Chapter 1490 The Echo of the World

Chapter 1490 The World's Echo

The content of the press conference was instantly broadcast around the world via live broadcast signals. On the Chinese Internet, related topics spread like wildfire.

The top ten hot searches were instantly occupied by related topics: China's Space Station, the Moon, and Mars, I want them all, and the interstellar infrastructure maniac. Among them, the topic of Guanghan Palace Moon Base exceeded 1 million in reading volume within 5 hour.

"I've finally waited for this day! The scenes I watched in "Science Fiction World" as a child are going to come true!" The comment of netizen "Star Wanderer" received 50 likes.

On a well-known Internet forum, a question titled "How do you evaluate China's deep space exploration transit station plan?" received thousands of answers within half an hour.

User "Space Engineer" analyzed from a technical perspective:

"The L4 point is the gravitational equilibrium point of the Earth-Moon system. Building a transfer station here has several great advantages: 1) The orbit is stable and almost no fuel is needed to maintain the position; 2) The ΔV (incremental velocity) required for the round trip between the Earth and the Moon is the lowest; 3) The communication delay is only 1.2 seconds, which is suitable for real-time control."

This professional analysis quickly received tens of thousands of likes, and a heated discussion broke out in the comment section.

Naturally, not everyone agrees with such a radical decision.

What's more, in normal discussions, there are always people with ulterior motives who take advantage of the situation.

"Spending huge amounts of money on such vanity projects, have the problems in the impoverished mountainous areas been solved?"

The rebuttal by user "rational thinker" even received a lot of support.

However, thanks to China's unimaginable development speed in recent years, there is still a louder voice in support of this space exploration strategy.

Someone quickly hit back: "The Ming Dynasty thought the same thing five hundred years ago, but they missed the Age of Exploration. Space is the strategic commanding height of the future. If we don't plan now, we won't even have a chance to catch up in the future!"

On the video website that has already taken shape, a user with the ID "Cosmic Observer" made an analysis video overnight: "How will China's "Interstellar Station" change the space landscape?" The number of views quickly exceeded one million.

In the video, he uses an analogy from the game Civilization to explain the strategic significance of transit stations:

"This is equivalent to directly skipping the 'Apollo Program' on the technology tree and highlighting the high-level skill of 'space infrastructure'. The United States' moon landing was a single sprint, while China is building a sustainable transportation network."

The animation demonstration shown in the video is particularly eye-catching: a small spacecraft is launched from the earth and only needs to carry one-way fuel to reach the transfer station; after refueling there, it can easily go to the moon; after completing the mission, it returns to the transfer station for replenishment and finally returns to the earth. The whole process saves more than 60% of fuel compared to a direct round trip from the earth to the moon.

In the professional forum "Space Enthusiasts League", the discussion is more technical.

A post titled "From Long March 9 to Transfer Station: Analysis of China Aerospace's Technical Route" breaks down in detail the technological breakthroughs needed to realize this plan.

The post reads: “According to public information, Huaxia has made breakthroughs in several key areas:

Space nuclear power: The disk-type magnetohydrodynamic reactor successfully tested by Jincheng 504 Plant has a power density 20 times that of traditional space nuclear power sources;

On-orbit construction: the docking experience of Tiangong-1 and -2, plus the newly developed space robotic arm system, and the experience of building the future Tiangong space station;

Deep space communication: The foundation of ultra-long-distance communication laid by relay communication satellites;

Lunar construction: 'Lunar soil ceramics' technology and inflatable habitats...

This analysis was quickly forwarded to major platforms, further igniting public enthusiasm.

By that evening, the discussion about the transfer station across the Internet had gone beyond the purely scientific scope and extended to the philosophical level.

In a long article titled "Why Go to the Moon? A Civilization-Level Proposition" published by the comment account "Deep Space Thinking", it is written: "Human civilization is at a crossroads: Should we continue to stay on Earth and fight for resources, or should we head into space and explore endless possibilities? China's choice is clear - the future does not belong to those who lie low, but to those who look up at the stars."

The article quoted Musk as saying: "Either become a multi-planet species, or be trapped on Earth forever waiting for extinction." But the author pointed out: "Unlike SpaceX's private company route, Huaxia is proposing a more inclusive solution - not space tourism for a few wealthy people, but an interstellar voyage for all mankind to participate in."

For a time, discussions on space topics on the Internet reached an unprecedented level, perhaps only comparable to the successful launch of Shenzhou V many years ago.

Outside of China, this white paper also caused a huge stir.

The impact of the written content of only a few hundred thousand words is no less than that of the waverider hypersonic missiles that suddenly appeared on Chang'an Avenue half a year ago...

For more than ten hours after the press conference, the relevant pages of the National Space Administration's external website were in a state of collapse due to the crazy amount of traffic.

To this end, the space agency had to use multiple third-party platforms to divert traffic, and finally alleviated the congested network...

……

Later in the day.

At the special meeting urgently convened by the European Space Agency (ESA), the atmosphere was so solemn that it seemed as if water could be squeezed out of it.

Jean-Jacques Dordain threw a stack of printed news reports on the conference table:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Chinese have just dropped a strategic nuclear bomb on the world."

"We can't hesitate any longer." French representative Henri Dupont was the first to break the silence. "The transit station concept proposed by the Chinese actually creates a brand new space governance model. If we don't join as soon as possible, we will be excluded from the decision-making circle forever."

He called up a set of data: "According to preliminary analysis, this transit station will reduce the cost of lunar missions by more than 40%. Any country that refuses to cooperate...at least European countries, will largely lose the competitiveness of its deep space exploration plans."

Before the representatives of other countries could express their opinions, Dordan waved his hand to interrupt Dupont:

"I think it is not enough to just be content with 'free-rider' type cooperation."

Apparently, the thinking of the ESA chief is even more radical than that of his counterparts:

"If conditions permit, we should perhaps participate in the construction of that space transfer station to increase our voice in future deep space exploration activities."

A stone stirred up a thousand waves.

It is one thing to wait for others to build the infrastructure and then spend money to provide convenience, but it is another thing to invest in the construction of the infrastructure itself.

Investing means risk.

Especially projects of this kind that last a long time, at least as far as the EU is concerned, are almost never really successful.

Wolfgang Schmidt, the German representative, pushed up his glasses:

"What about technical feasibility? Building such a huge structure at the L4 point would require dozens of launches and on-orbit assembly. Does China have this capability?"

Italian representative Marco Rossi sneered:

"They will soon begin construction of the Tiangong space station, which will be almost as large as the International Space Station. They have mastered the Long March 5 heavy-lift rocket and recently successfully tested a space nuclear reactor. With all due respect, it is outdated to doubt the Chinese's space capabilities."

Emma Wilson, a representative from the United Kingdom, asked cautiously: "What will be the U.S. response? Will NASA join this program?"

Dordan shook his head. "The White House has not made any public statement yet, but they have already communicated with me privately, saying that they will 'stick to the independent path of the Artemis program'... But on the other hand, I heard that the top executives of Boeing and Lockheed are as anxious as ants on a hot pot, while SpaceX has shown more appreciation, especially for the in-orbit refueling plan..."

"..."

The meeting lasted for five hours, with all parties arguing endlessly. Finally, Dordan made a decision: "We will organize a high-level delegation to go to Huaxia for technical consultations next week. Henry, you lead the team and bring our best engineers and diplomats."

"What's the goal?" Schmidt asked.

Dordan looked around the room. “Determine two things: first, whether this plan is real or just a publicity stunt; and second, what level of participation and technology sharing can we expect if we join.”