Chapter 453 - 444 Escape_1

When Contact Commander saw through the lander’s external camera that all four astronauts had entered the landing craft one after another, his hanging heart finally settled down. No matter what, they didn’t have to worry about them encountering any more accidents.

Claire believed that Contact Commander could be disbanded, but Academician She insisted the danger hadn’t been completely eliminated, and experts from other countries also eagerly stated their willingness to help. So, Claire had no choice but to give up.

Now that’s good, the whole world has been watching NACA make a fool of itself, and in a few more hours, when the sun rises in the eastern hemisphere, another 4 billion people will torment them yet again.

The four astronauts’ safe entry into the lander didn’t mean the rescue mission was over, there was still a lot to do, but Academician She and his team no longer needed to personally supervise it.

It was now four in the morning; 18 hours had passed since the start of commanding the lunar landing operation, especially the impromptu "Save the Moon" operation, which had drained almost everyone at the command center’s energy.

The next plan was left to Contact Commander for discussion. Academician She still had to report back to Capital before he could rest, unlike Lin Ju who was already preparing to return to the guesthouse.

Before parting, Lin Ju made a suggestion:

"As the frequency of space exploration by the world increases, it is foreseeable that the risk of accidents will also greatly increase. Although the technology of various countries is advancing, in the end, only so much can be relied on, and one can’t claim it to be 100% successful.

It’s not just manned missions; space debris and asteroids also pose significant potential threats. So, why not make Contact Commander a permanent institution, to speed up response times?"

"Are you saying..."

Academician She was old and wise, and could clearly hear the meaning behind the words.

As an international command organization, Contact Commander definitely needed to have permanent exoatmospheric space surveillance and early warning capabilities, and be equipped with readily available rescue capabilities and a global monitoring and control network to be effective. However, the number of countries that could participate was limited.

If Contact Commander could be firmly established, whoever had influence over the organization would legitimately possess the ability to impact the whole world, and the image could be very positive.

Just like the United Nations, although the great powers could still do as they please, having formal approval would make everything different—whatever is done then is righteous.

Moreover, there are plenty of reasons for its establishment: in the past year alone, there have been three global accidents involving manned space missions, which shows the urgency is very pressing.

"It’s a good suggestion. Let’s flesh out this idea and submit it; whether it’s fruitful or not, let’s give it a shot," he said.

"Sooner is better; maybe let someone, preferably not our own, float the suggestion first."

"Heh, then I guess Prince Swetan would be more than happy to, hahaha!"

Back at the guesthouse, Lin Ju slept until noon.

Looking up at the sun and sand of Qiongzhou... it was overcast with dense clouds, another typhoon was about to make landfall on the southeastern coast, and just this month there have been a dozen weather warnings. The Qiongzhou Launch Site wasn’t entirely unusable for the second half of the year, but it would certainly be somewhat off schedule.

This damn weather could potentially be the number one concern for the base.

He should check out how today’s events unfolded. Refreshing the trending searches:

"Daily Commentary: Resolutely carry out rescue missions for foreign astronauts—space has no borders!"

"Artemis II lander crash-landed on the Moon the evening of July 4, with two astronauts successfully rescued by our countrymen."

"Prince Swetan asserts the need to establish a permanent global space rescue organization in preparation for high-risk missions by immature nations."

"NACA admits potential design flaws in the new generation HLS, investigation of the specific causes is underway."

"ICAO Council President Shakitano responds to national-made passenger jets requesting airworthiness certificates: Under discussion."

"British media: Mandarin may become a compulsory course for future astronauts."

"Explorer 9 played an important role in the rescue operation."

"Famous actress forced to pay a fine of 300 million"

"..."

The top seven trending searches were all related to aerospace, a result that satisfied Lin Ju, indicating that the authorities had definitely taken action.

He then opened Twitter to see the international response, and the first thing he saw was John’s tweet:

"The Artemis II mission was 90% successful, the first woman and black man walked on the Moon."

...

"We sent astronauts with our own rockets, and with the latest lander, we managed to get humans on the lunar surface; both astronauts are also in great health, which is clearly a significant success;

The only problem was the 50 kilometers from the lunar surface to space, which is just a part of the 800,000-kilometer round trip."

On the President’s Mansion Lawn in the dead of night, John unflappably explained the sufficient reasons for "90% success," leaving the crowd of journalists gaping.

90% success was still success; he deliberately avoided any mention of failure.

But such sophistry couldn’t silence the journalists. Photos of the "Blue Moon" lander wreckage had already spread around the world, and no one would believe it was a successful landing.

"Mr. John, we all saw the lander deeply embedded in the ground. If it weren’t for the timely arrival of Chinese astronauts, ours might already be dead," challenged a journalist.

Faced with the journalist’s accusation, John remained calm:

"Clearly, there has been a bit of a mishap with your information, madam. According to the data we received, the lander only slightly missed the target, which is a common occurrence in our plans, just like Apollo 11 also deviated by 250 miles.

The only real unexpected issue was our unfamiliarity with the terrain, which led to the mishap. Nobody understands space better than I do."

After the chaotic press conference, Executive Office Director Kelly immediately sought an audience with John.

"Sir, the Chinese have presented their conditions."

John was still massaging his aching head in frustration. Although the astronauts were indeed alive and no obituaries needed to be sent out, NACA’s public embarrassment was undoubtedly problematic.

Upon hearing Kelly’s words, John had an idea of what to expect and sighed before speaking:

"We can’t give certificates of airworthiness; they account for hundreds of billions of US Dollars in profits each year. If I dared do that, tomorrow there’d be veterans with PTSD rushing out to buy rifles."

"But their demands don’t end there." Kelly handed over the document with a wry smile.

"They also want to open up commercial satellite launch missions internationally, establish a global space rescue permanent institution, and have their measurement ships dock at our islands in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Each demand is excessive."

"What?!"

John flipped through the stacks of documents, frustrated. The other side had never openly demanded compensation, but now bombarding with so many proposals at once made the intention clear: they wanted to feed on America’s flesh and blood.