Robert

Biodata

Background

Robert became interested in spaceflight as a child because of the idea he attributed to Gagarin: “I looked around and saw no God.” He later described himself as neither devout nor entirely certain of his beliefs, suggesting that he might be a materialist 11.

Before commanding the lunar mission, Robert worked as a naval test pilot and completed long-duration stays aboard the International Space Station. He recommended Jim, Ron, and Allen during NASA’s lunar crew selection 4 11.

Personality

Robert maintains a steady voice in emergencies and uses dry humor when confronted with uncertainty. When Jim challenges his explanation for the knocking outside Orion, Robert sarcastically invites the former military chaplain to investigate. His composure persists through severe radiation sickness: while the others become increasingly confused, he fights his own mental fog and continues trying to restore the spacecraft’s controls 5 11 13.

His conduct toward his crew is more troubling. Believing they are about to die, he admits that Blackwell warned him the mission would suffer an accident. He says he selected Jim, Ron, and Allen precisely because he was not especially close to them—an admission that shocks Jim, who considered Robert his best friend. Robert nevertheless expresses regret for involving them and offers them his notebook to record final messages 11.

Abilities & Skills

Piloting and Spaceflight

• Extensive flight experience: Naval test-pilot service and prolonged ISS missions precede his appointment as lunar commander 4.
• Trajectory calculations: Uses Hohmann transfer formulas to predict a ninety-six-hour journey to the Moon. Gao Jian considers the answer correct despite the method not accounting for the anomalous conditions he observes 9.
• Visual identification: Recognizes an approaching intercontinental ballistic missile during reentry, identifying it as a Minuteman III or a similar weapon from its speed and smoke trail 18.

Mission Operations

• Fault reporting: Reports unexplained exterior noises and the failure of all eight VIS imaging cameras to rotate 4 10.
• Emergency troubleshooting: Repeatedly attempts to reboot Orion’s control terminal for nearly an hour despite acute radiation sickness 13.
• Scientific reasoning: Suggests that the protective membrane outside Orion may previously have existed beyond the visible spectrum 12.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Lunar Mission and Unexplained Knocking

• Robert hears knocking during ascent and initially suspects a loose fairing or heat-shield tile. With no structural abnormalities appearing on the monitoring panel, he requests a ground inspection while enduring a three-G load 4.
• Further knocking leads him to suggest incomplete debris separation. The source is actually Gao Jian tapping Orion’s window from outside, unseen by the crew 5.
• After the external cameras become immobilized, Robert reports their mechanical failure and watches through a window, but finds no explanation for the disturbances 10.

Radiation Crisis and Rescue

• With flight controls and communications lost, Robert offers the crew paper and pencil for farewell messages. He also confesses his advance knowledge that the mission would encounter an accident 11.
• The crew discovers that someone outside Orion is protecting them with a golden membrane. As their condition worsens, Robert begins a written account blaming Blackwell for destroying the lunar program 12.
• Gao Jian eventually enters the capsule and saves all four astronauts with residue from the Hundred Herbs Life-Renewing Pill. Robert openly admires him and agrees with his criticism of the rocket’s designers 14 27.
• Gao Jian places the crew under the Heart-Binding Curse to conceal their encounter with him 20 27.

Return to Earth

• Robert follows Gao Jian’s improvised return plan as the cultivator separates Orion’s command module from the remaining rocket and propels it toward Earth. The pill’s effects help the crew withstand reentry 17.
• He spots a missile during descent but initially interprets it as a possible military exercise rather than an attack on the capsule 18.
• Following the extraordinary Gulf of Mexico splashdown, recovery personnel find all four astronauts alive but unconscious 19.

Death and the False Robert

• After returning, Robert apparently approaches the people who later kill him and becomes involved in an argument. Gao Jian learns that they tortured him, forcibly extracted fragments of his memories, dismembered him, and consumed his body 27 28.
• A humanoid impostor subsequently assumes Robert’s appearance, accent, and portions of his memories. Its attempt to transport Gao Jian toward U.S. law enforcement is exposed because it lacks Robert’s Heart-Binding Curse 26 27 28.
• The helicopter pilot is not the real Robert. Gao Jian destroys the impostor after extracting its twenty-seven hours of memories, which reveal the commander’s fate 27.
• A later Bavarian Illuminati meeting reveals that consuming Robert during a ritual described as a “Mass” produced unexpected bodily benefits. Attempts to reproduce those effects fail, prompting the participants to seek the three surviving astronauts 60.
• Robert’s death leaves Gao Jian grief-stricken and guilty. He vows to hunt the responsible creatures, and the incident drives him to reassess both his equipment and the danger of hidden infiltrators 27 28 31 42.

Relationships

• Gao Jian — Rescuer who protects the crew, treats their radiation injuries, and brings Orion back to Earth. Robert’s murder becomes a personal motive for Gao Jian’s revenge 14 17 27 42.
• Jim — Navigator and former military chaplain. Jim regards Robert as his best friend until Robert’s confession about crew selection provokes his anger 5 11.
• Ron — Lunar orbit engineer and subordinate; consults Robert about the protective membrane surrounding Orion 11 12.
• Allen — Lunar landing astronaut whom Robert recommends for the ill-fated mission 11.
• Blackwell — Former friend who, according to Robert, warned him that the lunar mission would suffer an accident. Robert later condemns him in his written account 11 12.

Notable Quotes

“Death certainly isn't pleasant, but for me, this really is the most spectacular way to die. My only regret might be not setting foot on the Moon like Armstrong...” 11

“I'm already in hell!” 11