At Coro Island Airport, Jiang Chen met one of the greatest physicists of modern times, the professor in a wheelchair – Hawking.
However, his appearance at the moment was different from the widely circulated picture of "Hawking Paralyzed" on the Internet. He was in a wheelchair pushed by his assistant, and on his head was a Phantom helmet produced by Future Technology.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. Jiang Chen. I don't know if you have a way to make a small gap in the helmet? Wearing a helmet and using electronic sound synthesis tools makes me feel a lot better. The doctor even said I can live for two more years, but then I won't be able to see anything. "
Hearing this, Jiang Chen paused for a second, then laughed.
"I'll let my technicians study this problem. It shouldn't be difficult."
"Thank you very much," the electronic voice replied.
Considering Hawking's influence in the scientific community, Jiang Chen did not refuse his request to visit the space launch center. In a sense, he was more representative of the world's academic community than the researchers sent by NASA.
Of course, he still had a sense of what could be shown and what could not be shown.
They took a boat to the island where the launch center was located. The bodyguard of Celestial Trade took over the position of his assistant and pushed the wheelchair next to Jiang Chen.
"This is our launch site. Celestial 4 will take off from here. That side is used to launch other types of rockets. We have been quite active in space recently. Basically, there is a launch mission every other week." Jiang Chen introduced and took him into the launch center.
"An enviable budget," Hawking exclaimed.
"Because I'm not spending taxpayers' money, but my own money." Jiang Chen laughed.
Inside the launch center, Calvin greeted them and took the three to the ground command center responsible for the colony of Lunar City. There, more than fifty staff members were busy dealing with the work at hand in front of computers.
Hawking asked the person who pushed his wheelchair to take off his helmet. He didn't want to talk at this time. He just wanted to see what the place looked like.
Kelvin came to a computer and pressed a few buttons on the touch screen. Soon, a holographic image was projected in front of everyone. The image transmitted through the holographic screen was from Guanghan City 384,400 kilometers away.
"This is the colony of Lunar City. What can I do for you, Mr. Commander?" An astronaut appeared in the camera and asked Calvin.
"Report the status of the colony."
"Alright, please wait a moment …"
After listening to the astronaut's report on the colony's oxygen, drinking water, and collection of lunar soil, with the help of Celestial Trade bodyguards, Hawking put on the Phantom helmet again and expressed his heartfelt emotions.
"I saw the future."
"I'm honored to receive this honor." Jiang Chen smiled.
After a pause, Hawking continued to speak.
"Humans can't put all their eggs in one basket, so they can't bet on one planet. I said this a long time ago, but unfortunately neither the British nor the American government took it seriously. It's always better to spend taxpayers' money in Iraq than in space with no future, even if it's clear to everyone that the future is out there. History is always strikingly similar, Columbus had also lobbied England, France, Italy and Portugal. Strangely enough, the Icarus Paradox doesn't just apply to corporations, it also applies to superpowers. "
"But the person standing in front of you is a great entrepreneur." Jiang Chen laughed.
"But you're still very young, and it's always good to be young." Hawking used the synthesized electronic voice to say something unclear.
Jiang Chen couldn't stay here all the time. There was still a meeting on VRcity waiting for him to host in the afternoon. After handing over the exchange visit to Calvin, Jiang Chen was about to leave the space launch center, but at this moment, his eyes suddenly fell on Hawking's wheelchair.
"What's the matter?"
Hawking, who had already taken off his helmet, tapped on the keyboard on the armrest, and asked Jiang Chen in an electronic voice.
"Something." Jiang Chen nodded and looked at the old man with a smile. "I have a proposal. I don't know if you're interested."
…
At this moment, in the District of Columbia, a special hearing was being held in the Capitol.
"… We must restart the Apollo program immediately! Celestial Trade has begun to colonize the Moon. We led the world in moon landing for more than half a century, but now we are behind them. For the UA people, this is unacceptable! "
In front of the hearing stand, NASA Secretary Charles Bolden spoke passionately to the hearing members and tried to persuade them to restart the Apollo program. However, the members in the hearing stand showed a lack of interest. Some turned their pens, some looked at Bolden with raised eyebrows, and some simply turned to the next page of the document.
Since 1972, NASA's budget had not been increased. Instead, it was cut by about 75% and maintained for more than 40 years. Unlike during the Kennedy era, NASA didn't need to go through so much trouble to apply for a budget. They only needed to use one sentence – "The Soviets are also doing it!" A large budget would be approved immediately.
Now, the president had agreed that as long as Congress was willing to allocate the budget, the Apollo program would be restarted. However, what made Bolden feel desperate was that Congress was not interested in the unclaimed land 384400 kilometers away.
"Unacceptable to the UA people? Why do I feel that there are a lot of people signing up to be Celestial Trade astronauts? "A member asked with a smile.
"Do you think this is correct?" Bolden asked rhetorically.
"It's not correct or not." The member sitting in the middle pointed to the notebook with a pen. "I need you to tell me, what visible benefits can the Apollo program bring us? In addition to boosting national confidence? "
Bolden was speechless, and he squeezed out a sentence after a long while.
"… Not all benefits can be seen."
Several members looked at each other and smiled. The member sitting at the head of the table shrugged.
"But only visible benefits can convince taxpayers to fork out the money."
After the hearing, Bolden returned to NASA's office and slammed the prepared documents on the table.
"Congress is discussing raising the budget for the research and development of new anti-missile systems and anti-EMP weapons. This is a more urgent issue. Our chances of persuading them are almost zero." The assistant walked in the door and closed the door.
"What does Hill mean?" Bolden said angrily.
"She may just be drawing a pie for us." The assistant smiled bitterly.
But at this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open, and a NASA clerk came in and placed a newspaper on the desk.
"Look at this! And this! "
Bolden took the newspaper with a frown. When he saw the words circled in red, his eyes suddenly popped out.
They actually!
Wait!
At this moment, his eyes lit up. He put away the newspaper and immediately walked out the door.
"Where are you going?"
"The Capitol! Our opportunity is here! "
Leaving the two dumbfounded people, Bolden disappeared at the door.
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