Chapter 76: Lin Ran's Plan

The live explosion last time was embarrassing enough; if the astronaut died in space this time, the embarrassment would be even greater.

Of course, Lin Ran knew that the control system malfunction was a malfunction, but the malfunction didn't affect Shepard relying on his own strength to return to Earth alive.

So Lin Ran didn't panic in the slightest.

Lin Ran explained: "Sometimes not reminding is much more effective than reminding.

In short, I already have a complete plan. Let's discuss it after we return to the Redstone Arsenal."

"But..."

"Administrator, there are no 'buts.' One failure won't affect the overall situation. If NASA remains this lazy, it will affect our moon landing goal."

The complete report on this accident in the JFK Library gave Lin Ran full confidence; he knew this was a rare opportunity.

Is there an accident? Is the accident big? Very big, but it won't cause casualties and can become his perfect personal show.

After returning to the Redstone Arsenal, Lin Ran laid out his observations and subsequent plans:

"Mr. Webb, according to my observations, the automatic attitude control system of the Freedom 7 spacecraft has a serious malfunction. This malfunction is not a system malfunction but a hardware malfunction; the capacitor's malfunction will cause the system to be unable to correct the spacecraft's attitude flip.

This is caused by NASA's testing being too rough, quality control management being almost zero, the entire design lacking redundant systems, and testing procedures being perfunctory.

What we need is to thoroughly reverse this situation and rebuild the public's confidence in NASA.

So this will instead be the best opportunity."

James Webb vaguely grasped Lin Ran's line of thought: "We need to prove that the current NASA has big problems and has reached the point where it must be changed.

But if it is at the cost of the astronaut's life, I'm afraid it will cause an uproar after declassification."

As a politician, James Webb didn't really care about the astronaut's sacrifice; what he cared about was that if it was proven later that they knew the spacecraft had problems and still let the astronaut go up and risk this danger, it would be somewhat like intentional murder.

Lin Ran corrected: "Who said we have to let the astronaut go up?

Before the launch, can't we replace the astronaut with a gorilla?"

Lin Ran continued to explain his complete plan:

"What I want to do is predict—predict in advance that this launch will fail, invite all the reporters from newspapers to the scene, predict in advance, and let them witness the failure of the first step of NASA's Mercury program together.

Let them witness Freedom 7 exploding in the air together, thereby proving that the past NASA won't work, and to make NASA work, we must rely on our efforts.

Thoroughly transform NASA on the basis of the existing NASA.

I hope to invite all major newspapers in the country to the scene to watch, and then throw the predicted note into a sealed box in the witness of the reporters in advance.

After Freedom 7 explodes, open the box and show the predicted note to everyone.

At the same time, this is also a deterrent to these NASA parasites now. Problems you didn't discover, we as laymen could see at a glance.

Doesn't this just explain the incompetence of NASA under Keith Glennan's leadership? And prove that we have the strength to transform NASA?"

What Lin Ran said made James Webb's heart move.

He could realize that once this matter was done, how much resistance it could reduce for his reform and how much it could accelerate the process.

But the problem was, what if it succeeded?

This was entirely built on the trust in Lin Ran.

NASA's failure was certainly gratifying, but if NASA succeeded, wouldn't they become clowns in a second?

"Professor Lin, if Freedom 7 doesn't explode in the air as you guessed, but returns to Earth smoothly, what should we do then?" James Webb asked.

Mainly, the entire plan was overseen by Lin Ran alone from beginning to end; James Webb couldn't possibly ask other experts at NASA if this problem really existed.

The entire plan was built on Lin Ran's ability. Lin Ran was a mathematical master and also had Haynes and John Morgan to endorse him, but thousands of experts and engineers at NASA didn't discover the problem, yet he discovered it at a glance.

Even if James Webb trusted the other party again, he couldn't help but mutter in his heart, not to mention that his trust in Lin Ran's aerospace-related strength didn't even reach the level of trust.

Because if this plan were to be overseen by other experts at NASA, once the plan leaked, it would collapse entirely.

No matter if the problem Lin Ran said existed or not, it would bring serious consequences.

If the problem existed, then you two discovered the problem but didn't tell us, thinking about watching everyone make a fool of themselves, or even letting the astronaut risk his life—their prestige would be swept away.

If the problem didn't exist, it would prove that Lin Ran's professionalism had problems, and James Webb didn't want Lin Ran to have problems at the moment.

So James Webb had to be cautious.

Lin Ran explained: "Doesn't this just explain a great victory after NASA changes people?

As for the prediction note sealed up before, everyone will just pretend it didn't happen.

The box can be made into a mechanism; it looks sealed, but in reality, it is not sealed.

Our purpose is to manipulate public opinion.

It actually has two notes inside, one of which contains the prediction of failure, and the other contains the prediction of success.

If it fails, then a random reporter at the scene will open the box and take out the prediction note.

If it succeeds, then personnel prepared in advance will take out the congratulatory letter from the partition."

Who said you have to honestly follow the rules of the game?

Although Lin Ran had 95% certainty that Freedom 7 would definitely be finished, what if it succeeded?

At the same time, in order to persuade James Webb, he also had to prepare two complete sets of plans.

After listening, James Webb was moved.

"There is one more thing, and that is if Freedom 7 succeeds, and we replaced the astronaut with a monkey." James Webb asked the last question.

Lin Ran said: "Doesn't this just explain that our management style is different from the previous NASA, and we are more rigorous?

Let primates similar to humans go up first, and after there are no problems, then let human astronauts go into space?"

Lin Ran's design was comprehensive, clearly having moved James Webb.

Because once their plan succeeded and Freedom 7 exploded in front of numerous reporters, they had also predicted this explosion in advance.

This not only helped his transformation of NASA but could also greatly enhance NASA's credibility among the people, although in this way NASA's credibility was built on Lin Ran, but it was still much better than before.

Because Lin Ran's plan was considered comprehensive enough and the consequences of success were rich enough, James Webb made up his mind.

"Alright, I will report to the President as soon as possible. If it's okay, then we will prepare to act." ===== CHAPTER 77 =====