Chapter 484 - 475 Mental Diagnosis_1

"Jim, is this exoskeleton active or passive?"

Robert asked Deputy Director Jim. Their primary concern for the Skylight II mission was still the Storm, with the second being the unheralded launch of the brand-new "Pioneer I" spacesuit.

Despite appearing only superficially different from conventional spacesuits, it was evidently more advanced by more than one generation. Its form-fitting design, hard external armor, and the very conspicuous flexible material covering the exoskeletal support stood out.

The concept of an exoskeleton wasn’t entirely new. Last century, NACA and the military had researched active exoskeletons but halted due to the limitations of automation technology and servo motors. Therefore, the design philosophy and potential pros and cons of the "Pioneer I" model were easy to discern.

Jim said, "It should be passive. They’ve designed external bite joints at the moving parts, and both the limbs and torso are encased in armor. This significantly enhances the protective capability, and it becomes much easier to move around... particularly the legs.

Look, there are just a few connections between the exoskeleton under the waist and the upper body. If it were active, it would require many more components. This is more like an embellishment.

It’s a pretty good design, but I think it’s quite costly. And the necessity isn’t that great."

Robert replied, "No, it’s not like that.

We think it’s superfluous because we don’t have a large-scale construction plan like theirs. With so many more people, this design could help non-professionals move quickly and flexibly, while also lowering the risk of injury. I’m sure they’ve got plans for an active exoskeleton."

"Active?"

Jim quickly caught on. The Moon’s gravity would make the demands on an active exoskeleton much lower, and it would be incredibly useful, greatly enhancing astronauts’ mobility.

Robert said, "Record this down, and write a report for the military. We should also start designing an active exoskeleton spacesuit for both Earth and outer space use. The Pentagon will be interested.

Next year, when Saturn VII or the Starship Rocket enters service, we’ll launch a grand plan to build on the Moon Base."

Although Starship’s second launch still failed, it was much less catastrophic than the first. Robert gradually accepted Musk’s philosophy of "launching instead of testing" and believed it wouldn’t be a big problem to finalize Starship within two years.

With similarly promising Saturn VII, America will have two types of reusable, cost-effective colossal rockets in the future. If they can survive the darkest night right now, the dawn will greet them.

There’s also JFT’s nuclear engine and the Pentagon’s MSP air-launched orbital program, which is currently intentionally slow, but future prospects are very promising. As long as they make it to 2018, everything will get better.

As Robert bolstered his own confidence, Jim suddenly thought of something and dug out a piece of paper from his bag, handing it over:

"By the way, Christina’s mental health evaluation report is out. The medical lab at Stanford University thinks there’s no problem."

"No problem?"

Robert hastily took the mental health evaluation report. Jointly issued by the Pentagon, the Astronaut Training Center in Houston, and the Stanford University medical laboratory, the final result clearly stated:

"Upon evaluation, Christina Koch has no psychiatric illnesses, no lingering aftereffects from excessive psychological shock, and is in a normal mental state with no confusion in memory."

If the evaluation report said there was no problem, then Robert had many problems.

After returning to Earth, Christina took several days to recover, constantly reviewing the memory of that day but never finding any discrepancies. Consequently, she sought a psychologist at the Houston Training Center privately, who, after three days of treatment, could not find any issues with her either.

So, Koch and the psychologist wrote a report on the incident and their findings, which NACA first analyzed:

Their initial thought pertained to the robots sent up by the Aerospace Development Committee, suspecting Koch might have experienced a hallucination.

But that theory didn’t hold because Fang Lin admitted the "fifth person" was him, and during the rescue, they obtained all communication records. According to Koch’s memory of that time, "Fang Lin" did indeed find Koch and communicate, so for the time being, they assumed it was Fang Lin himself.

Was Fang Lin really the first person Koch came into contact with? That also couldn’t be confirmed one hundred percent. Based on Koch’s recollections, they sketched the appearance of the "fifth person" at that time, which indeed looked unnaturally gaunt and shrunken, and given the lighting at the scene, it was improbable that "Fang Lin" would appear that way.

Another point of doubt was Koch’s assertion that the voice was different. Radio communications are prone to distortion, especially over a public channel.

"Fang Lin" admitted to the light emitted from his active infrared headlamp and night vision goggles. Thus, the "fifth person" Koch first saw wasn’t fake, but why then did "Fang Lin" say he lost the infrared headlamp? And the night vision goggles should have been placed inside his helmet; it would be unusual for him to take them off.

In conclusion, while the case had doubtful points, there were also many plausible arguments to square them away, leading to a decision to place Koch under focused psychiatric evaluation.

Now that the evaluation found no issues, meaning her memory was real, the "fifth person" who emerged from the crash site after all four astronauts were in the car couldn’t have been Fang Lin.

So... why did "Fang Lin" admit it was him, and why did ’Fang Lin’ promptly leave after being illuminated by Koch’s light? What were the Chinese hiding?

They also replicated the transmitter Koch had manually rubbed together, and ground testing showed that receiving such a weak signal in those conditions would require considerable luck. How were they able to arrive in time?

Once the seeds of suspicion are sown, they quickly take root and grow. Robert’s mind raced through numerous possibilities, but ultimately, reason prevailed.

Aliens were always the least likely option. It’s like outsiders constantly speculating about a UFO crash at Area 51. If that were true, would NACA still be like this?

"Jim, don’t let her talk about it. Ensure secrecy. Koch is no longer suitable for further flight missions."

In the end, Robert made a decision that best aligned with bureaucratic norms: eliminate the source of the problem.

Jim nodded without any surprise, responding:

"So, we cover this up as if it never happened?"

"No, didn’t you notice? The Aerospace Development Committee only gave us the communication logs and text records from that time, not the audio recordings.

Try to get the audio recordings from them. If it really was ’Fang Lin,’ even if the voice was distorted, it should be possible to confirm through analysis.

To be honest, at this point, I actually hope the truth is that Christina had a mental issue. At least that way, we wouldn’t have to battle with aliens."