Chapter 512 - 501 Selection_1

Although the five bidding companies were quarreling back and forth at the headquarters of United Mining for a week, no more news was released to the public other than the information previously announced by Luo Luo.

The entire bidding process was conducted in a non-public manner, so as to avoid triggering the sensitive nerves of the public.

It would be very foolish to openly declare "how many hydrogen bombs of what yield we are going to detonate on the Moon", besides, only the main structure of the deal had been agreed upon at the moment, and many details remained to be painstakingly perfected over time.

On the 28th, 29th, and 30th, United Mining held several more rounds of negotiations and consultations, then the United Nations released a message:

The Secretary-General, still criticizing the use of hydrogen bombs on the Moon, announced that a new round of Permanent Members’ Summit on the Outer Space Treaty would take place from September 15th to 20th in Vienna, to reassess and amend some clauses that were not yet clear or outdated, emphasizing that this was for the more rational and safe utilization of space resources.

Meanwhile, United Mining Company announced the temporary suspension of its hydrogen bomb supplier tender, stating that it would refine and re-evaluate the original mining development plans, and that ongoing construction work on the Moon would not be affected.

Ordinary people could not understand the signals these actions were sending, but on September 3rd, The International Atomic Energy Agency suddenly announced:

"The International Atomic Energy Agency will conduct a new round of assessments on nuclear contaminated water and other radiation residue issues at the IAEA’s permanent office, and also request the formation of an inspection team of no fewer than 10 experts from the five nuclear-weapon states to propose a more effective solution to the Fukushima Nuclear Power Station."

Following this announcement, various countries in the Western Pacific immediately expressed their support for The International Atomic Energy Agency, seeing it as a more proactive approach to solving the contaminated water problem.

The authorities of the Island Country, just recovering from the August 12 disaster, were also unclear about the implications and simply welcomed IAEA’s involvement before deciding to watch and wait for what would unfold.

In reality, the Edo Electric Power Company was also under great pressure, facing not only external opposition but also dissenting voices within.

Some believed that the "accidental intrusion" half a month earlier had been premeditated, a warning not to discharge contaminated water into the sea, and Nakayama Juji had also sent a command not to act rashly.

Now, their new plan was to take advantage of the IAEA’s investigation to plead hardship, frankly speaking, Edo Electric Power Company wanted to discharge into the sea directly because it was increasingly difficult to bear the costs of purification. If they could receive a donation, they would naturally be able to store the nuclear-contaminated water for a longer period of time.

...

Birmingham.

The Royal Physical Society, Royal Academy of Sciences, Royal Geographical Society, the Space Agency, and the Royal Air Force, rarely gathered together, convened at the University of Birmingham to discuss a significant matter: the Moon mining plan.

Luo Luo’s initiative had secured UK five astronaut slots for the Moon journey, and according to United Mining’s statements, there would be multiple trips for exploration.

This was far superior to the four slots allocated to Europe by the Artemis program; moreover, United Mining had shown good faith by including in the contract that at least one UK astronaut would be sent to the Moon before the end of the year, leaving London highly satisfied and increasingly frustrated with the penny-pinching Artemis program.

While everyone in the UK was excited about setting foot on the Moon, United Mining did not forget to remind them: less than three months remained until the end of the year, and they needed to quickly find and send over candidates for training.

The UK could certainly find qualified astronauts, but this time, experts from various fields were needed, and they had to be in the prime of youth and strength.

The Royal Air Force and the Space Agency, without a doubt, needed to secure a slot, nominating Tim Peake, who had just returned from the International Space Station, leaving the rest of the slots for the scientists to decide.

All professors and scholars between the ages of 25 and 55 who had passed the basic physical examination could participate.

Stephen Hawking also wheeled his chair over to the site, watching a bald geological professor from University of Birmingham and a Stevenson compete on the lawn over who could do more pull-ups—though by any standard, their count was zero.

Based on collective discussions, it was necessary that one of the four payload specialists had to be proficient in the dynamics of explosions, and another had to be a geologist/cosmologist with an understanding of the vacuum and the lunar environment; the remaining two spots were to be given to younger scholars.

One of these scholars would be dedicated to cutting-edge physics, as the Moon, lacking an atmosphere and far from Earth’s complex electromagnetic environment, provided an ideal cosmic observation point where the data captured by the observation equipment would be more precise.

Next to Hawking was Roger Penrose, who, at 11 years older than Hawking, was still in pretty good shape.

Penrose said, "I never thought we would trade a hydrogen bomb with the Chinese people for the Moon, Stephen. Actually, I think my body is still up to it."

Hawking remained slouched without giving Penrose a glance, but the latter knew he was making an effort to type.

Although the computer that was equipped for him had a voice-output software system, it could only speak five words per minute, so typing was indeed faster.

"It would be great to build an electromagnetic telescope on the far side of the Moon; that would be the cleanest and most ideal observation environment."

Penrose responded, "NACA has calculated the cost of this plan, and it’s too high. The Chinese did build the FAST, which is a really big thing, but it seems they’re still in the debugging phase and can’t use it yet. Let’s wait a bit longer; maybe we can go and ask to borrow it. They’ll agree to it."

Hawking said, "If it were on the far side of the Moon, the debugging wouldn’t take so long. I have a premonition that United Mining will definitely acquire the capability to send material to the Moon on a large scale and at low cost. With their power, things would be much easier."

Penrose said, "It’s still not easy. In fact, the electromagnetic telescope can’t help us as much as before. Our understanding of the universe has touched a boundary layer. On a macroscopic level... maybe there will be no significant breakthroughs in the next 100 years."

Hawking said, "Do you hope to build a particle accelerator? But the LHC hasn’t given us any groundbreaking achievements over the years."

Penrose said, "The LHC is still too small. The energy level of 13 TeV for protons is not enough. To break through the boundaries of the nucleus, it should ideally reach over 150 TeV, even 200 TeV; only then can we glimpse the truth beneath the quarks."

"Europe can no longer build such large accelerators."

Hawking typed out the line slowly, and after Penrose saw it, he could only sigh. He was about to say something when he saw a new sentence forming on the screen:

"Go to China. They are working hard to advance into space. Convince them that the invisible microcosm and the vast universe are inseparable. They’ve built the FAST and they will invest in a high-energy accelerator larger than the LHC.

Roger, I want to go there."

Penrose paused for a moment, then slowly nodded:

"Let’s go with the selected astronauts. It should be in the next few days. You’d better ask your personal doctor’s opinion."

Hawking said, "And some others, take Rolf Heuer with us. We’ll go together."