Chapter 379: The Beginning Of Change
“In the final segment of the entire press conference, let’s invite our Mister Lin Ran on stage with the most enthusiastic applause, shall we?” Yu Dawei said: “I will present our Huawei full suite as a gift to our General Manager Lin.”
Enthusiastic applause erupted from the audience below the stage.
Xiaomi could give a SU7 to Lin Ran, so how could Huawei possibly not make a gesture.
In a press conference occasion thick with promotional intent, the act of giving a gift itself demonstrates the closeness of cooperation between both parties, releasing a signal to the outside world that our cooperation is very pleasant, dispelling recent external rumors that Apollo Technology is about to conduct deep cooperation with Xiaomi, turning the helm to choose Xiaomi and abandon Huawei.
Lin Ran stood up and walked toward the stage, thinking to himself that in the future, whether he would drive the Xiaomi SU7 more or the AITO more would probably become a focal point of public opinion discussion.
Even being regarded by car circle KOLs as a wind direction indicator, taking the opportunity to promote the brand they support.
Thinking of this, Lin Ran couldn’t help but shake his head.
Yu Dawei said: “This is our Lunar Collector’s Edition Huawei Phone and the latest AITO M9, of course it’s the car keys, the car has already been delivered to Apollo Technology’s underground garage.
Thank you very much, General Manager Lin. With leading talents like General Manager Lin, I have more confidence in the future of our China technology.
In the future, I believe our cooperation will bring more surprises to everyone. Next year’s Huawei phone might even catch up to 3nm equivalent.”
After Yu Dawei finished speaking, the audience below erupted in cheers and screams again.
“Finally, let’s have General Manager Lin say a few words.” Yu Dawei handed the microphone to Lin Ran.
After taking the microphone, Lin Ran said: “What I want to say is, we are one whole. I am a youth, I have the hobbies that everyone has, and I also look at the social media that everyone watches.
Bilibili, Douyin, Zhihu, Weibo, etc., I also browse these platforms.
On these platforms, I often see a saying that technological progress has what to do with me? My monthly salary is three thousand, can technological progress make my salary higher?
What I want to say is, of course it will.
It is precisely because of technological progress that our rise in the car industry, with car factories built for production in third- and fourth-tier cities, allows everyone to find work near home with salaries higher than the local average salary.
Our mobile phone industry rise drives the development of the entire industrial chain upstream and downstream. Besides solving employment, our new energy vehicle intelligent cockpits and car machine systems are more advanced than joint venture brands also because of the experience accumulated from mobile phone systems.
AITO is backed by Huawei, Geely acquired Meizu, Xiaomi itself is a mobile phone manufacturer, NIO as a new energy brand is entering the mobile phone field itself.
These new energy vehicles with smooth car machine systems are more or less related to the mobile phone industry.
The experience we accumulated in manufacturing, the accumulated stable cheap electricity, mature and complete infrastructure, a large number of top-quality engineer teams, a large number of skilled workers, frontline research personnel, etc., these all form our advantages, forming our key factor advantages in production.
Now, our lead achieved in the field of aerospace, applied to the semiconductor field, has resulted in the Lunar Collector’s Edition Huawei Phone that everyone sees.
In the future, the advantages accumulated in the miniaturization of nuclear fission power stations on the lunar surface will similarly help us take the lead in crossing the threshold of fifth-generation nuclear fission power stations.
So every technological progress can benefit all aspects, from industry to personal life. I have always believed that technology will make life better, technological progress brings productivity improvement, and we are always on the road!”
What Lin Ran didn’t mention is whether productivity improvement requires improving the distribution method and distribution relationship.
He could certainly mention it, but not in this occasion, not at someone else’s product press conference to steal the show.
Instead, mention it privately, privately in Yanjing.
Publicly calling out has the flavor of forcing the issue, using public opinion and the voice of the masses to achieve one’s own purpose.
This is a major taboo among taboos.
On a crisp October morning, the ripples caused by China’s semiconductor breakthrough had not yet dissipated, and the entire Silicon Valley was discussing lunar technology, with the importance of the Lunar South Pole greatly elevated.
