Chapter 421 - 412: Battle of the Deities_1

Astronomical deep-space exploration is, for now, uncontroversial when limited to inside the asteroid belt and, compared to other projects, the costs are not high—it’s considered a minor matter.

What Lin Ju is more concerned about is landing on the Moon, as satellite images taken in the early morning captured an orange behemoth appearing at Calavilar Air Base.

NACA hasn’t given up; at least they believe they can still pull ahead in the end.

The mission objective of Artemis II is now quite clear. Even if their mission timeline was moved forward, the lander couldn’t possibly be that far ahead of schedule. This indicates that NACA had contemplated advancing the Artemis II mission timeline long ago; they just had to move it up even further.

Lin Ju mentally gave these Yankees a nod of approval. In the original timeline, after the initial flight of Artemis I in 2022, Artemis II had not been launched by 2024. NACA really was giving it their all, pushing ahead at least seven years early.

But can SLS, having only been launched once in two and a half years, really be ready for a lunar mission so soon?

This is why he called for Ye Changsi, Xiao Okada’s appearance was purely coincidental.

Temporarily setting aside the probes named after himself, Ye Changsi’s thoughts returned to the main issue:

"The possible problems with the Artemis II mission could only stem from a few areas: launch, lunar orbit, landing on the Moon, and return.

The launch shouldn’t have big issues as SLS’s rocket technology is indeed mature. The lunar orbit docking scheme is complicated, but also acceptable.

The most likely place for an accident is during the lunar landing; as for the return, even if there’s an issue with the spacecraft, they just need to wait at the space station for rescue—that’s no big deal. We could even go there to bring the crew back ourselves."

Lin Ju tapped the desk, "The Moon landing is key; we need to be prepared."

Ye Changsi pulled up an ultra-high-definition still image of the Moon captured by Storm, zooming in progressively.

"Our landing site is on the highlands at the periphery of the Kuom Impact Crater. The mission location for Artemis II should be within the scope of the ’ISIS’ reconnaissance rover. If I had to choose, it should be this plain, with distances ranging from 20 to 100 kilometers—it’s a vast area.

If they encounter an accident during descent, there’s definitely no chance of rescue, and the same holds true during ascent. The only feasible rescue scenario would be if their spacecraft encountered a problem after landing on the lunar surface; we just need to consider this situation along with the orbital dynamics."

Xiao Okada asked, "Mr. Ye, how likely do you think it is that Artemis II will succeed?"

"During the flight phase, I think there’s an eighty to ninety percent chance. It’s quite unlikely that the Orion spacecraft will have issues; it has been researched for nearly a decade," Ye Changsi first gestured the number eight with his hand, then took a turn:

"But as for the lander, that’s hard to say. With such a high center of gravity, it’s definitely not easy to control. Plus, they’ve changed the plan midway through, and they’ve even had less time to develop it than ’Full Moon.’ I don’t think it’s reliable."

Lin Ju sighed, "Hey, competing with us is pointless. Even if they succeed, by the time Moon Base construction begins, they won’t be able to catch up."

Ye Changsi responded, "We still have to push them. We can’t just lie low; we need to give them motivation.

Especially with lunar mining—Wall Street is not going to miss out on this new concept stock."

Speaking of lunar development—domestic media have already started to quietly release articles about the preciousness of rare earth resources and their broad market demand, creating momentum for the future.

When it comes to reaping the benefits in the financial market, the domestic players are not inexperienced.

...

Big Boss Mansion.

A black man and three white men each placed a hand on John’s shoulder, while the latter closed his eyes tight, his expression serious.

The ingratiating sycophant Pio also tried his best to look solemn, mumbling along with the others:

"We praise you, Lord of Hosts! You are the true and living God, great and to be feared, the unchanging God from everlasting to everlasting..."

About ten minutes later, the ceremony finally ended. John took a deep breath, feeling much refreshed, and said to the black man contentedly:

"Ralph, I feel fantastic today."

Ralph hastily placed his hand over his heart and bowed, "God bless his faithful followers."

Ralph Drilling, a former NBA player, had dived headfirst into the wizard profession since 1996, establishing 43 branches worldwide, spreading (traps) his doctrine (deception) under pretenses.

Now, they were conducting the "Central Bible Study Group," which had moved in with John and carried out their weekly Wednesday ritual. The purpose was a hodgepodge, but the process of divine power flowing from the wizards remained unchanged.

After feeling the ’divine power,’ John felt much less pressure from the past few days and trusted Ralph more:

"Priest, can you curse something, or someone?"

Ralph looked up, closed his eyes, and mumbled a bunch of incomprehensible words, then slowly opened his mouth while still looking up:

"Of course, but it’s tough, it requires a lot of energy."

John immediately pulled out a picture of the CZ-10A Remote Three Rocket from the fax machine, still carrying the watermark of the Aerospace Development Committee’s social media.

"Then please start now."

"..."

...

"Why won’t you let me see the boss?"

Henry Alfred tapped his cane angrily on the floor, looking menacingly at Pio who was blocking his way.

"The boss... is very busy right now, please wait a moment."

"I’m already 94 years old, and I am your predecessor. I racked my brains here thinking about how to navigate between two superpowers when you weren’t even born, young man. Now, I’m doing my duty as a Yankee by offering advice, and you have no right to stop me!"

Pio was truly at a loss. Someone like Henry, a living relic from the Cold War, might even have a higher status than John, but he couldn’t let him see what was happening behind the scenes!

The boss was trying to curse a rocket with witchcraft. If word got out, it would be the end!

"You can tell me any opinions, and I’ll make sure to convey them immediately!"

Possibly out of energy to argue further, Henry could only stare at this discordant Secretary of State and said seriously:

"Don’t launch the Artemis II mission ahead of schedule. We are not the Union; even if we aren’t first, we won’t be too far behind. The cost of losing an astronaut is worse than anyone can imagine!

It’s right to bring manufacturing back, but don’t treat it as a mere adjunct to the space race. You’re veering off the right path."

Pio listened halfheartedly and then nodded furiously, finally managing to send old Henry on his way, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

The advice of a predecessor? If John actually listened, wouldn’t that mean that I, the current occupant of this position, am even less useful than the one before, and the one before that, and so on?

He continued to guard the lawn outside, eyeing any potential intruder that might disturb the wizard’s ceremony, showing off his loyalty with the beautiful interns.

Meanwhile, on another continent, Ahong, whose beard had grown to half the length of his robe, devoutly recited his prayer for half a minute then glanced at his clock. He promptly turned towards the door, communicating his request to the ’Sheila’ space station passing overhead.

After three hours, the ritual was finally completed, and Ahong took a deep breath of relief, confidently telling the people of the Abe space agency:

"Allah has blessed the skies to the east and brought crows to the skies of the west. His will shall be realized, and no one can rival it."

"Thank you, Allah. We will expand the mosque as promised."