Live Stream 1980: Netizens Teach Me How to Make a Rocket by Hand

Washington, D.C., the Oval Office of the White House.

The atmosphere was so oppressive it felt like you could wring water out of it.

Several senior Defense Department generals and the NASA administrator sat on the sofa, their faces ashen.

With the space shuttle out of service, the PowerPoint presentations on space-based laser weapons and kinetic interceptor missiles are just sitting rotting in a drawer.

The collapse of the underwater defenses drove politicians on Capitol Hill into a frenzy.

"We cannot simply hand over low Earth orbit to the Soviets."

The NASA administrator broke the silence first, slamming a thick document heavily onto the coffee table.

"It will take time for the space shuttle to resume flights, but we can build a space fortress that is larger and more advanced than Mir."

The defense minister looked at him coldly.

"Where will the money come from?"

"Congress is unlikely to approve another few hundred billion dollars in budget."

"Bringing people in."

The NASA administrator's gaze was cold and sharp.

"European Space Agency, Japan, and Canada."

"Tell them that this is a space program for all mankind, and its name is the International Space Station."

The defense minister gave a cold laugh.

"Especially the country of cherry blossoms."

He slammed the report on the table, his voice cold and hard:

"The intelligence agency has found clues that the reason why Soviet submarines can reduce noise to this level is inseparable from the five-axis machine tools that Toshiba secretly smuggled over."

"Since they've caused such a big problem, they should pay the price."

He paused, his tone growing even colder.

"I suggest that we impose punitive tariffs on their cars tomorrow."

"At the same time, we are forcing them to shoulder the bulk of the space station's budget."

"Consider it atonement."

Upon hearing this, the expressions of several generals changed.

Everyone understands the meaning behind those words.

The so-called "all of humanity" is nothing but a facade.

The real core is to get allies to contribute money and technology, while the US sets the standards and rules, thus taking the lead.

The president remained silent for a long time, tapped his fingers twice on the table, and finally nodded.

"Let's do it this way."

A staff member standing nearby hesitated for a moment, then asked in a low voice:

"Should we bring China along?"

"Their technology in the fields of space materials and chips has developed very rapidly in recent years."

"If we involve them, they might be of great help."

The Minister of Defense pondered for a moment, then said:

"They've developed too fast."

"And they were on the opposing side before."

"Let's exclude them for now and see how things go."

The president did not hesitate any longer.

"agree."

……

Southwest Base, Lin Xi's Office.

Lu Guoliang held a newly delivered internal report in his hand, his face grim.

"The Americans are completely desperate."

Lu Guoliang pushed the documents in front of Lin Xi, his voice filled with anger.

"In order to suppress the Soviet Union, they forcibly dragged the West into building the International Space Station, making a big show of it."

"But the document was followed by a supplementary agreement that explicitly prohibited any participating country from transferring aerospace-grade electronic components and materials technology to our country."

Lu Guoliang leaned back in his chair, his brows furrowed in a frown:

"Last year, NASA invited our country to send a payload specialist to ride the space shuttle, but now they have unilaterally notified us that it has been postponed indefinitely."

Although China's aerospace industry has developed rapidly in recent years, the older generation of experts felt somewhat frustrated in the face of being jointly excluded and openly isolated by the entire Western world.

It's a feeling of being shut out and pointed at by others.

Looking at the copied intelligence in his hand, Lin Xi sighed, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his temples.

For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

In the live stream in my mind, the barrage of comments had already started to flood the screen.

[This is incredible! I burst out laughing! How did the streamer flap those butterfly wings like that?!]

[This is hilarious. Has the US really gotten desperate and started building the International Space Station over a decade ahead of schedule?]

[The Akula-class submarine launched a close-range attack, while the Mir SS took off ahead of schedule. The US thought the Soviet Union was rapidly advancing its technology, but it was all thanks to the information provided by the anchor over the past few years.]

The US and the Soviet Union were locked in a fierce battle, both in the air and on the ground, and the US even excluded China from the alliance. The US skillfully avoided the real mastermind behind it all!

[It doesn't matter; China's space program has always been a solo effort. The International Space Station has never included us in its games.]

Lin Xi looked at these comments and was both amused and exasperated.

The Western world thought that by closing its doors, it could trap China's space program on Earth.

But they have no idea that China today no longer needs to beg for food within their rules.

"Mr. Lu."

Lin Xi tapped the internal reference document twice, her tone calm.

"The lockdown is a good thing."

Lu Guoliang was taken aback.

"If others don't include us, we don't need to worry about how to be compatible with their standards."

Lin Xi sat up straight, her gaze clear and sharp.

"They're building their International Space Station."

"We can now close the door and focus wholeheartedly on pushing Project 851 forward."

Lu Guoliang understood what Lin Xi said.

During this period, Red Star Technology poured its funds into the civil engineering projects of its Southwest base like water.

Deep in the Daliang Mountains, the giant vertical assembly plant is growing taller day by day.

In Tianjin, the in-memory computing neural network thick film developed by Situ Yuan and Zhao Sihai's team has also entered a critical stage.

At Factory 914 in Shanghai, technicians are rapidly mastering the titanium alloy vacuum electron beam welding process, and the pulsed production line is also nearing completion of its transformation.

That three-module deep-space behemoth, completely independent of US and Soviet standards, is quietly growing within China's heavy industry matrix.

"Too."

Lu Guoliang took a deep breath, and his tense expression slowly relaxed.

He picked up the teacup and took a sip of water.

"You can't build a great nation's important equipment by begging for alms."

"Since they want to play a faction-based game, we'll forge our own path!"