Chapter 1247 Anti-Satellite Live Broadcast

Chapter 1247 Anti-satellite Live Broadcast

In fact, before raising this question, the reporter from the Daily Mail had even written an outline of a report.

It's stored in the laptop next to me.

As for the main theme, of course, it is to criticize the United States for violating the Treaty on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, undermining the strategic balance, and being detrimental to the theme of the times for peace and development.

After all, although this was the first time that China’s national defense agency held a press conference, there have been many statements made through official media in the past.

It's always been a similar style.

And this time, except for the three parties that actually participated in the interception operation, other countries basically made similar statements.

After all, no one wants their satellite to be threatened at all times.

Besides, it would be difficult to resolve the matter if it got out of hand.

We Europeans still have to do business with China.

In short, in his opinion, as long as the specific content and order are slightly adjusted according to the spokesperson's statement, it can be published directly.

However, the other party's statement was beyond the expectations of most people at the scene.

Criticism? Yes, it is criticism.

But the angle of criticism is rather odd.

There is absolutely no metaphysical or stilted rhetoric.

Instead, a lot of time was spent elaborating on a series of specific technical risks.

They even imitated NASA's operations and came up with a well-made schematic diagram that detailed what might happen after the collision.

No one present, including the spokesman Wei Jun himself, was a professional. In addition, not even a single formula was mentioned during the entire introduction, so this wave of operations was unconvincing to insiders.

But the media doesn't care about this.

It is now obvious that China and the United States have just started to rise. As long as the heat is stirred up, one of them will be slapped in the face after the interception experiment is over.

So after the press conference, the statement given by the Chinese side quickly dominated a lot of the headlines.

Even NASA, which has always done its own thing, was a little scared by this situation.

Before the interception fleet left Yokosuka Port, Chief Michael Griffin approached Admiral Lance Lord of the Air Force Space Command for the last time to confirm the safety of the action itself.

The former holds a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, but has not been engaged in frontline research work for more than ten years since he stepped down as chief engineer.

What's more, shooting down a satellite with a missile is not something that NASA normally researches.

When he met Admiral Lord in a conference room at Peterson Air Force Base, he found that there was another man of similar age sitting next to him, but in casual clothes.

The Air Force Space Command is the command center of the United States' strategic forces, and not just anyone can enter.

Even Griffin, the director of NASA, had to go through several approvals before he was allowed to enter a position so close to the "nuclear center."

He should at least be familiar with all the non-military personnel who can appear here.

And Griffin was very sure that he had never seen the face in front of him before.

"Hello, Mr. Chief."

As if noticing his gaze, Admiral Lord stood up to welcome him and began to introduce the identity of the man next to him:

"This is former Air Force Major General Wilbert Doug Pearson, Jr."

The silver-haired Pearson took the initiative to step forward and shook hands with Griffin.

But the latter still looked confused.

He had never even heard of the name.

Not to mention the "former" Air Force Major General, which means he has retired.

Why should I join in their conversation?

Fortunately, after everyone took their seats, Lord quickly introduced:

“或许需要我提醒你一下，1985年9月13日，皮尔逊少将驾驶77-0084号F15A战斗机发射一枚ASM-135反卫星导弹，击落了一颗伽马射线光谱探测卫星。”

Griffin's face froze for a moment, then he showed an expression of sudden enlightenment:

"So it was you who shot down P78-1!"

In 1985, Griffin was just an ordinary member of NASA's thousands of middle-level managers. The reason why he was deeply impressed by this incident was that it contained a huge mistake -

The satellite chosen as the target belonged to the United States Navy, and although it was marked as "dead" in records due to end of life, the Naval Research Laboratory was still accepting and using data from the satellite.

It was not until the satellite was shot down that the Navy learned about this through public channels, after suddenly discovering that the data source had disappeared.

It also triggered a series of internal lawsuits and disputes.

Lord was of course aware of the embarrassment involved, but since it didn't happen under his rule, he didn't care. He just said in a half-joking tone:

"Don't worry. Before this test, we have fully contacted all parties that may be related to the satellite and confirmed that it is indeed a satellite that has completely lost its function."

But Griffin, who was worried, was not in the mood to joke and immediately waved his hand:

"Now the outside world is hyping that our interception test may produce space debris that is enough to threaten the safety of the spacecraft. I am under great pressure..."

After saying this, he sighed heavily and looked helpless.

Although he didn't say it explicitly, it was obvious that he was asking for a guarantee.

"Isn't this the unilateral statement made by China?"

