Chapter 3: Three Simultaneous Disaster-Response Schemes

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

While Chen Xin was busy working to save himself, the governments of various countries were also not idling by.

The first to take action was the five strongest nations on Earth.

We had often ridiculed that the top five nations were in fact, only two and a half. Although the remaining two were close to being removed from the list, these five nations were still leading in terms of overall national strength and disaster-response when compared with the rest of the world.

Ultimately, in the face of calamity, men had decided to put aside their differences and work together.

Among the many operations carried out by various countries, the priority was to destroy the meteorite or change its orbit.

After all, compared to surviving underground, that was simpler and less troublesome, and it could also minimize the damage of the impact.

However, for a meteorite with a diameter of more than ten kilometers, it was an almost impossible feat considering Earth’s existing technology.

There were not many practical solutions that the countries could come up with.

In the United Nations Special Assembly that was led by the top five nations, various plans were proposed and rejected. In the end, only three plans were approved by the majority.

One of the plans was proposed by Vermillion. When the meteorite approaches the lunar orbit, a high-power thruster would be installed on its surface. With its propelling force combined with lunar gravitational force, the meteorite’s orbit would be altered to prevent the meteorite from crashing into Earth.

That plan was the most feasible and effective among the three, but the technical requirement was the highest.

With the current aerospace technology possessed by mankind, only manned spaceflight in the Earth-Moon system had been successfully attempted. Humans had only launched unmanned probes in the outer reaches of the moon’s orbit. To install a thruster on a meteorite that was approaching the moon’s orbit was going to be a great test of human aerospace technology.

Not to mention that the meteorite itself was a behemoth tens of kilometers in diameter.

Even with the help of lunar gravity, the project still required the transportation of a thruster that was much more powerful than the largest spacecraft currently built by mankind, as well as the fuel needed to propel the meteorite.

Even though humans could urgently modify a spacecraft in three months, the success rate of that plan was still low.

The second plan was proposed by the USA. The plan was formulated upon references from Hollywood science-fiction films “Armageddon” and “Deep Impact”, thanks to the talent of Hollywood screenwriters.

A selected team would land on the meteorite, dig a hole in it, plant a nuclear bomb, and then detonate it.

If all went well, the force generated by the nuclear explosion would be sufficient to change the orbit of the meteorite. At worst, it would still break up the meteorite into smaller pieces, minimizing the damage caused by the impact.

That solution was technically less difficult than the one proposed by Vermillion. Although both solutions required humans to land on the meteorite, it was much easier to install nuclear bombs than installing thrusters. Moreover, nuclear bombs that could push a meteorite forward were much easier to build than a high-powered thruster.

There were ready-made nuclear bombs of that level in the top five nations’ nuclear arsenals. Russia even stated on the spot that they could provide their Tsar Bombas if that plan was adopted.

However, a big problem with that plan was that although a nuclear bomb explosion could sway a meteorite, it was more likely to destroy it, which would cause multiple smaller meteorites to hit the Earth.

In that case, the damage to Earth’s civilization would not be lower than that of the meteorite hitting the Earth as a whole, so the majority was more inclined to the plan proposed by Vermillion.

Nevertheless, considering its difficulty, the Vermillion plan was retained as a necessary Plan B.

As for the third proposal, it was proposed by Russia.

Russia’s plan was very simple and straightforward. It was crude and embodied the characteristics of a fighting nation. Their idea was to utilize all of the top five nations’ nuclear weapons to carry out a concentrated nuclear attack on the meteorite. In short, to blow it to pieces.

Although the fragments would still hit Earth’s surface after entering the atmosphere, the damage they would bring was at least manageable, and most of them would burn up before they hit the ground. Granted, there would not be too many fragments reaching the Earth.

The only problem with that plan was mankind’s existing missile-launch technology. It was not powerful enough to deliver payloads too far into space, so we would have to wait until the meteorite was close enough to Earth to launch the nuclear bombs.

In addition to that, to guarantee its hit rate, a spacecraft would be needed to travel with the nuclear bomb as guidance.

However, there was a high probability the spacecraft would not survive after the hit. That was due to the overwhelming amount of shrapnel that it would face post-detonation.

Much like laser guidance on the battlefield, if it was a cruise missile, the soldiers on the ground could still keep a safe distance from the target. However, if it was a thermobaric weapon or a nuclear bomb, it was difficult for all soldiers on the battlefield to survive.

Even so, considering that it was a matter of life and death for human civilization, the various countries did not feel that making a smaller noble sacrifice that difficult a choice.

Although the difficulty of implementation and the success rate of the three schemes were different, the astronauts who performed the mission were unlikely to survive either plan.

After heated discussions, the countries finally decided to implement a combined-response plan, and the three plans were carried out simultaneously.

Vermillion and the USA would first land on the surface of the meteorite, install thrusters and nuclear bombs respectively, and then try to use nuclear bombs and thrusters to change the orbit of the meteorite or explode it.

Russia’s plan would only be used as a backup. If the first two plans failed, then that would be humanity’s last resort.

The various countries would also equip their people with self-rescue measures, build underground bunkers, and gather resources to save as many people as possible.

In the face of a common disaster, there was unprecedented unity between the world’s powers at that time. Even the countries that did not have much say were actively contributing.

The USA took the initiative to provide Vermillion with the Falcon Rocket. Every bit of effort could increase the chances of human survival even by a little. A technology blockade was not something that should be practiced at that moment.

On the other hand, the Russians also opened up their nuclear arsenal. Several Tsar Bombas that were secretly preserved during the Soviet era were provided, two of which would be used in the USA’s blasting operations.

Concurrently, the top five nations pooled together and redirected all their global aerospace resources to serve in the implementation of the three plans.

However, in addition to the deployment of disaster-response measures, the various countries were also preparing additional contingencies, should the grand plan fail.