Chapter 1247 Anti-Satellite Live Broadcast

In fact, before raising this question, the reporter from the "Daily Mail" had even written a summary of the report.

Just save it on the laptop next to you.

As for the main tone, it is of course criticizing the United States for violating the Treaty on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, undermining strategic balance, and being detrimental to peace and development.

Originally, although it was the first time for China's defense agencies to hold a press conference, they had made many statements through official media in the past.

It's always been a similar style.

And this time, except for the three parties that actually participated in the interception operation, other countries basically made similar statements.

After all, no one wants to have their satellites threatened at all times.

Besides, it won't end well if things get serious.

We Europeans still have to do business with China.

In short, in his opinion, as long as the specific content and sequence are slightly adjusted according to the spokesperson's statement, it can almost be published directly.

However, the other party's statement could be said to be beyond the expectations of most people present.

Criticism? It is indeed criticism.

But the criticism comes from a rather strange angle.

There are no metaphysical harsh words at all.

Instead, it spent a lot of time elaborating on a series of specific technical risks.

It even imitated NASA's operations and produced a well-made diagram describing in detail what might happen after a collision.

Everyone present, including the spokesman Wei Jun himself, was not a professional, and not even a single formula was mentioned during the entire introduction, so this operation was unconvincing to experts.

But the good news is that the media doesn't care about you.

Now it is obvious that China and the United States have just started to rise up. As long as the enthusiasm is increased, after the interception experiment is over, one side will always be slapped in the face.

Therefore, after the press conference, the statement given by China quickly occupied a large amount of space.

Even NASA, which has always gone its own way, is a little frightened by this situation.

Before the interceptor fleet left the port of Yokosuka, Director Michael Griffin approached Air Force Space Command General Lance Lord one last time to confirm the safety of the operation itself.

The former holds a PhD in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland, but has not been engaged in front-line research work for more than ten years since he resigned as chief engineer.

What's more, using a missile to shoot down a satellite is not part of NASA's usual research business.

When he met Admiral Lord in a conference room at Peterson Air Force Base, he found that there was another man of similar age sitting next to him, but wearing casual clothes.

The Air Force Space Command is the strategic power command center of the United States, and not just anyone can come in.

Even Griffin, who is the administrator of NASA, had to go through several approvals before he was able to enter a position so close to the "nuclear center".

He should at least be familiar with the non-military personnel who can appear here.

And Griffin was very sure that he had never seen the face in front of him.

"Hello, Mr. Director."

Seemingly noticing his eyes looking up and down, Admiral Lord stood up to welcome him and began to introduce the identity of the man next to him:

"This is former Air Force Major General Wilbert Doug Pearson, Jr."

The silver-haired Pearson stepped forward and shook Griffin's hand.

But the latter still looked confused.

He hadn't even heard the name.

Not to mention the "former" Air Force Major General, which means he has retired.

Why should I participate in the conversation between the two of them?

Fortunately, after everyone took their seats, Lord quickly introduced:

"Perhaps I need to remind you that on September 13, 1985, Major General Pearson flew an F15A fighter jet No. 77-0084 to launch an ASM-135 anti-satellite missile and shot down a gamma ray spectrum detection satellite."

Griffin's face froze, and then he showed an expression of sudden realization:

"It turns out you were the one who shot down P78-1!"

In 1985, Griffin was just an ordinary member of NASA's thousands of middle managers. The reason why he was deeply impressed by this incident was because it contained a huge own goal——

The satellite selected as a target belonged to the U.S. Navy, and although it was marked as "obsolete" in records because it had reached the end of its life, the Naval Research Laboratory was still accepting and using data from the satellite.

It was not until after the satellite was shot down that the Navy, which suddenly discovered that the data source had disappeared, learned of the matter through public channels.

It also triggered a series of internal lawsuits and disputes.

Of course Lord also knew about the embarrassing incident, but it didn't happen under his rule anyway, so it didn't matter. He just said in a half-joking tone:

"Don't worry, before this test, we have fully contacted all parties that may be related to the satellite to confirm that it is really a satellite that has completely lost its function."

But Griffin, who was worried, was not in the mood to joke, and immediately waved his hand:

"Right now, the public opinion in the outside world is hyping up, saying that our interception test may produce space debris that can threaten the safety of the spacecraft. I am facing a lot of pressure here..."

After saying that, he sighed heavily and looked helpless.

Although he didn't say it explicitly, he obviously wanted to get a guarantee.

"Isn't this a unilateral argument given by China?"

Lord, who was sitting opposite, frowned when he heard this, seeming to feel a little unhappy.