Lord, who was sitting opposite, frowned when he heard this, seeming to feel a little unhappy.

It was just that it was hidden very well, and the expression was fleeting.

"really."

Griffin shrugged.

"But they held a press conference specifically for this matter, and they obviously followed our format and produced some very... uh... confusing information, which made many media follow their lead..."

"As for the media... you know, sometimes they believe everything they hear and want nothing more than to cause chaos. Your military usually doesn't care about this when dealing with the outside world, but we at NASA have to deal with the pressure head-on, so we have to have a more definite statement."

Lance Lord understood what the other party meant and spoke a little faster:

"It would be fine if the Russians said so, but the Chinese have never conducted any form of anti-satellite testing, nor have they accumulated any relevant data. What right do they have to question our interception plan?"

Among soldiers, he has a good temper.

But it is still difficult to remain calm when the Chinese openly challenge the authority like this.

The key point is that he had also watched the press conference. The other party did not produce anything that could be called "evidence". They just scribbled a specious PPT as an emergency measure.

Such a thing with so many loopholes was actually verified by the director of NASA himself.

Lord felt quite resentful, thinking, "How can we carry out space exploration with such insects?"

But who is Griffin?

An evergreen at NASA, a veteran in office struggles, and a political infighting expert specially promoted by the Bushes to promote commercial space flight.

If it weren't for the instructions from the White House, he would never have been involved in this mess.

Now that we sense the possible crisis, we won't care about this little face issue.

As if he didn't hear the hidden meaning behind Admiral Lord's words, he continued to ask:

"So, this interception process will not produce space debris?"

Even as an administrative leader, such a question seems a bit too outrageous.

"How is it possible that two spacecraft traveling at several kilometers per second would not produce any debris even if they only collided with kinetic energy?"

Admiral Lord held his forehead helplessly and took a deep breath:

"But the impact point we preset is the satellite base, which can ensure that the satellite body, along with the main functional payload and the kinetic interceptor, will leave orbit together and eventually fall into the central Pacific Ocean. As for the other fragments that have separated from the main body... small-sized fragments cannot even be detected by radar, and cannot be considered as space junk at all. Spacecraft are not made of paper, so there is no possibility of being threatened. You should know this better than me..."

In fact, this statement is of course double standard.

If it was China instead of the United States that conducted this experiment first, then these harmless fragments in his words would suddenly become high-risk space junk that "seriously threatens orbital safety."

It will be brought up frequently in the next few years or even longer.

But the United States does have enough international voice after all.

As long as you don't do anything really outrageous and cruel, there will always be a way to get away with it.

Seeing that Lord's tone was becoming more and more impatient and his expression was getting a little out of control, Pearson on the side quickly added the words:

"Mr. Director, the calculation results on paper alone may not be convincing enough. We in the Air Force have also taken this into consideration, so we will use the results of the 85 test to explain it to the public."

"The kinetic interceptor collided with the P78-1 satellite. In addition to the main bodies of the two falling into the atmosphere and burning up, about 1000 scattered fragments were produced, but the diameter was less than 1 cm and the mass was very small. Most of them gradually lowered their orbits and disappeared in the following years, and did not endanger the operational safety of any spacecraft."

After receiving the clear assurance, Griffin's expression looked a little better.

But the relaxed mood only lasted for a moment, and then I caught the key words that the other party had just mentioned.

"By the time?"

He felt his heart suddenly shrink, and secretly prayed in his heart that it was not what he thought:

"When?"

Lord and Pearson on the other side looked at each other and gave a response that made Director Griffin's eyes go dark:

"We have contacted the relevant agencies and are preparing to broadcast the entire interception process live. The reason why we specially invited Major General Pearson today is because we want to invite him as a special guest."

"Live broadcast?"

The latter only felt dizzy and almost fainted:

"This is nonsense!"

After recovering a little, he refused without hesitation:

"I will never approve of this behavior, and NASA's propaganda forces will never set foot on a warship!"

However, this obviously has no lethality to Lord:

"rest assured."

The admiral buried his body in the soft backrest of his office chair:

"The media team will be sent by the Air Force and will not board the ship. They will just place a camera on the front deck of the USS Charlotte and intercept part of the radar telemetry signal."

"Although this test is ostensibly an anti-satellite test, it is actually intended to counter the medium-range ballistic missile launched by China... Only by conducting the entire process in public can the deterrent effect be maximized..."

At this point, Griffin knew there was no room for maneuver.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, and while trying to change the subject and end the conversation, he began to think rapidly about how to get himself out of this increasingly crazy action...