Chapter 39: The Moon''s Miracle and Russia''s Ambitions


    The Terra Heavy projectile that had beenunched from Earth entered the Moon’s gravitational field precisely after 100 hours.


    In the control center, which was only partially opened, research teams led by Han Woo-yeon and other space scientists gathered around, watching the screen eagerly.


    They breathed a sigh of relief with every message that appeared on the missionputer.


    “Pairing sessful!”


    “So, we’re going to establishmunication with the dark side of the Moon byunching a satellite.”


    “China used the same method. It’s simple, but it costs a lot of money.”


    Launching a satellite into the lunar orbit was practically a one-time use item that could only serve this mission.


    No one knew when they would have another chance to return to the Moon.


    The phrase “a billionaire’s hobby” crossed everyone’s minds, but they kept their mouths shut.


    What did it matter if it was a hobby or something else when they had seen such a miracle?


    They even hoped that Yu Ji-ha would be more passionate about sustaining it and investing more into it.


    But not to the point of bing like those American entrepreneurs who imed Mars.


    “Satellite orbit insertion sessful.”


    “Communication willmence for the next 30 minutes.”


    After a moment, a photo of the dark side of the Moon taken by the projectile showed up on the screen.


    “Wow…”


    “I never thought I would see something like this in my lifetime…”


    The awe and admirationsted until the projectile changed its position and started descending.


    Finally, the projectilended on the waters near Moscow.


    In the photos sent by the camera, the fine sand of the Moon was clearly visible, swirling in the air.


    Atst, the Korean projectile had touched down on the Moon.


    The scientists all raised their arms in unison, but they felt a sense of unease when they noticed how quiet the control center was.


    Those people are skilled and everything, but they’re too calm.


    That’s the problem.


    Just then, Yu Ji-ha, who had been standing with his arms crossed, stood up.


    “Can you rotate the camera? Yes, in that direction.”


    After a while, a photo taken from a different angle was disyed on therge screen.


    The scientists burst into excitement upon seeing the photo.


    Countless rocks were floating above the lunar surface.


    “What are those?”


    “It’s strange. Even if the Moon’s gravity is weak, they shouldn’t be floating like that…”


    “They have a peculiar bluish hue. Those are fascinating rocks.”


    Everyone tilted their heads as if they were looking for something and turned their eyes towards Yu Ji-ha.


    Whether unmanned or manned, there were certain procedures that had to be followed whennding on the Moon.


    One was nting gs from various countries, and the other was collecting samples.


    But those rocks were floating, making it hard to collect samples.


    If it were a mannednding module, a person could simply grab them, but it seemed that the robotic arm designed for sample collection would have limited range.


    “This is a big problem…”


    “Could it reallye to this? There has to be a way, right?”


    Everyone was speechless, only their feet were restless, but Yu Ji-ha gave an order.


    “Detach the rover and collect those samples.”


    Phew…


    A silent, long sigh filled the corridor.


    Now, the researchers looked at the screen with a lighter expression.


    The photos transmitted every minute showed the rover, separated from the projectile, roaming the surface and collecting samples.


    And then, the long-awaited performance of the Taegeukgi (Korean g).


    The rover used its drill to dig a hole and hoisted the Taegeukgi.


    “Finally…”


    When the photos showed up on YouTube, the people who had been watching cheered loudly.


    —Ju-mo-o-o-o-o!


    —Drunk on national pride, gasping while discovering it


    —King! Ji! Ha!


    —Wow! Can we call Yu Ji-ha ‘hyung’ from now on?


    —Look at those Japanese nationalists running away at the speed of light, lol.


    —What? Who cares if it cost 3.2 billion yen? What? Supeputer Fugaku calcted a 100% failure rate?


    —Hey hey, where is the g on the Moon right now?


    —USA, China, and Japan.


    —They say the ones by the USA are almost white and torn since they were old.


    —But those were all on the front side of the Moon. The Taegeukgi is on the back side.


    —But why did they go to the back side of the Moon?


    These few questions and doubts were soon drowned out by the scrollingments.


    After that, the rover worked hard to collect various samples, even whenmunication was cut off.


    It was time to leave the Moon.


    The Tera Heavy projectile fired its thrusters while still on the lunar surface, breaking away from the Moon’s gravity.


