9 am, Washington time.
In the backstage lounge of the NASA press conference.
Director Carson stood in front of the mirror and tightened his tie. He tidied up his appearance and spoke abruptly.
"Gerstenmaier, do you believe in God?"
Deputy Director Gerstenmaier, who was sitting on a chair not far away, paused for a second after hearing this. He hesitated for a moment before speaking.
"I … Sorry, I'm not a believer."
"You're a materialist?"
"Sort of." Deputy Director Gerstenmaier shrugged and said, "After all, we deal with rockets and satellites every day. Even the most devout believer will doubt their faith."
"Then it seems like we're not the same kind of people." Director Carson smiled at himself in the mirror and said slowly, "I'm an idealist."
"… So you believe in theism?"
"No, my so-called idealism is not the kind of idealism you understand. It's a kind of spiritual awakening. How do we make our country great again? The most important thing is not how to make our country great, but how to make our people believe that we can do it. "
Carson looked at the muddled Deputy Director Gerstenmaier and looked at his watch.
"It's almost time, the reporters are waiting for us. It's time to go."
…
The lights were on.
Director Carson, who was wearing a formal suit, walked on stage. He looked at the reporters and their cameras and nodded. He then announced the start of the press conference.
Normally, this kind of press conference should have been handled by a professional press spokesperson. However, considering the poor performance of the press spokesperson at the last press conference, Carson felt like it was better to do it himself.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedules to attend our press conference. Just a week ago, the Congressional Budget Committee approved the budget for the first part of the Ares program. The BFR super rocket with a total weight of 25 tons of life support system will be launched to Mars in a month. This will be our new home on Mars. "
Director Carson looked at the big screen behind him.
"This is the life support system I'm talking about."
The second he finished speaking, the image changed.
In the center of the big screen was a hemispherical white building.
According to the illustration in the perspective, the hemispherical white building was divided into an inner and outer circle. The inner circle was divided into four blocks, two of which were living pods that could accommodate up to four colonists. Each colonist was provided with 5.3 square meters of living space per person. The other two living areas were the experimental area and the public living space. One was to meet the needs of scientific research, and the other was to meet the needs of the colonists.
As for the outer ring of the life support system, which was the inflatable part of the life support system, it was like a vegetable greenhouse. It was used to try to cultivate some drought-resistant crops to provide extra food for the colonists to reduce the cost of transporting supplies from Earth to Mars.
In addition, there was also a conceptual map of the Mars colony.
Rows of hemispherical white "Mongolian yurts" were connected through transparent pipes, and 3D modeling people were shuttling between the pipes. A rover with huge tires was driving on the nearby red desert.
When they saw this scene, the media at the scene immediately let out gasps of surprise.
Even though NASA had previously announced the Ares program on their official website and Twitter account, they didn't disclose more details about the Ares program, nor did they explain the specific situation of the life support system.
Now that they were standing here and watching everything on the big screen, even though they were prepared to be shocked, many people still couldn't help but look shocked.
Especially the BFR Super Rocket that was displayed in front of everyone!
Before this, the Saturn V launch vehicle, which had the highest load capacity, could only carry 118 tons, and that was only to low-Earth orbit. If it was to be transported to lunar orbit, the carrying capacity would be reduced to 47 tons.
However, the destination of the Ares program wasn't low-Earth orbit, nor was it lunar orbit. It was the surface of Mars, which was 55.76 million kilometers away from Earth!
The reporters were shocked by NASA's grand plan. For a moment, the hall of more than 300 people was silent.
Carson was very satisfied with the silent scene. He coughed lightly and continued his introduction.
"… The successful deployment of the life support system on the surface of Mars will be able to support the needs of five astronauts for two to five years. During this long period of time, the astronauts will carry out a number of scientific research activities on Mars, explore the mineral and water reserves on Mars, collect first-hand information for our scientific researchers on Earth, and pave the way for the follow-up projects of the Ares program. In the end, we will build a self-sufficient Mars village on the red planet! "
After Director Carson finished speaking, the atmosphere at the press conference reached a climax.
Soon, it was time for the Q&A session.
All of the reporters raised their hands high, as if they wanted to stick their fingers into Carson's nostrils.
Director Carson looked around the venue and naturally chose the Washington Post.
As a newspaper with a long history, the Washington Post was relatively conservative. They generally wouldn't throw a sharp question at the beginning, so this was the safest choice.
Director Carson gestured, and the well-known reporter from the Washington Post, Ham, was given this precious opportunity.
He took two seconds to think about his words. He then reached out his recorder and said, "Hello, Mr. Director, we all know that the Ares program has only recently been launched. Compared to our ambitious goals, we only have a small amount of time to prepare. Do you think this plan is safe? Or let me rephrase my question, how confident is NASA in achieving the first phase of the Ares program? "
Just like Carson expected, the Washington Post focused on "preparation time" and "success rate".
Director Carson raised his eyebrows and said, "It's true that the Ares program has only recently been relaunched, but we have been preparing to land on Mars for a long time. For example, the life support system was launched ten years ago. Space-X's BFR super rocket completed its first test flight two years ago. "
"The Mars colonization project is not an impromptu idea; it has been carefully planned! As for safety, I can assure you that we will ensure that all safety measures are flawless before we let our colonists set off! "
After Director Carson finished speaking, the entire venue was filled with deafening applause.
After a round of warm applause, the British reporter from BBC was fortunate enough to get the opportunity to ask a question. He stood up and spoke.
"Mr. Director, we all know that just a week ago, China's manned moon landing project was a great success. I would like to ask if NASA's hasty decision to launch the Ares program is a response to China's decision to land on the moon? "
Was there a need to ask this question?
If it weren't for the fact that China sent astronauts to the moon, Congress would have to be crazy to approve this crazy and expensive program.
Speaking of which, NASA actually had to thank the Chinese.
After all, if it weren't for the fact that China was pushing China into the aerospace field, the Congressional Budget Office would never have agreed to this.
Of course, Director Carson wasn't going to admit this. He refuted it.
"That's baseless. We sent our astronauts to the moon half a century ago. Now that China has succeeded, it's commendable, but it's not enough for us to treat them as our enemies."
"Remember, the manned moon landing was an achievement of our past. There's nothing left in that land that's worthy of our remembrance. Now, our goal is the more distant Mars, where there are infinite possibilities. "
Whoa!
The audience was filled with gasps of surprise.
The North American reporter's face was full of excitement, as if he had been injected with chicken blood. The British reporter looked interested, as if he had just seen a piece of breaking news. The Russian reporter had a complicated look on his face, and the Chinese reporter didn't look too happy.
No matter how they interpreted the NASA director's speech, it didn't look good for China.
We have never seen you as our enemies!
While you're chasing after our footsteps, we've already set our sights on an even more distant place!
.。 m.
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