Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 179 Can we really save him? (4K)
Lin Ran, weary from his journey, took a private plane from Redstone Military Airport in Huntsville to Andrews Air Force Base near Washington, D.C.

Because of the emergency, we finally didn't have to take the Sikorsky anymore and switched to Jetstar, which has a range of 2000 miles.

“Professor, according to preliminary information from the White House, the Russian Space Agency will begin its lunar landing program soon. The exact timing is still unclear, but we know that Yuri Gagarin will be in charge of the mission,” said Hugh Dryden, Lin Ran’s assistant at NASA, flipping through his notebook.

He was originally NASA's third-ranking official, responsible for coordinating communication between NASA and external agencies such as the White House and Congress, with some of his duties similar to those of a secretary.

Normally, they are responsible for administrative coordination and policy support.

In the past, he assisted James Webb with NASA's day-to-day management, including administrative tasks such as document preparation and meeting arrangements. Now he helps Lin Ran with the same tasks.

Even without Lin Ran, he would still have some technical and policy decision-making power.

However, because of Lin Ran's existence, his functions were firmly locked at the administrative level from the very beginning.

"Okay, I understand. It's much faster than we expected," Lin Ran pondered.

Lin Ran believed that in this timeline, the earliest the Soviet Union could land on the moon would be 1966, or even 1968.

As a result, the Soviets were able to land on the moon in 1964, and they even sent their ace cosmonaut, Yuri Gagarin.

Lin Ran sensed something was wrong. "Xiu, is there anything unusual on the Soviet side?"

Hugh Dryden didn't look at his notebook, but instead looked directly at his boss's remarkably youthful face and replied, "Yes."

"What?" Lin Ran asked.

Hugh Dryden said, "They're going to the moon, and we're rushing back to Washington to discuss our strategy."

Lin Ran waved his hand and said, "No, that's not what I meant. I meant, is there anything unusual about the Kremlin?"

Hugh Dryden flipped through his notebook, where he would jot down any important matters: "Professor, nothing."

Lin Ran knew that things had changed.

Because by this time, in early November, Nikita should have already been killed.

TASS and Pravda should have published a brief statement on October 15th announcing Comrade Nikita's "voluntary" retirement due to health reasons and age.

Hugh Dryden surprisingly said that nothing major had happened.

As an expert on the 60s, Lin Ran knew very well that Nikita's downfall was inevitable because too many people within the organization were dissatisfied with him.

He's somewhat similar to Kennedy, yet also somewhat different.

The problem is that the timing of Nikita's downfall was quite significant.

He was voluntarily retired in October 1964 because he went on vacation to the Black Sea.

His trip to the Black Sea gave Leonid and Kosygin an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

If Nikita were in Moscow, these people certainly wouldn't dare force him to retire.

Since none of this has happened yet, it can only mean one thing: Nikita did not go on vacation to the Black Sea.

At this point in time, what could possibly make Nikita give up his vacation and stay obediently in Moscow? Lin Ran thought it was probably only a manned lunar landing.

After sorting through all the complexities, Lin Ran realized that, consistent with the information received by the White House, the Soviet Union was indeed going to land on the moon.

Although seeing the news of Russia's successful soft landing last year had already made him anticipate that Russia's moon landing would be brought forward, the fact that Russia would actually land on the moon this year still caught him somewhat off guard.

That's a bit too fast.

"Professor, you've finally arrived!"

Inside the Oval Office of the White House, Lyndon Johnson stood up and shook hands with Lin Ran, looking at him with an expression of gratitude that he had finally arrived.

Lin Ran was a little speechless. "I came as soon as I got the news, so why are you blaming me for being late?"

“Professor, let Honig tell you what we know so far,” Lyndon Johnson said.

Honig, a science advisor during Kennedy's administration and head of a group in the Manhattan Project, twice climbed the tower to reassure Oppenheimer on the eve of the atomic bombing. He was retained as a science advisor after Lyndon Johnson took office.

Honig and Lin Ran nodded, their relationship being that of gentlemen, as light as water. "Professor, I'll get straight to the point."

Latest intelligence indicates that the Soviet Union plans to carry out a manned lunar landing mission in December of this year, with Yuri Gagarin as the mission leader.

