Technology invades the modern world

Chapter 379 The Beginning of Change

"In the final segment of the press conference, shall we give Mr. Lin Ran a warm round of applause and invite him to the stage?" Yu Dazui said, "I will present our Huawei family of apps as a gift to our President Lin."

The audience burst into warm applause.

If Xiaomi can send an SU7 to Lin Ran, how could Huawei not make a gesture in return?

In a press conference, a setting with strong promotional implications, gift-giving itself demonstrates the close cooperation between the two parties, sending a signal to the outside world that our cooperation is going well, and dispelling recent rumors that Apollo Technology is going to engage in deep cooperation with Xiaomi and is turning its back on Huawei by choosing Xiaomi.

Lin Ran got up and walked towards the stage. He was thinking to himself that whether he would drive a Xiaomi SU7 or a Huawei more often would probably become the focus of public discussion.

It has even been regarded as a trendsetter by KOLs in the automotive industry, who use it as an opportunity to promote the brands they support.

Thinking of this, Lin Ran couldn't help but shake his head.

Yu Dazui said, "This is our Lunar Collector's Edition Huawei phone and the latest Wenjie M9, and of course, the car keys. The car has already been delivered to Apollo Technology's underground garage."

Many thanks to President Lin. With a leader like President Lin, I have even more confidence in the future of Chinese science and technology.

I believe that our cooperation will bring even more surprises in the future, and Huawei phones next year might even catch up with 3nm equivalent technology.

After Yu Dazui finished speaking, the audience erupted in cheers and screams once again.

"Finally, let President Lin say a few words to us." Yu Dazui handed the microphone to Lin Ran.

After taking the microphone, Lin Ran said, "What I want to say is that we are a whole. I am a young person, and I have the same hobbies as everyone else. I also watch the social media that everyone else watches."

I also browse platforms like Bilibili, Douyin, Zhihu, and Weibo.

I often see this argument on these platforms: What does technological progress have to do with me? My monthly salary is 3,000 yuan; will technological progress make my salary higher?
What I want to say is, of course it will.

It is thanks to technological advancements that we have risen in the automotive industry, with car factories being built and put into operation in third- and fourth-tier cities, allowing people to find jobs with higher salaries than the local average wage right at their doorstep.

The rise of our mobile phone industry has driven the development of the entire upstream and downstream industrial chain. In addition to solving employment problems, the reason why our new energy vehicle intelligent cockpits and vehicle systems are more advanced than those of joint venture brands is also due to the experience accumulated in mobile phone systems.

Behind Wenjie is Huawei, Geely acquired Meizu, Xiaomi is also a mobile phone manufacturer, and NIO, as a new energy brand, is going to enter the mobile phone market itself.

These new energy vehicles with smooth in-vehicle infotainment systems are more or less related to the mobile phone industry.

Our accumulated experience in manufacturing, stable and inexpensive electricity, mature and comprehensive infrastructure, large and highly qualified engineering team, a large number of skilled workers, and front-line researchers have all formed our advantages and become our key factor advantages in production.

Now, we have applied our leading position in the aerospace field to the semiconductor field, which is why we have the Lunar Collector's Edition Huawei phone that everyone sees.

The advantages we have accumulated in miniaturizing nuclear fission power plants on the lunar surface will also help us take the lead in entering the threshold of fifth-generation nuclear fission power plants.

Therefore, every technological advancement benefits all aspects of life, from industry to individual lives. I firmly believe that technology makes life better, and technological progress leads to increased productivity. We are always on the move!

What Lin Ran didn't mention was whether improving productivity should lead to improvements in distribution methods and relationships.

He could certainly bring it up, but not in this setting, not at someone else's product launch, to steal the spotlight.

Instead, it was brought up privately, while they were in Yanjing.

Publicly speaking out carries the connotation of coercion, and it's about using public opinion and the voice of the masses to achieve one's own goals.

This is the biggest taboo of all.

On the morning of October, before the ripples from China's semiconductor breakthrough had subsided, the entire Silicon Valley was discussing lunar technology, and the importance of the lunar south pole had increased significantly.

