Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 360 This is a good thing!

"This is a good thing."

Robert's reaction to this was just as Jonathan had guessed: the other party had long lost his ideals and beliefs, let alone loyalty to the Union, and all he could think about was how to make money.

Regarding China's lunar landing and the restart of the lunar race, Jonathan's idea is that his past learning can finally be put to use, and he wants to do his part for the Federation. He hopes that this time the Federation can achieve final victory, just like in the last space race with the Soviet Union.

To achieve this goal, as one of the Smith Commissioners, and even having the surname Smith himself, he was willing to take less, or even nothing at all, as long as they could win in the end.

Robert Jr., on the other hand, was completely different. He didn't care whether the Federation won or not; as long as he made his money, he would win even if the Federation lost.

"This means we have another legitimate reason to ask NASA for additional funding."

"As for the fact that the Degellach crater has been occupied by the Chinese, that's something the bigwigs in the White House should worry about, not something we should worry about," Robert added.

Robert Jr. smiled, but in his heart he was calculating whether it would be better to quote 80 million or 100 million, or even be more ruthless and quote 300 million.

Anyway, they are from the IAA, and it's not a bidding process, so there's no need for public announcements.

Even members of Congress in Washington don't have the time or energy to read audit reports that are hundreds of pages long and densely packed in English.

Ultimately, whether there are any problems or not depends on the conclusion of the accounting firm's audit report in just a sentence or two.
This is why Musk's introduction of AI to audit the federal budget has been met with extreme resentment from Washington employees; everyone just wants to get by, so why bother with AI?

"Jonathan, here's the thing. This time, our report needs to eliminate the potential risks of China's lunar base expansion as much as possible. We need to find a lunar south pole crater that is far enough away from China as our landing site."

Of course, this is a huge undertaking, involving the collection of lunar geography data, the thorough investigation of the lunar south pole, and accurate predictions of China's future trends. It is a very difficult task.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to ask NASA for another $2 million, would it?
This quote seems reasonable, in fact, I think it's a bit low. I'll go see Chief Melroy tonight and ask her if she has any better suggestions.

In short, you can start doing it now, and you will receive a generous reward.

(A correction to Chapter 277: Because of Lin Ran, the NASA administrator in this timeline is Administrator Melroy, not Nelson from the original timeline.)
Jonathan nodded silently, saying nothing more. In his heart, he seemed to hear a crisp snap from the distant depths of space.

A huge iceberg was floating on the ocean. A hoe struck the iceberg, and a piece of ice shattered and slowly fell into the sea.

One trillion dollars is an astronomical figure, a huge iceberg, but this one chipped away 280 million dollars, or even more, which is 0.028%, a tiny number.

But Jonathan knew he was just a tiny, insignificant figure in the whole chain, yet he could see so much of the budget being wasted like this.

He was confident that if he were to give this consulting task to any university, whether it was MIT or Stanford, it would cost a maximum of ten million US dollars, and they would be able to do it until he was satisfied.

If it were done by China's aerospace industry, it wouldn't even cost ten million US dollars; the unit can be converted from US dollars to RMB.

If this continues, how long will it take to spend one trillion dollars?

America and China are far behind in terms of efficiency. Even if artificial intelligence can evolve to AGI, can AGI really make up for the efficiency gap?

Jonathan didn't know the answer to this question, and he didn't even dare to think about it.

He left Robert Jr.'s office with a heavy heart, unsure of what the future held for the empire.

The reason America only learned about China's exploration of the Degellach crater in August was because Apollo Technology did not publicize this exploration through live streaming.

Instead, after the astronauts returned to Earth, Bilibili and Tencent Video edited the video footage and released a documentary titled "Lunar Dawn: Apollo Technology's Journey to Antarctica".

Just like the Apollo moon landings of the past, as moon landings have become more routine, fewer and fewer people are interested in the event itself, with only space enthusiasts still watching the live streams.

If you go to the moon every month, everyone's novelty will have worn off long ago.

Unless you have an accident like Apollo 13, where an oxygen tank blows up during launch and an emergency rescue is needed.

This will attract global attention.

