Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The phone call was from Chen Yushan.
The moment the phone connected, Lu Zhou heard a pleasant voice through the phone.
“Hello, what are you up to? I called you before, but you didn’t pick up.”
“I was eating.”
Chen Yushan curiously asked, “Eating? With a guy or a girl?”
“An academician from the Academy of Engineering, he’s in his seventies.” Lu Zhou coughed and said, “Forget about it, why are you calling me this late?”
Chen Yushan: “Well, the Commission for Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense just called our company.”
“Commission for Science?” Lu Zhou raised his eyebrows. He was curious. “What did they say?”
“They asked if Star Sky Technology is interested in the end of year bidding for the manned moon landing project. If we are interested, we should start preparing the proposal and hand it in within two months.”
Lu Zhou thought for a bit before asking, “What’s the specific project details? Did they say?”
“The specific project content can be found on the Commission for Science’s website. I briefly read through it. Roughly speaking, the first phase of the project requires us to provide a 50-ton low-Earth orbit launch capacity, to be completed within 5 years.”
50-ton low-Earth orbit delivery capacity?
Quite ambitious.
One should know that the orbit capacity of the Long March 5 was only 25 tons. None of the Chinese aerospace companies could accomplish this task with their current technology.
As for the Long March 9, no one knew. After all, this thing was expected to be completed in 2026. However, aerospace funding had been increased by a lot. If they tried hard enough, they might be able to make the 5-year cut-off.
Lu Zhou sat in his chair and thought for a while.
“Okay then, I’ll write a proposal in a few days.”
“Okay, I’ll wait for your news.”
After Lu Zhou hung up the phone, he turned on his computer and contemplated it for a bit.
Even though at the beginning of the year he didn’t consider bidding for this aerospace project, he didn’t expect the sudden breakthrough in miniaturized controllable fusion technology.
Not to mention the scanner gun he won from the lucky draw, which cracked the secrets of the Hall-effect thruster. This greatly reduced his reverse-engineering time on the Debris No.3.
So far, the energy supply problem could be solved by the fusion battery. The most advanced five-axis CNC machine tools and the advanced neural network algorithm could be used to reverse engineer the Hall-effect thruster from the blueprint. It would be a pity not to participate in this project.
After all, he had seen the last moon landing seminar. The budget for this project was around two billion yuan. This kind of money-burning project would hurt his bank account quite a bit, so it would be great if someone could pay for his research.
Also, sending a 50-ton load into orbit wasn’t anything too difficult for him.
Lu Zhou opened a document and placed his hands on the keyboard. He typed a title.
[The feasibility of fusion battery technology and ion thruster propulsion in aerospace.]
…
Over the past few days, Lu Zhou spent his time either at the Institute for Advanced Study or the space shuttle assembly center. He had collected the necessary data for his report, so he had very little time to spend at Jin Ling University.
However, this didn’t matter too much. He didn’t have a lot of classes in the second half of the semester. Only a few lectures on number theory, theoretical physics, and surface chemistry.
Even though occasionally there were a couple of students asking him questions, the PhD students who were residing in his office could deal with it.
As for the other more miscellaneous stuff, his three assistants could handle it.
Two weeks after the semester began, Lu Zhou had almost completed his entire argument report. He received a call from Luo Wenxuan, who was on a business trip in Europe.
When the call connected, a familiar voice was heard through the phone.
“It’s a shame you can’t come in person. The award ceremony is at the famous Institut de France. You have no idea how much preparation the Clay Institute did for this ceremony!”
“Oh really?” Lu Zhou heard how excited Luo Wenxuan was. He smiled and said, “I’m not too envious, I’ve already been there.”
The other end of the phone went silent.
After two seconds, Lu Zhou heard a cough.
“Oh yeah, I forgot, this is the second time you won this prize…”
Jesus Christ, I totally forgot.
I totally got one-upped!
Lu Zhou didn’t know what Luo Wenxuan was thinking. He smiled and said, “Remember to thank Professor Carlson, Jaffe, and Witten for me.”
Luo Wenxuan was helpless. He sighed and said, “I knew you would say this. I’ve already said hi to them… Oh yeah, I’ve mailed the medal and check from the Clay Institute to you. Make sure to check your mail.”
Lu Zhou said, “You mailed it? Why couldn’t you bring it back yourself?”
Luo Wenxuan: “Traveling with a million-dollar check and a pure gold medal? Do you think I’m crazy?”
Lu Zhou: “Okay then, how long do you plan on staying in France?”
“Haha, uh… I haven’t decided yet.” Luo Wenxuan looked through his hotel window and yawned. He said, “At least until the end of month, right? I plan on taking a trip to Liechtenstein.”
Lu Zhou: “…”
This guy is so unreliable.
Since Luo Wenxuan had done what he had to do, Lu Zhou didn’t say much else.
Lu Zhou sighed and said, “Okay then, just come back after your trip.”
“No problem! Actually, I’m not totally on holiday, I’m walking around to accumulate inspiration. Do you know who I admire the most?”
Lu Zhou: “Who?”
It’s not me, right?
Please don’t be me…
Luo Wenxuan: “It’s Schrodinger! He discovered the great wave equations in the foothills of the Alps with his lover! I think you know what I mean, just like how you teach undergraduate students for inspiration, my way of being inspired…”
“F*ck’s sake!”
Lu Zhou hung up the phone and threw his phone on the table.
He looked at his completed thesis on his computer screen and double-checked the entire thesis. He converted the thesis format and sent it to the relevant China National Space Administration department.
He was certain that after they saw where the email came from, the department would take his proposal seriously.
As for Luo Wenxuan…
There weren’t any physics research projects that Lu Zhou needed Luo Wenxuan’s help with, so Lu Zhou decided to just let him be.