In the silent and boundless space, the Moon quietly revolves around the blue planet.
Not far from the Moon’s orbit, a meteor with a long, bright, sparse comet tail is hurtling towards the blue planet. If no other factors intervene, this meteor will collide with the blue planet in a few days, causing a mass extinction event similar to the one 65 million years ago.
However, it is humans, not dinosaurs, who now rule the blue planet. We possess the intelligence and technology that might allow us to resist and survive such an immense meteor strike.
At this moment, in the Moon’s orbit, three spacecraft, having completed their acceleration, are carrying humanity’s most powerful weapons and hope, heading towards the meteor, hoping to destroy it and prevent disaster and catastrophe.
"Houston, this is the Endeavour, we are approaching the meteor and request permission to begin the rescue plan." The captain of the Endeavour shuttle was communicating with the blue planet.
The seven astronauts in the cabin were all extremely tense, yet carried a hint of excitement and an overwhelming sense of mission.
Because they bear the hope of all humanity, and if their mission succeeds, they will become the heroes who save the world.
Perhaps due to Hollywood’s numerous films about saving the blue planet, these astronauts all carry with them a bit of Federation-style heroism, thinking of themselves as the protagonists, destined to save the world.
This confidence gave the seven astronauts considerable assurance, and along with another seven astronauts aboard the Atlantis, these astronauts from the Federation maintained an active and optimistic attitude, convinced they could complete the mission successfully.
An optimistic attitude isn’t a bad thing. After all, if they fail, the blue planet would face an apocalyptic doomsday. The burden they carry is the life and death of trillions of souls and species on the blue planet.
In fact, the astronauts from the Federation team, Flame Country team, and Lucia team, tasked with this mission, all received psychological guidance from specialists to keep them in a positive and optimistic state.
Because the responsibility they bear is overwhelmingly heavy, the life and death of all humanity and the fate of the entire blue planet rest on their shoulders. If their psychological endurance is slightly lacking, they could easily succumb to emotional collapse.
Even though astronauts undergo rigorous selection, chosen for their excellent psychological qualities, and those executing this mission are the most experienced and capable, no one dares to gamble on whether these astronauts can withstand such intense psychological pressure.
Should any astronaut on the shuttle succumb to pressure and suffer an emotional breakdown, it might ruin humanity’s only chance for self-rescue.
Therefore, the United Nations action group specifically encouraged these astronauts to maintain a relatively optimistic mindset. This not only helps stabilize their emotions but also ensures they have a better condition to enhance the mission’s success rate.
When the fate of six billion humans on the globe hinges on this mission, any means that might boost the mission’s success rate will be attempted by the action group, as long as it’s genuinely effective.
However, despite the United Nations action group mobilizing all resources globally and doing everything possible to safeguard and support this rescue mission to maximize the success rate, everyone is aware that this mission is essentially a gamble, wagering humanity’s fate on a near-fleeting chance.
Yet, even if it’s a gamble, humanity still holds a hope of winning, which lies in the astronauts from three countries completing their task to eliminate this meteor collision threat.
Thus, under the watchful eyes of six billion people worldwide, the Endeavour and Atlantis shuttles, after receiving approval from NASA, flew towards the meteor, while the spacecraft piloted by astronauts from Flame Country remained behind, needing to wait for the Federation to complete their task first before starting theirs.
On the blue planet, Chen Xin swiped through his phone, discussing the rescue mission with his group friends, while watching the televised live feed of the Federation’s two shuttles approaching the meteor, gripping his hands tightly in anxiety for them.
Landing on the meteor’s surface is not as simple as it seems. Even if the Federation uses shuttles capable of taking off and landing like ordinary planes, landing on the meteor’s surface is immensely challenging.
First, the shuttles don’t head directly towards the meteor, as doing so would make landing difficult due to the high relative speed between them, possibly leading to a crash.
Therefore, the two shuttles must match the meteor’s trajectory, maintaining adequate velocity to keep a relatively steady state with the meteor for a safe landing on its surface.
Because they had calculated the orbital intersections beforehand, the Endeavour and Atlantis shuttles approached the meteor in synchronous flight, after utilizing the Moon’s gravity for acceleration, to land on a relatively smoother section of the meteor’s surface.
However, the meteor had formed a comet tail due to its gradual approach to the Sun.
This is a trail formed by solar wind acting on the meteor’s surface material in space, creating a beautiful light band visible from the blue planet.
But if one wants to traverse it, it would be akin to driving through a sandstorm or a hailstorm for the shuttle and astronauts, leaving life or death to chance.
If luck is on their side, it might be just a strong sandstorm, making landing difficult but not fatal.
But if unlucky, it’s a hailstorm—one capable of smashing through car windows and denting the roof—the kind of hail big enough to destroy the shuttle and kill everyone aboard.
At this moment, the astronauts aboard the Endeavour and Atlantis are wagering their lives, gambling for a chance to land on the meteor’s surface.
"Houston! We’ve encountered difficulty, the area surrounding the meteor is full of debris flows blocking our path, and we need assistance!" The voice of a Federation astronaut on television turned Chen Xin’s worries into reality.
As it was a live broadcast seen by six billion people globally, there was no cutting to a commercial or returning to the studio. This cry for help from the Federation astronaut instantly stirred a global sensation.
In the small group established by Chen Xin and his friends, many had already started lamenting the impending failure of the rescue mission, convinced they’d spend their lives in a shelter.