

"I'm going to the restroom. Excuse me, Mr. Elon. Could you let me through?"

Gao Jian spoke in English to the white man wearing sunglasses beside him.

Elon Musk paused at his words, then removed his sunglasses, smiled at the young CNSA engineer, and turned aside to make room.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Under Elon Musk's gaze, Gao Jian walked briskly away.

I need to find a way past the launch site's security perimeter without being detected. Otherwise, the slightest disturbance will surely halt the launch, Gao Jian thought as he threaded through the crowd.

"Observer Gao, the temporary restrooms are this way."

A staff member wearing a blue NASA polo shirt stepped in front of Gao Jian. Clearly, because of Gao Jian's special status, this man was an officer specifically assigned to monitor him.

Gao Jian looked up and gave him a friendly smile. "All right, thank you."

A little while later.

No one emerged from the temporary restroom beside the lawn for a long time. The officer frowned and finally knocked on the door, but there was no response. He gave it a gentle push.

The interior was completely empty. There was no sign of anyone.

Half an hour later.

Maintaining the hand seal for the Invisibility Spell, Gao Jian flew slowly on his sword a little over ten meters above the ground, keeping his speed below forty kilometers per hour. He carefully avoided infrared thermal detectors and surveillance cameras, gently nudged aside low-flying drones, and reached the launchpad at Kennedy Space Center.

His toes settled lightly on the edge of the launchpad's steel framework, and he returned his Life-bound Spirit Sword to his Storage Bag. Apart from that Low-Grade Spiritual Artifact, the only spiritually imbued objects left inside were a few fist-sized, low-grade spirit stones.

Looking at his deflated Storage Bag, Gao Jian felt a pang of sorrow.

He sighed and hid behind the steel framework.

Only a handful of figures remained on the framework. Most people had clearly evacuated the launch site, although a few workers were still finishing up. Most of them seemed distracted, which made Gao Jian frown slightly.

With less than three hours until launch, the four astronauts were holding their departure ceremony and answering questions from reporters. They would board soon.

But Gao Jian did not immediately sneak into the command module. Instead, he huddled in the shadows of the launchpad's steel framework, maintained the Invisibility Spell's hand seal, and first spent over ten minutes carefully scanning the rocket with his Divine Sense.

First, give the rocket a thorough inspection.

Unexpectedly, his Divine Sense really did uncover numerous flaws, such as several bolts on the fairing whose torque fell below specification. Although these were all minor issues, Gao Jian still frowned to himself. He had no choice but to float up to the fairing, take an aerospace torque wrench from his Storage Bag, and gently tighten them until their preload met the required standard.

Apart from the bolts, there were also several flawed welds, which Gao Jian repaired one by one.

Fortunately, he had packed all his usual tools into his Storage Bag.

Professional standards mattered.

When he first arrived in the United States, Gao Jian had repeatedly requested a close-up tour of the SLS rocket in his capacity as a CNSA observer, but NASA had politely declined every time. They guarded against foreign counterparts, especially Chinese ones, with extreme vigilance.

But it was useless.

No matter how much they concealed it, wasn't this rocket now laid bare before Gao Jian's eyes?

Its slender brown-and-white form was revealed in full, its rounded, ample body towering high with a faint tremble-a sight that set the heart racing.

This was an [SLS Block 1B] rocket, also known as the "Artemis 4 Rocket." Its total height was 111.6 meters, its core stage diameter 8.4 meters, and its liftoff mass 2,722 metric tons. From top to bottom, its structure consisted of the launch escape tower, the Orion spacecraft, a lunar orbital module, the EUS upper stage, and the core stage's main rocket engines. A five-segment solid rocket booster was attached to each side.

He had long known its specifications by heart, but admiring it up close, even touching and squeezing it with his hands, felt entirely different.

His Foundation Establishment Divine Sense gently permeated the rocket's casing and entered its internal structure. The four RS-25 hydrogen-oxygen main engines responsible for liftoff, the four RL10C-3 hydrogen-oxygen vacuum engines responsible for translunar transfer, the lunar orbital module, the Orion spacecraft... every technical detail lay before him.

Technologically, the SLS was somewhat more advanced than the Long March 10 launch vehicle he had helped develop. The lunar landing architecture combining [SLS Block 1B] with the [SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch vehicle] was also more complicated than their own architecture using two Long March 10 rockets.

Yet that very complexity demonstrated the depth of an established space power's capabilities. The gap between China and the United States in aerospace objectively existed, but the United States was only slightly ahead.

Within ten years, China should be able to catch up.

After thoroughly admiring the brown-and-white body, Gao Jian could not resist heading to the bottom of the SLS. At the base of the core stage, the nozzles of all four RS-25 hydrogen-oxygen engines were clearly exposed, a configuration very similar to the Saturn V of old.

Fifty-six years, and after a great detour, they were back here again.

"Beautiful," Gao Jian murmured.

CNSA's Long March 10 rocket was beautiful too, its pure white body outlined in clean lines. Its three parallel cylinders resembled three white jade spears thrusting out together, proportioned and light, like a young maiden.

But the SLS was busty.

Having seen every inch of the SLS, Gao Jian was very satisfied. Many of its technical details had given him inspiration. It truly was a work of art capable of reaching the Moon, though it had rather too many minor manufacturing flaws.

If he was fortunate enough to return to Earth from Taiyin Star, he would not mind compiling these technical materials and submitting them. After all, the country had treated him well: salary and benefits, allocated housing, and even introductions to potential partners. They had taken excellent care of him.

Fuel loading at the rocket's base had not yet finished. To avoid disturbing the ground fueling crew, Gao Jian used the Wind-Riding Art and pushed off lightly with his toes. He rose as gracefully as a swallow, wrapped in his invisibility spell, and flew toward the top of the body.

The command module sat at the top of the rocket, directly beneath the launch escape tower. It was the central conical capsule that housed the astronauts, with four seats in a cramped, narrow interior.

He needed to hide inside the command module ahead of time and ascend into the heavens with the astronauts.

We're all fellow humans. We can squeeze in together.

Yet just as Gao Jian was about to slip into the command module, the dull rumble of the pumps at the rocket's base suddenly vanished. The faint sounds of liquid striking the storage tanks, which should have filled his Divine Sense, also stopped abruptly.

Those sounds should have come from liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen flowing into the tanks. Their disappearance meant the tanks were full.

Full... were they?

Gao Jian swept his Divine Sense over them. A large amount of empty capacity remained inside the fuel tanks.

They weren't full?

What was going on? Why had fueling stopped when they were only a little over half full?

Could this still reach Taiyin Star?

Gao Jian turned back in astonishment. The ground fueling crew had just received orders from launch control, shut off the pump valves, disconnected the underground storage tanks from the rocket, and begun withdrawing in an orderly fashion.

Meanwhile, the four astronauts had finished their boarding ceremony. With assistance from the staff, the [commander], [navigator], [lunar landing astronaut], and [lunar orbit astronaut], all wearing bulky anti-g suits, settled into their respective seats one after another.

They seemed completely unaware.

Gao Jian looked at the command module, then at the tanks, momentarily at a loss.