Chapter 163: Rendezvous on the Moon

On the Moon, at Chang'e City, more than twenty lunar rovers were currently loaded with supplies and driving out of the city. Over twenty billionaires, each wearing a spacesuit, were steering their respective rovers forward via virtual reality interfaces.

"Haha, off we go! I'll lead the way in the front, and everyone line up in a dragon formation."

Bezos shouted excitedly on the public communication channel. There is no air on the Moon, so outside of Chang'e City, communication between individuals could only be achieved via radio.

Naturally, by this time, China had already established a global positioning system and a global communication system on the lunar surface. Not only could they chat with one another, but they could also connect to the Earth's network through virtual reality devices to interact with people back on Earth.

The lunar rover driven by Bezos had been specially modified. Its front was equipped with a bulldozer-like device capable of pushing away rocks blocking the path on the lunar surface; for larger boulders that could not be pushed aside, they simply had to choose a detour.

As Bezos drove his rover to lead the way, he did not forget to use his camera to take pictures of the convoy trailing behind him, then connected to his virtual reality interface to update his personal homepage, social media feeds, and so on.

"Heading out fully loaded with supplies! We still have a distance of 180 kilometers to reach our own base. Calculating based on our current speed, it will take about four more hours to arrive. China's lunar rover is just way too slow."

Bezos rattled off the photos, the planned route, and the estimated arrival time one by one, and finally could not help but complain a little. He had no idea that these lunar rovers had already gone through several generations of improvements; if it were the first-generation rover, the speed would have been even slower.

The size of each lunar rover was quite massive, roughly comparable to a large bulldozer. Not only could they carry heavy loads, but they were also equipped with two mechanical arms and a multitude of functions—mining, digging soil, drilling holes, cutting rocks, and so on could all be done without any problem. They were comprehensive engineering vehicles that integrated a wide variety of functions.

Of course, the most crucial function of the lunar rover was life support. Each rover had an independent life support system that could be activated in case of emergencies, and its power was supplied by magnetic field batteries, which provided an endurance of up to several hundred hours.

At the NASA headquarters in Uncle Sam's country on Earth, everyone was staring at the big screen. The screen was broadcasting footage captured by lunar satellites. In the airless environment of the Moon, satellites in space could capture everything on the lunar surface with extraordinary clarity.

A convoy consisting of more than twenty massive lunar rovers naturally could not escape the eyes of the satellites. The footage was exceptionally clear; on one side was the moving convoy, while on the other was a lunar map where a red dot was constantly moving and closing in on a green dot.

"The supplies they purchased this time are massive. If we had to transport them ourselves using rockets and spacecraft, we would need to launch dozens of times just to get such a huge volume of supplies up to the Moon. The financial cost would exceed 200 billion, and we would also save nearly two years in terms of time. Calculated this way, we actually got a huge bargain."

Lawrence looked at the screen, feeling quite emotional. He never could have imagined beforehand that operations could be conducted in such a manner.

"Yeah! We certainly got a bargain this time. But whenever we think about China's space technology, we just can't bring ourselves to feel happy. They possess aerospace planes, and their transportation costs are so low that their advantage in the space race is simply overwhelming."

James, standing nearby, nodded along and let out a sigh of helplessness.

"Is there really no way for us to acquire aerospace planes? If we keep relying on traditional rocket technology to launch spacecraft, we will find it very difficult to hold our ground in this fierce space race. The costs are simply too high!"

"Especially once the lunar base is completed and we have personnel stationed there long-term, we will need to transport supplies and personnel on a regular basis. Just the expenses for this aspect alone will be enough to drag us down."

Lawrence looked deeply worried. As a key official in charge at NASA, he naturally knew that building a base on the Moon was essentially burning money, with investments pouring in at the scale of billions upon billions. Even with Uncle Sam's deep pockets, such astronomical investments were unsustainable, especially now that Uncle Sam's economy was deteriorating day by day and the domestic situation at home was becoming increasingly grim.

The G20 summit is going to be convened very soon, and I believe there will be some changes then," James said softly. As a high-ranking official within Uncle Sam's government, he naturally knew some very important information.

On the other side of the ocean, at the China National Space Administration, once the astronomical sum of over 150 billion US dollars arrived in their accounts, the entire space department could not help breaking into cheers. Such a massive amount of funding was enough for China to accomplish a great deal.

