Earth, North America.
NASA headquarters.
Director Carson was sitting at his desk, flipping through the documents in his hand.
Just then, the office door opened, and a man in a suit walked in quickly.
Director Carson looked up at the assistant who walked in. He reached out and took off the glasses on the bridge of his nose. He spoke in a tired tone.
"How's the situation? Where are the three astronauts? "
The assistant replied.
"They're on the Moon Palace space station."
Carson twirled the pen in his hand and gently nodded on the desk.
"What about the personnel handover schedule? When does China plan on sending them back? "
For this expensive Mars rescue mission, they spent at least US $1 billion.
Even though China claimed to be providing US $713 million in humanitarian aid, who knew how much they actually spent.
After all, Star Sky Technology was the only company that could bring people back from Mars at the end of the window period. Star Sky Technology had the final say on the budget.
Carson estimated that China only spent US $400 million. The entire rescue mission cost less than US $1.7 billion.
The assistant looked at Director Carson and spoke awkwardly.
"… Not sure yet."
"Not sure?" Director Carson paused for a second and frowned. "What do you mean … Are they going to keep the people?"
"Not really, it's just that our astronauts … seem to have a small problem."
"What problem?"
Facing Director Carson's questioning gaze, the assistant's face was full of bitterness.
"Suspected Martian bacteria were detected in the metabolites of the three colonists …"
…
After Starlight successfully docked with the Moon Palace, the news of the three New Virginia colonists returning to the Earth-Moon system spread all over the world.
However, before people around the world could cheer for this great moment, the news of the discovery of Martian bacteria in the three colonists spread like wildfire along with the return of the China rescue team.
The international community was in an uproar when they heard the news.
Some people were full of curiosity about these little lives from Mars, and some people expressed that they didn't care what the astronauts brought back from Mars.
However, another group of people, or rather, the majority of the crowd, was filled with panic …
Columbia Television.
Not long ago, Jamie was very supportive of the Ares program. He even invited the three colonists as guests. This time, he changed his stance. Not only did he become a firm opponent of the Ares program, but he also invited an ecologist who strongly criticized NASA to appear on a talk show.
Facing the live audience and the camera, the old professor yelled angrily.
"… I've said it before. The Ares program was just another stupid and inhumane human experiment! NASA clearly knew that the climate was not the only dangerous thing on Mars. There were microbes and even viruses that we had never seen before! But even so, they resolutely sent the colonists to Mars and lied to them that one day they could go home … "
"Oh, God, now they are really back, brought back by the generous Chinese. But where should we put them with the Martian bacteria? Who can guarantee that the bacteria they carry are harmless to others? Harmless to our fragile ecosystem? "
"NASA must take responsibility for this!"
Columbia Television wasn't the only one that changed their stance.
When human experimentation was mentioned, almost all of North America's media outlets drew a clear line between NASA and the Ares program.
Just like Director Carson expected, after the news that the three colonists were infected with Martian bacteria spread, NASA and the Ares program were immediately fiercely criticized by the public.
However, he felt like he was wronged.
After all, the Ares program didn't have a plan to bring these Mars colonists back to Earth. If it weren't for the global sandstorm, they wouldn't have to worry about how to appease the public's anger.
But now, it seemed that it was too late.
From the moment the Martian bacteria were detected on the three colonists, his political career might have come to an end …
Director Carson wasn't the only one who was affected.
Wall Street in New York was also shrouded in a gloomy atmosphere. Those aerospace listed companies that were once popular in the financial market were now facing a bleak capital winter.
Even Space-X, which was already at the top of the industry, and Amazon's Blue Origin, were having a hard time.
However, while the public was criticizing NASA and the Ares program, the academic community had a completely different reaction.
The paper published by Dr. Leslie and Dr. Zhao Shuxuan caused a huge sensation around the world.
The existence of life on Mars had always been a controversial topic.
Even though humans had sent countless probes to Mars and even dropped a life support system and three astronauts, they hadn't brought back a single inch of soil from Mars.
The only things that astrobiologists could study were three meteorites from Mars that were picked up from Earth. They were numbered ALH 840001, Yamato593, and Nakhla.
Even though there were signs of microbes in these three meteorites, there was no direct evidence to prove that these microbes existed or what they were.
Even though the bacteria brought back from Mars by Starlight were full of unpredictable risks, they also had valuable research value.
The biology community thought this was an epic discovery. Through the study of these bacteria, it was expected to reveal the thin "ecosystem" on Mars and enrich the current human DNA database.
The astronomy community also said that the bacteria brought back from Mars by the three colonists would provide key research materials in many fields such as Mars' historical landform changes and atmospheric environmental evolution.
Of course, scholars in related fields also expressed their concerns.
The Martian bacteria that could survive in extreme environments was likely to show the same tenacious vitality on Earth and cause unpredictable effects on the Earth's ecosystem.
Back then, European colonists brought a series of infectious diseases to North America, almost killing the indigenous people living there. The number of indigenous people in North America was killed by infectious diseases was far greater than those killed by guns and cannons.
Now that the three people had returned from Mars, they brought back life on Mars. Even though the physical conditions of the three people didn't seem to be affected, no one could guarantee that this would always be the case.
While the atmosphere of panic was gradually spreading, the China Lunar Orbit Committee issued a public statement.
For the sake of the overall interests of human civilization, they would not consider bringing the three colonists back to Earth before determining the possible impact of the bacteria on Earth's ecosystem, or before completely killing the Martian bacteria carried by the three colonists.
At the same time, the China Lunar Orbit Committee also announced that they would build a lunar research facility on the surface of the Moon to temporarily house the three colonists and study their conditions.
The facility and its research are open to the international community, and other countries are welcome to participate.
However, due to cost and other factors, this was of course not free …
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