Jinling Institute for Advanced Study.
Chen Yunhai stood at the door of the dean's office. He took a deep breath and adjusted his collar. He reached out and gently knocked on the door.
Very soon, he heard a voice saying, "Please come in." He pushed the door open, walked in, and said respectfully.
"You were looking for me?"
"Yeah, something came up." Lu Zhou stopped writing and looked at Chen Yunhai, who was standing at the door. He smiled and stood up. He gestured to the sofa and said, "You don't have to be so polite, please sit down."
After Chen Yunhai sat down on the sofa, he nodded at the secretary who poured him tea. He then sat up straight on the sofa and began to look at the stack of draft papers on the coffee table.
There were complicated formulas and symbols drawn on the paper, and next to these checking steps were lines of curvilinear figures that looked like they had been drawn with a ruler.
Chen Yunhai couldn't figure anything out. He was about to give up when Lu Zhou walked over with a cup of coffee and sat down across from him.
"Just some personal interest, please don't take it to heart." Lu Zhou swept the draft papers on the coffee table aside. He then took out a stack of documents that were still warm from the printer's oil. He placed it on the coffee table and gently pushed it in front of Chen Yunhai. He said, "About two hours ago, we cracked the signal sent from Mars to Earth. I'm sure you'll be interested."
Upon hearing this, Chen Yunhai's expression suddenly became serious. He picked up the document from the coffee table and quickly scanned through it.
When he saw the three characters, his reaction was almost the same as Lu Zhou's. He paused for a second and frowned.
"SOS …?"
Lu Zhou nodded.
"Yes, based on what happened on Mars, it shouldn't be a problem with our decoding work. New Virginia might have encountered a small problem."
Lu Zhou paused for a second and spoke.
"For us, this might be an opportunity."
The moment Chen Yunhai heard the word opportunity, his eyes moved slightly. Many thoughts flashed in his mind, but after half a minute, he shook his head.
"I understand what you mean, but I'm afraid it's very difficult … From the perspective of the White House, I'm afraid the Americans would rather all of them die than agree to let us intervene in this matter."
If China were to take over the rescue work, it would not only damage the national prestige of the United States, but it would also bring about a series of uncontrollable risks such as technology leakage.
Although this statement might not be in line with humanitarianism, aerospace itself was full of risks. The death of a few astronauts was not enough to affect the overall situation.
From the perspective of the big picture, if the rescue work couldn't be carried out, letting the three astronauts die was better than letting China intervene in this matter.
At most, they would prepare a special funeral for them after the event.
Space-X's stock price might take a hit after this, but the Ares program wouldn't collapse so easily. Their researchers would learn from this failure and pave the way for the next success …
"I know." Lu Zhou put down the coffee cup in his hand and nodded. He said, "In theory, NASA wouldn't spend hundreds of millions of dollars on a trip to Mars just for three astronauts … Not to mention that they weren't even sure if the rescue would be successful. It would be more beneficial for the American authorities to announce the death of the three astronauts after the 'accident' happened. "
"That's right." Chen Yunhai nodded and said, "So I'm afraid this is not an opportunity."
"Not necessarily." Lu Zhou shook his head and said, "What if we let the Americans know that the three astronauts can still be saved?"
Chen Yun Hai's pupils constricted slightly, and his eyebrows arched with interest. "You mean …"
"That's right, leak the news from us." Lu Zhou nodded and said, "If we can't save them, then there's nothing we can do about it. But if we don't save them …
"Then it wouldn't be an accident, it would be murder!"
…
United States.
NASA headquarters.
Inside the ground command center of the Ares program, the staff members were busy at their respective posts.
Director Carson was standing in the command center, reporting the current situation to the president.
"It has been confirmed that the sandstorm on Mars is a global climate event. It is estimated that it will take at least five months to stop. Our colonists are facing —"
The president interrupted Director Carson and said in an angry tone, "I don't care if it's a sandstorm or something, I just want to know one thing, where is your plan?"
Director Carson went silent for a while and spoke in a heavy tone.
"Sir … Even though I don't want to say this, to be honest, the chances are slim. Even if we launch the BFR rocket and go to Mars through an unconventional transfer orbit, it will take at least three months to reach Mars orbit. "
President: "Can our colonists survive for three months?"
Director Carson hesitated for a bit and spoke.
"There's only a 50% chance … provided that they are consciously trying to save themselves."
"We can't let them know yet." The president interrupted Director Carson and said, "Tell them we are doing our best to rescue them, don't worry!"
"But our rocket …"
Director Carson looked at the president and instantly understood what the president meant. He opened his mouth and swallowed his words. He nodded with difficulty.
"… I understand."
Compared to bringing the three astronauts back alive, it was more important to make them "shut up". The premise of making them shut up was to make them believe that NASA was doing its best to rescue them.
If they knew that they had no chance of survival, and that the BFS spacecraft was still operating in Mars orbit, equipped with high-power long-range communication equipment …
This would be a disaster for NASA.
Suddenly, they heard footsteps coming from the hallway outside the command center.
Soon after, the White House secretary appeared behind them.
"Sir …"
After hearing this voice, the president turned around, looked at the tall, thin man, and asked with a frown.
"What's wrong?"
The secretary gulped and spoke in a heavy tone.
"The news was leaked."
The president paused for a second and spoke.
"What news?"
"News about the New Virginia colony …" The secretary took out a folded newspaper from his bag and handed it to the president. He said carefully, "Read it yourself."
The newspaper was [Everyone Daily Overseas Edition].
The president took the newspaper from the secretary's hand and squinted his eyes.
However, when he looked at the newspaper, his heart skipped a beat.
The headline of the newspaper was printed with a line of eye-catching capital letters.
[Mars encounters rare weather anomaly, global sandstorms cover the entire planet, "New Virginia" is in unprecedented danger!]
WTF？！
。 m.
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