It's just that it's well hidden and the expression is fleeting.

"really."

Griffin shrugged:

"But they held a special press conference for this matter, and they obviously followed our format and presented some very... uh... confusing information, which made many media keep up with their pace... "

"As for the media... you know, sometimes the wind is the rain, lest the world is not in chaos. Your military usually doesn't care about this when dealing with the outside world, but we at NASA have to deal with pressure head-on, and we must have a more certain statement. That’s it.”

Lance Lord heard what the other party meant and sped up his speech slightly:

"It would be fine if the Russians said this, but the Chinese have never conducted any form of anti-satellite testing, and have never accumulated relevant data. Why should they question our interception plan?"

Among soldiers, he has a good temper.

But it is still difficult to hold back when the Chinese openly challenge authority.

He had also seen the key press conference. The other party did not produce anything that could be called "evidence" at all. They simply drew a specious PPT emergency response.

Something so full of loopholes actually caused the NASA director to personally come to verify its authenticity.

Jean Lord felt a sense of resentment: "How can we do aerospace well with such insects?"

But who is Griffin?

NASA’s evergreens, office-fighting veterans, and political experts who were specially promoted by the bush to promote commercial spaceflight.

If it weren't for instructions from the White House, he wouldn't have gotten involved in this mess.

Now that I smell a possible crisis, I don't care about this face issue.

As if he didn't hear the underlying meaning of Admiral Lord's words, he insisted on continuing to ask:

"So, such an interception process will not produce space debris?"

Even as an executive leader, such a question seems a bit outrageous.

"How is it possible that two spacecrafts traveling at a speed of several kilometers per second will not produce any debris even if they only impact with kinetic energy?"

So much so that Admiral Lord held his forehead helplessly and took a deep breath:

"But our preset impact point is the base part of the satellite, which can ensure that the main body of the satellite, together with the main functional load and the kinetic energy interceptor, will leave the orbit and eventually fall into the middle of the Pacific Ocean. As for other fragmentary parts that break away from the main body... small-sized debris... It can’t be detected by radar, and it doesn’t count as space debris at all. The spacecraft is not made of paper, and it is impossible to be threatened. You should know these better than me..."

In fact, this statement is of course double-standard.

If China was the first to conduct this experiment instead of the United States, then these harmless debris in his words would turn into high-risk space junk that "seriously threatens orbital safety."

It will be mentioned frequently in the next few years or even longer.

But after all, the United States has sufficient international voice.

As long as you don't do anything outrageous and unstoppable, there will always be a way to get through.

Seeing that Lord's tone was getting more and more impatient and his expression was getting out of control, Pearson on the side quickly answered the question appropriately:

"Mr. Director, it may be difficult to provide sufficient convincingness based on paper calculation results alone. Our Air Force has also taken this into consideration, so we will use the results of the 1985 test to explain to the public."

"At that time, the kinetic energy interceptor collided with the P78-1 satellite. In addition to the main bodies of the two falling directly into the atmosphere and being burned, about 1,000 scattered fragments were also produced, but the diameter was less than 1 centimeter, and their mass was very small. Some of them gradually lowered their orbits and disappeared in the following years, without endangering the operational safety of any spacecraft."

After receiving the clear assurance, Griffin looked a little better.

But the relaxed mood only lasted for a moment, and then the key words mentioned by the other party were captured.

"When?"

He only felt his heart shrink suddenly, and secretly prayed in his heart that it wouldn't be what he thought:

"when?"

On the opposite side, Lord and Pearson looked at each other, and then gave an answer that made Director Griffin's eyes darken:

"We have contacted relevant agencies and are preparing to conduct a live broadcast of the entire interception process. The reason why we specially invited Major General Pearson today is because we want to invite him as a special guest."

"Live broadcast?"

The latter felt dizzy and almost fainted:

"This is nonsense!"

After regaining his composure a little, he refused without hesitation:

"I will never approve this kind of behavior, and NASA's propaganda force will not even set foot on a warship!"

However, this obviously has no lethal effect on Lord:

"rest assured."

The admiral buried his body into the soft backrest of the office chair:

"The media team will be sent by the Air Force and will not go on board the ship. They will just place a camera on the front deck of the Shiloh and intercept part of the radar telemetry signal."

"Although this test is ostensibly an anti-satellite test, it is actually intended to counter the medium-range ballistic missile launched by China... Only by conducting the entire process in public can the deterrent effect be maximized..."

At this point, Griffin knew there was no room for maneuver.

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes, diverted the topic and prepared to end the conversation, while quickly thinking about how to get himself out of this increasingly crazy action...