I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?.

Chapter 737 Martian Legacy
"Let's go back to the live broadcast room. Today we have invited the well-known technology fanatic Elon Musk. Elon, thank you for accepting our request."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Susan."

Susan, a senior reporter of CBS, who is said to have a secret relationship with the president of XAP and whose butt is said to be comparable to that of Kardashian, is interviewing special guest Musk in the studio.

This smart woman did not miss the opportunity. She used her previous experience of being invited to report on the first flight of the Tengyun space shuttle to hype herself up. She began to deliberately and high-profile reject her suitors, and she always wore clothes that exposed her chest and legs, which earned her a large number of fans both in newspapers and on the Internet.

While Xinyuan refuted the rumors, it did not cut off contact, and regarded it as a channel to speak out and build momentum overseas. Susan was always able to get some explosive news in advance.

It is precisely because of this that Susan has gained a high status in the aerospace industry, and this time she has the opportunity to have a long conversation with Musk.

Musk seemed very excited these days, and even looked a lot younger. He kept looking at Susan, but not out of covetousness. Instead, he was wondering how likely it was that Lin Ju had an affair with her.

Susan: "Last week, you went to China and were invited by Lin to his factory. According to rumors, you two had a very good conversation."

Musk: "We are friends! I visited the unmanned manufacturing process of the rocket, and also saw an aerospace plane and a brand new nuclear engine. XAP, like SpecaX, is a company dedicated to science and technology and has never been too secretive."

Susan: "A lot of people are saying you guys have some secret collaboration."

Musk: "There is no secret cooperation, but this idea has indeed been discussed. We have a common goal to establish human colonies in space and on extraterrestrial planets. The best way is for everyone to work together."

Susan: “Will the federal government allow this kind of cooperation?”

Musk: "Confrontation is an absolutely backward way of thinking. You already know that Tesla is about to build a super factory in Shanghai, which will increase production capacity several times. These cars will also be sold at lower prices in Europe and Aramco in the future."

"..."

Susan: "According to what you said, the gap between the two sides has been partially eliminated."

Musk: "Everyone knows that cooperation is better than confrontation. We even sell nuclear weapons to Chinese companies, which has proved a lot."

This sentence was beyond Susan's expectations. It was not in the script she got, but she still smiled and continued to ask:

"Do you think the space cooperation between the two sides will become closer in the future?"

Musk: "One day in the future, Aramco's astronauts will ride into space on the Tengyun, and Chinese astronauts will live in the space capsules made by SpecaX.

You may not believe it, but I almost boarded a space shuttle and entered the Tiangong space station."

"Wow."

Susan once again heard an answer that was beyond her expectations, and subconsciously believed what Lao Ma said.

Musk: "On the moon, United Mining is carrying out unprecedented pioneering work and has the most complete lunar landing system at present. We should integrate into this system and jointly accelerate the process of human space exploration."

Susan: “Would you like the federal government to do that?”

Musk: "Not only me, but many people like me have such expectations."

……

The CBS interview involves too many sensitive topics. Normally, most of them will be deleted, and may even cause a crisis for the host and guests.

However, this interview was released on the same day, and it can even be described as not having been cut at all, which is simply unbelievable.

When the video was released, it immediately caused a huge wave. Countless fans of Susan left messages, saying that she was crazy to post these and risk being arrested by agents. The person involved, Musk, was also frequently @ed.

Everyone thought the two men were crazy and were waiting for the Federation to strike hard.

Surprisingly, however, the two parties did not hear “FBl open the door”, and other media did not take advantage of the situation to attack them.

At the same time, the US Congress is also conducting a hearing that is closely related to this matter.

……

"Sam Sapporo, do you admit that you deliberately delayed the progress, causing the 3707 aircraft prototype to fall behind schedule?"

Facing the senator's questioning, Sam, the chief designer of Boeing's 3707 supersonic passenger aircraft and the head of the Everett factory, firmly denied:

"Absolutely not. The 3707 is the fastest, largest, and heaviest passenger aircraft ever developed. This is an unprecedentedly difficult project, and everyone in Everett has put all their energy into completing it."

"But according to the expert group's assessment, the first flight of the 3707 aircraft cannot be confirmed in 2018, which will lead to a breach of the gambling agreement between you and Star Airlines and a huge compensation."

Sam: "We'll get it done on time."

Senator: "Please pay attention to this project. Your delay will not only cause huge losses to an Aramco company, but will also seriously affect our friendship with China. This is the most important issue."

