94: From Technological Warfare to Space Empire

Chapter 137 A Ten-Year Moon Landing Plan?!

As Lin Yu listened, a surge of fighting spirit rose within him, and he became even more certain that he had not made any mistakes this time.

Going big is absolutely the right thing to do!

He gained national recognition for his involvement in the oil industry.

Having developed such a large-scale project as BEC, the whole world has to admit, even if they have to hold their noses, that he is quite strong in this field.

He knew what Mr. Qian was talking about.

That was a knot in the hearts of the older generation of scientists, and also their regret.

At that time, China was extremely poor and backward, and no one recognized the Chinese people.

No matter how smart you are, it won't work.

But now, he is gradually making up for this regret.

"Teacher, I will continue to work hard."

Mr. Qian nodded.

"I knew you would."

He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the sky outside.

The sunlight shone on his gray hair, gilding it with a layer of gold.

As Lin Yu looked over, he was momentarily dazed and saw layers upon layers of wheat fields.

The so-called Chinese people are those who work hard in the fields, relying on their own diligent hands to acquire resources through construction.

This differs from the Western mindset of maritime exploration and plunder.

More important than seizing is cultivating and reaping.

"Take your time with the space program. There's no rush."

"You're only 21, you have plenty of time."

"First, lay a solid foundation and build a strong team and people."

"Rockets, satellites, materials, fuel—all these things have to be done step by step."

He turned around and looked at Lin Yu.

I'll set a goal for you.

"Within ten years, we will send our people to the moon."

"How is it?"

Lin Yu thought for a moment, then shook his head.

Ten years? A moon landing?

No, ten years is too long.

He seizes every minute!

Ten years may not seem like a long time, but it is actually a very long time.

Even if it's only 2004 ten years from now, he still can't quite accept it.

He has a complete industrial development path for the next 30 years.

And there's more! Ten years from now, he'll have the lunar base all ready!

Seeing Lin Yu shaking his head, Old Qian assumed that Lin Yu found it too difficult and dared not think about it.

"What? You think it's too difficult?"

Lin Yu shook his head.

"It's not too difficult—it's too—"

He couldn't find the right words for a moment.

But saying it's too simple doesn't seem right either.

"Young people should dare to dream."

"Back when I was in the United States, I never imagined that one day I would be able to come back and work on missiles and satellites."

"But in the end, they all succeeded."

He walked back to the sofa and sat down again.

"So, if you dare to think and dare to do, that's the right thing to do."

Lin Yu took a deep breath and nodded solemnly.

Then he planned to tell Mr. Qian all his thoughts.

"I've got it."

Mr. Qian smiled with satisfaction.

"Okay. That's settled then. I should head back."

But at that moment, Lin Yu interrupted him.

"Teacher, if you say young people should be bold in their thoughts and actions—"

"I think we should be able to build a base on the moon within 10 years."

When Mr. Qian heard Lin Yu's statement, he did not scoff at his overestimation of his abilities, but instead simply said "Oh".

He asked with great interest.

"You have an idea? Tell me more and let me hear it."

Lin Yu nodded.

He began to launch into a long and eloquent discourse, offering his opinions on the state of affairs.

"Teacher, as you know, the first time I came into the view of the higher-ups was with terahertz technology."

Mr. Qian nodded.

"Technology in the field of communications, right?"

It just so happens that it's in Chief Hou's office, where all the information about him is readily available.

Chief Hou handed a document to Old Qian.

Lin Yu continued speaking.

"That's right."

"In my plan, we'll develop communication technology first."

"Fast communication technology that can traverse between the Earth and the Moon will be the foundation for manufacturing everything."

"Then in my plan."

"After communication technology comes photovoltaics, 3D printing, and robotics."

"Use a rocket to carry perovskite HJT photovoltaic cells on a robot and launch it to the moon."

"Then, through communication technology, the robot can be remotely controlled to use 3D printing to directly print lunar soil from the moon into an outer protective shell that can be used to build a base."

"Let robots extract water ice from the lunar poles, and then they can electrolyze it to produce oxygen and hydrogen."

"Once the unmanned base is built using robots, we can begin to explore preparing biological seeds on the launched lunar rover."

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"Wait until the robots raise them alive."

"Then we can try to send people to the moon and stay there."

Lin Yu slowly explained his idea.

Commander Hou listened, his face blank with disbelief.

He never expected Lin Yu to have such ambitions.

After listening attentively and patiently, Professor Qian began to ask questions.

"Kobayashi..."

Mr. Qian slowly began to speak: "I understand some of your ideas, but some—I must admit, are things I've never heard of before."

Then, with a hint of testing in his voice, he asked, "Where do you plan to build your lunar base?"

Mr. Qian stood up and walked to the world map hanging on the wall.

It's not a map of the moon; Chief Hou only has a map of the Earth.

"You can't just build on the moon anywhere. The site selection is extremely complex."

He then nodded to Commander Hou, who was still in a daze, picked up a pencil from the table, and twirled it gently in his hand.

"Young Hou, may I borrow your place to give my students their first lesson?"

"First, energy. One lunar day is 27.3 Earth days."

"It's fine during the day, but what about at night..."

"That means you'll be facing a long night that lasts for 14 Earth days."

"During these 14 days, the sun went down and the temperature dropped to minus 180 degrees Celsius, causing the photovoltaic cells to basically fail."

How did you get through it?

After asking the question, Mr. Qian raised his second finger.

"Second, radiation."

"The moon has no atmosphere and no magnetic field."

"Solar proton events and galactic cosmic rays bombarded the surface directly."

"Spending one day on the moon exposes you to the same dose of radiation as spending several months on Earth."

How is your base protected?

The third finger.

"Third, temperature. The lunar surface is 120 degrees Celsius during the day and -180 degrees Celsius at night, a temperature difference of 300 degrees."

"What material can withstand this kind of thermal expansion and contraction?"

"Won't your base crack open within a day?"

The fourth finger.

Fourth, communication. The Earth and the Moon are 38 kilometers apart; how many seconds would the signal delay be?

"You want to remotely control the robot? A one-second delay is enough for the robot to fall into a pit."

"How will you solve this?"

After asking the four questions, Mr. Qian gently placed the pencil on the table and looked at Lin Yu.

It's good for young people to have ambition, but is it ambition or just being unrealistic?

It all depends on the young people's knowledge and skills.

If you are truly capable, then it is through solid, genuine knowledge.

Nature allows you to climb higher.

But if you don't have enough knowledge...

Your elders won't allow you to be so ambitious!

The office fell silent.

Commander Hou listened intently, clicking his tongue in disbelief; he couldn't answer a single one of the questions.