Especially since the funds earned by the space department now belonged exclusively to their own department for use. Although government allocations were already quite substantial, they still found themselves stretched thin across various fronts. However, ever since lunar tourism had been initiated, funding in all areas had become relatively abundant.

This time, another massive injection of over 150 billion US dollars had arrived, leaving them with a surplus that would allow them to accelerate their space schedule and tackle projects they previously had to forgo due to tight budgets.

"Tell that kid Li Fu to get to work on producing aerospace planes for me right away. Don't think I don't know his production capacity—sell me a hundred Hercules aerospace planes first and talk later."

With a vast fortune in his hands, Tang Yunshan's first thought was to procure aerospace planes. The more aerospace planes they had, the greater China's might in space would become.

"With grain in hand, one speaks with much more confidence. We must procure aerospace planes, and the extraction of lunar resources must also be accelerated. Rare earth elements are good things, after all."

"Mhm, and the iron ore resources on the Moon as well. If we smelt iron ore on the Moon, we can use it to build Chang'e City here, or even utilize it in space to construct space factories."

"Uncle Sam has already occupied the Wells region. It looks like it's about time for us to build other lunar cities. No matter what, we should claim the prime locations first. Next year, a lot of countries will announce crewed lunar landing missions—the Polar Bear, the Bonsai Chicken, India, the European Union—none of them are willing to show weakness."

"Hmph! I'll just grab all the good spots first and leave you all stressing out."

Tang Yunshan, the head of China's space sector, was truly wealthy and bold at this moment, quietly scheming his little plans with great satisfaction.

...

In the Wells region on the Moon, at Uncle Sam's crewed lunar landing site—in other words, Uncle Sam's lunar base—three astronauts, Alan Glenn, John Shepard, and Gayne Collins, had already been on the Moon for a day and a night. Aside from their rest time, they had spent the vast majority of their time constructing the lunar base.

At this point, a lunar base—not particularly large in scale, but fully equipped with all necessary functions—was already beginning to take shape. They only needed to continue working for about another day to practically finish building the base, making it ready for long-term human habitation.

"Hey, guys, it's break time. Let's take a short rest. I have some good news to share with you."

Alan Glenn paused his work and used the communicator to summon his two teammates. Just moments ago, he had received news from Earth that visitors were coming to check in on them. The reason they hadn't been told in advance was to let them work with peace of mind, but since Bezos and his convoy were about to arrive, there was no harm in telling them now.

"What good news could there possibly be?"

John Shepard asked with a helpless smile. On this desolate Moon, what kind of event could possibly count as good news?

"Haha, we're having steak for lunch later." Alan Glenn kept playing mysterious.

"Steak? Oh God, you're making my mouth water. But where on earth are we going to get steak on the Moon?"

Gayne Collins couldn't help but swallow hard. Eating compressed rations every single day for the past few days had left him feeling miserable, and the mere mention of steak instantly set his mouth watering.

"Haha, my lunar delivery! It's coming all the way from China's Chang'e City. Look, here they come!"

Alan Glenn looked toward the direction of Chang'e City. After a journey of several hours, the convoy led by Bezos had finally arrived. More than twenty lunar rovers formed a long dragon-like line, speeding across the barren lunar surface.

"Oh, good lord!"

The other two men saw it as well and gasped in amazement. To actually witness a convoy driving toward them on this utterly desolate Moon instantly lifted the heavy weight that had been pressing on their minds over the past few days.

Before long, Bezos and his team arrived at the trio's location in their rovers. As the three astronauts looked at the fleet of lunar rovers heavily laden with supplies, their eyes widened in astonishment, especially since they had already received the relevant detailed briefings.

"Hey, guys, how are you holding up?"

"Look at what we brought you! Steak—how about that, do you like the gift?"

Bezos and the others stepped down from their rovers and walked over to greet them.

"Wow, I love you guys! Thank you so much."

Alan Glenn went forward to welcome them. Since both parties were wearing thick spacesuits, they could only bump fists to express their emotions. This exact moment was captured precisely by a camera that had been set up in advance and transmitted back to Earth, instantly sending the entire nation of Uncle Sam into wild celebration.

"380,000 kilometers away on the Moon, the fist-bump between Alan Glenn and Jeff Bezos marks the opening of a brand new chapter in human history. We are now capable of visiting one another across distant celestial bodies, and very soon, the Moon will become just like Earth—a new home for humankind."

The latest issue of Time magazine very decisively chose this photograph for its cover, accompanied by passionate prose proclaiming the dawn of a brand-new era.