    Exactly 100 hourster, the projectile entered Earth’s atmosphere.


    The method of entry was also highly unconventional.


    Instead of following a long parabolic path like other return capsules, it adjusted its posture and descended vertically.


    Just like when it left Earth.


    The scientists who saw this chuckled bitterly.


    “If they enter like that, the amount of fuel required…”


    “It’s impossible with liquid fuel.”


    “And that ion thruster… truly a miraculous device.”


    “We’re living in 2026, but it seems like Yu Ji-ha is living in 2050 by himself.”


    “Will we be able to make something like that in 2050?”


    “That’s just wishful thinking.”


    Finally, the Tera Heavy projectilended near the Narrow Space Center.


    Everyone gazed in awe as the projectilended precisely on theunch pad.


    “Sessfulnding.”


    “With this, we conclude the lunar exploration mission.”


    “Thank you all for your hard work.”


    As the announcement ended, it was not the voice of a controller but that of Chairman Yu Ji-ha.


    With his announcement, apuse andughter broke out in the control center.


    “They are human after all, it seems.”


    “I’ve never seen him smile before, but now he’sughing.”


    The scientists stiffened up as Chairman Yu Ji-ha and his secretary walked into the corridor.


    However, he greeted them with a smile and handshakes, rather than a cold demeanor.


    “Thank you for your dedication in monitoring. Although we did seed, it was not perfect, was it? I hope you will continue to support us in the future.”


    How could they stay rigid in front of a chaebol chairman who had performed a miracle?


    “Oh, no. We are sorry.”


    Everyone bowed and shook hands, but one person even bent their waist almost 90 degrees.


    It was Dr. Lee Myung-han, who had been the most skeptical of Starfield.


    Chairman Yu Ji-ha even held his hand.


    “Doctor, your criticisms were the most frightening. Please be kind to us in the future.”


    His face turned into that of a boy who had fallen in love for the first time.


    In that moment, the control center was filled with only those who would be his loyal fanboys.


    Yu Ji-ha took the lead and said, “Let’s go see the projectile that has worked hard for ten days. I will answer detailed questions then.”


    Over a hundred scientists followed him closely.


    ..


    Several dayster, a package arrived at major research institutes around the world.


    It contained lunar soil samples sent by Starfield.


    Researchers at NASA’s Johnson Space Center cheered as they put the samples on disks.


    Of the countries that had recently visited the moon, only South Korea had shared samples, unlike China, which had no intention of sharing, and Japan, whose collection amount was too small to distribute to their own research institutes.


    In this situation, it was truly lucky that South Korea, a neer, had epted their request.


    However, these samples were not ordinary items.


    One researcher frowned as he read the documents that came with them.


    “It says they discovered unique properties. Is the cryogenicboratory avable right now?”


    “We’ll need some preparations, but I think we can make it work.”


    “Get it ready as soon as possible. We need to verify if these guys are just bragging.”


    Soon after, when the temperature in the cryogenicb reached minus 50 degrees Celsius, the disk floated.


    Literally, it was hovering in mid-air.


    The researchers knew exactly what this meant.


    “No way…”


    “This is a superconductor, right?”


    “Try the experiment again. Reset the temperature and lower it once more!”


    The researchers got busy. They repeated the experiment, but the disk with the samples showed the same phenomenon.


    Everyone copsed to the floor in disbelief.


    “There were superconductors on the moon…?”


    Once again, into space.


    “Superconductors are materials that have zero electrical resistance under certain conditions. They also have the property of canceling any maic field through the Meissner effect. Although it may seem that superconductors do not exist yet, they are actually used in various industries such as MRI machines. However, the cost is quite high because they need cooling with liquid nitrogen and other methods. The reason why railguns need huge cooling systems and consume enormous power is partly because of this. With the introduction of ck metal barrels, it has be possible to mount them on Zumwalt-ss ships, but for now, that’s the situation.”


    President dimir Putin interrupted the researcher who was exining and spoke up.


    “Let’s skip the boring details. I want to know one thing. What can we do with these superconductors from the moon?”


    The researcher with horn-rimmed sses hesitated before answering.


    “Well… First of all, I can mention nuclear fusion. As you know, Russia is participating in ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor. It uses the so-called Tokamak design for nuclear fusion, and to raise the core ion temperature to 100 million degrees, we need…”


    As the conversation continued, Energy Minister Kozlov stood up and gestured.


