Chapter 698 - 678: Secret Talks

"I saw it... a big crater, a perfectly round depression."

Two hours after the explosion.

While the base bustled with discussions about GW180509, America’s third discovery of the M signal, and United Mining celebrating its first test detonation, astronauts working on lunar development were still carrying out their duties.

The Black Rabbit Space Station had already flown over the blast zone, observing the lunar surface after the explosion through a telescope.

This large Lunar Orbital Station was conveniently on the far side at the time of the nuclear blast, avoiding over 95% of the impact, suffering only a few tens of minutes of communication interruption due to the electromagnetic pulse; the rest of its functions were operating well with no anomalies detected.

However, by the time they orbited to this location, the moon dust ejected by the explosion still existed, expanding outward at a huge initial velocity.

Fortunately, the impact of such a nuclear bomb was no more than an itch to the Moon, and there was no concern about it causing any significant adverse effects.

A small amount of dust definitely hit the space station, leaving some yellowish-brown streaks.

All 12 astronauts were eagerly observing the post-explosion landmarks, which were no longer distinguishable by the naked eye at this point.

They were not only observing the effects of the test explosion but also providing navigation for Li Wei and Fu Xiangjie on the ground.

Since the GPS system had collapsed, they could only offer rough guidance through the space station.

"Can you estimate the diameter of the explosion crater, is it 100 meters?"

Li Wei was communicating with the space station while simultaneously rushing to the mining area in the T7 Lunar Rover.

He was not only on a sampling mission but also had to recover the hard drives from the monitors placed around the epicenter of the explosion.

Seven experimental devices, 12 monitors, each collecting data from their assigned unknown equipment, encrypting the data individually, awaiting transport back to Earth for analysis.

Actually, because ’Robin Hood’ was a semi-public experiment, the data from all seven experimental devices would likely be retrieved, but in the absence of knowledge about each other’s experimental objectives, the information available was quite limited.

The lunar rover departed just 5 minutes after the explosion, advancing rapidly at 45 kilometers per hour under ’Fourteen’s sensitive control, kicking up clouds of dust as it went.

’Fourteen’ was not only a powerful artificial intelligence but also familiar with nearly all the geographical environment in the surrounding hundreds of kilometers. A speed of 45 kilometers per hour was the limit for the T7, not for it.

But it would still take almost six hours to reach the mining field, and the round trip was basically a day’s time, with both astronauts prepared for emergencies.

When Li Wei arrived at the blast zone, it was already 2 a.m., and the far side of the Moon was still in lunar night, with only the super bright beam from the lunar rover’s head illuminating a fan-shaped area about 200 meters long.

The advantages of nuclear power were fully demonstrated here; an average lunar rover couldn’t travel over two hundred kilometers in one go and still have such abundant power supply.

The T7 stopped behind a small hill 5 kilometers from the epicenter, which was the first collector to be recovered.

Li Wei opened the hatch and gingerly stepped out, confirming an increase in the layer of loose soil on the surface by the depth of his footprints.

Since the Moon has no atmosphere, the terrain on the outer rim of the explosion’s core area was not significantly altered by the blast wave; rather, it was topped with a large amount of moon dust shaken over.

Only after he had carefully steadied himself did Li Wei signal over the radio for Fu Xiangjie to come down.

The newly deposited surface electrostatic microclusters were too numerous, and many of the originally non-electric lunar dust particles were also altered by radiation, causing the amount of lunar dust clinging to both the spacesuits and the lunar rover to far exceed expectations.

Ground control had anticipated this situation and instructed them not to remove their spacesuits after returning to the lunar rover. Furthermore, after completing the mission, the T7 was to be repurposed as an unmanned mission vehicle, and the spacesuits were to be discarded and not used again, which is why they were still wearing the old ’Pioneer I’ suits.

Using shovels and the powerful lights from the lunar rover, the two of them dug on a small mound. It took a long time to locate the first collector’s cable, which led them to the main unit, and as instructed, they removed the hard drive, which was covered in English labels.

"Data collection: 1/12"

After marking it on the electronic map, the two re-entered the lunar rover to head to the next location.

This time no robots participated in the mission. The Explorer series’ protection was only against the Moon’s routine surface environment, and the residual radiation from the nuclear blast was high enough to interfere with them.

In fact, the astronauts were working in danger too. Their spacesuits were not the fortified PRO chemical suits, and the characteristics of cosmic radiation were different from nuclear radiation, meaning they could not cross through the core area.

The effectiveness of using a hydrogen bomb for mining could only be measured through space observation for the time being, and it would take 72 hours before robots or astronauts could re-enter the blast center to begin excavation and sampling on site.

However, Li Wei deduced from the communications transmitted by the Black Rabbit Space Station that the explosion had been very effective, and United Mining’s bold move was completely viable.

He envisioned the supermine shafts reaching thousands of kilometers deep, bustling with diligent mining robots. Then, they would load and transport the broken ore to the Yushu Base for smelting, and from there, it would be hurled towards Earth by a lengthy electromagnetic rail.

The symbol of United Mining would follow these ores to all corners of the world, and he was among the first witnesses to the dawn of the golden age of space.

...

May 11, in the Manhattan District.

Inside the United Nations Building, the latest round of amendments to the Outer Space Treaty was being convened.

Unlike the last session, which involved all 15 members of the Security Council, this time it was a closed-door meeting of the permanent members, casting an air of greater mystery.

America still led the presentation, but Sullivan had taken over from Germani as the representative to the United Nations, prompting the other four parties to pay close attention, wary of what America might have up its sleeve.

While the public data from the test blast had already been sent back, the 12 secret hard drives were still in transit. However, the recent heated discussions within the blasting team hinted that the results were likely successful.

In such circumstances, America’s insistence on revising the Outer Space Treaty seemed all the more unusual.

Those with a keen nose had already sensed something amiss, quietly watching for the truth that was about to surface, while the only two insiders continued their silent duel.

The words Sullivan spoke this time were not much different from Germani’s last presentation, but they carried pointed messages, with occasional mentions of "certain unstable elements," "escalating tensions," and "the ultimate result of weaponizing space would undoubtedly be disastrous," among others.

The representatives of Hair, Ying, and Lu vaguely picked up on something, sensing that a significant event had occurred as their gazes shifted between Sullivan and Xu Rang, who seemed to have no interaction.

While the nation was furiously searching for the "senior spy" responsible for the premature leak of Project 210 and thunderously enraged, they also selectively revealed a bit of the truth about America’s unusual activity to Xu Rang.

Xu Rang was shocked by the astonishing level of the leak but was simultaneously excited about the technology his country held.

If it was really that kind of thing, America’s frustrated yet careful avoidance of making it explicit was entirely understandable; feigning ignorance was nurturing a problem, but pointing it out could severely impact the situation.

Xu Rang easily understood the stance he should take, so he remained quite composed and serene, appearing deeply interested in the discussions about world peace.