Paul Gillebaard: Moon Hoax

In the simulators, Tang had solved hundreds of problems that could have gone wrong by this point. He was confident they would soon be landing safely. As planned, the computer signaled for the separation of the #4 engine stage. The engine had done its job, and was now just a lead weight in their way. He clicked the switch to separate the Lander from the engine, hearing a muffled sequence of quick soft blasts as the explosive bolts blew. The separation from the spacecraft started a five-minute timer set to fire thrusters, propelling the engine toward the moon and insuring it did not come around from the back side. An altitude sensor would set off a set of explosives designed to destroy the engine before impact, making determination of the debris content difficult. He took a few moments to watch the engine solemnly float away.

Tang was enjoying this calm and serene moment when unexpectedly the spacecraft lurched forward and, to his shock, the steady horizon disappeared.

Wen yelled, “ TA-MA-DE. ”

A screeching alarm started blasting in the cabin as Tang tried to focus on the control panel. The sound was from the master alarm and his heart began to race as the spacecraft began tumbling in space. Both he and Wen struggled to grab the hand holds as they were being jostled about, like a couple of cats in a washing machine. The cabin began flickering with all kinds of colored lights, momentarily blinding the commander as he tried to figure out what was happening. Fighting to hold on, he noticed the altitude rate lights were lit, indicating Jian was falling at a dangerous speed toward the surface.

What once was a smooth flight now turned into a carnival ride gone bad. The computers were confused and fighting each other. Tang struggled to read the console as the spacecraft violently cart wheeled along. He was surprised to see the control gauges completely out of sync. Unfortunately, he did not have the luxury of getting advice or direction from Beijing, but instead had to figure this problem out on his own and he needed to do it fast. Letting go of one of the hand holds, Tang frantically used his free hand to try to override the computer to get the gyroscopes synced up. Tang battled to push the right buttons while the craft tried to manhandle him. Come on Tang, get control, you can do this! He struggled with the computer and was having no luck; the spacecraft was winning the battle. Tang figured it was only a matter of seconds before their spin would be unmanageable, forcing him to destroy the craft before crashing into the moon. He had no choice but to switch to manual control, firing the #5 block landing engine and giving him command of the spacecraft much earlier than scheduled. He fought to steady himself as he flipped the switch. As the engine ignited, both men were suddenly thrust downward due to its powerful force, their legs acting as shock absorbers, preventing them from hitting the instrument panel. Tang held on and took charge of the craft as it flew like an out of control bottle rocket.

Tang had many years of experience as a fighter pilot and had been put in quite a few extreme situations, but this was the most intense he had ever been in. He was sweating heavily as he now had both gloved hands on the stick, working it delicately, moving slightly one way, then another. Each movement seemed to give him a little more influence, first stopping the forward pitch, and then working to stop the sideways yaw, while he continued to monitor the instruments.

Wen’s bobbing head finally slowed enough to allow him to read the gauges. He nervously yelled out over the alarms that they were approaching the 500 meter mark. Tang was so immersed in the situation, he didn’t consciously hear Wen. He was focused on gaining control of the ship and ignored the sweat pooling in every crevice, including around his eyes. As his vision began to blur, he fiercely shook his head, dislodging the sweat. He could feel he was getting the ship under control as their rotation started to slow, and to both men’s delight, eventually stopped. A small sigh of relief came over Tang as he had Jian back on line and under control, now flying her manually. He signaled for Wen to switch off the alarms.

With his ears still ringing, Tang knew he could not relax. They were now too close to the moon to put the ship back into computer mode. He had no choice but to land her manually. Though he had practiced this scenario many times in the simulator, he was still concerned. He heard the voice of his commanding officer seeping from the back of his mind. “Land on the moon in the allotted time or destroy the spacecraft—NO EXCEPTIONS!” He knew he could not crash land the craft; doing so would leave evidence on the moon, indicating China had in fact attempted to land. He had a major challenge in front of him.

Wen tensely counted down the altitude at 100 meters with sixty-five seconds remaining. Tang had sixty-five seconds to land or destroy the spacecraft. He looked out the window at the grayish-colored moon rushing quickly by. Regrettably, with the urgency of the moment and his full concentration on landing, he could not take in the incredible view unfolding in front of him, not even for a second. Instead, he focused on finding landmarks that were to be at their intended landing site. Frustrated by not being able to spot any, he concluded their ship must have gone off course due to the problem they encountered separating from engine #4. He moved his head closer to the window to get a better look, surveying the landscape below in hopes of finding a safe spot. He was having no luck. In every direction were large craters and jagged rocks. He needed to find a safe place to touch down, and quickly.

As Tang moved the spacecraft closer to the surface, he was shocked to see some of the rocks were actually boulders, the size of two story houses much larger than any obstacle he had practice flying around in the simulator. In the distance were hills, but they were too steep to land on. He continued to sweat nervously as he navigated the Jian up and over the obstacles, aggressively scanning for a safe area. Wen nervously said fifty meters with thirty seconds remaining. Tang’s grip tightened on the hand controller. His arms shook. C’mon Tang, relax, relax. They didn’t have the option of flying back up to rendezvous with the Lunar Module since Yi was now way ahead of them in its orbit. By the time the Jian could catch up with Yi , the two ships would be on the front side of the moon, discovered by the world when they came around separately. Tang had no choice. He needed to land now, or blow up Jian , killing both taikonauts.

Tang felt like he was in a crowded parking lot looking for an empty parking space. He was becoming alarmed with the little time left and was beginning to feel he wasn’t going to be able to land in time. He dejectedly dropped his left hand down to lift open the cover that guarded the destruction button, in place to prevent either man from accidentally pushing it. From the corner of his eye, Wen watched Tang flip open the cover. Both men looked at each other for a split second with disappointment in their eyes, knowing what was about to happen and accepting their fate. Tang returned to his search out the window, his finger hovering over the button. Only a small amount of pressure was needed to push it, so he kept his finger off until he was sure it was time. Discouraged he wasn’t finding a landing site, he acknowledged their doom and slowly started to lower his finger onto the button.

Suddenly, as if out of nowhere, he spotted a small clearing over a large boulder on his left, as if miraculously put there. The leveled area was the most beautiful patch of land he had ever seen. He happily slammed shut the cover and gripped the control stick with a firm hand. Wen, seeing Tang raise his hand, exhaled a big sigh of relief. Now with excitement in his voice, Wen continued to read off the altitude, no longer required to gage the time since Tang had found a place to land. It was going to be a tight fit, but no matter what, Tang was going to make it work.