Chapter 1256: Yingzi, is it okay?

The show was finished very quickly.

But the content of the program, like a huge wave, swept almost the entire world.

For the spectators, there will probably be a lot of fun to watch for a long time in the future.

This time, China is basically attacking the opponent in the face.

Translated into easy-to-understand words:

Yingzi, is this possible?

Eagle, you can't grasp the depth of the anti-satellite attack.

Yingzi, be obedient and leave it to your Uncle Rabbit. Look at how your uncle handles it...

Although Director Sun said "if the US side is unable to clean up the mess", it seems to have added a precondition.

But anyone with a little common sense can realize that it is impossible for Americans to admit that they have gone too far, and they will try every possible means to stop the losses.

It is also impossible for China to do nothing and wait for its opponents to admit defeat.

The next step is to race against time ruthlessly.

Whoever clears away the space debris that is threatening the safety of the International Space Station first will have a clear initiative in the next step.

It has been more than 20 years since the 1980s when such a vibrant scene of everything flourishing appeared.

Professionals in the aerospace industry of various countries have more issues to consider.

Of course, they could not have received the news like the outside world did after watching a talk show in China. Instead, they had received an official document issued by the China Space Administration earlier.

Although most of the content is the same as what Director Sun said in the interview program, both of which criticized NASA's unreliable official rhetoric, it clarified a more specific plan timetable.

And more importantly.

Added a paragraph at the end of the document.

[Orbital space is a precious treasure shared by all mankind. The peaceful use of space is a common vision of all countries in the world. China is willing to cooperate with the international community to quell the incident as soon as possible and ensure the safety of the lives of astronauts in orbit...]

It may seem like a meaningless cliché, but it contains a very important message.

This is a great opportunity for open collaboration.

If it were three years ago, even if China made such a gesture, most countries would only sneer at it and would never take it seriously.

But now...

Some people have already been ready to make a move.

If the threat to the International Space Station were a complete, defunct satellite, there might be some controversy over ownership and disposal rights.

But since it has been defined as "space junk", does NASA dare to publicly state that it will allow this piece of space debris to float around and prevent other countries from resolving the dangers facing the International Space Station?

……

"Of course not!"

NASA headquarters.

Chief Michael Griffin roared, slamming his hand on the table in anger.

He was like an anxious lion, pacing back and forth in the office with red eyes.

He had just held a meeting all night in the White House, and had finally gotten rid of most of the blame. However, before he could even sit down in the office, his assistant Ray Ann Meyer brought him a newspaper and a public document from the Chinese Space Agency.

The extremely sarcastic tone in the message was secondary. What really annoyed Griffin was that the other party announced that the "Interstellar Fishing Boat" project was open to the world and welcomed any partners to cooperate.

And Meyer was so smart as to ask whether it was necessary to warn the European Space Agency not to contact the Chinese side on this matter.

This led to that angry roar just now.

After calming down a bit, Griffin sat back in his office chair and explained to his loyal but brainless assistant:

"It took me almost a whole night to barely get NASA out of this matter from the White House, and I also used this matter to convince several heavyweight senators of the importance of reusable rockets and commercial spaceflight in the future... If we do this now, wouldn't it be like jumping into this mud pit again?"

It should be said that Griffin's political skills are indeed remarkable.

Even if we encounter such an outrageous black swan event, we can still be said to have lost face but gained substance.

To a large extent, he has advanced the goals he set when he first took office.

The United States may have lost this round, but NASA, or he himself, did not lose.

The only trouble was that the debris from the explosion was so large and coincidentally threatened the security of international space, making it impossible to suppress the public opinion at all.

Therefore, the top priority is to cool down public opinion rather than continue to add fuel to the fire during such a sensitive period.

Originally, if the Chinese had just cursed at him verbally, Griffin would have been prepared to be a coward for a while.

But the opponent's posture this time clearly showed that he was preparing to take advantage of the opportunity and give him a finishing blow.

It was still a critical hit.

This is what Griffin doesn't want to see.

He took several deep breaths, and then took advantage of the opportunity to close his eyes and pretend to sleep to reorganize the situation in front of him -

If he had simply held a press conference as originally planned and then played dead, he would have been able to direct the main target of public opinion attacks to the Air Force Space Command, thereby calming the situation safely.

But in this way, regardless of whether China finally succeeds in fulfilling their promise to resolve the crisis, they will gain unprecedented prestige. More importantly, the situation of collective isolation by Western countries in the aerospace field in the past will be broken.

Looking at the situation in the aviation market, I am afraid that I will have to face the threats posed by the other party before I even step down.

So at least in terms of statement, we have to do something...

After more than ten minutes of silence, Griffin suddenly opened his eyes and sat up straight:

"Lei, go inform the news center. I'm going to revise the content of today's press conference!"

Meyer, who was almost falling asleep, suddenly woke up and quickly took out his notebook to take notes.

"The previous content remains unchanged, or we NASA is just cooperating to provide some satellite orbit data, and we are not clear about the working conditions and specific technical parameters of the interceptor missile. In short, the responsibility is thrown to the military... But at the end, we have to add a sentence, saying that the situation is still under control and we are preparing a new plan to resolve the crisis facing the International Space Station!"

Griffin had obviously made up his mind, so he said this very straightforwardly.

But Meyer was only halfway through when his writing slowed down.

After remembering all the contents, his face was full of doubts:

"But... Mr. Director, we only know the orbit of this fragment, and we don't even know its specific posture and shape?"

There is a robotic arm on the space shuttle that is theoretically capable of performing grasping actions, but firstly, the positioning accuracy is not enough, and secondly, the target to be grasped needs to have a relatively stable posture and regular shape.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to accomplish such a difficult task as cleaning up space debris.

"Yes, we really don't know."

Griffin shrugged.

"But think about it from another angle. If we don't even know these details, how could the Chinese know them?"

"Uh……"

Meyer was immediately stumped by the question, and after a while he replied angrily:

"I don't think so..."

"That's it."

Griffin pointed to the document on the table:

"So they are just making their position known, but they are not really ready with a solution as stated here."

Meyer's eyes lit up:

"So we just need to make a good gesture and be consistent with the other party verbally, and after a period of time, the heat of this matter will naturally die down?"

"That's not that simple..."

Griffin shook his head.

"Anyway, this solar panel poses a real threat to the space station. If it is left there, it will always be a problem. Who knows, it might explode like a big bomb one day."

Although he said the problem was serious, there was not much tension in his tone:

"I know what you were thinking just now...but it's too dangerous to use the space shuttle to carry out such a mission. If something goes wrong, it will threaten the safety of the mission crew..."

"So after the press conference, you drafted a plan as quickly as possible, saying that we need to develop an unmanned spacecraft that can operate in orbit for a long time and perform complex missions, so that we have a chance to completely eliminate hidden dangers in the next few years."

This description from his boss was familiar to Meyer:

"An unmanned spacecraft in orbit for a long time, isn't that just..."

"Yes."

Griffin smiled:

"We can take this opportunity to snatch the X37 project back from the Ministry of Defense..."

"And we can ask for more funding..."