Sam, who was originally confused and aggrieved, opened his eyes wide and stared at the senator's serious face in disbelief. Then he glanced at the other senators who looked calm, wondering if he had heard something wrong.

Friendship? Does such a thing really exist? Even if it does exist, is it worth talking about?
Sam's skeptical expression was recorded by the camera and then transferred to the senator's matter-of-fact face.

Sam didn't understand what was happening until he stepped down, but the senators' "abnormal" behavior was not over yet. They immediately discussed the business agreements submitted by dozens of Aramco companies.

Dozens of industrial and Internet companies, including leading enterprises, have made a joint request, hoping to lift some of the current import and export restrictions to facilitate the entry of Aramco's high-end products into the Chinese market.

Also under review were suggestions submitted by a number of environmental protection organizations, human rights agencies, and welfare funds, which stated that if tariffs on light industrial products could be lowered, the quality of life of the lower classes could be significantly improved and family living costs could be reduced.

The two proposals were put together for serious discussion, which would have been absolutely impossible in the past.

While the lawmakers were discussing heatedly, several cars stopped outside the parliament and two teams with very different looks got out.

Niu Yanping looked carefully at the building in front of him, then approached his assistant and translator.

"Is this really possible? Pfizer would have to be crazy to agree to this."

"Director, how can we know if we don't try? Foreigners won't laugh at us, and the people in China won't cheat us."

Having said that, the two still looked at the Pfizer team with some caution, but the other side waved at them in a friendly manner.

Niu Yanping felt even more unsure and grabbed his briefcase nervously.

He is about to complete an epic task, discussing in front of Ameyan lawmakers the transfer of Pfizer's patent licenses for the production of some expensive imported drugs that have not yet been localized or controlled by patents and are not included in medical insurance for the treatment of cancer, ALS, etc.

When his superiors talked to him, they encouraged him to "go for it", but when Niu Yanping thought about the possibility of making a fool of himself, he felt an urge to escape.

Recently, not only is the international situation incomprehensible, but the domestic situation is also incomprehensible. If Amei really agrees, wouldn't she become a philanthropist?
But looking at the reaction of the Pfizer team, it doesn’t seem like they are teasing them?
……

It is a tacit consensus among human beings that there must be something wrong when something is abnormal.

If Lin Ju were asked to describe Amei's reaction at that moment, he would probably use Donnie Yen's emoticon package a few years later, and add the text description "anxious, he is anxious".

This is not an exaggeration, but the shock brought by the Enterprise is beyond imagination, or it is the last straw that broke the camel's back. …

"If it was a year ago, I would have said it was because they got the secret technology of the alliance. Now, I think there is an equal probability that it is related to alien civilization."

David Usnow stood in front of a whiteboard covered with known information about the Enterprise and its inferred technical parameters, with countless scraps of paper scattered on the bottom.

"A technology never appears out of nowhere. It can be traced back to a certain project, a certain idea, or a certain failed experiment. Just like Pratt & Whitney's latest F115 engine, its core function is closely related to the Rolls-Rods aircraft engine from more than years ago. It is the improvement of countless generations of engineers that has developed it to its current high performance.

What does the Enterprise have? We haven't even heard of its engine code name yet. At present, only A100 can be said to be related to it, but the origin of A100 is also full of doubts.

A100 has nothing to do with any nuclear engine research that we know of in the past. As for the Chinese developing their own technology, it is even more impossible. Their investment in aerospace before the 90s was pitifully small, and they had no ability to develop such technology at all.

XAP’s nuclear technology was created out of thin air, and the time available to develop it was only 12 months, enough for us to restart the JFT test site.”

In the direction he was facing, John sat in a chair without saying a word.

David: "Why did our Mars probe fail to lock onto the launch source after receiving signals several times, while the Chinese found the launch location in one go?
Being able to launch five probes means that they have been able to fully verify their reliability. Could it be that our Mars probes are completely incapable of this capability?"

As soon as David finished speaking, former NACA Director Claire took his place and placed the spy photo of the Enterprise in the center.

"This is the appearance of the Enterprise, as well as the previous ones, the Jiuzhang and the Zhurong. They all look almost identical. What does this mean?"

Before John and other observers could answer, he answered first:
"This type of spacecraft is produced one by one. Normally, each batch will be improved to varying degrees. Especially for this new type of product that has never appeared before, any team will encounter a series of unexpected problems.

