Chapter 666 - 647 NSS

"F**k, this is absolutely the most expensive gadget in history."

John looked at the "good news" just submitted by NACA and kept grumbling to Sullivan beside him.

It had been a month since the A105 nuclear engine was transported to Boeing’s Seattle Factory, and finally, there was good news.

After the relentless efforts of a team of more than 200 people, the A105 engine had successfully been combined with the refurbished space shuttle.

Just three hours ago, the nuclear engine had powered the space shuttle uninterrupted for the first time, with expectations to complete all necessary adjustments and safety tests by April, and to execute a manned launch mission between May and June.

It’s worth mentioning the installation process of the A105 engine, which had to be fully tested at the test site before being transported to the factory for final assembly, and once it began running, it wouldn’t stop burning until the projected 10-year scrap deadline.

To save on volume and precious weight, the A105’s reactor not only used higher concentration nuclear fuel but also had a non-replaceable design, yet NACA was confident in extracting the full value of one expensive engine within 10 years.

The engine’s safety when not in operation was also confirmed; the A105’s regular radiation levels were below normal, and there had been no safety incidents.

The FATS plan seemed to be going very smoothly, but the current cost estimate—a staggering 9.97 billion US dollars—was a sore point.

Including the cost of manpower required for refurbishment and modification of the Endeavour, as well as the re-development of parts, plus the price of one A105 engine, the funds dedicated solely to the nuclear propulsion transformation of the space shuttle were nearing an unfathomable 10 billion US dollars, far exceeding the initial budget of 3 billion US dollars.

What was more frustrating was the issue of launch. The SLS rocket couldn’t launch the space shuttle, and new tanks had to be manufactured, with the overall expense for the Endeavour’s maiden launch projected to reach 11.5 billion US dollars.

Even though most of these costs were devoted to R&D, mass production could significantly reduce them by spreading the costs, but the rockets for launching the space shuttles weren’t reusable at the moment, and NACA was unwilling to accept the originally exorbitant quotes, with Boeing looking for alternative ways to launch the space shuttles.

John’s head ached upon seeing those dizzying cost estimates—even though the space budget was expected to receive unfettered support due to the M event, this didn’t mean he could spend the finances without concern.

If he didn’t handle it well and aroused public indignation, he was likely to be made the scapegoat, and this wasn’t just pure paranoia.

He hoped Sullivan could come up with some solution, but to his surprise, Sullivan said,

"Sir, the Endeavour isn’t the most expensive one. Once the Discovery and Atlantis Number have completed their transformations, the cost will drop to 5 billion US dollars each. However, there’s something else where just the material costs will exceed 10 billion US dollars."

"Ha, is the Navy asking for additional nuclear submarines or aircraft carriers? Dammit, haven’t we discussed this before?"

"No, it’s not that."

John pointed to a stack of documents he had brought:

"DARPA, The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, has officially decided to invest in the development of the nuclear-powered Starship Spacecraft due to the success of the A105, with the project name being NSS (Nuclear StarShip), just waiting for approval from Congress and you."

John had been aware of DARPA’s plans to develop a nuclear-powered Starship for some time, but due to the Starship’s several launch failures and problems with the JFT’s progress, it seemed far off.

After the failure of Starship SN25, Musk had promised that the fifth launch would definitely reach orbit, and with JFT delivering a functional nuclear engine to the Endeavour, DARPA had finally decided to embark on the NSS program.

Of course, the M event played a part in this decision too; deep space travel required a large nuclear-powered spacecraft like the NSS, it was only a matter of time.

The NSS would be equipped not with an A105 engine, but with a "Phoebus 5" nuclear engine based on the redesign of "Phoebus 2A," with its thrust increased from 97 to 110 tons and specific impulse elevated to 910 seconds.

The NSS is expected to use 9 "Apollo 5" engines, with a total thrust of 1000 tons, and a take-off mass on par with the Starship.

Even without the horrendous yet unknown R&D costs, just the 9 high-thrust nuclear engines alone are enough to grasp the high costs involved, with 10 billion US dollars being an optimistic estimate.

The entire NSS project required a starting budget of 30 billion US dollars, ultimately needing to build 10 to 20 NSS spacecraft, all of which must be completed before embarking on deep space construction.

When John saw this rough plan, his heart almost stopped. He had thought that the "Constellation" program was at most an enhanced version of the "God of War Ares", but only now did he realize the sheer scale of the difference.

To outsiders, the somewhat fantastical "Constellation" plan is exactly the limit of what NACA could imagine being achievable based on reality, but it definitely requires a mad, continuous investment, and now its ferocity is beginning to show.

There was no way to allocate such an amount of money from normal fiscal expenditures; only by incurring (printing) debt (money) could the necessary funds be provided.

And speaking of incurring debt, Sullivan brought the latest news from the Federal Reserve:

"...according to the needs of Office Thirteen, the Federal Reserve believes that it is necessary to raise the national debt ceiling by another 50% and continue to expand the issuance scale to maintain interest rate hikes."

How does the Federal Government obtain funds through printing money? Of course it’s not by printing it out and spending it directly, but rather by the Federation issuing national debt, then buying its own debt with printed money, indirectly acquiring the funds from an increase in the money supply.

Last March, which is about a year ago, the federal national debt was 20 trillion US dollars. After several hikes in interest rates and adjustments, it had expanded to 23.5 trillion. The Federal Reserve is planning to increase this to 30 trillion over the next year and reach 40 trillion by the year 2020.

This would greatly alleviate the dire straits of federal finances and just barely keep pace with the snowballing space program.

Continuing issuance of money will peak in the 2030s, at which time they will face two outcomes:

Either ignite an extraterrestrial crisis to shake off the mess and re-establish order, or have the market refuse to pay, leading to a global financial collapse that ultimately results in war.

Either outcome would be acceptable, as the anticipated scenarios could hardly be any better than that.

With these thoughts, John actually felt grateful that he would retire before the snowball exploded; otherwise, his historical evaluation might be quite terrible.

Feeling thankful, he suddenly thought of something and asked Sullivan:

"Jack, how are the Chinese People’s financial conditions? Their situation shouldn’t be too good either, right?"

Sullivan: "Just wait a bit, they are about to publish their annual report too. However, according to some of my economist friends, they have noticed something very interesting."

"What is it?"

"Their military expenditure as a percentage of GDP has always hovered around 1.5%, never exceeding 2%. But according to think tank findings, they’ve added a lot of substantial expenses in 2017, and this number might go up to 2.2%.

Additionally, it seems XAP is still receiving significant investments from their military, and experts predict it may rise to 2.5% or even higher this year."

"That much? Are they trying to overturn the world?"

"It’s hard to define, but looking at the technology they’ve displayed during festivals, they are indeed close to achieving that."

"I know, it’s wireless power transmission, damn it, when will my artificial moon be able to shine on America’s night sky!"