Chapter 675 - 656 Fast Forward

"March officially completed the 14-day continuous full-state test, continually raising to a 0.3G standard gravity."

"India’s first two astronauts will enter space aboard the ’Gaganyaan-3’ in 10 days."

"SS-5 launch postponed to April 25, Musk: it will be successfully put into orbit as planned."

"Artemis IV crew safely returned, setting a new record of 17 days of activity on the Moon’s surface."

"Chiwu No. 3 will undergo phase two testing and perform technical verification for the Rongcheng Space Power Station"

"..."

Pentagon, Office Thirteen.

David Ussnor entered the office and, as usual, began by checking the latest space news.

It was March 22, nearly three months since the establishment of Office Thirteen, and operations had stabilized.

Bluntly put, the value of the existing information had been almost entirely extracted. Until new developments were discovered, the work of Office Thirteen was to bury their heads in making all kinds of contingency plans and occasionally deal with those elites with grave expressions.

As time passed, the upper echelons’ panic over aliens had diminished quite a bit, and some of their focus had shifted back to Earth.

The Aerospace Development Committee was busy, with March already having undergone over 20 days of testing, running at a maximum speed of two rotations per minute for 14 days, and it was set to continue. It might reach one or even two months before stopping.

The outside world’s understanding of March was also growing, for example, its maximum rotation speed was actually more than two rotations per minute.

Two rotations per minute took into account the need for astronauts to move normally within the cabin, observe the outside without causing noticeable dizziness or other uncomfortable sensations, which is the maximum rotational speed they could tolerate.

In reality, March’s structure allowed it to reach five rotations per minute while maintaining a 100% safety margin.

In actual operation, it could run safely at three to 3.5 rotations per minute, generating 0.6G to 0.85G of gravity, nearly matching the standard gravity.

In this gravity environment, normal activities of astronauts would be affected, but if they were lying in specialized sleeping pods to strengthen bones and muscles during sleep, it was quite appropriate and could reduce the time astronauts needed to maintain their physical condition during long flights.

In fact, if the rotation speed were increased to 3.8 turns per minute, it could simulate a 0.98G standard gravity, nearly identical to Earth’s. However, at this speed, even in a sleeping state, the body would begin to be affected, so 3.5 turns per minute was considered the limit.

In NACA’s view, this was almost the gravity space station they would need in the future: sturdy enough, with adjustable gravity, and plenty of living space.

The method of connecting several starships head-to-head to rotate might be crude, but the actual comfortable area was limited, and for long-term survival, it was less effective than March.

However, David felt that was a minor issue. After all, he only needed to build an entire line of deep space outposts to defend against aliens. As for lowering astronauts’ living standards slightly, it was not an issue worth considering.

As an enthusiastic alien enthusiast, he was fully convinced that the M incident was the work of aliens and was striving to find possible traces.

And to obtain subsequent evidence, the Moon nuclear test was a point of great interest for Office Thirteen.

If signals disguised as normal were detected after the nuclear explosion, then the "energy threat" theory would be officially established. Otherwise, a serious question mark would need to be placed, at the very least finding other possible reasons.

David also had the authority to learn about the progress of the Moon’s first nuclear test. To avoid any interference, they did not intervene, and the current confirmed date for the experiment was May 9, with the Skylight IV detection mission to be carried out before that.

A 1.5 million ton yield was neither too large nor too small and was just right regardless of the purpose.

"Mr. Usno, the Hound group has brought in some valuable intelligence!"

The assistant suddenly knocked on the door. David was initially a bit upset, but his interest piqued when he heard it was about the "Hound" group’s business.

The Hound group was directed by the CIA and was responsible for screening sensitive content on Earth related to aliens, and they would also bring in content they deemed useful.

This time what they brought was open-channel information, with the Hound group indicating in their report that they were attempting to probe the confidential contents. The content was:

The Aerospace Development Committee has officially approved a deep-space detection plan and will carry out detection plans for Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn in one go this year, with a total of over 500 tons of spacecraft to be launched within a few months!

...

The day before, Capital.

The Deep Space Exploration Plan research group was formed after John’s annual speech on January 15 and had been conducting sporadic research over the past two months. They were about to make the final decision that night.

While waiting for others to arrive, Lin Ju pulled out a bottle of "An Shenduo" from his pocket and downed it in one gulp. He instantly went from yawning to being full of energy, and his whole demeanor changed.

These days, with a mix of things to handle like March, NPAE, Saturn detection, even he, as a hands-off manager, was busy beyond measure.

Zhong Cheng watched Lin Ju misuse the unapproved stimulant once again, sighed, took out a vial from his pocket, exchanged glances with others doing the same, and shared an understanding smile.

With Lin Ju taking the lead, the frequently sleep-deprived members of the Aerospace Development Committee quickly adopted and fell in love with "An Shenduo", especially using it before sleep to process work efficiently and still get a good night’s sleep.

However, the downside was the need to control work time to not exceed two hours, as fatigue would quickly set in afterward.

After everyone took their dose of An Shenduo and rejuvenated, the research group began to share their views.

"...Propulsion is very important, whether to use conventional or nuclear propulsion will directly determine the entire direction and significance of the plan."

"Propulsion isn’t an issue. I still believe this is a smoke bomb from NACA, too costly and too lengthy. It’s impossible in a 10-year time frame."

"Competition aside, deep space detection is something we’ll have to start sooner or later. It’s enough to focus on these at the early stage."

"..."

After multiple preliminary meetings, there was a consensus that without a clear picture of America’s direction, they should conservatively begin with unmanned exploration.

The debates were mostly about later stages, and arguing more fiercely was of limited significance.

In reality, New Yuan’s Saturn detection plan was already taking shape. The Typhoon combination body alone was intimidating at 300 tons, plus Zhu Rong, totaling 500 tons with four Tianwen projects confirmed. This already instilled confidence.

Zhong Cheng didn’t engage much in the discussion. His report was already a thick stack. The Deep Space Detection Plan had long been expanded within the aerospace sector, and submitting the final report was just a formal confirmation.

The highly efficient closing meeting only lasted an hour and a half before hastily concluding. Zhong Cheng spoke briefly and adjourned the meeting.

Compared to matters billions of kilometers away, he was more concerned about March, which had nearly consumed all the efforts of the Aerospace Development Committee.