Chapter 1492: Counterattack, must counterattack!

Meanwhile, in the Oval Office of the White House, a more private discussion was taking place.

NASA Administrator Bolton sat on the sofa opposite his desk, while Defense Secretary Robert Gates sat on the other side with a gloomy look on his face.

A TV in the corner of the room was broadcasting a live NASA press conference.

"Is this all true?" Ao Guanhai asked bluntly, "Can Orion really send people to the moon or Mars before 2030?"

Beads of sweat oozed from Bolton's forehead:

"Mr. President, with all due respect, that was just media talk... Orion simply doesn't have that capability unless we're willing to send astronauts on a one-way trip."

"One way?" The other person's eyebrows almost rose to his hairline.

"I mean, unless there is another way to bring them back." Bolton quickly changed his words, "In the original concept, Orion did have modular capabilities, but due to development cycle and cost issues, it was not actually implemented... However, 'Orion' does retain the ability to land without a parachute, and can be used as an unmanned cargo spacecraft."

Guan Hai closed his eyes, seemingly digesting this disappointing news:

"Something has to be done, Charles. Something has to be done..."

For him, 2030 is too far away.

Thanks to the Bush's various incredible operations, the Elephant Party is almost in a state of virtual division, so there is not much risk in this year's mid-term elections and the 2012 general election.

But the situation in 2016 is still unclear.

Something inspiring needs to be produced before then to convince the Silicon Valley and Wall Street elites that the United States still has the most advanced technology.

Bolton quickly handed over the plan he had prepared long ago:

"We are going to start promoting the 'Curiosity' Mars exploration program ahead of time. It is more advanced than any probe launched by the Chinese to the moon or Mars, and is fully prepared. It only needs to wait until the second half of 2011 to be launched."

The room fell silent, with only the hum of the air conditioner as the sound.

Finally, Ao Guanhai sat up straight, his face looking better than before, but still not completely satisfied:

"I need NASA to deliver something real, and fast... Curiosity is a start, but it's not enough."

Bolton nodded, and then gradually began to guide in another direction: "We also have a design for a second-generation 'Skylab' that can be launched into the lunar orbit as an extraterrestrial orbital space station to prepare for further exploration."

"If all goes well, we should be able to complete the first sustained phase of lunar exploration by 2016, effectively dealing a blow to the image and prestige of the Chinese."

Ao Guanhai immediately understood what he meant and promised: "I will push Congress to increase investment in space research."

But his tone turned serious again:

"Another point is that NASA also needs to come up with a more forward-looking exploration strategy and must not blindly follow the concepts proposed by the Chinese."

Bolton was stunned when he heard this, and then he suddenly realized that he had almost subconsciously adopted the Chinese side's "four stages" of extraterrestrial exploration...

Obviously, the overwhelming publicity and reports before have already affected his subconscious mind...

……

After Bolton left, O'Neal turned his attention to the Secretary of Defense who had remained silent.

The two men arrived at his office one after the other, but Gates deliberately gave all the chances to speak to Bolton. It was obvious that he had something to discuss that had to be limited to a limited number of people.

"Bob, do you have anything to add?"

Gates put down the folder in his hand:

"Sir, China's space program is only part of the problem, a very small part."

Ao Guanhai just felt a little headache now, and didn't want to read the thick report in front of him, so he just asked:

"Just tell me briefly first."

Gates sighed in frustration but didn't show it:

"Two weeks ago, China publicly announced a live-fire exercise in the area near the Bohai Sea, but the shape of the restricted navigation zone was different from that of ordinary naval exercises."

"In this situation, shouldn't we immediately dispatch reconnaissance forces?"

"That's right." Gates said, turning to a page in the report and placing it in front of the other party. "We sent out a NASA WC12 atmospheric detection aircraft, but disguised it as an Army RC12 electronic reconnaissance aircraft of the same platform... As expected, the Chinese side did not find any abnormalities, but only sent out a Navy electronic warfare aircraft to accompany us and conduct defensive interference."

Ao Guanhai finally became interested and sat up straight again.