Companies led by Nvidia and Intel have submitted testing applications to Apollo Technology in China, but all applications have been read but no response has been received.

Aerospace Corporation's status has also risen accordingly, which is understandable given that they are a non-profit organization dedicated to aerospace evaluation and consulting.

Jonathan hadn't even finished his coffee in the office when his phone vibrated.

The screen displays an urgent email from the company’s international projects team: “Apollo Technologies has further expanded its deployment area in the critical candidate region of the lunar south pole, with initial indications of medium- to long-term occupation – the location is suspected to be near Shackleton Crater and Degellach Crater.”

Please immediately assess the impact and provide recommendations for countermeasures.

Jonathan didn't even open the email, he just kept drinking his coffee, and after finishing it, he chuckled softly.

He felt that the White House, NASA, and Aerospace Corporation were all burying their heads in the sand. Did they think they would obediently withdraw just because China didn't acknowledge its actual control over these two locations? The bases, laboratories, power plants, and solar panels were already built; what was the point of sending out routine alert emails?
Every time China launches a manned rocket to the lunar south pole, Jonathan receives similar emails. This is part of NASA's purchase of consulting services from Aerospace Corporation to provide real-time updates on lunar conditions.

This is somewhat similar to the periodic warnings from Qichacha. If you follow Evergrande, Qichacha will push countless new risks related to Evergrande every day. When you click in, you'll see that so-and-so or some well-known or unknown company has sued Evergrande again, and the number of litigation risks has increased from 9999+ to 9999+.

Has anything changed? Is it meaningful?
No.

What's the point of issuing daily warnings when the cancer is already in its late stages?
Aerospace Corporation's current warnings about Shackleton and Degellach craters are like a terminally ill cancer patient constantly whimpering; you're just telling NASA you're still alive, but it doesn't really make any sense.

Jonathan turned off his phone screen, gulped down the rest of his coffee, sat down at his computer, and opened a memo he had planned to submit to NASA many years ago—or rather, how many years ago he couldn't remember.

This document details several hard constraints of the landing site: terrain slope, available lighting (relative layout of the Yongzhao Peak shadow trap), accessible permanent shadow areas (for searching for and utilizing ice/volatile resources), ground communication visibility corridors, and risk tolerance for landing and ground activities.

He knew those numbers like the back of his hand: the slope could not exceed 15°, the flat landing area had to be at least several hundred square meters, and the lighting windows needed to be able to coordinate with the periodic power generation and temperature control.
Following these rules, he began drafting the latest version of his proposal to be submitted to NASA.

"Confidential—To: NASA Lunar Mission Team (Distributed to: Administrator, Landing Team)"
From: Jonathan H. Smith, Principal Analyst, Lunar Exploration Systems
Date: 2024-10-03
Subject: Recommendations for Addressing the Occupation of the Shackleton and Degellach Crater Areas

Executive Summary (Key Points)
Based on our satellite imagery and publicly available orbital photographs, multiple maneuvering/landing traces have recently appeared in the Shackleton and Degellach areas, suggesting a long-term deployed platform. This occupancy will directly impact America's freedom to conduct Artemis follow-up landings and resource pre-exploration at these candidate sites.

These are all routine tasks, content that was written a long time ago.

The key is what comes next:

"Technology-Alternatives: Immediately advance the engineering maturity assessment of alternative landing zones, prioritizing: the near-ridge zone connecting PSR, the secondary plateau near Yongzhao Peak, and the highland nodes in the Malapett/Leibnitz system, and accelerate the reconnaissance launch window for unmanned advance robots."

Appendix: Technical Details

The site selection priority matrix (slope, lighting, PSR distance, communication visibility, navigation baseline error, surface gravel rate) is provided, along with the weight and threshold for each item.

Recommended candidate site coordinate clusters (including specific slope profiles and stereo image comparisons) are listed in Appendix A.

Conclusion: It is recommended that NASA immediately initiate robotic reconnaissance and engineering adaptation of alternative sites.

— JHSmith”

Jonathan also included numerous charts in his proposal.

