"If the impact was on the ocean, would it be lessened?"

"The effect of direct damage will be reduced, but the indirect damage will be more severe."

"For what?"

"If the water depth in the sea area of the impact site is large enough, it will cause a super tsunami." Luo Jinyong paused slightly, "If the impact point is in the Pacific Ocean, such as near the Mariana Trench, it will trigger a tsunami hundreds of meters or even thousands of meters, and the Pacific Rim will suffer." ”

At this time, Tong Shaowei sent coffee and two pots.

Zhang Xiaogang didn't drink coffee, but opened a bottle of Erguotou. He originally planned to celebrate with Luo Jinyong, but now it seems that there is no need.

"Drink now?"

"If you don't drink it now, I'm afraid you won't have a chance to drink it." Zhang Xiaogang smiled and said, "You can find this problem, don't Burke know the way?" ”

"Of course he knew the truth, and he was the first to find out."

"This ...... Why didn't he bring it up at the meeting of the chiefs of the General Staff? ”

"What's the use of coming up with a credible calculation without a credible calculation? He's doing the precise calculations in the organization right now, and he'll send the results later. ”

"So, instead of being the person in charge, he's willing to cooperate with you?"

"Old Zhang, Burke used to be involuntarily. At heart, he is a scientist. Although he is an American scientist, but if humanity is finished, will the United States be spared? Luo Jinyong smiled and said, "Although there is also a battle in the scientific advisory committee, it is not as serious as yours. ”

"Okay, I won't blow it to you." Zhang Xiaogang glanced at his watch, and there were still ten minutes before Luo Jinyong had to announce the results at the meeting of the chiefs of general staff. "The last question."

Luo Jinyong picked up the coffee cup and drank it in one gulp.

"If your guess is correct, the total mass of the debris is only one of the five hundredth of the asteroid, and where is the other five hundred and ninety-nine?"

"That's a good question to ask and shows that you have the potential to become a scientist."

"If I had said that 20 years ago, I would have aspired to be a scientist, and maybe an American scientist."

"So Burke is not qualified to be the chief scientific adviser to the United States?"

Zhang Xiaogang smiled and waited for Luo Jinyong to answer the question he asked.

"I don't know what to do." Luo Jinyong also smiled and said, "Not only do I not know the Dao, but no one can know the Dao. But there is nothing surprising that in the past two years there have been many things that cannot be explained with our scientific knowledge, and one more time is nothing. ”

"Perhaps, this is the most critical time."

"Really?"

"I've always trusted your instincts, but I trust mine even more. My instincts have never gone wrong for more than a decade. ”

"What's your intuition?"

"That's the problem. You can find the answer to this question, and maybe it can turn things around. ”

Luo Jinyong didn't speak, and he never doubted Zhang Xiaogang.

"Alright, I need to get back to my office." Zhang Xiaogang looked at his watch again, "After the meeting is over, I'll come to you again." ”

"I'm afraid that by then, there will be no need for this."

"I hope not."

Watching Zhang Xiaogang turn around and leave, Luo Jinyong sighed and saw the second pot head on the table again. "Lao Zhang, you forgot this bottle of wine."

"I've got it, and I'll leave it for you." Zhang Xiaogang shook the wine bottle in his hand and left Luo Jinyong's office.

Burke had already sent the results of his calculations, which were roughly in line with Luo Jinyong's guess, and the total mass of the debris was about 500.12 of the asteroid. Burke also used the photographs he took to create a reconstruction map of the debris, which confirmed that the debris was indeed the crust of the asteroid, from which he calculated the average thickness of the debris. However, the restoration map only has the front part of the asteroid, not the all-important back part.

The restoration map made by Burke reminded Luo Jinyong, or rather, inspired Luo Jinyong.

In the minutes before the meeting, Luo Jinyong did an extremely important thing, that is, to draw a reconstruction map of the asteroid's back side by using the three-dimensional coordinates of the convergence point of the asteroid's luminous site that he had estimated earlier, plus those fragments that did not appear in the restoration map.

Although this back restoration is very incomplete and there are still many fragments that have not been used, Luo Jinyong has found the most critical part.

Luo Jinyong was not happy about this, not even the slightest excited.

For two years, his speculations had been confirmed again and again, and he had never been happy, because each confirmation had pushed him to the edge of the abyss of despair. Luo Jinyong didn't know how long Lu Dao could hold on, and he didn't know if Lu Dao could grasp the straw of hope before he fell.

At this time, Luo Jinyong did not have time to be sad and desperate.

After Tong Shaowei came in to remind him, Luo Jinyong activated the video communication equipment.

"Professor Luo, is there a result?" Stark was the first to ask. Apparently, he had obtained the results of a precise analysis from Burke.