Companies led by Nvidia and Intel all submitted test application projects to China’s Apollo Technology, but all applications were read but not replied.
Aerospace Corporation’s status also rose with the tide, who let them be the non-profit institution dedicated to aerospace evaluation consulting.
Jonathan hadn’t finished his coffee in the office when his mobile phone vibrated.
The screen showed an urgent email from the company’s international project team: “Apollo Technology Aerospace’s deployment area in the key candidate zone of the Lunar South Pole has further expanded, initial signs indicate mid-to-long-term occupation — location suspected near Shackleton Crater and Degelach Crater.
Please immediately evaluate the impact and provide countermeasures suggestions.”
Jonathan didn’t even click to open the email, just continued drinking his coffee, chuckled lightly after finishing, ha.
He felt that whether the White House, NASA, or Aerospace Corporation, they were all covering their ears to steal a bell. If you don’t acknowledge China’s de facto control over these two places, will they obediently withdraw? They’ve already built bases, laboratories, power stations, photovoltaic panels, and you’re still here routinely sending alert emails, what’s the point?
Every time China launches a crewed rocket to the Lunar South Pole, Jonathan receives similar emails. This is part of NASA purchasing Aerospace Corporation consulting services, reporting lunar situations at any time.
This is a bit like Tianyancha periodic warnings. You follow Evergrande, and then Tianyancha pushes countless latest added risks for Evergrande every day. Click in and see it’s some who-or-who or some famous or unknown company suing Evergrande again, with litigation risk numbers going from 9999+ to 9999+.
Is there any change? Is there any meaning?
No.
It’s already terminal cancer, what’s the point of daily warnings?
Now Aerospace Corporation’s alerts on Shackleton and Degelach Crater are like a terminal cancer patient constantly moaning. You’re just telling NASA you’re still alive, but it has no actual meaning.
Jonathan turned off his mobile phone screen, finished the remaining coffee in one clean gulp, sat down at the computer, and opened a memo he planned to submit to NASA N years ago — he couldn’t remember exactly how many years ago.
This document detailed several hard constraints for landing fields: terrain slope, available lighting (relative layout of eternally illuminated peaks and shadow traps), reachable permanently shadowed regions (for finding and utilizing ice/volatile resources), ground communication visibility corridors, and risk tolerance for landing and ground activities.
Those numbers he knew like the back of his hand, like his own phone number: slope cannot exceed 15°, flat landing area must have at least hundreds of square meters, lighting window needs to satisfy periodic coordination for power generation and thermal control.
According to these rules, he began drafting the latest version of the proposal to submit to NASA.
“Confidential — To: NASA Lunar Surface Task Force (Distribution: Space Agency Director, Landing Team)
From: Jonathan H. Smith, Chief Analyst, Lunar Exploration Systems Department
Date: 2024-10-03
Subject: Countermeasure Suggestions on Occupation of Shackleton and Degelach Crater Areas
Executive Summary (Key Points)
According to our satellite imagery and public orbital photography compilation, multiple mobility/landing traces have appeared recently in the Shackleton and Degelach areas, suspected to be long-term deployment platforms. This occupation will directly affect America’s freedom to conduct Artemis follow-on landings and resource prepositioning surveys at these candidate sites.”
These are all routine matters, content written long ago.
The key is the following content:
“Technical – Alternative Solutions: Immediately advance engineering maturity evaluation of backup landing zones, backup priorities: near-ridge zones connected to PSR, secondary plateaus near eternally illuminated peaks, and highland nodes in the Malapert/Leibnitz system, and accelerate unmanned precursor robot reconnaissance launch windows.
Attachment: Technical details
Site selection priority matrix (slope, lighting, PSR distance, communication visibility, navigation baseline error, surface rock fragmentation rate), with weights and thresholds for each item.
Recommended backup site coordinate clusters (including specific slope profiles and stereo image comparisons), in Appendix A.
Conclusion: Recommend NASA immediately initiate robotic reconnaissance and backup site engineering adaptation.