The most important one is this one:

(The image shows 13 potential sites for NASA to build a lunar base.)
The reason for recommending high ground nodes in the Malapett/Leibnitz system is that the Chinese have already opened up the passage from Shackleton to Degellach. Once opened up, all seven points in the upper part will be in the hands of the Chinese.

Moreover, the operation of small nuclear fission devices makes their time window extremely limited.

After finishing the report, I presented it in the conference room on the eighth floor of the company.

Outside the glass window, the sky is blue and the clouds are white. Inside, on the table, there is a huge lunar topographical anatomy map and printed data.

After Jonathan briefly presented his proposal, Robert looked up and asked:
“Jonathan, excellent argument. I think this report is sufficient to be submitted to NASA as the final report for this project.”

Jonathan rolled his eyes so hard they almost reached the sky. "If you hadn't kept insisting that our progress couldn't be too fast and that we needed to demonstrate the difficulty and value of our work, we could have submitted the report more than six months ahead of schedule."

Jonathan asked, "Robert, how long do you think it will take for NASA to complete the alternative landing and forward reconnaissance engineering after we submit the report?" Robert Jr. remained noncommittal: "I don't know, we'll see how the presidential election goes."

If the Donald Party wins, I think it will take about two or three years.

If the Elephant Party wins, only heaven knows what the situation will be like if Musk becomes NASA administrator.

In the timeline altered by Lin Ran, Musk's demands are clearer than ever before. It's not some so-called DOGE, which is more like a joke. The entire government efficiency department was laid off, and in the end, Musk himself was laid off.

His goal is NASA, to become NASA Administrator America, and to take charge of the entire NASA. Musk's slogan is to make NASA great again.

During his nationwide speaking tour, he repeatedly emphasized that he would abandon the damn LGBT, carry out massive layoffs at NASA, fire all incompetent employees, and make NASA a top-tier institution like the one of the 1960s, based solely on ability, not on skin color, gender, or orientation.

At his campaign rallies, Musk repeatedly emphasized this point: "We will go back to the moon, we will build a base on the moon, the moon is America's moon!"

Big T also praised Elon: "I have high hopes for Elon. Elon is the best candidate for NASA. Elon founded SpaceX, developed reusable rockets, and founded companies like Tesla. He is a pioneer in the return of American manufacturing and is the most outstanding entrepreneur in our country. Compared with Musk, no current NASA administrator can compare to Elon in any way!"

Let's work together to bring NASA back to its golden age!

Jonathan asked, "So Robert, do you want the Elephant Party to win or the Donkey Party to win?"

Robert Jr. replied without hesitation, "Of course it's the Donald Party. It's much easier to persuade Kamala than to persuade Musk."

If Musk were to become NASA administrator, I think it would be ten times, a hundred times, or even more difficult for us to earn $10,000 than it was in the past.

Nobody at NASA and its affiliated contractors wants the elephant party to win, I assure you.

Jonathan sighed inwardly; people were willing to disregard the country for the sake of making money.

“The problem is, if we keep going like this, we’ll end up losing the whole moon,” Jonathan said.

Robert Jr. was used to Jonathan's behavior. In his opinion, the other man had been in an ivory tower for too long. Even at Aerospace Corporation, wasn't it still an ivory tower? Jonathan had no idea how the real world worked. He smiled and said, "Jonathan, do you think things would be different if Musk came?"
No, it won't.

Even Musk, he either has to adapt to the current state of NASA or be forced to leave NASA.

No one can change NASA, not Musk, not Randolph Lin.

Jonathan was silent.

Three days later, Jonathan sat in the waiting area of ​​the White House Visitor Center.

Security checks, background checks, phone being switched off, and personal belongings being registered—everything was so familiar, except that last time there was a group of people at the meeting, but this time Sharvin only invited him alone.

This gave him a sense of official ceremony.

This was the typical tense atmosphere of the National Security Advisor's office; the dimly lit meeting room contained only a table and a few chairs, nothing else.

A few minutes later, Scharvin walked in, his face showing indescribable exhaustion.

Jonathan knew very well where this fatigue came from: Old Deng had been forced to withdraw from the presidential primary, and no matter who became president in the future, Scharvin would have nothing to do with this office anymore.

