Reborn Before the Apocalypse: My Backing is the Nation

Chapter 170 Moon City
Sun Changhe's words remained calm throughout, showing no emotional fluctuation. But to Jiang Yang, they carried an immense weight.

At this moment, boundless passion surged from Jiang Yang's heart.

It's not that we persevere because we have hope, but rather that we have hope because we persevere!
He stood up abruptly: "I support Consultant Sun's suggestion!"

Because of his special status, Jiang Yang knew how much impact such a clear and undisguised statement would have on the other attendees.

Inside the meeting room, the attendees remained silent. But in that quiet moment, Jiang Yang sensed a subtle shift in the atmosphere.

Sun Changhe nodded slightly to Jiang Yang, then solemnly asked, "With our current technological capabilities, do we have a way to send probes to the vicinity of the sun to find out what kind of impact the sun has encountered?"

And how do these changes occurring on the Sun affect Earth? Can this process be stopped?

A leading figure in the scientific community stood up.

His face was still ashen, but the sense of despair and bewilderment had lessened considerably.

"First of all, it is impossible for us to send a probe to the vicinity of the sun within 86 days to conduct close-range exploration of the sun."

The fastest trajectory to reach the Sun is a free-fall trajectory, which means setting the probe's initial velocity to zero and allowing it to fall directly into the Sun under its gravitational pull.

However, Earth has an initial orbital velocity of approximately 30 kilometers per second. To allow the probe to freefall, it would need an equivalent velocity increment.

Such an increase in capability is beyond the capabilities of any rocket on Earth.

Jiang Yang remained silent.

His continuous learning in the past enabled him to fully understand this passage.

Between the two space exploration options of launching a probe to leave the solar system and launching a probe to reach the sun, the average person would generally think that going to the vicinity of the sun would be simpler.

After all, all the planets in our solar system revolve around the sun; the sun is our base. There's no reason why leaving our base should be harder than returning, right?
But the fact is just the opposite.

The root of all this lies in the Earth's orbital speed.

At Earth's orbit, the Sun's second cosmic velocity is approximately 42.1 kilometers per second. This means that to launch a probe from Earth to leave the solar system and completely escape the Sun's gravitational field, only a speed increment of 12.1 kilometers per second is needed.

To reach the vicinity of the sun, a speed increment of 30 kilometers per second is required, which is 2.5 times more difficult than leaving the solar system!
Normally, when humans launch solar probes, they need to make many orbital adjustments and use the gravity of Venus and Mercury to slow them down before they can finally achieve their goal.

However, this would take too long, at least three years, rendering the exploration mission completely meaningless.

"And... even if we reach it, it will be almost meaningless."

According to Comrade Jiang Yang's report, when the end of the world comes, the sun will not only increase in brightness to an extreme degree, but will also release some form of residual energy, causing an electromagnetic storm.

Even without Earth's magnetic field as a trigger, this energy would almost certainly destroy the probe instantly. Even if it doesn't destroy it, its communication jamming capability is strong enough to prevent any information from being transmitted back.

This expert's words reduced the possibility of directly probing the sun to zero.

Sun Changhe nodded slightly, his expression unchanged: "In that case... we need to consider another plan, to find a way to help Comrade Jiang Yang escape this apocalypse, so that after the apocalypse, he can explore the sun, the earth, and other things, and collect relevant information to take to the next life."

Implementing this plan would mean that humanity would completely abandon any intention or idea of ​​defeating the apocalypse and ensuring the continuation of civilization in this lifetime. However, the attendees, who had just been encouraged by Sun Changhe, had no objections to this.

Everyone understands that temporary sacrifices are for long-term gains.

The destruction of this life, or even the next, is acceptable, as long as human civilization can continue in some future life.

"Among the messages carried by Comrade Jiang Yang, is there anything about the moon? What will happen to the moon in the apocalypse?"

The expert in charge of deciphering the information replied, "No."

Sun Changhe nodded slowly: "In that case, the moon was most likely unaffected by this apocalypse. At least, it was unaffected during the 20 seconds that the communication system was still operational."

His basis for this judgment is quite obvious: the global monitoring network built in the previous life is unlikely to overlook the moon.

If the moon also experiences significant changes, lunar astronauts, or automated observation equipment located on Earth and the moon, will immediately report the relevant information to the Earth-1 supercomputer.

The fact that they did not do that in their previous life means that the moon was very likely unaffected within 20 seconds of the apocalypse beginning.

And the probability that if it is not affected at the beginning, it will not be affected later is also very high.

Of course, this "unaffected" only includes those with significant impact, such as a moonquake similar to an earthquake on Earth. Other impacts, such as communication disruptions or electromagnetic storms causing equipment damage, are still possible.

However, if preparations are made in advance, these effects are not fatal in a sense and do not prevent people from continuing to survive on the moon.

"I suggest that we send Comrade Jiang Yang and some scientists to the moon to rely on the lunar barrier to avoid the solar radiation and electromagnetic storms during the apocalypse, survive until after the apocalypse, and then begin our observations of the sun and the earth!"

Sun Changhe looked at Jiang Yang: "Comrade Jiang Yang, what do you think of this arrangement?"

Returning to the moon?

Jiang Yang said, "I have no objection. It's just... the number of scientists required will probably be quite large."

Sun Changhe nodded: "Indeed. We need a large number of scientists from different fields to carry out exploration missions and data collection and analysis missions, and we need many astronauts to carry out the expansion and maintenance of the lunar base."

With a large number of people, doctors, administrative staff, and order maintenance personnel are needed.

We need more than just a lunar base; we need a lunar town.

Jiang Yang knew that although the human world now has a permanent base on the moon, where astronauts are stationed at all times.

However, the total number of people is only a few dozen.

And this town...

"My initial estimate is that the number of people needed will be no less than 2000. It could be more, reaching tens of thousands."

But given the current scale and strength of our aerospace industry, I believe that we, in this era, have this capability.

(End of this chapter)