Chapter 946
Some are happy, some are sad
The moment Pioneer 1 landed steadily on the lunar surface, the entire command center erupted in cheers.
At the same time, this historic moment spread throughout the world in less than a second.
The excitement and anticipation within the country goes without saying.
On the other side of the ocean, those who have been following this project have a different feeling.
The strategic command center beneath the White Palace in Washington, D.C.
On the huge circular screen, the landing scene of Pioneer 1 was frozen. The silver-gray rocket body lay horizontally on the gray lunar surface, with its four landing legs firmly extended. Around it were four Yugong robots that were unfolding their mechanical arms.
The image is so clear that you can see every stroke of the five Chinese characters "Kaituozhe-1" on the surface of the rocket.
Intelligence Director Michael Turner turned around and looked at the row of solemn-faced officials behind him.
Defense Secretary Mark Esper's brow furrowed deeply, National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien's fingers tapped unconsciously on the table, and Kelvin Drogmaier, director of the White Palace Office of Science and Technology Policy, took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger, as if to wipe the troubling reality from his sight.
"Gentlemen."
Turner spoke, his voice calm but tinged with anxiety: "We've run into real trouble. That rocket is currently lying on the moon, and it won't be long before it's converted into a permanent base. The Chinese went from landing on the moon to building the base in less than a year!"
He pulled up a set of satellite photos, which showed high-resolution images of the Pioneer 1 landing site. Four Yugong robots were carrying out lunar surface terraforming operations in an orderly manner. Some were shoveling lunar soil, some were deploying photovoltaic panels, and some were setting up antennas. Each robot was performing a different task, and they were cooperating seamlessly.
“These robots operate autonomously on the lunar surface without real-time ground control, and the signal delay exceeds one second. This means that their AI autonomous decision-making capabilities have reached a level that we cannot reach. Our evaluation team believes that the complexity of this AI system is at least two to three generations ahead of our most advanced similar systems.”
Turner’s voice carried an anxiety he tried to conceal but couldn’t: “And the key figure in all of this is still that Chinese man named Wang Donglai.”
Esper slammed his fist on the table: "What about our Artemis program? And SpaceX's Starship program? With a budget of hundreds of billions of dollars every year and a team of hundreds of thousands of people, are we just left behind by a private Chinese company?"
The meeting room was completely silent.
After a long silence, Drogmaier put his glasses back on, opened an evaluation report in front of him, and said in a calm, almost cold voice: "The maiden flight of the SLS Heavy rocket has been postponed again due to fuel leaks, and the date is uncertain. Although SpaceX's Starship is progressing relatively quickly, it is still a long way from actually landing on the moon. Meanwhile, the Chinese have already landed the entire rocket on the moon and started building a base."
O'Brien interjected, "What worries me most is not the technology gap itself."
He paused, then pulled up a chart analyzing global social media data: "Instead, global public opinion is undergoing a fundamental shift. In the past 48 hours, our tracking data on global social media shows that discussions on topics such as 'China's space program is leading,' 'who owns the moon,' and 'why we haven't landed on the moon' have increased dozens of times."
He clicked on a sample of opinions from European allies and added, “Our allies have begun to publicly congratulate China. People in Paris are holding signs that say ‘Congratulations to China,’ and tech media in Berlin have named the Pioneer 1 the most important technological achievement of the year. This defeat in public opinion is no less damaging than the technological gap.”
Turner walked to the screen and pulled up a set of even more disturbing data: "The Chinese applied at least three disruptive technologies to the Pioneer 1: a new type of rocket engine made in-house, mature and reliable rocket parallel technology, and a mature AI autonomous navigation system."
Click to enlarge each item, and each item is accompanied by a key paragraph from the technical assessment report.
"If these technologies are applied to the military field, the consequences will be unimaginable!"
Esper frowned and interrupted him: "What's your conclusion? Are you suggesting I go to Congress and say that we can't stop the Chinese and can only watch them build cities on the moon?"
Turner paused for a moment, then said something that stunned everyone: "Our assessment concludes that, within the current technological framework, it is impossible to fully catch up with China's space capabilities in the short term. But at the same time, this assessment also points to a new possibility: if we cannot defeat them, perhaps we can try to join them."
