Chapter 160: The Return to the Moon Project

Uncle Sam had already conducted multiple manned lunar landing missions back in the 1970s of the previous century. Starting with Neil Armstrong stepping onto the Moon on July 20, 1969, Uncle Sam executed a total of six manned lunar landings, with a combined total of twelve astronauts setting foot on the lunar surface.

One must bear in mind that this took place in the 1970s of the previous century—half a century ago from the present day. This clearly demonstrates that Uncle Sam's technological prowess was by no means negligible, showcasing formidable technical strength.

Naturally, that astronomically expensive manned lunar landing campaign of the previous century was primarily driven by the demands of Cold War hegemony, serving to showcase Uncle Sam's mighty technological, economic, and military might.

The Apollo manned lunar program cost tens of billions of US dollars in total. While tens of billions of dollars might not seem like an exorbitant sum today, if one pushes the timeline back by fifty years to the 1970s, a US dollar truly carried immense weight. At that time, China's entire foreign exchange reserves could not even muster a few hundred million US dollars; the country was exceedingly impoverished.

Back then, it could truly be described as putting up a false front of wealth despite lacking the means. The investment was massive, yet it yielded little substantive significance. Aside from bringing back lunar rocks and soil for the study of extraterrestrial resources, it served very few practical purposes.

This explains why, over the ensuing half-century, Uncle Sam refrained from conducting further manned lunar missions. It was not because Uncle Sam's technology had regressed, but rather because manned lunar missions were a deeply unprofitable venture—in fact, a catastrophically losing proposition. A nation controlled by merchants was naturally reluctant to engage in such loss-making enterprises.

However, times have changed. As China initiated the new space race, coupled with the monumental advancements in technology achieved over the past half-century—and further catalyzed by China establishing a permanent lunar base and mining lunar resources—Uncle Sam naturally refused to fall behind. Moreover, having now acquired the technology to extract lunar resources, driven both by competitive necessity and greed for lunar wealth, Uncle Sam repeatedly ramped up investments in space technology.

The Artemis Return-to-the-Moon program is the most critical and core element of this initiative. Uncle Sam had been thoroughly startled by China's powerful space technology and rapid development pace, fearing that the technological gap would only widen. Consequently, no matter how arduous the task, they had to follow suit.

On October 5, 2020, at Uncle Sam's Kennedy Space Center, swarms of journalists from major global media outlets packed the area to the point of impenetrability. Countless camera lenses were trained on the towering Saturn V carrier rocket standing on the launch pad—a colossal behemoth standing 110 meters tall, with a takeoff weight exceeding 3,000 metric tons, a total thrust of 3,400 tons, a lunar orbit payload capacity of 45 tons, and a low Earth orbit payload capacity of 118 tons.

The Saturn V carrier rocket is a multi-stage expendable liquid-and-solid-fueled launch vehicle. Between 1967 and 1973, a total of thirteen Saturn V rockets were launched, maintaining a flawless launch record. A total of nine Saturn V rockets successfully propelled crewed Apollo spacecraft into lunar orbit.

The production line for the Saturn V was shut down in 1970, and its final launch took place in 1973. Now, relying on the original design blueprints while incorporating numerous advanced modern technologies, Uncle Sam has recreated the Saturn V carrier rocket.

Its thrust and payload capacities surpass those of its predecessor, and its overall performance is vastly superior, yet it retains the name Saturn V. Because its historical legacy is so flawless, Uncle Sam shares a certain cultural penchant for superstition in this regard, and thus chose not to adopt a new moniker.

The towering Saturn V carrier rocket stood silently. Inside the mission control center, a massive world map was unfurled, with streams of data flashing continuously across screens while rows of scientists in white lab coats busily tended to their duties.

Only half an hour remained until launch time. Uncle Sam's President had arrived in person and was currently outside presiding over the departure ceremony for the astronauts.

"I am delighted to be here, especially at this juncture," the President declared. "Half a century ago, a President bearing the same name as this space center, President Kennedy, proposed the manned lunar landing program, and we ultimately succeeded in achieving that great goal, becoming the first great nation in human history to set foot on the Moon."

"Spanning half a century, we have arrived at the first two decades of the 21st century. Today, we face an even graver situation. Someone else has reached the Moon ahead of us, established a permanent, permanently manned lunar base, and is even conducting mining operations and operating lunar tourism."

