Chapter 645 - 629: Mount Everest

Domestic opposition was not beyond expectation; even the temptation of an improvement in integrated performance by more than three times did nothing to help the situation.

After all, even those crazy nuclear-powered cruise missile plans during the Cold War era were ultimately not tested widely due to various reasons. Under such a premise, launching nuclear-powered vehicles was bound to face unanimous condemnation from around the world.

Therefore, even the flight permit for the XN90 was being waited out to see the final test results of NPAE.

"Let’s start with the plan. As long as NPAE begins testing, everything will start looking up... By the way, have you thought of a code name for it?"

Whether it’s NPAE or XN90, these were only the initial model names used internally in the project. The real name would not be decided until the early stages of finalization, and it seemed that time had almost come.

Ye Changsi said, "Engines have always been named after famous mountains. Let’s call it... Mount Everest, NPAE ’Mount Everest.’ As for XN90, following the precedent set by Chapter 9, we could actually name it the Qian Xuesen, but that carries too much significance and might not be easy to decide on. We could avoid using a person’s name; there are plenty of other meaningful names, but we still need to choose carefully."

Lin Ju said, "I think Guo Rongcheng sounds very nice."

"No no no, I still..."

Ye Changsi hastily shook his head, about to refuse, but was interrupted by an astonished and excited voice:

"Look at the TV. John is giving his inauguration anniversary speech!"

The newcomer was Xiao Okada, standing at the door, out of breath, his face brimming with unstoppable laughter.

John’s inauguration anniversary speech?

Both Lin Ju and Ye Changsi saw the perplexed look in each other’s eyes, and the latter turned to Xiao Okada to ask:

"What did he say? Has something good happened?"

"You’ll know when you see it!"

Xiao Okada handed over a tablet, and the rest of them gathered around curiously. It was playing a recording of the speech being broadcast by CGTN, with Chinese subtitles below.

Xiao Okada fast-forwarded to the climax and pressed play, and immediately, an animated old man appeared on the screen:

"...Citizens, the 20th century was the century of the Moon, but the 21st century will not be the century of Mars!

As I have said, humanity’s future is not on the Moon or Mars. We have made a decision: within the next decade, to set foot on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn and, in our following plans, to proceed towards Neptune at the edge of the Solar System.

Our first target is Jupiter II. The distance to it is five times that from Earth to the Sun, fifteen times the distance from Earth to Mars, and two thousand times the farthest distance humans have ever traveled in the universe.

Some say this is impossible, but over a hundred years ago, they also did not believe humans could fly into the sky, that we could reach space, that we could land on the Moon.

If you ask me why we do this, I will tell you: humanity will always conquer the highest peaks.

We say that within the next decade, we will land on Jupiter II as a stepping stone to venture further and before the 2050s of the 21st century, fly out of the Solar System!"

"..."

"..."

Although aware that America had been led astray by an alien signal, Lin Ju was nevertheless shocked by their decision.

Reaching the moons of Jupiter and Saturn within a decade wasn’t entirely impossible considering NACA’s current state, but the investment would certainly be much more terrifying than the Apollo program, and John had the audacity... Was scaring oneself that horrible?

He looked around at the rest of them, gathering expressions of bewilderment from their faces.

"This..."

Ye Changsi took a moment to organize his thoughts before speaking uncertainly,

"Did he say this himself, or has NACA established it...?"

"It’s official, it’s true."

Xiao Okada immediately added:

"I saw NACA’s tweet. They have already named it the ’Constellation’ program. The landing missions for the two moons are named after them, they’re really going for it!"

Wu Yunfeng exclaimed "Wow" then immediately realized:

"Does that mean our space agency will also have to..."

Xiao Okada said, "Definitely! Now we don’t need to worry about funding issues. Thank heavens, it’s a blessing in disguise!"

Wu Yunfeng said, "I still feel it’s a bit surreal."

"You all underestimate the environment of conspiracy theories in America. Even the higher-ups can’t avoid being influenced by it."

Lin Ju, however, was the quickest to accept reality. After all, this wasn’t the first major shift in the world line - at least not a voyage to the Sun.

Five months ago, the Third World War alarm caused by "Xuehu" had already demonstrated how strong America’s conspiracy theory atmosphere was, even leading to a stock market crash.

Keep in mind that John had tweeted in 2015 that "If the Dow Jones index falls more than 1000 points in a single day, the sitting president should be stuffed into a cannon and shot towards the Sun at high speed," hence he became known as "the first person to ascend to the Sun."

So, given their confirmation of "non-human phenomena," such actions didn’t seem strange at all.

"For now, let’s pretend we’re unaware and ask for the opinions of the space agency... And prepare a contingency plan to see how quickly NACA could land on Jupiter II, the ideal situation, that is."

The scientists immediately understood his intention - it was about funding!

Xiao Okada remarked, "I do have an idea. It seems NACA has already manufactured their first mass-produced nuclear engine."

...

Capital.

John gave his speech at the beginning of January 21st, Beijing time, and Lin Ju flew to the Capital immediately to participate in an emergency meeting of the Aerospace Development Committee on January 22nd.

When he opened the door to the meeting room, everyone else was already seated, and from the notes on their notepads, it was clear that part of the discussion had already begun.

Academician She had been giving him a strange look since he walked in, as if pondering something.

Zhong Cheng had been frowning all along, relaxed slightly when he saw Lin Ju but then immediately returned to his concerned state, simply saying "Sit down quickly."

Once everyone was assembled, Zhong Cheng wasted no time and went straight to the point:

"America is planning to land on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. How should we view this?"

"It’s a strategic deception, we cannot be fooled!"

No sooner had the speech ended than someone confidently responded:

"I know everyone is very confident in our current capabilities, and technically, it’s possible for us. But has anyone considered how much investment it would take? How much more difficult would logistics support become?

A single manned landing mission would represent at least ten preparatory missions. Although we have nuclear power, surely we can’t use nuclear engines for everything? One mission would take several years; ten years is simply not enough, or if it is, it’s only theoretical.

This is essentially a repeat of the Star Wars program. If one were to say that landing on Mars is still feasible, this so-called ’Constellation’ program is utter nonsense."

The voice was very determined, yet to Lin Ju’s surprise, there wasn’t the anticipated agreement from the crowd. Instead, most were just crossing their arms and watching.

After listening to the first person, Zhong Cheng simply nodded and continued:

"Any other opinions? Shall we continue the discussion?"