In the quiet and eerie environs of space, the moon was quietly orbiting Earth.
Not far from the moon's orbit, a meteorite with a long, bright, and sparse comet tail was on course toward Earth. If no other factors were affecting it, the meteorite would hit Earth in a few days, causing the same mass extinction that Earth faced sixty-five million years ago.
It was just that humans dominated the Earth today instead of dinosaurs sixty-five million years ago. The wisdom and technology they possessed allowed them not only to confront but also achieve the possibility of surviving the meteorite impact.
At that time in the moon's orbit, the three aircraft that were flying toward the meteorite were carrying the strongest weapons mankind ever created, along with hopes of destroying the meteorite to prevent catastrophe.
"Houston, that is Endeavour. We are close to the meteorite. Request for approval to commence the rescue plan." On the Endeavour, the captain was communicating with Earth.
There were nervous expressions on all of the seven astronauts in the cabin, but there was also a little bit of excitement, along with a sense of duty.
That was because they carried the hopes of all mankind. If the operation was successful, they would also become heroes who saved the world.
Perhaps Hollywood had made too many movies about saving the Earth. Those astronauts felt more or less like they were the protagonists of an American science-fiction film and that they would definitely be able to save the world.
That boosted the confidence of the astronauts. Together with the other seven astronauts on Atlantis, those astronauts from the United States maintained an optimistic attitude that they would be able to complete the mission.
Optimism was not a bad thing. After all, if they had failed, what awaited Earth was a devastating catastrophe. They carried the burden of the lives of trillions of living creatures.
In fact, the astronauts of the United States, Vermillion, and Russia had personal psychologists assigned to counsel them after learning about their mission, which kept them in an optimistic mental-state.
That was because the burden on their shoulders was far too heavy. The lives of all of mankind and living creatures were dependent on them. If their resilience were slightly weaker, they were very likely to experience an emotional breakdown.
Although astronauts themselves were people with extraordinary mental health who were carefully selected after many levels of screening, not to mention only the most experienced with the best psych evaluation were selected for that mission, nobody dared to place their bets on them. That kind of mission that could directly affect mankind's fate was too much stress to bear.
In the instance where an astronaut failed to handle the emotional pressure and collapsed, it would ruin mankind's only opportunity to save themselves.
Therefore, the United Nations operation team deliberately kept those astronauts in a more optimistic attitude. Not only did it make them more emotionally stable, but also allowed them to be in a better mindset when performing the tasks, which could increase the success rate of the mission.
At a time where the fate of six billion humans was dependent on the mission, the operation team would try out any method that could increase its success rate, as long as it was effective.
It was just that although the UN's action team had mobilized all the resources in the world and did everything possible to support the rescue plan while hoping to increase the mission's success rate, everyone knew that it was still a gamble. A gamble for a slim chance to succeed at the cost of mankind's fate.
Despite it being a gamble, mankind still had hopes of winning. This would ring true if the astronauts of the three countries succeeded in their mission and eliminated the threat of the meteorite impacting Earth.
As a result, under the attention of six billion people around the world, the two spacecraft Endeavour and Atlantis, which had gotten approval from NASA flew toward the meteorite while the spacecraft piloted by Vermillion astronauts remained. They needed to wait for the United States to complete their task before they could begin their task.
At the same time on Earth, Chen Xin was using his mobile phone to discuss the rescue mission with his group of friends in the survival group chat while nervously watching the live broadcast of both United States' spacecraft approaching toward the meteorite which was captured by Vermillion's spacecraft's cameras.
Landing on the surface of a meteorite was not as simple. Even if the United States used a spacecraft that could take off and land like an ordinary airplane, it was still a very difficult feat.
First of all, the spacecraft was not launched directly toward the meteorite. Otherwise, the spacecraft would have difficulty landing due to the difference in speed between the two, and would even crash directly onto the meteorite.
Therefore, the two spacecraft had to be directed in the same direction as the meteorite, and with sufficient speed, maintain a relatively consistent velocity with the meteorite so that they could land on the surface.
The intersection point at the orbit was calculated in advance so that Endeavour and Atlantis could approach the meteorite at a synchronized speed after being accelerated by the moon's gravity. Then, they could land on a relatively flat surface of the meteorite.
However, the meteorite had formed a comet tail as it was gradually approaching the sun.
That was the trajectory formed in space by the material on the surface of the meteorite under the influence of the solar wind. If looked at from earth, it would be a very beautiful flash of light.
If they wanted to go through it, it would be equivalent to driving in a sandstorm or hailstorm for the astronauts. Life or death would depend on luck.
If they were lucky, it may just be a slightly windier sandstorm. It would be difficult to land but it would not be fatal.
If they were unlucky, there might be hailstones that could smash a car's window and dent the roof of a car. It was enough to destroy the spacecraft.
At that moment, the astronauts on Endeavour and Atlantis were gambling with their lives, betting on a chance to land on the meteorite.
"Houston! We are in trouble. The meteorites are surrounded by pyroclastic flows. They are blocking our way. We need help!" The voice of the American astronaut on TV made Chen Xin's worries come true.
As it was a simultaneous live broadcast to six billion people around the world, there was no such thing as inserting an advertisement or cutting the view back to the studio. The astronaut's call for help caused an instant commotion around the world.
In the small group established by Chen Xin and his friends, many people had already begun to cry that the rescue operation would fail. They felt that they would live in a bunker for the rest of their lives.