You always go smoothly and return smoothly, but the people going to the moon are always the same old faces; the novelty has long worn off.

Aside from public discussion about why all the astronauts who went to the moon were male and why there were no female astronauts, there's a lot of debate.

This issue, raised by the BBC, briefly gained traction on the Simplified Chinese internet before disappearing after being heavily censored by Weibo.

So this time, the official documentary team from Bilibili thought that since they had filmed a lot of footage back then, they could film this moon landing from Qian Fei's perspective.

From her first training, from a commercial airline captain to being selected for the Apollo Science astronaut program, then standing out to become one of the first astronauts to land on the moon, then experiencing an accident and losing her chance due to illness, she has now returned to Antarctica.

They felt that this made for a very engaging story.

The marketing executives at Apollo Technologies also thought it was a great idea and approved it.

The documentary is called "A One-Man Journey".

The film opens with somber background music, and the camera begins from the perspective of an airplane in the Earth's stratosphere, passing through the troposphere and finally landing on Earth.

"My name is Qian Fei, and I am a civil aviation captain."

The entire documentary is a huge production, requiring a lot of effort, and many shots clearly require a large budget to film.

There are a total of 6 episodes, with the moon landing taking place in the very last episode.

Episode 6 echoes the beginning of Episode 1. Last time, it was from the Earth's troposphere to the landing, and this time it is from the troposphere through the dark space and finally lands on the silvery-gray south pole of the moon.

"In Apollo Technology's fifth lunar mission, I finally arrived at the moon that I had always longed for. Although I lost the title of the first Chinese to land on the moon, I still did it in the end. The virus did not defeat me; it only delayed my arrival."

The professor once told us privately that as long as you add enough modifiers, anyone can become number one.

Now I am the first person from our village to set foot on the moon, and I am also the first.

Often, fate has its own plan, and being late isn't necessarily a bad thing.

This time, my teammates and I will be exploring the Degellach crater together.

“In the past, my teammates have fully explored Shackleton Crater, a permanently shadowed giant bowl with a diameter of 21 kilometers and a depth of 4.2 kilometers. We want to turn it into a lunar outpost.”

Following the successful landing and initial exploration of the previous four missions, this time, we are not just explorers, we are builders.

We need to lay the foundation for a communication network and head towards the nearby Degerlach crater.” The entire documentary fully captured the appearance of the Degerlach crater, and Jonathan lamented after watching it.

Such flat land, such perfect terrain, and now you're telling me it's been occupied by the Chinese again.

Tolerable or unbearable!
The White House's response was similar.

White House Press Secretary Carlyle Jean-Pierre, a Black woman with short, curly brown hair, addressed a large group of reporters in the White House press briefing room:
"Hello, fellow journalists."

Thank you all for attending today's press conference.

Before we begin, I would like to briefly respond to recent international developments regarding lunar activities.

As is widely known, after China successfully landed on the lunar south pole in recent years, it quickly launched a base construction project.

This is a significant scientific and technological achievement, and we acknowledge the benefits of space exploration to all of humanity.

However, the White House is deeply concerned about any actions that could lead to the disorderly expansion of outer space.

We firmly believe that space should be the common heritage of all mankind, not the territory of any single country.

The 1967 Outer Space Treaty explicitly states that outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, should be used only for peaceful purposes and prohibits any state from claiming sovereignty through occupation or other means.

We call on all major spacefaring nations, including China, to strictly abide by these international norms, ensure that all activities are transparent and sustainable, and avoid disrupting the balance of the lunar environment.

The White House has been committed to promoting international cooperation in the field of space.

We collaborate with multiple partner countries through the Artemis Accords to promote responsible lunar exploration.

This includes sharing data, coordinating resource utilization, and preventing potential conflicts.

If certain activities are perceived as unilateral expansion or inconsistent with the multilateral framework, we will coordinate closely with allies and international organizations to maintain the stability of global space governance.

We encourage China to join existing international dialogue mechanisms, such as the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, to ensure that the construction of a lunar base does not infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of other countries.

