Chapter 624 - 610: Monetization_2

The latter did not answer but simply signaled for the group of jubilant executives to quiet down before calmly speaking:

"We have received two new missions, the first: to land on Mars;"

Everyone nodded as expected. This was not a problem in the current situation, it could even be accomplished within 12 months in an extreme case.

"The second mission—we need to land on Saturn’s sixth moon, Titan, to search for possible surviving aliens, with a deadline of 96 months."

"..."

The sealed underground meeting room suddenly fell silent, with its excellent soundproofing creating absolute stillness.

The shock of this news was no less than that of an atomic bomb, suppressing all other sounds.

Some wanted to speak but stopped themselves, exchanging looks of extreme shock.

Ye Changsi also felt a blank in his mind, although he had anticipated the possibility of extraterrestrial civilization, he had still underestimated the disruptive power of this information.

It took quite a while for him to break the awkward silence:

"Titan... Does it have anything to do with Mars?"

"I don’t know."

Lin Ju shook his head. Although it seemed far-fetched for the small Solar System to suddenly have two different alien civilizations, without confirmation from the System, he could not make a judgment. The mere existence of aliens was enough to overturn his previous worldview.

"So we have to go to both Mars and Saturn, and we only have 8 years. Even if we travel at top speed, it will take one or two years. The time is tighter than we imagined."

Compared to the mysterious Zero Plain with only coordinates available, the Titan mission, with almost direct implication of aliens, was downright eerie.

The scientists and engineers of the base certainly did not believe that the life forms above would only be some small insects but definitely intelligent beings.

Moreover, considering the radio environment within the Solar System and several hundred years of modern astronomical history, there is at least a 90% chance that the aliens on Titan come from outside the System.

Thus, a civilization capable of traversing light-years to reach the Solar System... Even if its current state is likely very poor, we cannot take it lightly. Before the mass–energy equivalence formula appeared in 1905, no one believed a single bomb could destroy a city.

Likewise, even by human scientific standards, there are several means by which Earth or even the Solar System could be easily destroyed, who knows what terrifying last resort aliens might have.

And there is the Zero Plain with unknown consequences. The two unknowns together made everyone feel the difficulty.

Lin Ju looked at the group of elites blinking at each other and decided to continue:

"Whatever’s up there and whatever the consequences, we have ample time to study. Our urgent task now is to get started right away. There are basically no problems with the Mars probe plan. Mainly, we need to arrange the Saturn mission; it’s too far away."

As the sixth gaseous planet from the Sun in the Solar System, Saturn is even further away than Jupiter—it’s the farthest place besides Uranus and Neptune. The difficulty of manned landing on Titan compares to Mars landing as Mars does to the Moon.

Kennedy actually wanted to land on Mars from the start, but thankfully he was dissuaded by his staff, otherwise, it would either be canceled or have dragged down the finances.

Landing on Titan, the risk involved is not simply a matter of more flying time than going to Mars.

"First of all, we must launch probes as quickly as possible... at least two, if not three or four successful unmanned landings are necessary because we know nothing about there.

However, the periods of Saturn at solar conjunction are very short, almost once a year, which is timely enough for us. Let me think... Next June to July is the next one, launching an orbiting probe is no problem, then send a pathfinder lander to get information on the terrain before preparing for precise landing. The Space Department is fine; we just need a budget for nuclear engines, conventional power certainly won’t do."

Xiao Okada was the first to respond, having considered these contingencies before, and the timings were roughly right.

Lin Ju nodded and turned to Cheng Nankai.

"We’re good to go too, let’s use the A100; it’s fast enough. Let me do the math..."

Cheng Nankai immediately took out his tablet to do the calculations and had an answer in a few minutes:

"Without considering the cost, a single A100, launched early enough to use Jupiter’s gravity assist. Assuming it carries a 10-ton payload... with a total mass of 35 tons and 20 tons of fuel, it could reach there in just 12 months."

"The maximum speed will surpass the third cosmic velocity, but this method is very time-efficient."

"11 months, let’s optimize it a bit more."

Xiao Okada immediately followed up by saying:

"Let’s leave a month for investigation, which will allow us to timely adjust the next launch task. It just fits within a single Saturn opposition, anyway, it’s just about adding a little more fuel, right?"

"Yes, that’s right."

Cheng Nankai directly tapped the black glass surface in the middle of the conference table, activating the display to show a properly scaled Solar System Star Map.

"Let’s build a dedicated flight platform like the ’Comet’, the total mass... Increase to 50 tons, leaving enough fuel for the thrusters to return, the return trip will need 8 months, building two will allow for alternating repeated use.

The cost of building one such platform is about 1.6 billion, not too high."

"Detectors aren’t cheap, but if we build enough of them, considering 5 detectors, a manufacturing cost of 3 to 4 billion yuan is reasonable.

So, the total budget... 8 billion yuan."

Xiao Okada quickly summarized the expenses and threw the results to Lin Ju.

The latter then looked towards Ye Changsi and Xie Liaofu, who were thinking and calculating while listening.

The Mars mission had long been in the plan and could be implemented as scheduled. The direct financial expenditure brought about by the abrupt insertion of the Titan mission was a huge fiscal outlay for Nagasaki. With several major projects already lined up for next year, squeezing out this money was a problem.

"The Titan mission can be conducted in cooperation with the International Astronomical Union. We can earn their money, or let them invest in our plan. I lean towards the former, as it’s easier to manage.

For instance, the money we get from making engines for them, the remaining profit is almost enough to cover the unmanned exploration program."

Xie Liaofu proposed a seemingly feasible plan, but was immediately interrupted by Ye Changsi.

"No."

"Astronomical Association’s money is not easy to get. This money is collected from scientific research institutions and space agencies all over the world. It’s impossible to raise all the funds at once, four to five years is considered quick, and we don’t have that much time. It’s not doable."

For a long time, the base’s biggest clients were either oil tycoons or space agencies and the military, the latter two being generous and quick to pay. Said Ye Changsi, making everyone sober up to the fact that IAU’s money was not so easy to obtain.

Cooperation involving wide regional organizations was definitely achievable with persistent effort, but the process would be full of ups and downs. Relying on the money to be quickly accessible was unrealistic.

The meeting room fell silent again. If they couldn’t squeeze out the funds, they would have to cut from the existing plans, but the impact of delaying either the Mars project or Moon plans was significant, making the trade-offs very difficult.

After thinking for a while, Lin Ju turned to Xie Miao:

"Can the biological lab produce any results that can be monetized?"

The only two valuable assets left at the base were robotics and biotechnology, the former being more troublesome while the latter seemed promising.

"This... Give us two months, and we will have results from several derivative projects."

Xie Miao was not too flustered, as monetizing biotechnology was already in the plans.

"There are three very promising drugs. One is a product of the 404 injectable after castration, suitable for middle-aged and elderly people to use as a long-term treatment to maintain health;

The second is a by-product; we’ve always been trying to create a controlled tooth-replacement medication, but in the process of developing its companion drugs, we produced an injectable fluid that can repair gums and strongly reduce inflammation... However, this one is somewhat of a white elephant, it might take some time to popularize;

The third is a stimulant, the legal kind, derived from the 304 injectable, providing about 2 hours of high energy, with the only side effect being a continuous feeling of fatigue for 6 to 8 hours afterward, but no other adverse symptoms, harmless to human organs, no drug resistance, and the price is quite affordable, making it useful for certain purposes;

However, I don’t recommend it for athletes, if tested, abnormalities would definitely be detected."

In fact, the biological lab had many more derivative sub-projects, but most were either unresolved or faced difficulties in market application; Xie Miao picked out the best three to mention.