"The first batch of H2M large space shuttles, Pioneer and Glory, were manufactured in the production and R&D consortium of Xinyuan Aerospace Power Company, and the off-line ceremony was held at 12 o'clock this morning."

"Guo Shen, chief engineer of the H2M project, was interviewed on the ground at the Tiangong space station and said that the first H2M conventionally powered space shuttle 'Pioneer' will complete its first unmanned flight this month and carry out a manned flight in December."

This station was informed that a number of dignitaries of the Space Development Committee attended the launching ceremony of two large space shuttles and will nominate the main designer for the Science and Technology Innovation Progress Award.

Serov, deputy chief engineer of the H2M project, said: The Pioneer and Glory space shuttles are the seventh 100-ton space shuttles in the world, and they also mark that China has become the third country to have a large reusable spacecraft after the alliance and Aramco.

The H2 series adopts revolutionary new technology, if the last century developed the first generation, the current small space shuttle is the second generation, then now we have the third generation of space shuttle technology, in terms of reusability, economy, versatility, safety has been greatly improved.

The completion of trial production of Pioneer and Glory will strengthen the pace of moving into space......"

Late at night on November 9, Aramco time, 11 a.m. on November 8, Aramco time.

In high-level circles, John's victory in the general election has spread everywhere, and Claire is no exception.

He looked at the central news broadcast on November 7 by YouTube, and the impact of John's election as boss and the first two H2M planes directly off the assembly line made him a little sluggish.

Claire wanted to grab John by the collar and ask loudly, "How can you be elected, how can you be elected!" ”

If Diane comes up, it will probably remain the same as the current situation, what should I do, but John is a master who can toss, and his thinking is completely impossible to look at from the perspective of a conventional elite.

What's more, John had to give a speech by tonight after he was forced to end the party sobering, and the Ares project, which he had blown out before the election, had already called Claire to ask for NACA's interactive support.

Due to the late proposal of the god of war Ares plan, Claire didn't pay much attention to it, but at this time she found out that if it was really 2024, there would be much more trouble than imagined.

Just a rough estimate of the cost of more than $200 billion, this is still for the God of War Ares program to inherit some of the achievements of the Artemis program, such as the use of SLS block2 rockets to reduce the cost of new rockets.

Coupled with the investment in the Artemis plan, hundreds of billions of dollars spent in less than 10 years is a tingling of the scalp just to think about.

The key god of war Ares program may really not be a pie, the current status of the Aramco space program is indeed backward, and it is necessary to save face in other aspects.

The newly manufactured Pioneer and Glory have put the opponent a few steps ahead, which is an eye medicine!

And now NACA is still having a headache about SLS, the development time of the new tank is too short, although it is manufactured, but there is a suspected leakage problem, Claire has not taken a day off for more than two months.

Just as he was about to take a break, the phone rang again.

This time it's not John's staff, it's the future boss himself.

"Director Claire, I'm too busy to come and see you in person, and I'd like to confirm something with you on the phone."

"You say."

Claire cheered up, he should still be the director of NACA in the next four years, and the boss couldn't fail to answer questions.

John: "I wonder, in your opinion, how long it will take to send astronauts to Mars?" How long will it take to build another Martian colony? ”

Claire: "There's a lot of variability, but if I had to plan my own plan, I think it's okay to launch a Mars spacecraft around 2030, complete a manned landing on Mars by 2035, and as for the permanent colony, it will take at least 10 years." ”

There was silence on the other end of the line for a while, and John was a little annoyed that he was talking big and following Kennedy's example for an eight-year term.

Eight years is two consecutive terms, but who knows if he will be able to serve a second term? I don't know, but in the context of the space race, I can't pretend I didn't say it.

John asked tentatively, "So, is there any way to launch a Mars spacecraft in 2020?" ”

John, who has already made up a little bit of astronautical knowledge, already knows that with the current technology to go back and forth to Mars and the mission cycle is about two years, so he does not expect to see the landing on Mars when he is in office, and if the spacecraft can be launched, it will be considered a victory.

Claire: "......"

"In the future, Mr. Boss, I can only guarantee the launch of unmanned exploration equipment before the manned landing in 2020, find a suitable landing site, and make preliminary preparations.

The entire Mars landing plan must include at least one unmanned exploration, one unmanned resource preparation, that is, at least 3 large-scale launch missions, and more small launch missions for the rest, but also limited by the Mars window, a biennial launch is an insurmountable obstacle, and the unmanned resource launch in 2020 is the limit I can imagine.

Perhaps this time is still not enough, 2022 is more sufficient, and it will be another four years before the manned spacecraft can be launched. ”

Four more years apart? That's 2026?

This is unacceptable!

John didn't want to make his own wedding dresses for others, and besides, wouldn't the Apollo program succeed in 10 years? Now that half a century has passed, is there no technological progress?

"Director Claire," John's voice was heavier, "then what if I want to say that I must land on Mars in 2024 and ask you to come up with a plan right away?" ”

Clare: "Then you need to be brave enough to support NACA with all the support you need, including raising taxes, 70% taxes on the rich, and getting NACA to spend about 5% of the total federal budget. ”

There was no sound on the other end of the phone.

During the Apollo program, the federal government raised taxes wildly for the sake of finance, and personal income tax and corporate tax were rising every year, and taxes were collected according to the ladder, reaching an astonishing 70% in the highest period!

Levy a tax of up to 70% on the wealthy and large corporations!

Now most of these tax rates are stable below 20%, which means that they are going to triple!

As for the proportion of NACA's funding, the Apollo program did reach 2% to 5% of the total federal budget at one point, you must know that it was the total expenditure of a superpower in that era, including education, people's livelihood, and military, and the proportion of 5% was almost exhausted, and it was precisely because of this that it was necessary to continuously raise taxes.

To do this, you must meet the external pressure to be strong enough and the boss to be strong enough to do it, and now the pressure is about the same, but does John have the courage?

"I need to think about Your Excellency the Director, who will call you later."

The phone hung up, and Claire sighed, her body trembling slightly, not sure if it was excitement or fear, or both.

(End of chapter)