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

Although the five bidding companies had been arguing for a week at the headquarters of United Mining, the outside world did not get any more news except the information previously announced by Rolls-Royce.

The entire bidding process is conducted in a non-public manner, trying not to touch the sensitive nerves of the public.

It is very stupid to openly declare "how many hydrogen bombs and how many yields will we explode on the moon?" Moreover, only the main branch has been negotiated now, and the remaining branches and leaves still need a lot of time to be slowly improved.

United Mining conducted multiple rounds of negotiations and consultations for three consecutive days on the 28th, 29th, and 30th, and then the United Nations released a message:

The Secretary-General, who is still criticizing the use of hydrogen bombs on the moon, announced that a new round of permanent council summits on the Outer Space Treaty will be held in Vienna from September 15 to 20, and will review some of the treaty’s unresolved issues. Reinterpret and revise clear and outdated provisions, and emphasize that this move is for a more reasonable and safe use of space resources.

At the same time, United Mining Company issued an announcement to suspend bidding for hydrogen bomb suppliers, stating that it would further refine and reconsider the original mine development plan, and the ongoing lunar construction work will not be affected.

Ordinary people could not understand the signals released by these actions, but on September 3, the International Atomic Energy Agency suddenly announced:

"The International Atomic Energy Agency will conduct a new round of assessment on nuclear sewage and other radiation residue issues at the IAEA staff permanent office, and at the same time apply to the five nuclear-armed countries to form an inspection team composed of no less than 10 experts to conduct an inspection of the rich Island Nuclear Power Plant proposes more effective solutions.”

After this news was released, countries in the Western Pacific immediately expressed their support for the International Atomic Energy Agency, believing that it would more proactively solve the problem of nuclear sewage.

The authorities of the island country, which had just emerged from the August 12 disaster, could not understand what it meant for a while. They expressed their welcome to the IAEA and then waited to see what happened.

In fact, Edo Electric Power Company is now under great pressure. Not only is it facing a lot of external opposition, there are also internal opposition voices.

Some people believe that the "accidental intrusion" more than half a month ago was premeditated, warning not to discharge sewage into the sea, and Nakayama Jiuji also sent an order not to act rashly.

Now his new plan is to take advantage of the International Atomic Energy Agency's investigation and sell out. To put it bluntly, Edo Electric Power Company wants to directly discharge the sea because it is increasingly difficult to afford the cost of purification. If he can get a donation, it will naturally allow more nuclear wastewater to be stored. a period of time.

…

Birmingham.

The Royal Society of Physics, the Royal Academy of Sciences, the Royal Geographical Society, the Space Agency, and the Royal Air Force came together to discuss a major event at the University of Birmingham: the lunar mining plan.

Luo Luo's first move was to secure five lunar landing astronaut quotas for him, and according to United Mining, he had to make multiple trips back and forth for inspections.

This is already better than the four quotas allocated to Europe in the Artemis plan. Moreover, United Mining is also very sincere and has written into the contract that it will send at least one astronaut to the moon before the end of the year. London was extremely satisfied, and even more dissatisfied with the button-swish of Artemis' plan.

When the entire belt was happy that they were about to land on the moon, United Mining did not forget to remind them: It is less than three months until the end of the year. You should quickly find good candidates and send them for training.

Qualified astronaut guides will definitely be able to find them, but the ones sent up this time must be experts in various fields, and they must be young and powerful.

There was no doubt that the Royal Air Force and the Space Agency were going to get a spot. They nominated Tim Peake, who had just come off the International Space Station, and left the rest to the scientists.

All professors and scholars aged between 25 and 55 who have passed a basic physical examination can participate.

Stephen Hawking also swung his wheelchair to the scene and watched the bald geology professor at the University of Birmingham compete with a Stevenson on the lawn to see who could do more horizontal bars - although according to standards their numbers were both zero.

According to everyone's collective discussion, one of the four payload experts must be proficient in explosive mechanics, and there must be a geologist/cosmologist who understands vacuum and lunar environment. The remaining two places must be sent to two younger scholars.

One of these two scholars will point out that the moon has no atmosphere and is far away from the complex electromagnetic environment of the earth. It is an ideal place for observing the universe, and the data obtained by the observation equipment there will be more accurate.

Next to Hawking is Roger Penrose, who is 11 years older than Hawking but is still in good physical condition.

Penrose: "I really didn't expect that we used hydrogen bombs to get the moon from the Chinese. Stephen, actually I think my body is okay."

Hawking still looked slumped without looking at Penrose, but the latter knew that he was working hard on typing.

Although the computer equipped with him has a set of software for converting speech output, he can only speak 5 words a minute, and typing is faster.

"It would be great if we could build an electromagnetic telescope on the back of the moon. That would be the most ideal and clean environment for observation."

Penrose: "NACA has calculated the cost of this solution and it is too high. However, the Chinese have built FAST. It is really a big thing, but it seems that it is still being debugged and cannot be used. Wait a little longer, maybe we can go Ask them to borrow it and they will agree.”

Hawking: "If it were on the far side of the moon, it would not require such a long period of debugging. I have a hunch that United Mining will definitely have the ability to deliver materials to the moon on a large scale and cheaply. It will be much easier if we can use their power."

Penrose: "This is still not easy. In fact, the help that electromagnetic telescopes can give us is no longer that great. Our understanding of the universe has touched the limit. From a macro perspective... maybe there will not be any major breakthroughs in the next 100 years." .”

Hawking: "You want to build a particle accelerator? But the LHC has not given us any disruptive achievements in recent years."

Penrose: "The LHC is still a bit small. The proton energy level of 13 Tev is not enough. If we want to break through the boundaries of the atomic nucleus, it is best to reach more than 150 Tev, or even 200 Tev. Only then can we get a glimpse of the truth under the quarks."

"It is no longer possible to build such a large accelerator in Europe."

Hawking typed this line slowly, and Penrose could only sigh after seeing it. He was about to say something when he saw a new sentence being formed on the screen:

"Go to China. They are working hard to advance into space. Convince them that the invisible microscopic and macroscopic universe are inseparable. They have built FAST and will also invest in high-energy accelerators larger than the LHC.

Roger, I want to go there once. "

Penrose was stunned for a moment, then nodded slowly:

"Then we'll go there with the selected astronauts. It should be just a few days. You'd better ask your personal doctor for advice."

Hawking: "There are still some people, bring Rolf Hull, we will go together."