Chapter 804 - 758 Send Humans Away

— 7 days after Firefly-1 went missing, October 23rd.

The entire world was still in the throes of the unexpected conflict that had occurred seven days earlier, which had temporarily pushed space travel out of the mainstream spotlight.

Lightning Night had come quickly and gone even quicker, with the critical events lasting less than 10 hours, but the consequences couldn’t be ignored.

The conflicting parties were still openly generating friction over interests, and others couldn’t keep to themselves; the frequency of receptions in Manhattan even increased several notches.

The foreign media called this incident possibly the most important turning point of the 21st century, yet the most central figures in this world didn’t care about it at all.

...

"All of MRO’s photographic records are here, there’s nothing on the photos."

Jim, with swollen eyes, wiped his face and slumped down on the edge of a cart piled with files, looking like a listless assembly line worker who had just finished a night shift.

This was his third night at China’s National Space Administration, and in the past 48 hours, Jim had barely rested for more than an hour consecutively.

Although the old director, Robert, had been arrested after resolving the Artemis crisis, tying up the loose ends was anything but easy. Jim, acting as the interim head, had taken on the pressure from all sides on behalf of NACA.

The commander of the Pacific Fleet now wished he could take a rocket to NACA to strangle every "suit-wearing bastard," and then go after John with an M1911, wanting him to explain how this big mirror had gotten them into such a terrible mess.

Before Jim could sort out these irritating issues, news of Firefly-1’s disappearance came.

To NACA, the loss of communication with a probe wasn’t that strange.

It was China’s first Mars lander, and it was a very aggressive design, so an accident was not hard to understand.

But the timing was terrible, clashing with aliens, which made the problem quite serious.

The Aerospace Development Committee unusually "frankly" opened up a lot of the design ideas and specific system components of Firefly-1, allowing NACA to participate in troubleshooting.

But the problem only worsened with deeper research. NACA not only reviewed the documentation but also studied Firefly-1’s prototype ground model in the Capital; the design and craftsmanship were excellent.

Their conclusion was the same as that of the Aerospace Development Committee, that even if the communication system was down, the independently functioning AI should be able to draw an SOS in the dirt, instead of being unresponsive like a crashed computer.

The "Departing Fire" probe continued to send back a lot of satellite imagery and meteorological data from around Firefly-1. There were no accidental factors like strong winds, nor any traces of unidentified objects moving.

Even NACA reluctantly used MRO’s precious fuel to slightly alter its orbit to capture high-angle photos of Firefly-1, none of which showed anything unusual.

The latest developments on Mars were constantly reported to leadership on both sides, who paid close attention. John, harangued by the Senators to the point of impatience, maintained an expressionless face and was even planning whether to enter a wartime state.

This was not an overreaction; it was an extremely serious crisis response.

The Aerospace Development Committee was also incredibly busy. They had tried almost everything, but Firefly-1 remained unresponsive. If not for the satellite showing it was still in place, they might have thought it had disappeared.

Lin Ju glanced at the somewhat listless Jim, and many NACA senior officials were also present. For over 100 hours, two super space organizations had given their all without any reservation. If not for the harsh reality, it might have been somewhat inspiring.

Including him, more than 50 domestic and international experts were eerily quiet, either standing or sitting scattered around the makeshift command center.

"We need to take the initiative."

Zhong Cheng seemed to be in a slightly better state, but only relatively. As soon as he spoke, the pungent smell of smoke hit the air, who knows how many of the cigarette butts outside in the hallway were his doing.

His military background kept him rational, and he wasn’t going to continue waiting:

"Tianwen-2 and Tianwen-3 landers prepare to land immediately; Tianwen-4 and Tianwen-5 should get ready. Passive waiting will only make us more passive."

Lin Ju: "What if they lose contact too?"

"Then we’ll try to land in other areas. NACA’s several probes are still functioning, indicating that not all of Mars is affected.

If the probes can’t stay there—"

"Then let the humans go there."

Jim added the last sentence for Zhong Cheng, having learned some Chinese, but this phrase came out involuntarily.

The assistant-cum-interpreter only then realized and continued translating Jim’s words:

"I think we should start training the astronauts for landing on Mars right now, it’s not a bit too soon."

Zhong Cheng nodded.

No matter the outcome of Tianwen-2 and Tianwen-3, landing on Mars was already urgent.

...

Xinghuan Laboratory.

A convoy bearing the insignia of the space agency stopped, the lead vehicle handed over the access paperwork to the guard, who carefully checked each car, and then called over his colleague to remove the barricades.

"Professor Ai, Professor Fu, welcome."

Cheng Nankai and the two core visiting figures shook hands one by one, and after brief pleasantries, he led them straight to their destination for the day.

The group of seven or eight people took the elevator down to the second basement level, Fu Mingdong, eyeing the large size of the elevator, immediately understood why as the doors opened.

God knows when New Yuan had excavated such a deep basement; it didn’t feel the least bit cramped down there, in fact, it seemed even more spacious than above ground.

Cheng Nankai led the way at the front, occasionally looking back to give brief explanations:

"This place has just been put into use and is still a bit rough around the edges, but the facilities are all in place. The data we—no, you—need is all here."

As they talked, several busy researchers hastened past them. Along the corridors, unsorted files and office supplies could be seen, all for the local staff to organize.

Though the environment evidenced unavoidable simplicity, Fu Mingdong almost immediately sensed the unique mission here and decisively said:

"Chief Cheng... Director Cheng, the conditions here are good, we can start work today."

"Oh, there’s no need to be in such a hurry, you can first take a look at some of our research results, and also..."

Fu Mingdong knew what he wanted to say, but right now, he didn’t care.

The research institute had just received an urgent assignment: to develop a nuclear weapon with a yield of more than one hundred million tons.

Is one hundred million tons a challenge for a hydrogen bomb? Actually, not really; the Tsar Bomba’s original design could do it. This was an engineering issue; the researchers thought they could replicate it without much problem.

But another specification came with the task: the weight of a single bomb should not exceed one ton, ideally a few hundred kilograms, and radiation should be the main method of destruction.

A traditional three-stage bomb definitely would not meet this specification. Or rather, this task was proposed in response to the latest results in nuclear fusion, demanding the use of a Yu Min-Fu Mingdong configuration’s Helium-3 and deuterium fusion scheme to design a brand new fusion bomb.

Along with the task came additional information, indicating that the main application prospect lay in space, necessitating an increase in the killing range as much as possible and demanding the bomb be very sturdy to cope with harsh environments.

The situation was urgent; Fu Mingdong understood this the moment he received the assignment. They had not only pulled together the best of the nuclear fusion team but also, unprecedentedly, demanded a joint effort with Xinghuan Laboratory, under New Yuan’s management.

After all, when it came to data from several nuclear explosions, New Yuan surely had the expertise, as well as the genius scientists and the reputedly supremely powerful computers for support.

"Perhaps the notice you received did not mention, of course, we also haven’t... but still, I want to say, it would be best if we could complete the development within a year."

Cheng Nankai evidently knew a bit more, trying as much as possible to underscore the seriousness of the matter:

"This is when the new gas diffusion plant’s construction and setup are expected to be finished. Lots of this model will be produced; we have to find a way to achieve our goal before then."

"..."

It’s not the Yankees.

Fu Mingdong thought silently to himself, feeling an even heavier weight on his shoulders.

"No problem, I think this period will also provide a lot of help to EAST."