The military-industrial scientific research system of the academic master

After sending away Director Griffin, who looked obviously unhappy, Lord and Pearson returned to the conference room to discuss some key points in the subsequent live broadcast.

However, as the commander of the Air Force Space Command, the former was even more busy at this critical juncture.

After all, media broadcasting was only a small part of the entire interception plan, and it was impossible for him to finalize everything personally.

Therefore, Pearson only stayed for about half an hour before being sent to the visitor parking lot far away from the outer wall of the base by a commuter vehicle inside Peterson Air Force Base.

In fact, before the 9/11 incident, as a retired major general with a close relationship with the Air Force, he only needed to obtain approval from the base commander or a higher level to drive directly in.

But later, considering the risk of terrorist attacks, not to mention outsiders, even the private cars driven by base staff could only stay in the outer area.

Pearson recalled where he parked his car, and just as he was about to take a step, he found that a black Escalade just drove out of the parking lot and then slowly stopped beside him.

The next second, the car door opened.

A thin middle-aged man with a dignified face got down from the back seat.

It turned out to be Michael Griffin who had left earlier.

"Mr. Director?"

NASA is not a violent agency, so Pearson is not worried that a car of bread men will rush out to put a hood on him and take him away.

"General Pearson, what a coincidence, we meet again."

Griffin's attitude was surprisingly good.

"What's the matter?"

Pearson didn't believe it was a coincidence.

The other party came out half an hour earlier, but only left the parking lot now. It was obvious that he was waiting for him.

Griffin did not hide anything. He took two steps forward and lowered his voice:

"There is no one around now, and I don't have any recording equipment on me... I hope you can tell me in a private capacity how much risk this interception test has?"

"This is very important to me and the entire United States."

Pearson thought to himself, you are not taking me for a fool. I am not a young man who has just entered the workplace. He is not excited when he hears a slogan imitating movie lines and dares to say anything.

We just met for the first time less than an hour ago. We are just familiar with each other. We have no common interests and no trust. How can I disclose secrets casually?

So he gave an answer that was almost exactly the same as in the conference room just now:

"I can only say that based on the experience of the last anti-satellite test, the kinetic impact did not produce space debris that would endanger the operation of the spacecraft..."

He said "no", not "no".

Even if the other party turned on the recording equipment, it would be impossible to take any advantage from this sentence.

However, Griffin smiled with satisfaction.

Of course, he was not satisfied with this answer.

As the head of NASA, he certainly knew that the guarantee made at this time could not be reliable.

Instead, he was satisfied with the attitude shown by Pearson-

This person is very strict and knows how to protect himself.

Even if he enters the game, he will leave himself a way out.

In this case, the following things will be much easier.

"General, I will not authorize the use of any materials related to NASA in this media broadcast, including but not limited to symbols, pictures, voice and video materials... I hope you can also pay attention to this during the program production process."

While speaking, Griffin opened the car door again:

"Perhaps in the future, NASA will also need your professional image..."

After speaking, without waiting for Pearson to answer, he got into the car and left.

He believed that the other party could understand his hint.

The latter watched the Escalade speed away and loosened the tie around his neck:

"Damn old fox..."

Although he said so, in fact, even if Griffin hadn't done this, he never planned to tie himself to Lord's chariot.

Pearson knew very well that the Air Force Space Command had only one fundamental need at present, which was to respond to the new ballistic missile that China tested last month with powerful means to ensure the United States' deterrence capability at the strategic level.

But as an old man who had retired a long time ago, he still needed to consider some more realistic issues.

After all, times have changed.

After sorting out his thoughts, Pearson walked towards his GMC Yukon in the corner of the parking lot.

In the co-pilot, there was a fashionable woman wearing a bright red windbreaker who looked slightly younger than him.

"What's the situation?"

The woman closed the book spread out on her lap and asked.

"Today, NASA Director Griffin also came to Lord and confirmed the potential risks of this interception with him."

Pearson answered while starting the engine.

"NASA also needs to ask the Air Force about the risks?"

The woman's slender eyebrows slightly raised.

"They are all pretending to be ignorant... They are just acting for each other."