— J.H.Smith”
In the proposal, Jonathan also attached a large number of charts.
The most important among them is this one:
(Figure shows NASA’s 13 candidate areas for moon base construction)
Why recommend highland nodes in the Malapert/Leibnitz system? Because Chinese people are already opening up the passage from Shackleton to Degelach. Once opened, the entire seven points in the upper half will all be in China’s pocket.
Moreover, because of the operation of small nuclear fission devices, their time window becomes extremely limited.
After finishing the report, report in the company eighth-floor meeting room.
Outside the glass window is blue sky and white clouds, on the indoor table are spread huge lunar terrain dissection maps and data printouts.
After Jonathan briefly stated the proposal, Little Robert looked up and asked:
“Jonathan, brilliant exposition. I think this report is sufficient to submit to NASA as the project conclusion.”
Jonathan nearly rolled his eyes to the sky. If it weren’t for you always saying our progress can’t be too fast, to demonstrate the difficulty and value of the work, we could have submitted the report half a year earlier.
Jonathan asked: “Robert, after we submit the report, how long do you think it will take for NASA’s alternative landing and precursor reconnaissance engineering to be ready?”
Little Robert was noncommittal: “Don’t know, depends on the presidential election results.
If the Donkey Party wins, I think it will take two or three years.
If the Elephant Party wins, only heaven knows what situation we will face with Musk serving as NASA Director.”
In the world line changed by Lin Ran, Musk’s demands are unprecedentedly clear, not some so-called DOGE, a DOGE that’s like a joke. The entire Government Efficiency Department lays off until the end, laying himself off.
His demand is NASA, to serve as America NASA Director position, to control the entire NASA. Musk’s slogan is to make NASA great again.
In his nationwide tour speeches, he repeatedly emphasizes that he will abandon the damn LGBT, conduct massive layoffs at NASA, fire all incompetent employees, only based on ability, not skin color, gender or orientation, to turn NASA into a top institution like in the 1960s.
This thesis, at Big T’s campaign rallies, Musk repeatedly emphasizes, “We will return to the Moon, we will build a base on the Moon, the Moon is America’s Moon!”
Big T also praises it greatly: “I think highly of Elon, Elon is the best NASA candidate. Elon founded SpaceX, developed reusable rockets, founded companies like Tesla, is the pioneer of America manufacturing returning, is our country’s most outstanding entrepreneur. Compared to Musk, the current NASA Director has nothing that can match Elon!
Let’s bring NASA back to the Golden Age together!”
Jonathan asked: “So Robert, do you hope the Elephant Party wins or the Donkey Party?”
Little Robert replied without thinking: “Of course the Donkey Party. Convincing Kamala is much easier than convincing Musk.
If Musk serves as NASA Director, I think the difficulty for us to earn ten thousand US Dollars will be ten times, a hundred times or even higher than before.
The entire NASA and NASA-associated contractors, no one hopes the Elephant Party wins, I guarantee you.”
Jonathan sighed inwardly, everyone for making money, the country can be cast aside.
“But the problem is, if we continue like this, the entire Moon will be handed over.” Jonathan said.
Little Robert was accustomed to Jonathan’s demeanor. In his view, the other had stayed in the ivory tower too long. Even at Aerospace Corporation, isn’t it still an ivory tower? Jonathan couldn’t see the real world’s operation logic. He smiled: “Jonathan, do you think it would be different if Musk came?
No, it won’t.
Even Musk, either adapts to NASA’s current situation or is forced to leave NASA.
No one can change NASA, Musk can’t, Randolph Lin can’t either.”
Jonathan fell silent.
Three days later, Jonathan sat in the White House visitor center waiting area.
Security check, background investigation, mobile phone turned off, personal items registered, everything so familiar, just last time a group met together, this time Sharvin only invited him alone.
This gave him a sense of official ceremony.
This is the unique tension of the National Security Advisor office. The dimly lit meeting room only had a table and a few chairs, nothing else.
A few minutes later, Sharvin walked in, his face bearing indescribable fatigue.
