Super Copy of Great Power Technology

"NASA supports the manned Mars mission. Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle, our United States has not undertaken a large-scale space project for a long time. Our citizens and the world have probably forgotten that our United States has been the leader in the international space field for the past fifty years. Launching the manned Mars mission now is timely. It can not only compete with China for the leading position in Mars development, but also demonstrate the United States' strong technological strength and execution capabilities to the world, laying the foundation for the United States' greatness again."

"Boeing also supports the manned Mars mission. Earth is simply too small, and its population is far too large; Earth has long been overburdened. There are only two solutions: either launch World War III to reduce the population burden, or go beyond Earth, venture into space, find a second home for humanity, and conduct extraterrestrial colonization to alleviate the current population pressure. Launching a war is costly and exhausting, and the final outcome is still uncertain. Only interstellar colonization is the best way to solve the population pressure. Given our current level of space technology, leaving the solar system is still somewhat difficult; exploring and colonizing Mars is undoubtedly the best option at present."

For every supporter, there is an opponent. U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin stood up and declared loudly, "The manned Mars mission involves a vast amount of research and development in new technologies and materials, the development, production, trial manufacturing, and improvement of new rockets and spacecraft, the selection and training of astronauts, and many other areas, costing trillions of dollars. Currently, our U.S. financial situation is not optimistic. The economy is sluggish, unemployment is rising, and we have a mountain of foreign debt, with monthly interest payments reaching astronomical figures. How can we afford the costs of a manned Mars mission under such financial circumstances?"

"It is indeed a bit difficult for our country's finances to support the entire manned Mars project alone. I propose that we bring in our country's traditional allies to jointly fund and advance the project."

"That's right. If we're facing financial difficulties, we can just get our allies to contribute. At worst, once the project is successful and we're conducting a large-scale Mars colonization, we can just give our allies some Mars colonization slots and that will be enough."

“Island nations, South Korea, and EU countries can all be brought in for the project. They can provide funding and labor, while we will be responsible for spacecraft research and development, production, and launch. Each of us will do our part and work together. I believe it won’t be long before we can send our astronauts to Mars.”

"I suggest that we pre-sell Mars tourism tickets and Mars immigration qualifications on online platforms, using future money to solve the current funding gap. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

When it comes to aerospace technology, few of us here can understand it. But when it comes to raising funds, everyone here is an expert. They offered suggestions and worked together to come up with a highly feasible financing plan in no time, which basically solved the funding problem for the manned Mars mission.

Two hours later, the meeting ended. President Trump got up to see off the group of business tycoons, then picked up the phone and called the leaders of a group of traditional allies, or "little brothers," to discuss joint funding for a manned Mars mission.

The following day, at a regular press conference held at the White House, the spokesperson announced the "Ares Mars Landing Program," officially joining this invisible space race. Subsequently, NASA's official website published a "Ares Mars Development Plan," revealing more details. The Ares Mars Landing Program is led by the United States, with participation from over a dozen countries including Japan, South Korea, the UK, and France. Participants include dozens of globally renowned high-tech companies such as SpaceX, Blue Origin, Boeing, and Japanese companies, as well as hundreds of aerospace-related research institutions and tens of thousands of researchers, becoming the implementers of the plan. The initial investment in the Mars landing project is expected to exceed $3000 billion, making it a truly monumental project. If the Mars landing is successfully completed, there will be subsequent plans for Mars base construction, Mars resource development, and even Mars colonization planning, almost entirely mirroring China's announced comprehensive Mars development plan. The main theme is: regardless of whether we can actually achieve it, let's make a presentation first, otherwise how will we get funding from Congress?

Two days later, the Soviet Union, in conjunction with India, announced the launch of the Kartikaiye Project, sounding the clarion call for a march to Mars. The Soviet Union's space technology was largely inherited from the fallen communist empire. As one of the former two poles of the world, its technological foundation was still considerable, consistently ranking among the world's best. It possessed a large number of space scientists and engineers, either inherited or subsequently trained, making the development of heavy-lift rockets and the sending of human astronauts to Mars not impossible. However, the Soviet Union's current economic situation was too poor; it lacked the funds to undertake the costly and massively invested manned Mars landing project. Left with no other option, it had to appeal to friendly neighboring countries, hoping some generous investors would be willing to invest in the Mars landing project and seek mutual development.

Coincidentally, neighboring India, despite its technological backwardness and the poverty of its lower classes, has amassed a fortune in US dollars thanks to its demographic dividend and is willing to invest heavily in space exploration. Russia has the technology and talent, but lacks funds; India has the money, but lacks both talent and technology. The two countries have a strong complementarity in the space field—isn't that a coincidence? Thus, the space agencies of the two countries came together for discussions, leading to the Kartikaiye Project.

Thus, the two-person skit transformed into a three-way battle, with China, the United States, and Russia—three major spacefaring nations—along with their allies, engaging in a protracted competition over Mars landing development. Currently, China holds a technological and first-mover advantage, making it the closest to success. Meanwhile, the United States and Russia's Mars landing programs are still in the preparatory and development stages; it's unknown how many years it will be before manned rockets are launched and the projects officially begin.

That afternoon, leaders and technical personnel from the China National Space Administration and Ruida Aerospace gathered virtually for an online seminar. The seminar focused on analyzing the feasibility of the Mars landing plans proposed by the United States and Russia, and whether they would impact China's Mars development plans. Qiao Ruida, Chairman of Ruida Aerospace and a leading expert in the aerospace field, was invited to participate in this online seminar.

"Here I have collected the PowerPoint presentations of the Mars landing plans released by the U.S. and the Russians, along with internal documents provided by their intelligence departments. Please take a look at these documents first, and then discuss whether there are any loopholes in these plans, and how feasible they are." A high-ranking official from the National Space Administration picked up a dozens-of-pages-long paper document, activated the virtual copy function, and made dozens of copies, placing one in front of each participant. (End of Chapter)