Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Lu Zhou was reading the conference notes when he was suddenly called out by Director Li. He didn’t realize at first, but he soon noticed that people were staring at him.
Emmmm…
I didn’t ask to speak…
Even though Lu Zhou didn’t prepare anything, he didn’t want to embarrass Director Li.
Therefore, he stood up and spoke.
“I agree with Academician Yuan’s opinion. The Moon is huge, and there are a lot of things that we can do there. Since the Americans are interested in Mars… We’ll accomplish things on the Moon instead. We can grow plants on the Moon, or study how to mine the Moon’s resources.”
Should I be saying this?
Screw it, who cares.
When Lu Zhou sat back down on his seat, he could hear voices of approval behind him.
He was correct, landing on the Moon was just the first step. There were many things to do on the Moon. They didn’t have to follow America’s footsteps and try to land a man on Mars. There was no point planting a flag on Mars or bringing back a few Mars stones.
There was no need for the discussion to continue.
A veteran in the aerospace industry and a big name in academia both agreed to focus on lunar development. Even if other people disagreed, it wouldn’t matter.
Besides, most people agreed with their proposal.
Director Li had a rough idea of what the conference attendees thought, and he asked if anyone else had any other opinions. No one raised their hand, so Director Li spoke.
“It seems like there is no need to argue about whether to go the Moon route or the Mars route. The Communist Party of China has similar opinions. Compared to futile honors, practical things are more worthy of accomplishment.”
Director Li paused for a second and continued, “Then our next stage of aerospace will still be focused on the Earth-Moon system.
“After consulting with other agencies, such as the China National Space Administration, our plan is to build a space station in outer space to replenish resources for spacecraft, such as fuel. This space station will also be used for scientific research tasks.
“The China National Space Administration came up with two plans for the space station. One is in low-Earth orbit, similar to the International Space Station. The other is in the lunar orbit, similar to the United States’ lunar space program.
“Where should we build a space station? I hope you all can express your opinions.”
People in the conference room began to discuss with one another.
What was different from the previous discussion topic was that, whether it was the experts or the company representatives, everyone now had a higher desire to speak. The debates were also stronger.
The reason was that this kind of national strategy program was directly related to everyone’s interests, both in academia and in industry.
Some people were more conservative, and they believed that they should build a low-Earth orbit station first, then wait a couple of years before trying to reach lunar orbit.
Other people were more optimistic. They thought that since China had mastered a 25-ton Earth-Moon transfer orbit delivery capacity, it was entirely possible for them to build a space station in lunar orbit. They didn’t need to build another space station similar to the ISS since they could just share the ISS with other countries.
After all, one of the most important aspects of the controllable fusion negotiations was to loosen the barriers of entry for international scientific research cooperation projects, such as the ISS, and for China to participate on equal terms.
Lu Zhou obviously wanted to put the space station in lunar orbit.
After all, he wanted to complete his system mission. Without state funding, there was no way he would be able to complete the second stage of his system mission.
Furthermore, even though the international situation was a bit tense right now, he had always supported openly-cooperative, mutually-beneficial, win-win projects. Projects that used science to achieve prosperity for all of mankind.
However, he was still a bit hesitant. He didn’t know if they should accumulate more experience on low-Earth orbit technology first, or if they should be brave and directly target the lunar orbit.
Lu Zhou listened to the intense debates happening nearby. He saw Academician Yuan, who was lost in thought.
Yuan Huanmin noticed Lu Zhou looking at him, and he looked up and asked, “What do you think?”
Lu Zhou didn’t expect to be asked this question. He suddenly said, “You go first.”
Academician Yuan went silent for a while and sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t know.”
Lu Zhou was surprised. “You don’t know?”
You don’t know?
Aren’t you quite the opinionated old man?
“Yeah…” Yuan Huanmin nodded and said emotionally, “Our country’s aerospace development started much later than other countries. You might laugh at me for this, but back in the day when Columbia was successful, we planned on building a space shuttle as well, then look at what happened? Sure, Qian Xuesen favored rockets more, but the real reason was that the Americans gave up on their space shuttle.”
Lu Zhou nodded and thought for a bit.
“I understand, but this isn’t something I would laugh at.”
Scientific research was a process of learning and discovery. No one was born with knowledge in their brain. It wasn’t shameful to follow others’ footsteps. What’s important was to apply the knowledge one learned.
When Lu Zhou was studying in Princeton, he met many respectable scholars and learned a lot from them. This knowledge contributed greatly to his current success.
Lu Zhou knew what Academician Yuan was concerned about.
Now that China had successfully sent astronauts to the Moon, their international position was at the top of the world.
But because they were ahead or on-par with everyone else, they didn’t have any past examples to use as a reference.
They had to go blind from now on and try to find the right way by learning from their mistakes.
Lu Zhou looked at Academician Yuan and suddenly smiled as he said, “I think this could be a good thing for us.”
Academician Yuan frowned and asked, “What do you mean?”
Lu Zhou: “This means that we will go from a follower to a leader, and we will set the standards for the world.”
Academician Yuan paused for a second and smiled.
“You millennials think quite differently. Aren’t you satisfied with the low-Earth orbit?”
“Of course I am,” Lu Zhou sighed and said, “but we can do better.”
Academician Yuan smiled and said, “Okay then, brag to me when you put a space station in lunar orbit.”
Lu Zhou: “…?”
What?
We’re close enough that you are now making jokes with me?
The debates continued.
An expert from the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation stood up. His beard trembled as he said, “We should choose the low-Earth orbit!
“First of all, we can use the ISS as a reference. Even though there are engineering difficulties, it won’t be too difficult. Secondly, we can use our experience and knowledge gained from the low-Earth orbit station for the future Moon orbit station!”
A lot of people in the conference room nodded with approval.
Representatives from companies that were focused on rocket launching projects all nodded their heads.
Suddenly, a voice was heard.
“Disagree.”
Everyone in the room looked toward the voice.
The man that sent three astronauts to the Moon, Professor Lu, stood up.
Director Li was stressed by the chaotic situation in the conference room, and he immediately lifted his head and said, “Please explain.”
Lu Zhou smiled and said, “Since we’re building a space station anyway, we might as well put it in lunar orbit!”
1The conference room was in mayhem.