Chapter 1140 - Shipyard Completion!
Chapter 1140 Shipyard Completion!
The shipyard would accommodate 10,000 workers, 20,000 construction robots, and thousands of small shuttles. With the support of giant robotic arms on both sides of the shipyard, they would produce ships with a size of more than 500,000 tons.
The completion of the shipyard marked the starting point for Earth’s first million-ton battleship.
The groundbreaking ceremony of the first battleship of the Earth Fleet would be held simultaneously with the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the shipyard.
At this moment, in the middle section of the shipyard, the invited members of the Earth Defense Alliance states formed into a semi-arc. In the middle of the crowd, an old man in a fancy suit stood in front of a giant steel plate.
“…may God bless us with His glory and give us a victory…”
The bishop holding the cross, in a sad, sorrowful voice with his poetic tone, mourned unknown verses. He made a cross with his finger on the cold steel.
This piece of steel that was “blessed” would be loaded with the ship that is about to begin construction.
When the blessing ended, there was applause.
The steel plate was then carried away. Another old man in a robe came forward holding a cross with three horizontal crossbeams and repeated the previous ceremony…
Religious people were invited to participate in the shipyard ribbon cutting and to give their blessings to the battleship of the Earth Fleet, mainly to meet the requirements of certain countries. Frankberg first proposed the idea in the name of its people and asked the Catholic pastor to bless the battleship.
Russia was a bit unhappy when they heard the proposal. Why do Catholics get to bless the Earth Fleet and not the Eastern Orthodox Church! Without the Eastern Orthodox Church, how would history be written? The Earth Fleet defeated the powerful extraterrestrial civilization under the blessing of God from the West?
This will become gloating material for the next hundred years!
Hua respected their opinions and just expressed their concern to avoid extravagance…
When Jiang Chen saw the conflicting opinions between the two major member states, he quickly mediated, saying that with so many steel plates on the battleship, there was no point fighting over a single one! Since everyone expressed their desire, why don’t we do it together!
Fortunately, with the secularization of the world, all the religions agreed to send their blessings together.
The Earth Defense Alliance Committee then voted to pass a regulation that, as long as the member states apply, all member states were permitted to send blessings with the religion of their choice on the first battleship. As for how history would be written, it would be based on their preference.
Precisely because of this, the religious ceremony took place as part of the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Jiang Chen didn’t mind the presence of the religious leaders that sent their blessings as long as they didn’t leave engravings that stated their visit at his shipyard. Xin advocates for atheism and allows for the freedom of religion. Jiang Chen himself is a complete atheist that is neither a sincere heart nor in awe of a spiritual figure.
Jiang Chen half-heartily applauded and thought in his mind.
God can’t save the Earth civilization, but I can. You should worship me rather than God…
The ribbon-cutting ceremony soon came to an end.
As the executive director of the Earth Defense Alliance, Jiang Chen stood in front of everyone, read the remarks from the executive and the goals of the Earth before concluding the entire ceremony.
In the middle of thunderous applause, Jiang Chen nodded to the camera with a smile, walked down the temporary stage, and let out a long sigh in his mind.
This is finally done!
…
“TS Seagull will enter the Moon orbit in five minutes. Please return to your seats as soon as possible…”
Jiang Chen opened his eyes, slightly turned his face, and his eyes met with a pair of bright eyes.
“You’re awake?”
Looking at Jiang Chen, who has just woken up, Xia Shiyu’s aloof state melted into a blooming smile. Xia Shiyu was already up half an hour ago. Because she had nothing to do, she stared at Jiang Chen out of boredom, and half an hour quickly passed.
With sleepy eyes, Jiang Chen yawned, sat up, and stretched, then he looked out the window.
“We’re already here?”
“The crew said there is still ten minutes…” Xia Shiyu looked at the Moon near the window, as she felt her fantasy came true. “This is my first time being so close to the Moon.”
“You’ll be even closer in a bit, and you will eventually stand on it,” Jiang Chen teased.
