Beijing.
A press conference was held at the press office.
A press spokesperson in a formal suit stood in front of the cameras and announced in a clear and solemn voice.
"… Considering the eagerness of the international community, the leadership of our side has decided, after deliberation, to open the application channel for the Tinder Plan at the end of this month. We welcome the international community to participate in the great cause that concerns Earth and the future of mankind.
The moment the spokesperson finished speaking, a surprised voice spread throughout the press conference.
Open the 'Garden' program to the international community?
Why is the script a bit different from what we expected?
Prior to this, the vast majority of the international media portrayed the so-called "Garden" project as China paving the way for space colonization, and the related research was naturally conducted in a non-public manner. However, they didn't expect China to generously open the threshold to the international community to participate in the "Garden" project.
As long as one had a professional level or above, they could submit an application to the department responsible for the project. After receiving approval, they could participate in the research project.
The 1.5 billion yuan investment was equivalent to more than 200 million USD. For most natural science researchers who lacked funding, China's support for this program was quite attractive.
Just like Lu Zhou expected, after the Ministry of Science and Technology opened up the participation threshold for the "Garden" project, all kinds of research applications came from all over the world. Because the number of applications was too large, in order to process these applications faster, the Ministry of Science and Technology established a special department to assist the "Garden" program and coordinate this large-scale scientific research project.
The international academic community obviously had a positive and positive attitude toward China's opening of the "Garden" program.
However, it was clear that not everyone thought this way.
For many Americans who were proud of their country, China's actions in this space race were undoubtedly a provocation.
On a talk show in North America.
They happened to talk about a related topic.
The host in a white suit sat on the sofa and passed the microphone to the pot-bellied guest sitting across from him. He asked in a strange tone.
"Jim, you work in a bank, right?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I think you're a person with a lot of life experience, can I interview you?"
"Of course, if it's something I can answer."
"We all know that the country across the Pacific Ocean from us has recently been rebuilding the biosphere and has invited many scholars to their homes to help with the research. What do you think of the Chinese's decision this time?"
The guest named Jim had a playful smile on his face as he waved his hand and said.
"What do you think? What would you think if someone who had always been stingy with your neighbors suddenly opened his pocket and offered to buy you a beer? He's either interested in your car or your wife, or both. "
Laughter came from below the stage.
Making fun of politics was almost the norm for this type of talk show.
It was just that this time, it was a little more explicit.
It wasn't just North America's talk shows, but also the conservative print media.
For example, in the latest issue of the New York Times, it was announced that China's opening of the Tinder project to the international community was paving the way for its ambitions of space supremacy, and it called on research institutions and scholars in North America to carefully participate in the project.
After reading the report from beginning to end, Lu Zhou only smiled and didn't respond.
It was reasonable for the Americans to have such an idea.
After all, the space supremacy established in the Cold War era had become a part of the United States' national honor. This pride was now being challenged by the rising stars. It was normal for the North American media to be so united on this issue.
However, this kind of report had almost no impact.
Unlike most conservative civilians, most scholars engaged in natural science research were internationalists, and most of their research benefits the world. They would work for whoever was willing to pay for their research.
As long as the news of the Tinder project was released, they wouldn't even need to advertise it; they would buy their own plane tickets and fly over.
Unless the Americans planned to restart Biosphere 3, it would be of some use. After all, most scholars were more willing to go to North America to conduct research.
Unfortunately, it was unrealistic to expect the United States Congress to pay for this project.
The California experimental reactor and NASA's "Ares" program were both funding black holes. Even the United States couldn't afford a large scientific research project on top of these two super projects.
Even though this funding black hole was much smaller than the other two …
It was even more unrealistic to expect Wall Street to pay for it.
The Rockefeller consortium had already been scammed by Biosphere No. 2 once. If there was no special reason, no capitalist would jump into this pit again.
Time quickly passed by, and it was soon Chinese New Year.
All of the launch preparations were ready. The equipment that needed to be delivered to the Moon had already been loaded onto Skyglow. They were preparing to send a special gift to the people of China on Chinese New Year.
There were only 48 hours left before the launch.
Director Li from the State Administration for National Defense took the high-speed train from Beijing to Jinling. After he arrived at the station, he didn't even look for a place to stay. The first thing he did was go to the launch site and find Lu Zhou, who was directing the staff at the launch site.
When Lu Zhou saw Director Li walking toward him quickly, he paused for a second and asked with a smile.
"Director Li? Why are you here? "
When Director Li heard this, he glared at him.
"You have the nerve to ask!"
Lu Zhou: "…?"
What's there to be embarrassed about?
It's not like I'm handsome.
Director Li looked at Lu Zhou and sighed. He said, "Don't play dumb, you know why I'm here. Tell me honestly, are you ready or not? "
Lu Zhou was muddled. "Ready for what?"
Seeing how Lu Zhou was still playing dumb, Director Li spoke.
"There's a big difference between a manned moon landing and a manned space flight! We at least have some experience in sending people to space flight, but we have zero experience in a manned moon landing. Zero, do you understand? No one knew what would happen if they went up there. It was even possible that they would never come back! If you don't believe me, you can ask Nie Yun, or ask anyone in the astronaut team. Which astronaut writes a will before going up?
"I know you're confident in your research, but I hope you can pay more attention to your own safety! Even if you don't think about us, you should think about your parents. You're their only son. If something happens to you, how am I going to explain it to your parents? "
So that's what you're talking about …
I thought it was something else!
Lu Zhou coughed and spoke.
"Don't worry about that, last time I went up with Skyglow, I had enough fun. There's no way I'll go up with you this time."
When Director Li heard this, he was so angry that he nearly suffered an internal injury.
Didn't you say you're going up for science?
I'm telling the truth!
Director Li stared at Lu Zhou for a while.
"I won't listen to you, I'll follow you the entire time! If you want to go up, then take me with you! "
Lu Zhou: "…"
Jesus Christ, it's just going up once. Do you have to take me with you?
What a headache …
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