"Generals, I'm sure you've seen the asteroid frontal restoration map drawn by Professor Burke." Luo Jinyong put aside distractions, he is just a scientist, and he has done his best to save human civilization. "At this time, I don't know whether to be happy or sad."

Stark wanted to say something, but held back.

"Professor, what do you mean by that?" Yang Fanglie immediately asked. He cares not only about the result, but also about Luo Jinyong's mental state.

"The good news is that the total mass of more than 1,000 fragments is only 120 million tons, and if evenly distributed, the mass of each fragment is 100,000 tons. Because the fragments are thin crusts and have a very large area, they are extremely easy to intercept. The probability of success in Operation Courage has increased dramatically. ”

Although Luo Jinyong said the good side, no one was excited, because there was a bad side.

"Unfortunately, that doesn't mean we can rest easy. Here, I have another restoration picture. "Luo Jinyong transmitted the unfinished reconstruction map of the back side of the asteroid to the conference communication system and displayed it on the information screens of all participants." This reconstruction is based on the 3D coordinates I have previously drawn by speculation, as well as the fragments I have now observed. Although we have never seen the far side of an asteroid, the amount of debris produced after the asteroid disintegrates indirectly proves that my assumptions about the situation on the back side of the asteroid are basically correct. This restoration is still incomplete, limited by the viewing angle, and may never be completed, and there are many gaps left unfilled. However, I would like you to pay attention to one point, which is the vacancy in the center of the restoration map. ”

Before Luo Jinyong finished speaking, few people noticed that there was a vacancy there.

"Because the data is very limited and the time is even more limited, I can only roughly estimate that the maximum cross-sectional size of this vacancy is 40 meters, and the minimum is 30 meters."

"Professor Luo, what does this mean?" Stark's attitude has changed significantly.

"Apparently, there is a fragment of about this size. It's a pity that in all the photos we took, there was no such small fragment. ”

"This ......"

"Because the asteroid disintegrates on its own, the orbital velocity of the individual fragments does not change, but after the centripetal force disappears, the velocity component perpendicular to the orbit is multi-mile. To put it simply, this small fragment is still in orbit around the asteroid, and it is just behind the largest fragment in front of it, at a distance of between twenty and thirty kilometers. Luo Jinyong paused slightly, and then said, "With the technical means we have mastered, it is impossible to intercept it from a million kilometers away, and the farthest interception point is likely to be less than 500,000 kilometers." ”

At this moment, the ten chiefs of the general staff couldn't sit still, and even Yang Fanglie, who had always been calm, looked extremely shocked.

They are all soldiers, and they all know very well how courageous the action is, so they know how serious a disaster can be caused by the interception distance of less than 500,000 kilometers.

"Professor, do you know the impact point of this fragment?" Sergeyev raised the issue of concern to all.

"I also want to know the way, but unfortunately, I don't know the way and I can't make predictions. Perhaps, a better astronomer than me will be able to predict it. ”

"Professor Burke?" Sergeyev immediately threw the question to the chief scientific adviser of the United States.

"I don't know what to say." Burke looked a little embarrassed.

"Well, which scientist knows the truth, or can make a rough prediction?"

Apparently, none of the chief scientific advisers was able to answer Sergeyev's question.

"Could it be that we can only sit back and wait!?" Sergeyev was a little anxious, and several chiefs of the General Staff also looked very anxious.

"General Sergeyev, impatience does not solve the problem." Yang Fanglie is equally anxious, because according to the current situation, China is within the impact range of the debris. While parts of the U.S. are also threatened, the continental U.S. mainland is not within the impact range of the debris. The United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Israel are not in the impact range, Canada is only in the northwest territory, only Australia and China are fully exposed, and most of Russia is also in the impact range. waited until his mood stabilized a little, and then Yang Fanglie said to Luo Jinyong: "Professor, apart from these, are there any other warnings?" ”

Luo Jinyong really wanted to talk about the Houyi project, but he knew that he would never say it. "If the mass of this piece of debris is between 100,000 and 1 million tons, and there are super-nuclear warheads left to intercept other debris, it may be possible to contain the disaster within acceptable limits."

"How to control it?" Yang Fanglie hurriedly asked.

"Keep the impact point of debris away from densely populated areas, preferably in the Pacific Ocean, and prepare for secondary disaster prevention and post-disaster rescue in advance."

"Thank you, Professor, for sounding the alarm in time, we have at least ten hours left." Yang Fanglie had already found that Luo Jinyong's mood was not very stable, so he didn't continue to ask questions.

The other chiefs of the General Staff did not ask any more questions.

Next, the 10 chiefs of the General Staff began to discuss the adjustment of Operation Courage.