Jonathan knew well where this fatigue came from. Old timers were forced to withdraw from the presidential primary election. No matter who becomes president in the future, Sharvin will have no connection to this office.
So, Jonathan was even more unclear why the other sought him. You, a White House bureaucrat with only two months left, and I, an old scholar, can we have any common topics?
After Jonathan sat down, no small talk, only the coffee placed in front like a welcome.
Sharvin spoke: “Doctor Jonathan, thank you for coming.
We have also noticed activities in the South Pole candidate zones in intelligence.
You summarized the problem very clearly.
I want to ask two points directly: Technically, can we use other solutions to quickly restore the scientific landing window? Diplomatically, which channels do you suggest we push first?”
Asked professional questions, Jonathan quickly entered state: “Technically possible, but with cost and time trade-offs.
We need to do three things: immediately launch a batch of small precursor robots. These small precursor robots feature low cost, rapid production, broad coverage. We don’t need every one to soft land successfully, as long as some soft land successfully.
Win by quantity, like SpaceX’s Falcon 9 in the past, accumulating experience through frequent launches, optimizing and iterating, finally succeeding.
This way, obtain detailed ground maps and regolith interaction evidence within 6 months;
Simultaneously lower the thresholds for our lander landing curves, including navigation redundancy, active hazard identification and avoidance, to select backup zones with steeper slopes but better lighting and more abundant communication visibility;
Prioritize communication relays, including lunar orbital or Earth-Moon L2 relays, not relying on single line-of-sight.
This way, we can enter the state the fastest.”
Sharvin nodded and noted: “This sounds like a technical alternative, but at no small cost.”
Jonathan explained: “No, doing this doesn’t cost much, on the contrary, the cost will be relatively small.
In my view, the kind of perfection NASA has always pursued, a mechanism and logic of no mistakes, achieving maximum effect in one go, is actually problematic.
We are always pursuing perfection. A project with perfect planning, after consuming massive budget post-launch, finds it can’t achieve perfection at the end, then terminates the project, pinning hopes on the next similar project with still perfect goals, to avoid the problems encountered in the previous one.
This appears low cost on the surface, but actually the cost is extremely high.”
Jonathan hoped to use this implicit way to remind the young high official in front of him of NASA’s problems and what the real efficient operation logic in the field of aerospace should be.
In his view, the other was so young, holding key positions in the Donkey Party internally, perhaps he would make a comeback someday. Now maybe just planting a seed.
Sharvin then asked: “What about the diplomatic level? Jonathan, any suggestions?”
Jonathan answered: “Diplomacy needs to be fast and low-impact.
My suggestion is: immediately request a site briefing via diplomatic channels, invite China to explain their deployment nature, scientific uses, and plans; and simultaneously bring the issue into international norms discussion, e.g., invite relevant contacts from ESA, JAXA, CSA, and Australia to form a transparency working group.
The goal is not current confrontation, but placing the other’s actions under an international framework to strive for time and predictability.
Sorry, such behavioral methods may have been effective in the past, but facing current China, facing Apollo Technology, facing an opponent like Randolph who doesn’t play by the rules, I don’t know if they are still effective.
But doing similar actions, incorporating it into the diplomatic field, restricting China’s site selection scope from the diplomatic field, not letting them really possess the entire Moon as Randolph said in his speech, is our current top priority.
They have this ability, I have no doubt about it.
We need sufficient actions, exert enough pressure on Earth, not let them spread endlessly on the Moon’s scope.”
Sharvin pondered for a moment, his gaze passing through outside the window: “Your suggestion is to normalize the issue rather than immediately publicly declaring the other side illegal?”
Jonathan answered briefly: “Yes, public confrontation will only harden the other’s stance.
First use fact chains and multilateral transparency as leverage. In short, when our strength is insufficient, we need a soft posture, this is not embarrassing!”
Sharvin noted the last item: “Good.”
Moments later, he handed over a piece of paper: “Jonathan, interested in taking a new position?”
Jonathan picked up the note and looked, his eyes widening, because the recipient on this note clearly read: Elon Musk.