He turned to the last page of the report, where a bolded title read: "Preliminary Feasibility Analysis of Limited Cooperation with China Galaxy Aerospace".
"The reasons are very valid: First, the data and technology that China has accumulated in lunar construction are something that we cannot replicate independently in the short term; second, the International Space Station is about to be decommissioned, and if we cannot find a 'foothold' on the moon, we will face the embarrassing situation of having no station available in the field of deep space exploration in the next ten years; third, and most importantly, if the superconducting technology and AI technology mastered by the Chinese can be used by us in some way, it will greatly accelerate the iteration of our own aerospace technology."
The meeting room remained quiet for a long time.
Esper leaned back in his chair, his gaze shifting from the arrow lying horizontally on the moon's surface on the screen to the lunar photograph hanging on the opposite wall—taken during the Apollo program, the first human footprint still clearly visible.
What's NASA's stance?
Turner's answer was nuanced: "Chief Nelson himself is inclined to explore the possibility of cooperation, but he has significant concerns—not about the Chinese, but about the resistance from Congress. The Wolf Clause is a hurdle; any formal contact between NASA and the China National Space Administration requires congressional approval, and the current atmosphere in Congress..."
Turner didn't finish his sentence, but everyone understood what he meant.
In the current environment, any voice advocating cooperation with China will be labeled and crushed by the political meat grinder.
O'Brien suddenly spoke up: "Perhaps we can take another path."
All eyes were on him, but O'Brien remained calm and said, "If official channels don't work, then we'll go through commercial channels. SpaceX and GalaxySpace have already reached a cooperation agreement on Starlink launches, and Musk also maintains some kind of private contact with that guy named Wang Donglai. If we tacitly approve—not authorize, but condone—some degree of commercial cooperation between SpaceX and GalaxySpace on the lunar project, we can circumvent the restrictions of the Wolf Clause and open up an indirect channel for NASA to acquire Chinese lunar technology."
Esper's brow furrowed even more.
He was well aware of the risks of this plan; if Congress found out that the White House was secretly pushing for this cooperation that circumvented legal restrictions, his office windows would be smashed by angry lawmakers.
But despite the risks, as he looked at the gray lunar surface on the screen, the Chinese base was gradually taking shape, and time was running out for the United States.
At the same time, in Houston.
The atmosphere was equally somber in the conference room at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Nelson sat at the top of the long table, with a freshly printed assessment report in front of him, the ink still wet.
Sitting opposite him was Michael Watkins, a deep space exploration expert from JPL, next to John Honeycutt, the Artemis program manager, and several high-ranking NASA officials. "The assessment results are in!"
Watkins' voice was a little hoarse; he had been working for more than twenty hours straight without closing his eyes.
"We previously judged the Lux-2000's whole-rocket-to-moon landing plan to be 'high-risk, high-reward.' Now, it turns out that the risk is not as high as we imagined, and the reward is much greater than we expected."
He pulled up a set of comparative data and projected it onto the large screen in the conference room, explaining: "In terms of cost, GalaxySpace can send the entire base up in one launch, while our Artemis program would require at least multiple launches to achieve the same lunar habitation capability."
"From a technical perspective, using the rocket itself as a base is a revolutionary idea—it doesn't require separate construction on the lunar surface, complex module docking, or precision assembly in extreme environments. One rocket lands, is turned sideways, and becomes the base. We hadn't thought of this idea before, but now that China has accomplished it, it's very easy for us to replicate it."
Honeycutt added, "What's more challenging is the timeline. The Chinese have already officially announced their follow-up plans: the lunar landing mission will launch before the end of the year, and the manned mission will be in March next year."
"At this pace, by next spring, the first permanent manned base will be established on the moon, with a stay of at least one month. Our Artemis program, on the other hand, will not be able to achieve its first unmanned lunar orbit until the end of next year at the earliest—not a lunar landing, but just an orbit!"
Nelson took off his glasses and slowly wiped them.
The faint sound of airflow from the air conditioner vents could be heard in the conference room.
"What about Masla? Can the progress of the starship be accelerated?"
Honeycutt hesitated for a moment before speaking, "From an engineering perspective, Starship's carrying capacity could indeed be used for lunar missions. But the problem is that SpaceX is a commercial company, and its R&D priorities are determined by Musk, whose current focus is on Starlink and the concept of Mars colonization."
