Chapter 924: Christmas Gifts

God knows how high-minded Alan Wilson really was when he turned down the deep friendship of his wife and sister-in-law to come to the Woomera launch site on Christmas Day.

Since World War II, the citizens of Britain were in a state of limbo, and all the glory of the past seemed to be far behind them. If this satellite could be launched successfully, it would be a huge boost to Britain, which was still searching for its place in the world.

At 1:00 midnight GMT, 10:00 a.m. Australian local time, the entire Woomera launch site, in the warm sunshine, the entire test site seems quiet but well organized.

On the launch pad, the Black Arrow rocket was ready, and among the three stages of the rocket, carrying an artificial satellite named Prospero, there was no one near the launch pad.

In the distant command room, scientists from the British Interplanetary Society and the head of the Woomera launch site were gathered together.

The entire command room was silent, against the backdrop of the failed US satellite launch, no one took the satellite launch as easy as drinking water, the countdown began, “Ten, nine, eight ……”

Only the cold countdown echoed in the ears of the crowd, reaching right into the middle of everyone’s heart, the Black Arrow rocket ignited successfully, and slowly lifted off in the eyes of the crowd, leaving the launch pad, looking very smooth.

Until the Black Arrow rocket disappeared into the sky, the entire command room remained silent, a smooth launch is just the beginning, not to mention the United States a week ago, the United Kingdom has also had an off-orbit launch.

The launch vehicle began to shift slowly in the intended direction according to the predefined procedure, and more than a hundred seconds later, at an altitude of about forty-five kilometers, the first stage rocket engine started to separate from the engine.

“Second stage rocket ignition successful.” Finally, a voice with a sense of relief eased the nervous people’s mood a little.

The second stage rocket then ignited and continued to accelerate, by which time the rocket had flown out of the dense atmosphere and could be programmed to jettison the satellite’s fairing. As the rocket reaches its intended speed and altitude, the third stage fires and the engine separates, thus ending the accelerated flight segment.

Once the second stage rocket continues to fly and begins the inertial flight segment until it is in a position tangent to the predetermined orbit. At that point the third stage will ignite for the final short flight and release the satellite on board, thus completing the satellite launch.

The United States, a week ago, and the United Kingdom, which launched once before, both had problems with the second stage rocket.

So after the second stage rocket ignited successfully, people’s hanging hearts were slightly relieved.

The short period of ten minutes was almost like a century in the eyes of those who experienced it.

The moment the third pole rocket released the Prospero satellite at an altitude of five hundred and sixty kilometers, the signal released was detected by Launch City, and in an instant, the command room, which had just been as calm as stagnant water, clamored like a volcano erupting.

“Send a telegram to London, informing that this Sputnik launch was successful, and I hope that the citizens of the United Kingdom, will be able to receive this Christmas gift.” Alan Wilson’s tense heart finally relaxed, just ten minutes of time, so that he will never forget.

Christmas Day, 1957, was destined to be an unforgettable day for the British. People woke up from sleep, began a day of busy, turn on the TV and radio, all the major TV stations are broadcasting the news of the British launch Prospero artificial satellite success, the same news also occupied the front page of the major newspapers.

The whole of Britain was in an uproar, and the news that Britain had launched the world’s second, er, the free world’s first artificial satellite became the focus of heated debate among people from all walks of life.

The ruling Adderley Cabinet, officially confirming the news as a milestone for British spaceflight, and the Labor Party Cabinet’s confirmation of the announcement sparked public opinion around the world.

No one would have thought that after the Soviet Union started its journey to conquer space, the first to respond was not the United States, but the United Kingdom, which was considered to have been a secondary role, and everyone, while being dismayed, couldn’t help but marvel at the fact that a thin camel is bigger than a horse.

Even in the United States on the other side of the ocean, the news of the successful launch of an artificial satellite by the United Kingdom has caused a huge repercussion.

The United States Government expressed its congratulations to the United Kingdom for its successful satellite launch. Whether it was willingly or not, of course, only the Americans themselves knew.

Harold Wilson, as the Cabinet Minister in charge of the space program, has also risen to the top and is at the center of public opinion with this news. Harold Wilson, of course, can not waste this opportunity for exposure, killer instinct broke out, from multiple perspectives and multiple levels of support for the British space program.

“My Great Britain is invincible ah ……” whistling Alan Wilson after celebrating with the launch site scientists, very satisfied to return to Perth, the whole person is in the middle of exuberance.

Historically, Britain didn’t successfully launch its first artificial satellite until 1971, and that’s because the P5 had already succeeded, only the former world hegemon Britain was missing, and Britain only invested for the sake of face.

Now, fourteen years earlier, after the Soviet Union successfully launched a satellite, this is not worth celebrating?