    “Respected President, with these superconductors, Russia will be able to provide affordable energy to the entire poption.”


    “Much better. How soon can this be done?”


    “There are some challenges, but with those superconductors, we can ovee them within 10 years.”


    “What do we need to do for that?”


    “First, we need to confirm if the material from the moon is a true superconductor. We don’t even know if it’s Type 1 or Type 2 yet.”


    “Let’s assume it’s the type that favors us and that we have enough quantities. Can we get it from the moon using our technology?”


    Kozlov sat down, and Deputy Prime Minister Borisov stood up.


    “Impossible is not the word I would use, but it would be pointless,” he said without hesitation.


    “Russia has spaceunch vehicles that canpete with those of the United States. Would it be hard to use them?”


    “It’s risky. To reach the moon, we would have to equip the A7 rocket with a probe and mining equipment, which is an unprecedented challenge.”


    President Putin leaned back, unhappy with those words.


    “So, a smallpany from South Korea took this reckless challenge and seeded.”


    “It’s almost like a miracle.”


    “Looking at the photo of the Moscow Sea released by Starfield, superconductors are scattered around. Can’t we just pick them up?”


    Deputy Prime Minister Borisov thought about giving a long exnation but decided to keep it brief.


    “Each attempt costs over 40 billion rubles (640 billion won). The failure rate is over 30%.”


    “…,”


    This doesn’t make sense at all.


    While Russia had a glorious history of space exploration, that was a story from decades ago.


    As of 2026, Russia’s space exploration capabilities were regarded as inferior even to a single Americanpany, SpaceX.


    Ultimately, it was a matter of money.


    Only recently did Russia start to earn some money from natural resources, but objectively speaking, Russia’s economic ranking was around the same level as South Korea, within the top 10.


    With about 20% of the defense budget allocated to maintaining nuclear power alone, there was no room to try new space exploration.


    “The lucky thing is that other countries are in a simr situation. Only Starfield in South Korea can realistically bring back the superconductors.”


    Well, that’s better.


    If it had been possible for the United States or China, Putin would have had trouble sleeping.


    He nodded heavily and looked at the Minister of Defense.


    “They say that Starfield has developed the rocket that makes this possible. Please exin briefly.”


    “Yes, Mr. President. It is a new type of engine that we have never seen before. It is remarkably lightweight, efficient, and can be used anywhere, as they advertise.”


    “Anywhere?”


    “Yes. They say that it can also be used in fighter jets and submarines.”


    If it can be used in such sensitive areas, there is no need to look further in the private sector. If this goes wrong, Starfield will have control over future wars.


    “We have seen amazing things, like going to the moon. How can we get those items?”


    The Prime Minister got the right to speak.


    “Mr. President, you will remember the letters we sent to him. Of course, those letters do not guarantee anything, but it is important that there is no bad feeling.”


    Russia had sent him over ten letters under the President’s name since the beginning of this year.


    There was nothing significant in them.


    At most, they mentioned ordering the new mining equipment and promising a state visit to Moscow as an official guest.


    Judging from the two replies received, it was clear that he had a good impression of Russia.


    It could be said that Russia had built a much better rtionship than China, which had beenpletely left out of the ck metal ecosystem, or Japan, which had recently faced humiliation.


    While it may not match the United States, which received railgun barrels, it ranked second.


    President Putin looked around the officials, twirling his finger.


    “Listen carefully. From this moment on, anyone who vites South Korea’s airspace without my permission must bring me T-time.”


    The faces of the people in the conference room tensed up with fear.


    The story of Russia’s president serving radioactive tea during his meetings was already well-known.


    As an autocrat, Putin hated being associated with such a strong image and used it to his advantage with the bureaucrats.


    “By any means necessary, we must obtain that new rocket and the superconductors. So, contact Starfield’s CEO carefully. Find out what we can offer and what they want. I will go to Korea.”


    It was not to meet with the President of South Korea, who was nearing the end of his term, but to meet with a representative from a privatepany.


    The pretext would be nicely wrapped up, but not many people believed it.


    After all, the United States had already sent the Secretary of State and other officials, and other countries were also preparing for visits.


    However, Russia had something that they couldn’t offer.