According to NASA's calculated time window, the specific launch time should be in mid-December.

Thanks to its early advantage in the space field, the Soviet Union and Russia have made remarkable achievements in satellite launches and manned spaceflight.

Yuri Gagarin, as the first human in history to enter space, participated in the lunar mission, which not only enhanced the symbolic significance of the mission but also highlighted the technological strength and political determination of the Soviet Union.

Our joint assessment with the NASA team concluded that Russia possessed the basic technical capabilities to carry out a lunar mission, but faced numerous technical challenges, including rocket thrust, navigation accuracy, and life support systems.

The probability of success is difficult to assess precisely, but if successful, the Federation will face serious strategic and psychological disadvantages.

The professor invited you here because we need your expertise to help us assess the success rate of the Soviet moon landing and, if successful, how we should proceed.

After listening, Lin Ran said bluntly, "The probability of the Soviets succeeding is infinitely close to zero."

As soon as Lin Ran finished speaking, everyone present, especially Lyndon Johnson, had their eyes light up.

Is there any basis for the professor's statement?

He would be relieved if the Soviets failed.

"The reason they chose to land on the moon at this time was because they thought they would never return," Lin Ran added before Lyndon Johnson could speak.

Honig clearly understood Lin Ran's meaning, and he asked softly, "So, Professor, you mean? This is a one-way ticket with no return?"

Lin Ran nodded: "That's right, this is a one-way ticket with no return."

Silence fell over the room for a moment.

Lin Ran continued, "I suspect the Soviets made this choice because they didn't have enough resources."

They have already witnessed the power of computer technology at this Leipzig trade fair.

They have limited resources; both computers and spacecraft require enormous resources.

Therefore, they hope to decide the outcome of the space race once and for all, and reduce future resource investment in the space sector, concentrating more resources on the computer field.

The reason Yuri Gagarin was chosen to carry out this mission is because he is a hero, a hero of all mankind.

We cannot smear Yuri Gagarin by manipulating public opinion, even though he landed on the moon.

The Soviets would portray this moon landing as a heroic sacrifice, a great victory for human spaceflight, and a magnificent exploration, thus concluding the race to the moon.

Even if we successfully land on the moon again in the future, a thousand times, ten thousand times, and our astronauts go up and return successfully, history will only remember Yuri Gagarin for being the first to land on the moon, even though he sacrificed his life there.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, Lyndon Johnson slammed his fist on the table: "Damn Soviets, how could they treat a hero like this!"

Yuri Gagarin truly is a hero of all humanity. Even though he was a Soviet citizen during the Cold War, he still enjoyed extremely high prestige within the liberal camp. Three months after completing the Vostok 1 mission, his first manned space mission, Gagarin visited England, going to London and Manchester.

In Manchester in 1961, it was raining heavily and the streets were slippery, but thousands of people crowded the roadside, waving Soviet Russian flags and chanting "Gagalin!"

Gagarin was traveling in a convertible with a closed roof. Staff suggested he use an umbrella or close the roof to avoid the rain, but he smiled and declined, standing up straight and waving. Rain streamed down his hair and uniform, but his smile remained bright.

This scene was captured by a photographer and became one of the most iconic images of the Cold War era.

Gagarin conducted extensive speaking tours abroad.

Because Gagarin was so popular, Kennedy even banned him from visiting America.

Even in the White House, the power center of the liberal camp, if Lin Ran says Gagarin is a hero, no one will refute it or feel that there is anything inappropriate about it.

“Professor, what should we do?” Lyndon Johnson asked.

The Soviet Union's move was not clever, and it was easy to counter.

Lin Ran didn't speak. He didn't want to speak immediately. He just shook his head, indicating that he needed to think about it some more.

Lyndon Johnson turned his gaze to the other White House bureaucrats in the room.

McNamara said, "I wonder if we did any publicity beforehand."

It is said that the Soviet Union was willing to sacrifice Gagarin's life for victory in the space race without any certainty of success.

This was an act of utter disregard for the lives of heroes by Soviet Russia; they were willing to use any means necessary to achieve victory.

Lin Ran countered, "This plan has two problems."

The first question is, how can we prove that Soviet Russia was not confident?