However, the designs of these three "shuttles" are basically the same, and no fatal problems have been exposed so far. We have also analyzed its appearance design. Supercomputers and wind tunnels tell us that the problem of atmospheric flight was taken into consideration when the appearance was designed, and every edge and corner has a careful aerodynamic design.

We all know that the first shuttle, the Jiuzhang, cannot be used in the atmosphere."

Someone reacted. This audience member was not a technical expert, but he was sharp-minded and figured out the meaning and expressed his guess:
"I guess that's why the Enterprise was the original target, so the first two used this design. I also think the reason why it doesn't need to be improved is that its design is quite mature and doesn't need much change."

Claire: "That's it. A very mature aircraft that appears for the first time. Let me take a look at its parameters. It is designed to adapt to the gravity and atmospheric environment of the earth. If it is designed to land on other planets, it doesn't have to be like this.

Of all the solar system planets that NACA could think of that were worth landing humans on, none was more difficult than Earth. There was no need to go to this extent. The Earth environment was perfectly adequate for aerospace planes, so why did it have to have this capability? "

John, other senior officials of the Federation, and top banking elites have already seen the outline of a huge conspiracy, but something is missing to grasp the truth.

McMaster finally couldn't help but ask out of duty:

"It seems to me that the only advantage the Enterprise has over the space plane is that it doesn't need a runway. Could it be that they are planning to start a war by directly... dropping an elite team from space to occupy Birchwood?"

"..."

"..."

Claire: "With all due respect, I don't see how much practical sense there is in doing this, especially since the Enterprise can be easily shot down, and even anti-aircraft guns can pose a threat."

After denying McMaster's unrealistic fantasy, David stepped forward to explain:

"We can change our thinking and think about what circumstances would require the Enterprise to land on Earth, other than war."

Not long after this question was raised, an Air Force general gave the answer:

"Unless there is no reliable landing site on the ground for the space shuttle to take off and land, and the Enterprise is nuclear-powered, it can return to space without much ground maintenance.

The results of the Air Force's research are the same. The actual combat significance of the Enterprise is far less than that of the space plane. I really can't think of any advantages of it replacing the space plane. "

John: "I kind of understand what you're going to say. This is really unbelievable."

McMaster: “I understand a little bit.”

Several people gradually revealed solemn expressions on their faces, but the others still couldn't figure it out at all. They just remained silent and nodded slightly, pretending to have the same idea.

……

"That's what I'm saying."

David's expression became more serious than ever, and his eyes gradually became empty:

“It makes no sense for humans today to develop a shuttle similar to the Enterprise, but what if it’s not now and it’s not human?
Only in the wild ages of the earth, or before the establishment of telegraphs and cables, did people need to travel back and forth between the earth and space, so they developed related shuttles and power technologies.

"It's an alien!"

Someone just shouted but then regretted it, realized the loophole and quickly denied it:

"No, it is impossible for a civilization that can reach the solar system to not have nuclear fusion technology, or at least still use fission engines. That's impossible."

Everyone who thought they had guessed the truth immediately felt disappointed. Indeed, an alien civilization that could come to Earth could not be so low.

However, David remained confident and firmly stated his conclusion:
"I don't think it's an alien civilization either, but there are more than just humans and alien civilizations in the universe. What is the definition of an alien civilization?"

No one answered, so David continued:

“Alien civilizations don’t necessarily need to land on Earth. Earth’s resources in the solar system are not particularly abundant, and they don’t need such an inefficient development method.

Alien travelers have no reason to do this. Only by living in the solar system would they develop an attachment to this planet.

Mars, Venus, and Earth may have been suitable for the birth of life a long time ago, and the civilization in the solar system has reason to do so.

Let me assume a possibility: a long time ago there was a Martian civilization whose science was about 20 to 40 years more advanced than ours and was able to land on its nearest Earth-like planet.

Later, this civilization disappeared for some reason, but it left traces on Earth and Mars, including former spacecraft or related technologies.

Products of this level can be digested and replicated by humans in the 21st century through hard work.

And on their home planet there are more ruins, hiding the final legacy of a lost civilization."

"..."

"..."

John admired his imagination very much, and then responded sharply without any hesitation:
“From the pyramids to the ruins of ancient Babylon, to the mysterious imperial palace of the Qing Dynasty, Amei has traveled to almost every corner of the world, and has not found any trace of Martians.

The Chinese dug up an ancient spaceship by just casually exploring around?"

David was not annoyed at all by John's accusation, and responded patiently:

"Sir, luck is often the most important part in history. Nothing is impossible."

(End of this chapter)