"More importantly, no matter how fast Starship accelerates, it cannot solve a fundamental problem. We don't have someone like Wang Donglai who can increase rocket thrust by a level in a few months, design new guidance algorithms in a few days, and use AI to generate a catchy song that people can't forget after hearing it once to promote the space project in a few hours."
He laughed at the end, a laugh that came from the helplessness of being crushed.
"To be honest, sometimes I wonder, are we aerospace engineers really considered professionals in his eyes?"
Nelson put on his glasses, stood up, and walked to the window.
Outside the window is the Houston skyline, and in the distance you can see NASA's iconic building—the place that once represented the highest level of human spaceflight.
He paused for a moment, then said something in a calm but heavy tone: “Contact SpaceX and arrange a closed-door meeting. Not an official meeting, but a private one.”
"I need to know what price SpaceX would have to pay if it wanted to participate in China's lunar project."
He paused, then added, "This isn't surrender, it's reality. Faced with the fact that the Chinese have already built a base on the moon, any unrealistic arrogance will only cause us to lose our last chance. Rather than being completely left behind, we should get on their bandwagon first."
Paris, headquarters of the European Space Agency.
Bureau Chief Joseph Aschbach was also jolted awake by the news of Trailblazer 1's successful landing.
His wife complained, "Here we go again," then turned over and went back to sleep.
He didn't explain, put on his coat and went out. On the way, he made a phone call to his assistant, his voice was soft but his tone was heavy.
The atmosphere in the headquarters conference room was more complicated than at NASA.
ESA's dilemma is that it has neither the budget of NASA nor the commercial space ecosystem of SpaceX.
The Galileo navigation system has fallen behind BeiDou, and the Ariane rocket's market share in the commercial launch market has been shrinking year by year. Its only bright spot is its participation in scientific experiments on the International Space Station.
However, with the International Space Station nearing retirement, ESA will face the embarrassing situation of being completely excluded from the field of manned spaceflight.
"This is not a fair competition."
Jean-Pierre, the Frenchman in charge of ESA’s manned space program, said with a wry smile: “The Chinese have spent tens of billions of euros to put a company with a top team of scientists, the world’s largest market size, a complete industrial system and powerful AI technology into the space field, while we are still arguing over the annual budget of several billion euros and the allocation of shares among member states.”
Ashbach ignored his complaints.
He opened the technical assessment document in front of him and read it page by page for a long time.
Then he closed the file and asked, "What leverage can we offer if we want to cooperate with the Chinese?"
The meeting room was silent for a few seconds.
Jean-Pierre spoke first: "We have some experience in the field of Mars exploration. Although the ExoMars rover was unable to launch as planned due to political reasons, the development of its scientific payload has been largely completed. If we are willing to share these technologies with the Chinese in exchange for some participation rights in their lunar projects, there may be room for negotiation. In addition, we have some unique experience in life support systems—the decades of experience on the International Space Station are not for nothing."
Aschbach nodded, but then expressed his concerns: "Technical leverage is one thing, political will is another. What will Washington think of us? If ESA bypasses NASA and cooperates directly with China's space program, will Washington make things difficult for us elsewhere?"
Jean-Pierre shrugged. “Director, if I may be so bold, Washington can’t afford to worry about us right now. Their own space program is a mess; SLS has been delayed again and again, and the Artemis timeline has been changed repeatedly. What’s more, the Chinese lunar base isn’t a future project; it’s a present reality. That base is taking shape little by little on the lunar surface, growing bigger every month. If we don’t get on board now, we won’t be able to get a ticket later.”
Ashbach remained silent for a long time.
The only sounds in the conference room were the hum of the projector's cooling fan and the soft tapping of Jean-Pierre's fingers on the table.
Finally, he said, "Send a formal letter to the China National Space Administration, using sincere language, congratulating the Lux-2000 on its successful landing, and expressing our sincere desire to cooperate in the field of deep space exploration. Draft a first draft and put it on my desk tomorrow morning."
He paused for a moment before adding, "Also, contact our representative office in Beijing, China, and have them informally let the relevant people at the China National Space Administration know that ESA is very interested in the 'International Lunar Research Station' proposal, provided that the Chinese are willing to reserve a decent position for us." (End of Chapter)