The car turned out of the parking lot and drove to the nearest highway entrance:

"For Lord, the most important thing is to successfully intercept. Anyway, the space launch mission has nothing to do with him. As long as the International Space Station is not knocked down, it doesn't matter if some space debris is created... In fact, you may not know that some spacecraft that have reached the end of their life will disintegrate on their own. Although the amount of space debris generated is small, the actual threat is greater..."

"For Griffin, although NASA has a transcendent status in the industry, it still has to deal with the outside world frequently. The threat of space debris has been very popular in recent years. Whether the interception is successful or not is not important to him, but if it is If there is too much turmoil in public opinion, he will be very passive, so he needs to remove himself from it as much as possible..."

"So the Air Force won in the end?"

The other party is obviously more interested in the results.

"The missile defense system is a project jointly promoted by Boeing, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, General Dynamics... and almost all the military industry giants you can name. Now even the fleet is ready, and there is absolutely no way it can be changed midway. plan, so you don’t have to worry at all, our investment can 100% make a big profit, it’s just a matter of whether the profit is 100% or 200%..."

Pearson shrugged, as if he had expected this.

But then the conversation changed:

"But if we have to talk about the result... I prefer a win-win situation."

"Win-win?"

The woman looked very surprised:

"You mean, NASA has already guessed..."

This time, Pearson did not answer directly:

"There have always been rumors that Griffin's position as director was personally assigned by the White House to be responsible for promoting the commercialization of aerospace..."

"Even we can think of seizing this kind of opportunity. NASA is not stupid. How could it really be led by the Air Force?"

…

The other side.

After leaving Peterson Air Force Base, Griffin immediately rushed to Denver Airport and took a special plane back to Washington before getting off work that afternoon.

Assistant Director Ray Ann Meyer has been waiting at the door of the office for a long time, holding a black folder in his hand.

"Your Excellency Director, I have found all the information you asked me to collect this morning."

After hearing this, Griffin stopped subconsciously:

"So fast?"

Even ignoring the half-taken-off coat, he took the folder from the assistant's hand.

"Their actions have not been subject to any special confidentiality, so it is not difficult to check."

Meyer showed an expression of admiration and a bit of flattery:

"I must say, Director, your guess is absolutely correct. That young Wilbert Pearson and the two companies under his wife's name have purchased a total of more than 2.5 million in the past three days. “U.S. dollar stocks, a large portion of which are even high-interest mortgage loans, are clearly very confident in the short-term returns on these investments.”

"Heh... sure enough."

Griffin sat back on the chair, opened the document in his hand, and quickly scanned the contents:

"Raytheon, Amazon, Stellar, Clean Space..."

"You have a good vision. There are defense contractors directly related to this interception test, start-up companies that focus on cleaning up and recycling space debris, and large companies that invest in commercial aerospace. They are all profitable deals."

After speaking, he showed a slightly sarcastic smile:

"It seems... our Major General has already predicted the possible consequences of this satellite interception plan?"

Meyer nodded, then took two steps forward, came to the director's desk, and added in a low voice:

"Not only that, I also initiated some... personal connections and found out that the couple invested another 1.5 million into a private equity fund, and this fund held a small share of the space exploration company, and It is very likely that we are preparing to further increase investment, but Space Exploration Company is not listed, so this news lacks conclusive evidence, and I did not write it in a written report.”

Griffin's smile gradually faded, and then became a little playful:

"If that's the case... to a certain extent, he is still on the same side as us?"

"I'm leaning towards him simply wanting the money."

Meyer replied cautiously:

"According to the assessment of our technical department, this interception process may produce 2,000-2,500 additional pieces of space debris, of which approximately 200-300 will remain in orbit for a relatively long time, although they have the potential to cause real damage to the spacecraft. It’s very small, but if combined with some public opinion, it’s enough to make the above stocks a lot of money.”

But Griffin waved his hand:

"It's not important."

"Common interests naturally bring about a common camp, and it is a good thing for us that he wants to make money from this."

Before the assistant next to him could react, he immediately changed to a serious tone:

"Lei, ask the news department to prepare and use the next few days to highlight the possible threats posed by used spacecraft and space debris..."

"On the surface, it is to create legitimacy for the interception test. In fact, when the interception is completed, we can say that there is a problem with the execution process. However, the intention of cleaning up space debris is good, and then the focus will be on the reuse of spacecraft, which will Paving the way for commercial rail transportation services.”

Meyer's initially confused eyes quickly became clear:

"I'll do it right away, sir."