In public opinion people gave credit to the Airdrie Cabinet and even Harold Wilson, a Cabinet Minister. But Alan Wilson knew that it was entirely down to himself.

So was it too much to ask for a rocket ride with the Princess Royal on his return? Completely deservedly, Alan Wilson’s artificial satellite, too, managed to enter Margaret’s princess in deep space orbit.

Her Royal Highness, who was clinging to the man’s body, experienced the joy of the rocket ride, and the citizens of the British mainland had fun with the people.

“Your Highness, how does it feel to ride a rocket?” Alan Wilson, who was hugging Her Royal Highness tightly, inquired softly in Princess Margaret’s ear.

“This rocket of yours has a lot of thrust.” Princess Margaret responded with great satisfaction, her eyes full of fondness.

“Bigger is beautiful, more is better. Caliber is justice, range is truth.” Alan Wilson opened his mouth in a spirited manner, holding onto Her Highness’s arms without letting go, experiencing the aftermath of spaceflight.

“Bah, if I get pregnant you’re done for.” Princess Margaret blanked her brother-in-law with a somewhat irritated threat.

“The hit is all about faith.” Alan Wilson held Princess Margaret’s head pitifully, “Would you let your brother-in-law be finished? Brother-in-law has always been loyal to the British Empire.”

“Look at how smug you are.” Her Royal Highness, who had already been pua, could only whisper back at the Imperial Commissioner’s complacency.

The success of the satellite launch had galvanized the already cooling imperial ambitions of the British citizens, which was a good start. The significance of this role was still great, Alan Wilson felt.

Britain could prove that it could answer the Soviet challenge in space without relying on the United States. Then since it could do so in space, it could likewise do so in other fields.

The spiritual dimension of a country cannot collapse. The original historical Suez Canal War was the source of the collapse of the morale of British citizens, and the significance of the Suez Canal War was equivalent to the Sino-Japanese War of the late Qing Dynasty. The course of the war was different, but the result was similar.

After the Suez Canal War, Britain had almost stopped struggling and changed its previous attitude of cuddling with France to concentrate on being a follower of the United States.

This is similar to the significance of the Sino-Japanese War to the Qing Dynasty. In fact, the scale and blows of the two Opium Wars were nothing to the successive dynasties, and technically not even a war, but at best a nomadic assault on the Great Wall.

The Sino-Japanese War was the equivalent of breaching the Great Wall, and the problems encountered by the Qing Dynasty before were not at all on the same level.

On the next day, with newspapers from various countries delivered by his wife, Alan Wilson watched with interest the reports from various countries on the British satellite launch, and Her Royal Highness, who had been on the rocket yesterday, was also there.

“It’s been a long time since Britain has been in the spotlight of so many countries.” Pamela Mountbatten smiled lightly and congratulated her husband, she knew that the reason why Britain was able to be able to launch a satellite so quickly relied on the project of the Blue Light Missile, and the launch of the satellite relied on the Black Arrow Rocket, which was an improvement of the Blue Light Missile.

It was all something that Alan Wilson had always insisted on, and without his insistence, not even rockets existed, let alone launching satellites. Allen Wilson straightened his back, “If it was someone else who said that, I might have been modest, it was all under the leadership of the cabinet’s foresight, I’m just an executive. But since it’s my lover who says so, I won’t pretend to be innocent.”

“I don’t think it’s too much at all for the crown to give you a knighthood.” Pamela Mountbatten nodded frequently in agreement.

“I don’t care about that sort of thing.” Alan Wilson gushed at his wife, “What’s the point? It’s just a nice thing to say, Sir Wilson or whatever he’s called, it’s not important at all.”

“It still matters, especially a hereditary knighthood.” Pamela Mountbatten disagreed with her husband on this point, “Especially if you want to get your feet wet in Whitehall. One should just fight for it. I’ll make inquiries with Margaret and see if we can’t bar the knighthood thing.”

Pamela Mountbatten had made up her mind to help her husband get the knighthood issue settled, and sooner rather than later. It would be best to get it done in the last two years.

Compared with the congratulations of other nations, the joy of the United States was beyond words. It almost makes one wonder about the leadership of the United States, which has been launching emergency-style launches more and more frequently after the success of the British satellite launch.

At this moment, First Sea Lord Mountbatten, presented to the Cabinet a plan for differentiating and building attack nuclear submarines drinking strategic nuclear submarines, and sought to focus on the significance of the Blue Light missile program for strategic nuclear submarines.

Adderley’s cabinet quickly responded to the plans submitted by Mountbatten, recognizing the importance of the nuclear submarine field to the security of the United Kingdom, so that the Ministry of the Navy to prepare a more detailed assessment report.