Chapter 627 - 613: Turning Point

"Central time, December 25th at 13:00, Artemis III astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, and TIANMU-3 astronauts Deng Lei and Li Lei met at the edge of the impact crater."

This was a moment of great historical significance, as two hands, having traversed 380,000 kilometers from two directions on Earth, clasped together...

...CNN continues to bring you coverage, please stay tuned..."

Musk watched with interest the footage broadcast on the television program, which was the recording of the first meeting between the two moon landing teams from yesterday.

Both parties had clearly communicated beforehand, each sending out only two astronauts, one of whom played the role of the cameraman, agreeing to meet halfway between the two landing sites, exchange communication channels and gifts, and express their greetings.

On television, Victor and Deng Lei’s images were strikingly different. NACA’s semi-rigid spacesuit looked like a tall, thin potato sprouting four thick limbs, while the "Pioneer I" was slim and toned, with exposed composite material skeletons attached to the exterior that made it look very sci-fi.

One visibly clumsy, the other looking cool like a mecha warrior.

However, the exchange between the two was harmonious; Victor gave a lander model, while Deng Lei’s return gift was a multifunctional geological hammer.

In the end, they even took each other’s lunar rovers for a test drive before bidding farewell due to time constraints and returning.

The media’s evaluation of this meeting was quite good, and John’s spokesperson also mentioned it briefly, seemingly not keen on sensationalizing the event too much.

Overall though, compared to the confrontational attitude of the past two years, the current situation has relaxed significantly.

However, just as he was thinking this, his chief assistant Scott appeared at the door, knocking on the open door.

"Boss, NACA has placed a new order with us."

Scott handed Musk the tablet; SpaceX was making strides toward paperless offices.

The official propaganda claimed it was for environmental protection, but in reality, it was an idea he had copied from New Yuan.

Although XAP’s actions are somewhat secretive, being at the forefront of the aerospace industry, every move they make has a significant impact.

The most attractive of these were their implementation of unmanned factories, complete system computer operation, and paperless offices, which later space enterprises also frantically emulated, with Sky Fork being one of the most enthusiastic followers.

XAP’s radical use of AI to control everything sounded crazy but was right up Musk’s alley; he just didn’t trust the backdoors in servers and had no intention of going to such extremes.

He quickly read the content on the tablet, a look of surprise appearing on his face, along with a trace of puzzlement.

NACA had decided to accelerate the God of War Ares program, soliciting new proposals from major space enterprises, requiring preferably a manned Mars spacecraft launch by mid-2020, or at worst in the third quarter of 2022, though barely acceptable, all with the intent of landing on Mars as soon as possible.

Leaving aside the feasibility of these two ambitious goals, NACA had decided, even before any official plan was put forward, to triple the purchase of Super Heavy Boosters from 5 to 15 and to voluntarily raise the price of the additional 5 to 300 million US dollars each, demanding delivery of all before mid-2019.

With SpaceX’s production capabilities, delivering the remaining 12 boosters wouldn’t be much of an issue, but nearly 400 Raptor engines would take up the majority of the production capacity. However, with NACA adding an order worth 3 billion US dollars, ramping up production would be a breeze.

Yet Musk was shocked by NACA’s attitude. They must be well aware of the difficulties in landing on Mars. He had been boasting about landing on Mars by 2020 and establishing a Mars base by 2026, but NACA seemed to be intent on making this vision a reality!

To complete a manned Mars mission in two and a half years was, in his view, purely a race against the Chinese for the first place, with even higher risks than the moon race!

Wasn’t the lesson from the failure six months ago enough? Since then, the entire NACA had become more cautious and careful with its actions, and even the President couldn’t intervene forcefully, since the consequences could involve the lives of astronauts.

This sudden change definitely had to be unusual, and battling for the first place seemed unlikely.

"Boss, boss?"

Scott snapped Musk out of his reverie, reminding him:

"Vice President Muller is asking for you to come over as soon as possible, he’s already preparing to ramp up production."

"Of course... Scott, give me a rundown of the current situation."

...

Base B.

As soon as An Maowei and Edwin van Dishoeck got out of their car, they saw Lin Ju and immediately went forward to shake hands, expressing their joy.

"Boss Lin, I’ve long admired your name!"

"Thank you, I never expected to meet you in person."

An Maowei was the vice-chairman of the China Astronomical Society and Commission 41 of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Edwin was the chairman of Commission 16 and a vice-chairman of the IAU. They had come specifically for the deep space exploration program.

"The chairman of Commission 16 is currently attending an academic conference in Sweden, but he will soon visit along with IAU President Debra Elmgren."

An Maowei added apologetically, although Lin Ju obviously didn’t mind and was very enthusiastic.

"You big scientists must be very busy, engaging in endeavors beneficial to all mankind. We should be supporting you instead.

Please, let’s go over there for a detailed discussion."

The Astronomical Association’s actions were faster than Lin Ju had imagined, or perhaps they were prepared in advance, but in any case, it was a delightful development."