Chapter 699 Could It Be that We Are Thinking Too Much?
U.S.
California.
The SPACE-X headquarters building, the scene of the press conference.
Musk, dressed in a Silicon Valley style, faced the audience at the press conference and the cameras in the hands of reporters from major media, using his unique and provocative voice to explain the blueprint for the future of Space-X.
And at this moment, a very futuristic spaceship in the shape of a bright silver bullet is printed on the screen behind him, with the blue planet and the boundless space as the background, dragging a long and narrow arc to gallop and soar.
On the side of the spacecraft, in addition to the Space-X logo, the word BFR is also printed.
And the theme of this press conference revolves around these three words.
"...the main propulsion rocket of the first section will be powered by 31 Raptor methane rocket engines, and the second section will integrate 2 sea-level engines and 4 vacuum engines. The fuel tank can store a total of 240 tons of methane, and the maximum thrust can be Reaching the kiloton level...Of course, these are not the key points I want to talk about, the focus is on our series of plans around the BFR spacecraft."
Having said that, Musk paused for a moment, looked around the audience and the camera, and continued.
"We will launch two manned spacecraft in 2024 to kickstart our program!"
There were bursts of amazed discussions from the audience, and the reporters with long guns and short cannons frantically pressed the shutters in their hands.
aerospace!
Even for Americans it is nothing new.
But exploring the starry sky and colonizing outer space is still so fascinating.
If it weren't for this, Star Wars wouldn't have become a national movie in the United States.
Seeing that the atmosphere in the arena had reached its peak, Musk's mouth curled into a smile and he raised his volume.
“…Once the development of the BFR is completed, it will replace all the launch vehicles we have developed so far and become a spacecraft capable of performing almost all space missions. Whether it is from the surface to the moon, or from outer space to Mars, we It can all be achieved by virtue of its power.”
"It will redefine our understanding of spaceflight."
"It will also redefine our future!"
Later, Musk continued to talk about the advantages of the BFR spacecraft compared to traditional space rockets, and Space-X's blueprint for the Martian village.
Amid applause, the press conference came to an end.
The reporters at the scene swarmed up and surrounded Musk who had stepped off the stage.
After finally coping with all the interviews, the corners of Musk's raised mouth gradually lowered.
After dismissing all the reporters, he walked quickly back to his office, sat down on the office chair, and couldn't wait to take out his phone to look at it.
But seeing the trembling rising line on the screen, Musk was finally relieved, and the tight string in his heart gradually let go.
Feedback from the stock market told him that the press conference went quite smoothly.
The concept map of the BFR spacecraft injected a shot in the arm to the tepid aerospace market, and also injected a shot in the arm to investors who believed in him.
Of course, it's too soon to relax.
There is nothing good to say about things in the capital world, especially for high-tech companies like them.
Whether those investors with pockets full of banknotes can continue to support his dreams, to some extent, does not depend entirely on what kind of checks he can write, but most fundamentally depends on whether he can honor the money he once wrote. Cheque.
Fortunately, thanks to controllable fusion and lithium-sulfur batteries, the overall new energy vehicle industry is positive, Tesla's stock price has risen gratifyingly, and investors' confidence in him has recovered a lot compared to a few years ago. But spaceflight is a brand new field after all, even he is not 100% sure that it will always go smoothly like this.
At this time, there was a knock on the door, and a female secretary in business attire walked in quickly.
"President, someone is looking for you outside."
Musk, who was about to take a break, frowned.
"Who?"
The secretary hesitated and said, "They claim to be the CIA..."
"People from the CIA?" Musk hesitated a little, and played with the pen cap with his index finger and thumb, "I don't remember that I made an appointment—"
Just halfway through the conversation, the door of the office was pushed open roughly, and two men in black coats walked in one after the other.
Casting dissatisfied glances at the two, Musk stared at the two who came in without knocking on the door and said.
"It seems that I didn't agree with you to come in, or did you get the investigation authorization from the court?"
"Sorry, Mr. Musk, but the situation is urgent, I hope you can forgive me," ignoring the dissatisfaction on Musk's face, the black agent showed his ID and continued, "You can call me for the first time. Aiden."
After staring at the black agent for a while, Musk frowned suddenly and leaned back on the chair.
"Musk... Anyway, you know me, so I won't introduce myself, do you want some coffee?"
The detective following Aiden said, "No need, we're in a hurry."
"Okay," Musk said casually, looking at the female secretary standing by the desk, "Alyssa, help me make a latte."
"Okay, Mr. President." The secretary nodded, turned and walked out the door.
Aiden: "..."
Agent: "..."
About five minutes later, the coffee was finally served.
Aiden, who didn't intend to waste time, asked straight to the point.
"We learned that Xingkong Technology ordered a batch of parts worth 20 million US dollars from you about two months ago, right?"
Musk thought for a while, and there was indeed such a thing, so he nodded.
"Yes... I remember that batch of parts is not listed on the prohibited sale, is there any problem?"
Aiden continued aggressively, "It's not the batch of parts that's the problem, it's what the parts are used for."
Not frightened by his tone, Musk said impatiently: "What customers use is not what we care about, and I suggest you consult customs for the rest."
He frowned at Musk's attitude, but Aiden didn't say anything, and continued to take out a blurry photo from his arms and threw it on the table.
Seeing the space shuttle in this photo, Musk, who had no high regard for these CIA agents, suddenly sat up from his chair with great interest and moved closer.
"This is?"
"Your customer, or future competitor. Its name is 'Xiangrui', and the pronunciation is very strange." Aiden shrugged and continued, "It is said that they have adopted the latest electric propulsion system, and we are investigating this matter."
"Wait, electricity?" Musk opened his mouth, and looked at the man standing in front of the desk with a look like a fool, "Electric propulsion? Are you sure it's electric propulsion?"
"I'm sure," Aiden nodded, "Our intelligence sources are reliable, although not detailed."
Smiling and shaking his head, Musk sat back on the office chair.
There was still some interest in his eyes, but now it has become an obvious mockery.
"Officer Aiden, or the detective or something, although I don't really understand the process of CIA handling cases, but as a taxpayer, I sincerely suggest that you change to someone with more professionalism to do these jobs ... Electric propulsion? Use electric propulsion to send the space shuttle into the sky?" Musk shook his head with a smile, "Even I can't brag about it."
Aiden said solemnly: "Can't electric propulsion do it?"
"It can't be done," Musk asserted without hesitation, "Even with our most advanced electric propulsion technology, the thrust is in the order of N. And if you want a spacecraft to run from the surface to outer space orbit, at least It has to reach the magnitude of KN!"
Aiden exchanged glances with the detective next to him.
The detective's lips moved.
"The NASA people also said the same... Could it be that we are thinking too much?"
Aiden, who was lost in thought, had a dignified expression and did not speak.
He would rather believe that he was thinking too much.
But when he thought of the name Lu Zhou, he couldn't relax his nervousness...