Because they were in first class, only the two of them sat in the compartment. However, the entire passenger compartment consisted of two thousand passengers. The normal cabin was still relatively tight.
Yesterday, after attending the party succeeding the ribbon-cutting ceremony, he and Xia Shiyu rushed onto the flight to the Moon.
Four seagull-class transport ships served Celestial Trade. One of which operated the route between Mars and Earth and another operated for the Space Defense Forces. Only two flights operated each day between Celestial City and Lunar City. If they missed it, they would have to wait another twelve hours.
After a total of ten hours, TS Seagull finally entered Moon’s orbit.
The entire Lunar City resembled a bright silver medal from this position, embedded in the center of a large crater. Although it was not the first time Jiang Chen saw the panoramic view of the city, it was his first time witnessing this spectacular scene with his own eyes.
If he sat in the regular cabin, he would definitely hear the marvel of passengers.
Of course, he would be marveled by the passengers as well.
Xia Shiyu’s eyes were filled with amazement as she gazed out the window.
As their line of sight gradually moved from the colony to space, she suddenly said.
“Why don’t we build a space elevator on the Moon?”
“Because the Moon has no synchronous orbit,” At the colony apporached closer and closer, Jiang Chen smiled, “But it’s a good idea to build an elevator that leads to the orbit. It’s only 200 kilometers, only one hundred and eighth of Earth’s synchronous orbit.”
The Moon’s gravity was only one-sixth of the Earth’s, and the “moon elevator” would require far less cable strength than the “space elevator”. Even the high-strength, high-heat-resistance composite fiber called “Zylong” could be used as a material for the “moon elevator”.
The company that designed Zylong had requested countless times for Jiang Chen to contract out the moon elevator project for Lunar City to them. However, Jiang Chen completely disregarded their request.
This is Future Heavy Industries’ job, not yours.
Xia Shiyu’s words reminded him of this as he became deep in thought. After he arrived in Lunar City, he should take a close look at the port cargo throughput and the floating population. If necessary, he would ask Kelvin to establish a project to build the moon elevator.
The gravity of the Moon itself was minimal compared to Earth and because the lack of atmosphere, even without a synchronous orbit, the spacecraft won’t have much trouble landing on the Moon’s surface. An aircraft with a capacity of fewer than 100,000 tons could directly land on the surface. A transport ship with a carrying capacity of more than 100,000 tons could directly drop its cargo.
That’s right, just drop its cargo.
After the rectangular cargo cabin separate from TS Seagull, two small propulsion jets would reduce the speed as the cargo lands. Four cabins dropped onto the surface; there was only one passenger cabin while the other three were cargo cabins.
The passenger cabin landed steadily on the airport strip. An enclosed escalator with a length of around ten meters and a width of two meters extended to a rectangular transfer station next to the airport. As the signal light illuminated, the passengers loaded onto the escalator and moved towards the transfer station.
From there, an underground tunnel directly connected the passengers to a light rail track that was destined for Lunar City two kilometers away.
It was many people’s first time visiting the Moon. When they were on the escalator, they peaked excitedly at their surroundings. They took out their phones, took photos and videos, and shouted at the craters. The tour guides of the tour groups held their flags calmly, reminding everyone to tie on the magnetic belts and follow the group.
The floor of Lunar City was made of alloy steel. When disembarking from the transport ship, everyone received a magnetic belt. For people yet to master the essence of moonwalking, the most sensible choice would be to remain on the ground.
When all the passengers disembarked, Jiang Chen took Xia Shiyu’s hands and took her to the transfer station.
As the owner of the city, he certainly wouldn’t squeeze onto the light rail. As soon as he sat on the Seagull, a lunar rover had stopped at the transfer station, waiting for his arrival
On this lunar rover the size of an armored vehicle, Jiang Chen saw the former Lunar Colony Chief, now the mayor of Lunar City, Tang Weijie, and several other senior executives of the city.
“Welcome to the Moon, President Jiang and CEO Xia…”
Tang Weijie respectfully bowed and politely greeted.