America will continue to invest in its own space projects, including the Artemis program and the White House’s latest trillion-dollar lunar construction project, to ensure America and its allies’ leadership in the space arena.

We welcome competition, but it must be fair and rule-based, not a disorderly expansion.

Now, let's begin the Q&A session.

The first question came from a CNN reporter: "Madam spokesperson, you just mentioned 'disorderly expansion.' Does this mean the White House believes that China's lunar base project violates international law?"

Karin responded, “Thank you for your question. We currently have no evidence of a violation of international law, but we remain vigilant against any activities that could lead to unilateral control or militarization of lunar resources.”

This is not an accusation against any particular country, but a reminder to the entire space community: we must work together to avoid extending geopolitical tensions on Earth into space.

The President has instructed his national security team to closely monitor developments and is prepared to communicate with Beijing through diplomatic channels to seek a constructive solution.

A Reuters reporter continued, "If China continues its expansion, what specific measures will the White House take?"

Karin replied: "We will prioritize diplomatic and multilateral approaches, including strengthening coordination with international partners."

If necessary, we will push for discussions on the relevant issues at the UN Security Council and consider implementing stricter transparency requirements in the space domain.

At the same time, America's space capabilities will continue to develop to protect our national interests and global public interests. Thank you.

Apollo's moon landing wouldn't normally have attracted so much attention, but America's strong reaction immediately drew the attention of Chinese netizens.

"No, when Apollo Technology first announced the lunar superconducting artificial intelligence computing center, I saw a bunch of bloggers on the Simplified Chinese Internet saying it was useless, wishful thinking, and a pipe dream."

Those bloggers are trying to use their expertise to argue that the plan is useless. Why didn't you convince the White House? Why didn't you convince NASA? The White House announced a trillion-dollar lunar development plan just two months after the lunar exploration was announced. And it's not just a plan, the money is already in place.

Secondly, a group of bloggers said that developing the moon was not worthwhile after the lunar base plan began, while the Americans were aiming directly for Mars. So why did the Americans suddenly jump out?
In the future, before expressing any insightful opinions, could you please consult with the White House first, and ask them not to make any reckless statements or implement any unauthorized development plans? Could you please stop trying to undermine them?

"The Americans are breathing again. I want to explain why. It's because China is not content with just occupying Shackleton Crater. This time, our exploration has reached Degellach Crater."

The Americans are in a real hurry, an unusually urgent one.

There are only nine suitable craters on the moon to serve as a base.

The total area of ​​the lunar south pole is approximately 28 square kilometers, while the plains area is approximately 8 square kilometers.

However, not all plains are suitable as a base.

The reason for emphasizing impact craters is that they must meet certain conditions: firstly, there must be a permanently shadowed area, as only a permanently shadowed area can contain water ice; secondly, there must be relatively flat terrain; and thirdly, there must be sufficient sunlight.

When the concept of low-temperature superconductivity was proposed, a permanent shadow region became a prerequisite, because only a permanent shadow region could guarantee a constant low temperature.

Of these nine meteorite craters, China already has two, leaving seven.

The Americans haven't even landed on the moon yet. If you were in their shoes, you'd be anxious too. What if China takes over all of them? They'd have nowhere to go.

Of course, there are also places like the lunar north pole, the Mare Tranquil in the equatorial region, and lava tubes, but these places are not quite as impressive as the lunar south pole.

Compared to the lunar north and south poles, there are not as many permanently shadowed areas and the amount of water ice is less.

The equatorial region has no water ice and no shaded areas, so it is directly exposed to radiation without any natural shelter, resulting in extreme temperature fluctuations.

As for lava pipes, that's even more impossible. The terrain there is extremely complex, and you would have to send a tunnel boring machine up there before development could begin.

That's why they're in such a hurry, to the point that they're holding a press conference and trying to exert pressure through the United Nations.

If there were any other options, they wouldn't have reacted this way.

The White House is now extremely anxious.

The White House was indeed in a panic. Scharvin summoned them a second time and asked a question that would give Jonathan a stroke:
Is it possible for us to drive directly from the landing site to the lunar south pole?

(End of this chapter)