The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master

Later that day.

Washington.

Michael Griffin finally completed the last round of physical examinations today accompanied by the medical team. He was now in the advanced ward waiting for the final result with a heavy heart.

Although he had already pushed away the responsibility for the creation of space junk No. 40396, the commotion made by the Chinese this time was too big, and this kind of thing that happened in outer space was related to the International Space Station. It was hard not to be related to NASA.

After today, if nothing is done to divert public attention, even if there is no direct reason to be held accountable, it will inevitably be drowned by the saliva of the public and congressmen.

The only good news is that the other party is obviously not prepared to do things completely, so he left some room for maneuver in his statement at the press conference.

As soon as he saw the last round of questions and answers, he asked Meyer to contact the Chinese Space Agency and expressed his willingness to bear part of the research funds within a reasonable range.

No matter how much money is to be paid and how to pay it, we should stabilize the other party first...

Thinking of this, the idea that flashed through Griffin's mind a few hours ago reappeared in Griffin's mind.

He turned his head slightly and looked at the paper on the table that was almost 80% filled.

Before, his mind was in a red-hot state and his brain was not very smart. Now that he calmed down and thought about it carefully, he had a lot of new ideas.

The military, NASA, Boeing, Raytheon, SpaceX involved in this matter... In short, as a whole, no matter which one is not easy to mess with.

But if we can find a way to push the problem to a specific person, the problem will become much simpler.

Of course, in order to avoid joint liability, the unlucky person who takes the blame must not come from the government department, it is best to come from a company or research institution...

Just when Griffin started brainstorming, the door of the ward was suddenly knocked.

"Come in."

Griffin couldn't wait to get back to the office at this time, so he stood up quickly and turned the paper on the table over.

"Click--"

With the sound of the door lock turning, the head of the medical team, Achim Sachs, walked in from outside.

Strangely enough, a famous doctor of his level and age rarely makes first-hand diagnoses, but whenever he shows up in the hospital, he always has a stethoscope hanging around his neck.

Like an ID card.

"Mr. Director, the test results are out."

Dr. Sachs came closer with a thick test report in his hand.

"How is the situation? Can I be discharged from the hospital?"

Griffin didn't even try to take the test report, but asked directly.

Although he graduated with a doctorate, he still felt a headache every time he saw those ridiculously complicated medical terms, let alone understanding the specific values ​​behind them.

"To be honest, all indicators are not very stable yet. If there is no emergency, I still recommend staying in the hospital for a while for observation..."

Sachs shook his head and said with a serious tone.

The hospital charges a very high fee when it is open to the public. For every extra day a patient stays in the hospital, the related expenses will increase by tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Even though Griffin, as the head of NASA, does not need to pay this amount himself, the hospital can still receive money from the insurance company.

Of course, the current situation is definitely not normal.

Therefore, Sachs only threatened the other party a little, and then changed the subject:

"However, if you really need to be discharged immediately, you can also use medication for a period of time, but you must ensure that your emotions are stable to avoid causing too much burden on your body. In addition, you need to come for a check-up every other week..."

"..."

Sachs gave a lot of instructions, but they were all very common things:

"Do you think the medicine should be given directly to Assistant Meyer, or..."

Griffin hesitated.

Although Meyer is undoubtedly his confidant, it is better not to let others know about medical advice except for the doctor and himself.

"Just give it to me directly..."

After some instructions, Griffin packed up his personal belongings and prepared to sign for discharge.

When he put the paper on the table back into his briefcase, he did not notice the deliberate gaze of Dr. Sachs not far behind him...

Accompanied by Meyer and other accompanying personnel, Griffin returned to his office at NASA headquarters before nightfall that day.

Although it was less than three days since he fainted at the door due to anger, it seemed longer than his entire first half of life.

However, there was no time for him to feel sad now.

How to smooth over the follow-up development of the whole thing is the first priority.

"Lei, I asked you to contact the Chinese Space Agency before to test the other party's reaction... Is there any result now?"

Although he was still a little weak, the moment he sat back at his desk, Griffin instinctively restored his momentum as the head of NASA.

Meyer nodded:

"The Chinese side expressed that they are happy to see our two countries moving towards each other and agree with our positive statement. All accounts related to the space fishing boat plan will be made public on their official website this morning in Beijing time, and of course a copy will be sent to all partners involved in this project later..."

He raised his hand to look at the watch, and then continued:

"According to the time difference, they should have been at work now..."

Griffin didn't have the patience to wait for the official documents to be submitted step by step, so he simply turned on the computer and entered the English version of the official website of the Chinese Space Agency.

Sure enough, he soon found the account documents mentioned by Meyer.

It was a PDF with nearly a hundred pages.

Reading the error-free version! 6=9+book_ba first release novel

The first part of the cost listed was actually for a long-distance space tracking and control mission that started at the end of February this year...

"As I said, their quick response efficiency is definitely impossible to react after the anti-satellite test..."

Griffin complained in his heart while scrolling the mouse wheel quickly, reading the rigorously compiled financial document at a glance.

He came from aerospace engineering and did not know much about economics and accounting, but after all, he had been the director of NASA for almost two years, so he still had a good idea of ​​the costs of related tasks and projects.

So when he saw the latter, he inexplicably had an outrageous feeling of "Fuck, why is it so cheap?"

"Hiss..."

Griffin felt more and more frightened as he read, and finally he couldn't help but gasp.

"Director, what's wrong?"

Seeing this posture, Meyer thought that the other party was ill, and asked with concern.

"Nothing..."

Griffin just frowned slightly, but did not speak out his worries.

In fact, he just did a simple calculation and found that if the numbers in the account in front of him were true, then the cost consumed by the Chinese to complete a normal space launch was probably less than one-fifth of NASA's, and it would be even lower if solid rockets were used.

In other words, the ridiculously low launch quotes that the Chinese had always given in the past were not a loss-making business.

It was not even a small profit but quick turnover.

It was completely profitable.

If according to the original plan, Congress would draft a proposal in the next two years to completely block the communication and contact between Chinese aerospace and the world, or at least between Western countries, then this cost advantage would not be a big deal.

However, due to this accident, this operation is no longer feasible in a short period of time.

In this case, it is quite important to reduce costs and increase efficiency within NASA.

It's just the specific implementation method...

When Griffin was the chief engineer in the past, he had a lot of dealings with Boeing, and even the other party had already been in a state of deep trouble in some aspects, and it was almost impossible to meet the needs of competing with China in the future.

After much thought, he was still prepared to bet on commercial aerospace and reusable rockets...

Looking at his leader with an uncertain face, Meyer finally couldn't help but break the silence:

"Mr. Director, you see... should we really pay the other party?"

Griffin was cursing Boeing in his heart at this moment, and only came back to his senses after hearing Meyer's question:

"I remember that the Chinese side said at the reception that it would announce the specific help provided by various institutions, enterprises and individuals together with this bill?"

According to his idea, as long as the Chinese side put NASA on the list and gave a satisfactory explanation to the public, the payment can be completely postponed.

In fact, this amount of money is a small amount for NASA, but if it is paid honestly, it is really embarrassing.

But Meyer's expression became subtle:

"It was announced, but..."

"But what?"

Griffin raised his eyebrows, and a hint of ominous omen flashed through his mind.

"However, the Chinese side also stated that they will soon produce an official documentary called "Space Rescue", detailing the entire process of the entire plan from its inception to its successful completion..."