Chapter 901 - Asteroid Mining Project

Chapter 901: Asteroid Mining Project

Although Hawking was no longer a Britain citizen, the Queen and Prime Minister still sent him blessings and also sent a thank-you letter to Jiang Chen. Although his relationship with Europe was gradually deteriorating, Future Group unexpectedly won Britain’s friendship.

Perhaps it was because of historical factors that the Rothschilds didn’t have as much control over their homeland as they did in the past, or it perhaps it was because of an old man who was widely known in the scientific community.

Jiang Chen didn’t charge Hawking for the treatment but instead, asked him to join Coro University as a professor of physics. Although Coro University attracted a large number of great professors from all over the world with Jiang Chen’s monetary tactics, other than the seventeenth dean of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Rafael Leif, there wasn’t really anyone there that could be printed on the admissions ads.

The arrival of Hawking undoubtedly solved this problem. Because of his arrival, the influence of Coro University increased by not just one notch.

Of course, Jiang Chen didn’t invite Hawking just as an advertisement for Future Biology or to add a banner to Coro Island; these were all secondary. What he really saw was Hawking’s achievements in the study of the universe.

On the second day after treatment, Jiang Chen went to Coro Central Hospital again and found him. After asking his wife and children to step outside for a moment, Jiang Chen explained his intentions.

“Asteroid Mining Project?” Hawking raised his eyebrows.

“We’ve taken note of your research on 101955 Bennu and the predictions that it will collide with the Earth in 2135. If you can provide us with information on this asteroid, it would be extremely helpful,” Jiang Chen said.

In fact, Hawking’s achievements as a prophet were far less prominent than his achievements in physics and cosmology. Like the series of predictions he made before, this prediction about the collision of Bennu asteroid with the Earth in 2135 didn’t happen… because as early as the beginning of the 22nd century, this asteroid with a diameter of about 500 meters was mined clean by NATO.

In aerospace technology, NATO was comparable to PAC and CCCP in the apocalypse and even went a bit further. They were also very cautious regarding confidentiality for related technology.

The Pan-Asia Cooperation library database didn’t contain detailed information about the Bennu asteroid, such as its most critical operational orbit. However, in the database compiled by the Camp No. 27 scientists, Jiang Chen accidentally discovered the relevant model of asteroid capture technology.

According to Lin Lin’s description, the Bennu asteroid was one of the earliest captured asteroids and was one of the most easily captured. Using this asteroid as a test would undoubtedly be fitting for Celestial Trade, where space technology was still in its “infancy”!

However, after listening to Jiang Chen’s plan, Hawking appeared to be extremely worried.

“Have you ever thought about the disaster of mining failures?”

“Bennu’s orbit is extremely close to Earth and we can even ‘see’ it from Earth every six years as it passes through Earth’s orbit. If you reduce your mining speed and cause it to be captured by the gravitational force, the only result is a direct collision with Earth! Have you considered this consequence yet?” Hawking looked at Jiang Chen as he spoke seriously.

“Of course I considered this,” Jiang Chen said with a smile. “Because our plan is to slow it down, then eventually capture it with the gravity of the Earth and Moon system. It will stay in the Earth and Moon system at a height below the Moon’s orbit and orbit the Earth. Our scientists have calculated the orbit that’s best suited to ‘deposit’ the asteroid.”

Hawking looked at Jiang Chen speechlessly. Words only came out after a long silence.

“Either you’re a genius or you’re a madman. If you make a mistake, all of mankind will be buried.”

“It’s a privilege to receive this honor, but such an accident won’t happen.” Jiang Chen smiled. “I swear, my plan is absolutely safe.”

Cloudy eyes stared straight at Jiang Chen, and after a long moment, Hawking finally sighed.

“Although I want to stop you, I’m afraid I don’t have that ability at all. If it can increase the success rate of your plan, you can take all my research on Bennu. In addition, although spacecraft and mining aren’t my fields of expertise, feel free to ask me anything related to cosmology.”

After hearing Hawking’s words, Jiang Chen nodded.

“Thank you for your understanding. Speaking of this, aside from the Bennu asteroid, I still have one more important thing that requiresyour help.”

“What is it?”

“Our scientists accidentally observed a particle from the higher dimensional universe in an experiment… We call it Klein particles. It contains some mysteries related to phenomena such as time and black holes, but pity that we know very little. If you’re interested, I hope you’ll participate in related research.”

As early as the beginning of the year, Jiang Chen had plans to capture the asteroid with an abundance of mineral reserves. Although the plan wasn’t disclosed because of various issues, related preparations never stopped such as research and development and construction of mining rockets, design capture plans, etc…

The Asteroid Capture Plan was to be divided into three steps: landing, webbing, and pulling.

The so-called landing was launching a mining spacecraft, accelerated to the same orbit as an asteroid which would land on the surface of the asteroid for construction.

Webbing, on the other hand, would weave a “net” with sufficient toughness to enclose the asteroid around five hundred meters in diameter. The preferred material was naturally graphene. Whether it was toughness or strength, this material was very suitable for weaving this giant web.

The last was pulling, which would be also the most difficult and most crucial step. This step involved complex mathematical modelling. In addition, according to the estimates of the Space Launch Center, completing the manual orbital change of the asteroid and slowing it down to be captured into a safe orbit by the Earth and Moon system would require at least eight RM-320 rocket engines . A series of ignition and extinguish sequences would need to necessary to precisely control the orbit of the asteroid.

A minor mistake would mean that the asteroid will leave the Earth forever. A serious mishap, and the asteroid would crash into the Earth. Celestial Trade’s last resort would be to blow up the asteroid and reduce its damage on the earth.

If there was no quantum computer responsible for data processing, Jiang Chen simply wouldn’t have dared to implement such a complicated project.

And even with a quantum computer as a data processing tool, the records from the apocalypse about the Bennu asteroid were extremely limited. There was also a lot of uncertainty about this project. As Hawking said, the person who made this decision was either a genius or a complete madman.

But this first step must be taken eventually.

Therefore, after repeatedly reviewing Kelvin’s plan, Jiang Chen signed his name on the document and approved the implementation of the plan. In order to avoid unnecessary consequences, Jiang Chen didn’t report to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs in accordance with the procedure, but instead launched five mining rockets into space under the guise of building a “large space station.”

The Bennu asteroid was already approaching the Earth and was estimated to pass through Earth’s orbit at the end of December. That was the best time to complete the final step of the asteroid capture program – “changing orbits.” If they missed it, they would have to wait six more years.

In order to seize this once-in-a-six-year opportunity, the Asteroid Capture Program would run simultaneously with the Space Elevator Program!