Chapter 803

Earth, North America.

NASA headquarters.

Sitting at his desk, director Carson was looking through the papers in his hand.

Just then, the door of the office opened, and a man in a suit stepped in.

Looking up at the assistant who came into the door, director Carson reached out and took off his glasses on the bridge of his nose, saying in a tired tone.

"How are things? What about the three astronauts? "

The assistant replied.

"It's on the moon palace now."

Turning the pen in his hand, Carson held it and nodded gently on the desk.

"What about the personnel handover schedule? When is the Chinese side going to send people back? "

They paid at least $1 billion for this expensive Mars rescue operation.

Although the Chinese side publicized that it had undertaken $713 million in relief funds for humanitarian purposes, it's hard to know how much they actually paid. After all,

can now bring people back from Mars on the tail of the window stage, and has the final say of the budget.

Carson estimates that when China's side reaches the top of the sky, it will be like $340 million. The whole rescue operation will not cost as much as $1.7 billion.

The assistant hesitated for a moment and began awkwardly to look at director Carson.

“…… Not sure yet. "

"Not sure?" Director Carson was slightly stunned and frowned, "what do you mean They're going to hold people up or not? "

"No, it's just our astronauts There seems to be a small problem. "

“…… What's the problem? "

In the face of director Carson's questioning eyes, the assistant's face was full of bitter expression.

"Suspected Martian bacteria were detected in the metabolites of three colonists..."

……

After the successful docking of Xiaguang and Yuegong, the news that three colonists of new Virginia returned to the Earth Moon system immediately spread all over the world along the Internet.

However, before the people of the world could cheer for this great moment, the news of the discovery of Martian species in three colonists was spread along with the triumph of the Chinese rescue team.

When I heard the news, the international community was in a state of uproar.

Some people are curious about these small life from Mars, or some people say that no matter what astronauts bring back from Mars, they don't care.

But the mood that pervades the rest of the population, or the vast majority of the population, is panic

Columbia TV.

Some time ago, Jamie, who was also enthusiastic about ares plan and invited three colonists to visit the site, changed his previous position this time. He not only became a firm opponent of Ares plan, but also invited an ecologist who strongly criticized NASA to the site of the talk show.

Facing the audience and the camera lens, the old professor, who is over Liu Sixian, said in an angry voice.

“…… As I have said, Ares plan is another stupid and inhuman human experiment from the beginning! NASA knows that the danger on Mars is not only the climate, but also the microbes and even viruses we haven't seen! But even so, they resolutely sent the colonists to Mars, and cajoled them into going home one day... "

"Oh, my God, now they do come back, brought back by the generous Chinese. But where on earth should we put them with Mars bacteria? Who can guarantee that the bacteria they carry are harmless to others? Is it harmless to our fragile ecosystem? "

"NASA is responsible for that!"

It's not just Columbia TV that's changing its position.

When the word "human experiment" was put on the table, almost all media in North America, which were still wary of political correctness, drew a clear line with NASA and Ares plan.

As director Carson predicted, NASA and Ares were immediately attacked by public opinion after the news that three colonists were infected with Mars bacteria spread.

Although he felt a little wronged.

After all, there was no plan to bring these Martian colonists back to earth in the Ares plan. If it wasn't for the global sandstorm, they wouldn't have to worry about how to calm the people's anger.

But now it seems too late to say anything.

From the moment the three colonists were detected with Martian bacteria, his political career may have come to an end

At the same time, it is not just director Carson who has been hit.

As far away as Wall Street in New York, there is a cloud over it. Those Aerospace listed companies that were once popular in the financial market are now facing a gloomy capital winter.Even space-x, which is already at the top of the industry, and the blue origin of Amazon holdings, are not so easy.

But just as the public opinion is critical of NASA and Ares plan, there is a different reaction in the academic community.

The paper published by Leslie and Dr. Zhao Shuxuan has caused a great sensation in the world.

Whether there is life on Mars has always been a controversial topic.

Although humans have launched numerous probes, even dropped a life support unit and three astronauts, so far they have not brought one inch of soil directly back from Mars.

Only three meteorites from Mars, alh840001, Yamato 593 and Nakhla, can be studied by astrobiologists.

Although there are signs of microbial existence in all three meteorites, there is still no direct evidence to prove the existence of these microorganisms, or what they are.

Now, although the bacteria brought back from Mars by Xiaguang are full of unpredictable risks, they also have valuable research value.

The biological community believes that this is an epic discovery. Through the research on this bacterium, it is expected to reveal the thin "ecosystem" on Mars and enrich the known DNA database of human beings.

The astronomical community also said that the bacteria brought back from Mars by the three colonists would provide key research materials for the study of the historical and geomorphic changes of Mars and the evolution of the atmospheric environment.

Of course, scholars from related fields also expressed concern.

It is very likely that the species of Mars, which can survive in extreme environment, will show the same tenacious vitality on earth and have unpredictable impact on the earth's ecosystem.

When European colonists brought a series of infectious diseases to North America, they almost wiped out the indigenous people living there. And the number of Native Americans killed by infectious diseases is far greater than those killed by guns.

Now these three people have gone to Mars for a turn and come back, bringing small life on Mars. Although it seems that the physical condition of the three people is not affected at present, no one can guarantee that it will always be like this.

And just as the panic began to spread, the Chinese lunar orbit Construction Committee issued a public statement.

In consideration of the overall interests of human civilization, before determining the possible impact of the bacteria on the earth's ecosystem, or before finding out to completely kill the Martian bacteria carried by the three colonists, we will not consider bringing the three colonists back to the earth.

At the same time, the Chinese lunar orbit construction committee also announced that it would build a lunar surface research facility on the surface of the moon to temporarily settle the three colonists and study their situation.

The facility and the research it is engaged in welcome the supervision of all sectors of society, and open to the whole international community, and welcome other countries to participate in it.

However, due to cost and other factors, this will not be free