WC12 mainly relies on spectroscopy for reconnaissance and is not afraid of electromagnetic interference.

"During the analysis after returning, the chemical monitoring department found characteristic signals consistent with JP7 aviation fuel." Gates turned to the next page of the report, which showed several dazzling spectra. "The fuel used by Chinese military aircraft is quite different from the composition of JP7 aviation fuel, which means that this may be a new type of missile, or a bolder speculation is that it is a launch test of an air-breathing hypersonic missile."

"What?" The president's face froze instantly. "Successful?"

"The other party's interference capability is very strong. We were unable to capture the entire process." Gates answered cautiously, "But the missile failed to increase its altitude after launch and kept falling. Its speed did not increase significantly. It can be basically confirmed that the test failed, and... it is very similar to the second failure of X51A."

The Oval Office fell silent.

After half a minute of depressing atmosphere, Gates added word by word:

"The National Intelligence Agency's previous judgment that there was a mole in the X51A project was almost certainly correct, otherwise I don't believe there would be such a coincidence."

Ao Guanhai's thin body trembled, and at that moment, he felt as if he had aged more than ten years.

"What do you suggest?"

"Three-pronged approach." Gates held up three fingers. "First, accelerate our hypersonic weapons projects, especially the Sea Dragon and HTV-2. Second, strengthen cooperation with allies in the space field, especially Europe and Japan. Third, consider limited cooperation with China in certain areas to obtain intelligence on their technological progress."

The president nodded thoughtfully. "Will Europe cooperate? I heard that ESA is preparing to send a delegation to China to discuss the transit station plan."

"This is exactly what we need to worry about." Gates's speech became more urgent. "If Europe decides to cooperate with China, we will be isolated in the space field."

In his opinion, the African guy who studied law seemed not as good as the small bush before.

Although the latter has some problems with his brain, he is not so indecisive.

However, this time, the other party showed a completely different expression from before——

Cunning and dangerous:

"Regarding Europe... we can't make any big moves for now."

Ao Guanhai stood up:

"Today, the EU... including the top leaders of several major European countries, are all vested interests in cooperation with China. Not only have they made a lot of money from it, but their political status, that is, their votes, also come to a large extent from these industries that are closely related to China."

He walked half a circle around the desk and came to Gates:

"If we force these people to choose between the two options now, the result may be completely inconsistent with expectations, and instead push Europe and China to stand together."

In just half a minute, cold sweat broke out on the latter's forehead:

"That……"

"Our people are promoting some ... progressive issues in Europe, such as environmental protection, ethnic minorities, gender equality ... You know, Europeans are very receptive to this."

Ao Guanhai patted Gates on the shoulder:

"Take it easy, Bob."

“Europe will change.”

……

While the White House was plotting countermeasures, at SpaceX's headquarters in California, Elon Musk was watching a replay of the China launch event with his core team.

"They found a magnetic field on Mars," SpaceX Chief Technology Officer Tom Mueller whistled. "That's a real bombshell."

Musk's eyes lit up: "This means that the timetable for Mars colonization can be advanced. Radiation protection has always been one of the biggest challenges. If there really is a local strong magnetic field area..."

"Elon, you don't want to cooperate with Huaxia?"

company president Gwen Shotwell asked, only half-jokingly.

Musk did not answer the question, but turned to the computer and called up a set of data: "Look at this, China's space budget growth curve over the past decade almost perfectly coincides with the timing of their technological breakthroughs. This is not luck, but the result of systematic investment."

"And NASA is still arguing over a few coins that Congress allocates every year," Mueller said sarcastically.

Musk suddenly stood up and said: "I'm going to send a tweet."

In the surprised eyes of the crowd, he quickly typed on his mobile phone: "Congratulations to China Aerospace for making a great discovery! Real space exploration requires international cooperation rather than political confrontation. Mars belongs to all mankind, not the backyard of a certain country. SpaceX Mars"

“This is going to cause a big uproar,” Shotwell warned.

"That's just what I want." Musk showed his signature sly smile, "Maybe this will inspire some people to stop talking and start doing."