Chapter 738

9 a.m. Washington time.

Behind the scenes lounge at NASA press conference.

Standing in front of the mirror, director Carson stretched out his tie to his chest, arranged his appearance, and suddenly said abruptly.

"Gerstenmeier, do you believe in God?"

Sitting in a chair not far away, deputy director gerstenmayer was slightly stunned when he heard this, hesitated for a moment and then said.

"I Sorry, I'm not a believer. "

"Are you materialist?"

"That's right," Mr. gerstenmayer shrugged. "After all, when we deal with rockets and satellites every day, even devout believers will doubt our faith."

"It seems that we are not the same kind of people," said director Carson slowly, smiling at himself in the mirror. "I am an idealist."

“…… So you believe in theism? "

"No, my so-called idealism is not the idealism you understand, but a spiritual awakening. How to make our country great again? The key is not how to make it great, but to make our people believe that we can do it and are doing it. "

At this point, he stopped talking and looked at the dazed deputy director gerstenmayer. Carson raised his sleeve and looked at his watch.

"It's almost time. The reporters are still waiting for us. It's time to go."

……

The light is on.

Director Carson, dressed in formal clothes, walked onto the stage, nodded in front of the cameras in the hands of reporters and reporters, and then announced the start of the press conference.

Originally, this kind of press conference should be given to a special spokesperson, but considering the incident caused by the poor performance of that spokesperson in the last press conference, Carson thinks this time it's better for him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to attend our press conference. Just a week ago, the Congressional Budget Committee approved our budget for the first part of the Ares plan. The BFR super rocket, with a total weight of 25 tons of life support units, will be launched to Mars in a month, sending our new home in the future to the surface of Mars. "

With that, director Carson looked at the big screen behind him.

"I'm talking about the life support unit, which is it."

The moment the voice falls, the screen switches.

In the center of the big screen is a hemispherical white building.

According to the diagram in the perspective view, the hemispherical white building is divided into two parts of the inner and outer circles, and the inner circle is divided into four blocks, two of which are living quarters, which can accommodate up to four colonists, and provide each colonist with a living space of 5.3 square meters per capita. The other two living areas are the experimental area and the public living space. On the one hand, they meet the needs of scientific research, and on the other hand, they meet the needs of the colonists.

As for the outer circle of the life support unit, that is, the inflatable part of the whole life support unit after landing, is a circle similar to the vegetable shed. It is used to try to cultivate some drought tolerant crops and provide additional food for the colonists to reduce the cost of transporting materials from the earth to Mars.

In addition, there are conceptual maps of Mars colonies.

Only a row of hemispherical white "yurts" are linked together through transparent pipes. 3D modeling villains shuttle between the pipes. On the nearby red desert, a Mars rover with huge tires is driving.

When I saw this scene, the media on the scene immediately made an amazing voice.

Although NASA has published relevant information on its official website and Twitter account, it did not disclose more details about Ares' plan, nor did it explain the details of the life support unit.

Now standing here, looking at everything on the big screen, even if you have been prepared to be surprised before again, many people's faces can't help but emerge a shocking expression.

Especially the BFR super rocket which is displayed in front of people!

Before that, Saturn V, the largest carrier rocket, had a maximum payload of 118 tons, which could only be transported to low earth orbit. If it is to be transported to the orbit of the moon, the carrying capacity will be sharply reduced to 47 tons.

However, Ares's goal is not low earth orbit, nor moon orbit, but the Mars surface with the closest distance to the earth of 55.76 million kilometers!

The reporters were shocked by NASA's grand plan. For a while, more than 300 people lost their voices in the hall.

Carson was very satisfied with the quiet scene. After a slight cough, he continued to introduce it.

“…… A successful life support unit on the surface of Mars will be able to support the life needs of five astronauts on the surface of Mars for two to five years. In this long period of time, astronauts will carry out a number of scientific research activities on Mars, explore the mineral resources and water reserves on Mars, collect first-hand data for our researchers on earth, and pave the way for the follow-up project of Ares plan. Finally, we will build a self-sufficient Mars village on that red planet! "With the voice of director Carson falling, the atmosphere at the press conference was pushed to a high tide in an instant.

We will soon enter into the on-site questioning.

All the reporters raised their hands high, as if they could stick their fingers in Carson's nostrils.

Director Carson took a look around the venue and naturally chose the Washington Post.

As a newspaper with a long history, the Washington Post's view is relatively conservative. Generally, it doesn't throw a sharp question at him at the beginning, so it is also the safest choice.

With the gesture of director Carson, the old well-known reporter of the Washington Post, Han, got this precious opportunity.

It took him two seconds to think about his words, and he quickly reached out a recording pen and asked, "Hello, Mr. director, we all know that the Ares plan has just started. Compared with our grand goal, the preparation time for us is only a little. Do you think the plan is safe? Or I'm going to ask, how much is NASA's grasp of the first phase of Ares

As Carson expected, the entry point chosen by the Washington Post really focused on "preparation time" and "success rate".

"The Ares plan has been restarted recently, but we have been preparing for landing on Mars for a long time. For example, the life support unit, as early as 10 years ago, has been approved for research. And space-x's BFR super rocket, as early as two years ago, has completed its first test flight. "

"The project of colonizing Mars is not our temporary intention, but a thorough plan! On the issue of security, I can assure you that we will make sure that all security work is safe, and then let our colonists go! "

Director Carson's voice fell, and the deafening applause soon filled the meeting room.

After a round of warm applause, the British journalist from BBC got the chance to ask questions and got up to speak.

"Mr. director, we all know that just a week ago, China's manned lunar landing project was a great success. I would like to ask you if NASA's decision to launch ares in such a hurry is a response to China's lunar landing? "

Is this a question to ask?

If it wasn't for China to send astronauts to the moon, Congress would be crazy to approve their crazy and money burning plan.

At this point, NASA actually has to thank the Chinese.

After all, if it wasn't for China's step-by-step pressure in the field of space, the elders of the Congressional Budget Committee would never have been so happy to open their pockets.

Of course, the reason comes to reason. Of course, director Carson will not admit it and refuted it simply.

"There is no basis for this statement. We sent our astronauts to the moon half a century ago, and now it's worth affirming that China has also successfully achieved this, but it's not as yet that we put them in the position of our opponents."

"Remember, the manned landing on the moon is what we have achieved in the past. There is nothing or glory in that land worth remembering. Now, our goal is to go further to Mars, where there are infinite possibilities. "

Ho ho!

There was an exclamation at the scene.

The expression on the North American reporter's face was full of excitement, like beating chicken blood. The British reporter looked interested, as if he had seen the big news. The expressions of Russian journalists are somewhat complicated, while those of Chinese journalists are not very good-looking.

In any case, the information revealed in NASA's speech is not very friendly to China.

We have never regarded you as rivals!

When you chase our past steps, we have already cast our eyes to the far side!