Chapter 476 - 467: Return to the Moon_1

"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow citizens, I stand before you to declare that the era of space has arrived.

Not in five years, not in ten years, but in our own century, starting from this very moment, mankind has entered the Space Age."

On the athletic field of Rice University in Texas, John removed his red cap, shielding his eyes against the sun as he delivered a speech to a sea of students and supporters.

On July 22, Congress passed the Industrial Act, the Consumption Act, the Space Force Act, and NACA’s Ten Years Space System Development Plan one after another.

The Industrial Act, which takes effect starting October, imposes import tariffs restrictions on 122 categories of industries and 1500 types of industrial goods, and provides ten-year continuous subsidies for the domestic enterprises that manufacture them. One of the targets is to increase automobile production from last year’s 13 million vehicles to 20 million by the year 2018;

For small and medium-sized enterprises that meet the requirements of the act, more than 20 preferential policies ranging from tax issues to talent acquisition will be implemented, supported by government funding to help attract talent. Especially for those in the aerospace industry, practitioners can receive a special subsidy ranging from a few hundred to several thousand US Dollars each month.

The Consumption Act is a supplementary measure to the Industrial Act, calling for stricter controls on the distribution of unemployment benefits, while unemployment assistance agencies will collaborate with local universities to offer more employment training courses, even allowing for the issuance of diplomas with the same status as those of regular university graduates to aid in job placement.

The Space Force Act renames the America Air Force to the America Space Force, endowing it with a new flag and insignia, with its area of operations officially evolving to include space and the atmosphere and improving its global rapid response capabilities;

As for the Ten Years Space System Development Plan, it is extensive, encompassing massive space projects like the Artemis Program, the God of War Ares Project, space station plans, space power station plans, Star Chain construction, deep-space exploration, and a global tracking and control system, with a simple core principle: to comprehensively catch up with the space sector of the rivals across the ocean.

The Ten Years Plan is expected to launch more than 10,000 tons of cumulative payload and 25,000 satellites into space within ten years, send more than 1,000 astronauts into space, and complete the construction of Moon Base and Mars Base while maintaining a fast round-trip route.

To support such an enormous and audacious plan, John’s staff team directly used the Apollo Program as a standard for calculation:

The Apollo Program began in 1961 and ended in 1972, costing 25.5 billion US Dollars over 12 years, with the cumulative GDP during those 12 years being 10.36 trillion US Dollars, making up approximately 0.25%.

Last year’s America’s GDP was 18.8 trillion US Dollars, and 0.25% of that is 47 billion US Dollars, equating to 470 billion over ten years.

However, one must take into consideration the inflation over these ten years and the depreciation of the US Dollar, combined with an average GDP growth rate projected to be between 2.5 and 3%, the final decision was to invest no less than 550 billion US Dollars over the ten years, with an average annual NACA funding expenditure of 55 billion US Dollars, about three times what it was in the year 2015.

By 2020, which is the midpoint of the plan, the number of NACA employees will increase from 22,000 to 45,000, and the research capacity will be greatly strengthened with the goal of fully restoring to its peak state.

This massive expansion plan also provided John with more confidence. Congress, frightened by the rapid progress of their rivals, passed the Ten Years Plan with almost no lobbying necessary; it seemed even additional funding would be readily approved.

"... Citizens, fifty-five years ago Kennedy stood here and said we would land on the Moon in 10 years. Now I stand before you to say: in ten years, we will become an interstellar civilization!

Our path is fraught with thorns, we strive against the current. Do not ask why we do this, but say what we can do together for the progress of humanity, let us be great once again!"

...

"United Mining takes the first step in the development of space mineral resources."

"John proposes a monthly unemployment relief of over 4,000 US Dollars."

"The world’s highest tech content mining company is established."

"NACA announces a four trillion yuan ten years development plan, which can build 10 of the strongest aircraft carriers."

"International media highly appreciate space resource development and are optimistic about the future global rare earth market."

"Russia expert: Moon’s rare earth resources are sufficient for human use for more than ten thousand years."

"National Trade Import and Export Company: Moon rare earth development may lead to a decrease in rare earth prices."

"..."

On the 22nd and 23rd, both sides of the Pacific Ocean pushed the fervor for space to new heights once again.

United Mining, with a registered capital of 10 billion yuan, made a sensational debut. Numerous domestic industrial groups and investors expressed strong confidence; a large number of details about the "Yu Shu" base construction plans were unveiled, each one deserving of awe.

Experts kept speaking about the advantages of Moon mineral development, emphasizing time and again that once the technology was mature, the transportation costs would not be high; the profits from transporting refined rare earths back to Earth would be immense, and so on.

America, although it had not yet had time to respond, saw John’s three economic-related acts as well create huge waves. The stock prices for the automotive industry, which had been in the doldrums, surged at the opening, and domestic new energy vehicle brand Rivian even hit the upper limit.

Subsequently, several major car manufacturers also announced the construction of new automobile assembly plants across the country, and many unemployed people hoped to find work there.

There’s no need to mention the Ten Years Plan, as various manufacturers who partner deeply with NACA are once again favored by the market—even the market value of the Oriental International Space Tourism Company listed on the American stock market rose by 7%.

But perhaps the happiest was Abe; they bet on both sides, joining the Huayin Treaty Organization and cooperating deeply with China’s aerospace and just recently subscribed to 20 billion US Dollars of America’s debt, temporarily playing a favorite to both sides.

Prince Swetan had already returned to Abe with Rayana Al Karri and Ali Alkali. The Mecca Spaceship underwent maintenance last month at the base and got a new paint job, looking in perfect condition.

According to the agreement reached earlier, two Abe astronauts launched from the Mukala Aerospace Launch Site and docked with the Tiangong Space Station along with the Storm on the same day. After completing the personnel transfer there, they disconnected and headed towards the Moon.

This step was crucial, and although they had paid a hefty fee of 2 billion US Dollars for "schedulings", the significance of launching from their own territory was entirely different.

In fact, the Skylight Number Two mission was quite busy. Their destination wasn’t the Cold Palace No.1 Base near the Kuom Impact Crater but rather the mining site planned by New Yuan.

Even though Rayana had paid, she had to work diligently with Deng Lei and Li Wei, exploring for ores and gaining a more detailed understanding of the mine site environment.

This mission used the "Full Moon" lander which was custom modified according to New Yuan’s needs, capable of providing an expected mission time of 48 to 72 hours for three astronauts; it was the first mission entirely for commercial interests from beginning to end, also serving as a promotional point in the early launch missions of United Mining.