"Countless individuals who deeply love this country have written and emailed me, asking why we have not striven harder until now, why—having achieved manned lunar landings a half-century ago—we have yet to return to the Moon, asking whether we have fallen behind."

"Today, I want to tell you—to tell all those who cherish this land—that not only shall we return to the Moon, but we will also establish a permanent, manned base upon its surface. In the near future, we will vigorously develop the space industry..."

Uncle Sam's President delivered a stirring speech, punctuated by rolling waves of applause from the audience. Countless citizens who had gathered to witness the event clapped enthusiastically, reminiscing about past glories.

"Now, let us welcome our aerospace heroes—Alan Glenn, John Shepard, and Gaines Collins—with the warmest applause..."

"Here, we pray that God bestows His blessings upon them, ensuring that their journey proceeds smoothly. When they return in triumph, our entire great nation will cheer and take immense pride in them!"

The departure ceremony was exceptionally brief. Amidst the gaze of the multitudes, the seven astronauts boarded the towering Saturn V carrier rocket. Soon, the launch moment arrived. Accompanied by blindingly brilliant flames, the colossal launch vehicle soared into the sky, hurtling straight toward the cosmos.

Unlike China's manned lunar missions, the method employed by Uncle Sam differed not at all from the lunar missions of the previous century: utilizing heavy-lift carrier rockets to launch spacecraft into space, having the spacecraft orbit the Earth dozens of times to gain greater initial velocity, and then shooting directly toward the Moon.

Upon reaching the lunar vicinity, they would employ jet-powered lunar excursion modules to descend to the surface and begin constructing a lunar base. The entire program is colossal in scale and spans a relatively long temporal gradient.

According to the plan, starting today and continuing onward, Uncle Sam intends to launch manned spacecraft toward the Moon at intervals of roughly half a month. The ultimate goal is, naturally, to build their own permanently manned lunar base.

Once the inhabited lunar base is completed, Uncle Sam plans to establish a regularized routine akin to China's, maintaining scheduled spacecraft traffic between the Earth and the Moon to transport supplies and personnel.

The total investment for the entire Return-to-the-Moon program reaches a staggering five trillion US dollars. This is far from being a simple endeavor of merely sending a few astronauts to the Moon to shovel a few pounds of soil and haul back a few rocks.

Everything proceeded smoothly. The spacecraft was successfully launched into space, entering Earth orbit and gradually increasing its velocity. A few hours later, it broke free of Earth orbit and hurtled straight toward the Moon.

To ensure the complete success of the Return-to-the-Moon program, Uncle Sam had previously dispatched numerous unmanned probes, robotic spacecraft, and communication satellites to the lunar vicinity, while also pre-positioning massive quantities of supplies on the lunar surface—mirroring China's approach—to lay a solid foundation for the manned missions.

"Uncle Sam's capabilities remain formidable, whether in technological, economic, or military strength. Just look at the Saturn V rocket they use to launch spacecraft; half a century ago, they already possessed such advanced technology."

"If we did not hold aerospace planes in our hands, surpassing them in the space domain would truly be no easy task."

At the Longling Town Space Center, Li Fu observed the footage monitored by the "Clairvoyance" system, matching it with television broadcasts, and could not help but mentally tip his hat to Uncle Sam's technological prowess.

"Indeed, the more one understands this field, the more one is forced to admire them. In traditional aerospace technology, Uncle Sam has indeed reached the absolute pinnacle," Chen Bin agreed, nodding. As an aerospace expert, he was intimately familiar with the intricate details of Uncle Sam's return-to-the-Moon program. Lacking aerospace planes, although Uncle Sam's rocket technology was exceptionally powerful, their path was vastly more arduous than China's.

"By using traditional rockets to launch spacecraft, Uncle Sam incurs exorbitant costs—it is practically burning money. To establish a permanent, inhabited lunar base on the Moon, their expenses will be tens of thousands of times greater than ours."

"Furthermore, for single-batch supply transport, not only are their costs exorbitant and risks high, but the most critical flaw is that their transport volume is far too small. Once a regularized schedule is established for continuous transport between Earth and the Moon, I estimate that Uncle Sam will not be able to sustain this approach for long."