Therefore, Jonathan was even more confused about why the other party had contacted him. How could a White House bureaucrat who was leaving in two months and an old scholar like me possibly have anything in common?

After Jonathan sat down, there was no small talk, only the coffee in front of him seemed like a welcome.

Sulvin said, "Dr. Jonathan, thank you for coming."

We have also taken note of the activities in the Antarctic candidate area through intelligence.

You have summarized the problem very clearly.

I'd like to ask two direct questions: Technically, are there other options we can use to quickly restore the scientific landing window? Diplomatically, which channels do you recommend we pursue immediately?

When asked technical questions, Jonathan can quickly get to the point: "Technically, yes, but there are cost and time considerations."

We need to do three things: immediately launch a batch of small forward-deployed robots. These small forward-deployed robots are characterized by low cost, rapid production, and wide coverage. We don't need to ensure that every one of them can achieve a successful soft landing; it's enough if a portion of them do.

Winning by sheer volume, like SpaceX's Falcon 9 in the past, relied on frequent launches to accumulate experience, optimize and iterate, and finally succeeded.

This allows for the acquisition of detailed ground maps and evidence of object-to-object interactions within 6 months;

At the same time, we lowered the threshold for our lander landing curve, including navigation redundancy, active hazard identification and avoidance, so that we can select alternative zones with steeper slopes but better lighting and more communication visibility.

Prioritize communication relays, including lunar orbit or Earth-Moon L2 relays, and avoid relying on a single line of sight.

This way, you can get into the zone the fastest.

Scharvin nodded and took notes: "It sounds like a technically viable alternative, but at a significant cost."

Jonathan explained, "No, the cost of doing so is not high; in fact, the cost will be relatively small."

Personally, I think that NASA's pursuit of perfection, of an operational mechanism and logic that avoids errors and achieves maximum results the first time, is actually problematic.

We are always pursuing perfection. A project may have a perfect plan, but after a large budget is consumed, it may be found that it is not possible to achieve perfection in the end. So we terminate the project and hope that the next similar project will still have the same goal of perfection, so that we can avoid the problems encountered in the previous project.

This may seem like a low-cost approach, but in reality, the cost is extremely high.

Jonathan hoped to use this subtle approach to remind the young high-ranking official in front of him of the problems at NASA and what the true logic of efficient operation in the aerospace field should be.

In his view, the other party is so young and holds an important position within the Democratic Party, he might make a comeback at any time, and now he may just be sowing the seeds.

Scharvin then asked, "What about the diplomatic front? Jonathan, do you have any suggestions?"

Jonathan replied, "Diplomacy should be fast and low-impact."

My suggestion is to immediately request a site briefing through diplomatic channels, inviting China to explain the nature, scientific purpose, and plans of their deployment; and at the same time, bring the issue into discussion in accordance with international practices, such as inviting relevant contacts from ESA, JAXA, CSA, and Australia to form a transparency working group.

The goal is not to confront the other side now, but to place the other side's actions within an international framework in order to buy time and predictability.

I'm sorry, but this approach may have worked in the past. However, I don't know if it will still be effective against China today, against Apollo Technology, and against unconventional opponents like Randolph.

However, taking similar actions and incorporating them into the diplomatic arena to restrict China's choice of location, preventing them from actually possessing the entire moon as Randolph stated in his speech, is our current top priority.

They have the capability, and I have no doubt about that.

We need to take sufficient action, exert enough pressure on Earth, to prevent them from spreading endlessly across the Moon.

Scharvin paused for a moment, his gaze drifting out the window: "Your suggestion is to formalize the issue rather than immediately and publicly declare the other party guilty?"

Jonathan replied briefly: "Yes, a public confrontation will only harden the other side's stance."

Let's leverage the chain of facts and multilateral transparency. In short, when we lack strength, we need to be flexible, and there's nothing shameful about that!

Scharvin noted down the last item: "Good."

A moment later, he handed over a piece of paper: "Jonathan, are you interested in taking on a new position?"

Jonathan picked up the note and glanced at it. His eyes widened as he saw that the recipient was Elon Musk.

(End of this chapter)