I say that the chances of the Soviet Union successfully bringing Gagarin back to Earth are only 1%, but how can I prove it?

Will the outside world believe America's explanation?

We are rivals ourselves, and it's perfectly normal for rivals to smear each other.

People will only see the ending, which is that the Soviet Union landed on the moon, but we didn't.

Secondly, even if the outside world believes that Yuri Gagarin only needs to record a video before departure saying that he knows the trip is very risky, but that humanity's exploration of the unknown always comes at a price and someone always has to sacrifice, he said that he is willing to sacrifice himself for the future of humanity.

Wouldn't our propaganda just turn into clown propaganda all at once?
They've already taken a stand on the level of all humanity, while we're still stuck at the level of attacking the Soviet Union.

After Lin Ran finished refuting, McNamara repeatedly agreed: "The professor is right. I just wanted to give everyone some inspiration."

I'm really not good at handling these kinds of situations.

Everyone present fell into deep thought.

Because this situation is indeed difficult to handle.

“Let’s cooperate. We can propose cooperation,” Lin Ran said. “The Soviet strategy certainly cannot guarantee a smooth return to Earth. We were originally planning to carry out a soft landing on the moon this year.”

Our slogan was: "The Soviet Union sends people up, and America brings them back safely."

This is how they can reverse their disadvantage in public opinion.

The first moon landing was a joint effort between America and the Soviet Union.

After Lin Ran finished speaking, an eerie silence fell over the room.

Lin Ran continued, "Isn't this exactly what President Kennedy mentioned at the United Nations? We and the Soviet Union could definitely cooperate on the moon landing."

In the current situation, Soviet Russia has seized the initiative, and what we need to do is to turn the situation around.

We must at least not lose the moon race completely.

President Johnson, you don't want to lose the moon race to the Soviets, do you?

Lyndon Johnson frowned. "Of course, I certainly don't want to see that happen."

The problem is, cooperating with the Soviets to send them to the moon seems a bit much.

Lin Ran said, "The problem now is that no matter what we do, the Soviets are going to land on the moon."

Rather than doing nothing, helping the Soviets return to Earth would at least give us a moral high ground.

McNamara's plan can be used in advertising.

Without NASA, the Soviets would have had to send Gagarin up there, which would have been an act that disregarded the hero.

And it is precisely because of America that, out of respect for the hero, even if he was a Soviet citizen, we would try to rescue him and bring him back to Earth.

Perhaps some people think we lost the race to the moon.

It wasn't because America's technology was inferior to that of the Soviet Union and Russia, but because we couldn't bear to see our astronauts lose their lives.

We hope to send astronauts up there and bring them back to Earth safely.

We did not lose the race to the moon.

If we do nothing, we will find ourselves in an unprecedentedly passive situation.

Lin Ran got up and went to the center of the room. He handed the notebook he had prepared beforehand to Lyndon Johnson:
"We cooperated with the Soviet Union; we launched a spacecraft to the moon, and the Soviet Union launched a spacecraft to the moon."

Regardless of whether our spacecraft successfully soft-landed, the Soviet/Russian spacecraft only had two possibilities: success or failure.

If they fail, all will be well; the Soviet Union has failed, and they cannot gain the upper hand.

If successful, there are two possibilities: one is that our spacecraft brought the Soviets back, which would definitely be thanks to NASA.

If our spacecraft cannot bring the Soviets back, it further proves that the Soviet lunar landing plan was incomplete and flawed, and that even if we provided fuel, they would not be able to bring Gagarin back to Earth.

If we do nothing, the Soviet launch will only have two possibilities: success or failure.

Failure would be the same as the above, but if successful, regardless of whether Gagarin returns to Earth, we would be at a significant disadvantage in public opinion, facing a far more severe public opinion crisis in the space race than the Sputnik moment.

Damaged international reputation, eroded public confidence, and changing attitudes from allies—these are the most direct threats.

Lyndon Johnson was somewhat convinced.

The room wasn't just full of bureaucrats; there were also technical experts.

Although Honig is a PhD in chemistry, he is quite knowledgeable about spaceflight, America’s most important scientific mission in recent years.

He asked, "Professor, I have a question: can our technology really bring Gagarin back to life?"

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(End of this chapter)