The president turned and pointed his finger at Secretary Russell. “How could you say the moon landings would be in question if their rocks were similar to ours?”
Steve, shrinking in his chair as the president asked the question, nevertheless responded confidently. “Mr. President, these are outrageous accusations brought by China. At the time, in the UN, I felt we needed to make a strong and confident response to Councilor Chen’s proposal. In fact, listening to Doug now, I feel even better about my response. I too am confident that if the appropriate scientists are selected to compare the rocks, the outcome will be they are not of the same origin.”
Bill disliked Steve’s arrogance and snapped back, “So then why do you think China is making these accusations, if they know they will be proven false?”
“I can not answer that, Mr. President. It’s a mystery to me.”
He shook his head and turned his attention back to Doug. “What about this mirror thing we spoke of?”
“It’s called the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment, or LLRE, and was deployed during our first moon landing,” replied Doug. “It allows us to shoot laser pulses and get reflections back. It is used for many reasons, but one is to get accurate distances to the moon as it orbits the earth. Though it was put there by our astronauts, it could have been deployed by a robotic mission. This will not help us much, but we can not discount the many photographs and videos taken.”
“Possibly,” said the president, “but as you know, for years hoax proponents have said they were done in studios, and though it is tough to prove, it is not cut and dry. So, I would hate to just rely on that.”
Jack had sat quietly the whole meeting. He now interjected, “Mr. President, don’t forget there were hundreds of thousands of people who worked on the moon landing missions. It would be virtually impossible for all to keep quiet if the moon landings were a hoax.”
The president turned and looked at Jack. “Jack, I don’t disagree with you, but China claims there were only a handful of folks who needed to know, and that would be much more believable to the world.” The president took a sip of coffee, thinking to himself, then looked back at Jack. “What is the latest CIA intelligence on China and their space program? Is there anything that might help us on why they might be doing this?”
“Sir, as you have been updated before, our biggest concern is China setting up a ‘Star Wars’ type of weapon in space, similar to what we considered in the ’80s. We know they have been working with a laser company out of the UK, which we feel will be the weapon used. One of our top SID agents visited China’s launch facility recently and reported that China probably tested this laser on their recent trip to the moon. We believe they probably were firing it from their spacecraft at targets selected on the surface, probably on the back side. This would be the only way they could test such a laser in space without the world knowing. If they tested it in Earth’s orbit, we of course would know this and question it to the UN. Unfortunately, I don’t know if this information helps in regards to what’s currently going on.”
“Interesting. You would think there is no connection there, but knowing China, I think there might be. Jack, I want you to stay on top of that, and see what else you can find out regarding the laser and what happened when they went to the moon, and keep me informed.”
“Yes, sir, I will keep you abreast of any new developments,” Jack said.
Doug said, “Bottom-line sir, it comes down to the rocks. This is our best evidence, separate of actually going back to the moon for a visual sighting of the landing sites, which we should be able to do with the orbiter next month.”
“I believe in your press conference you should state this,” proclaimed the secretary. “Say there are many items to prove the landings happened, but the most concrete evidence, other than a visual sighting which we should be able to do soon, are the moon rocks themselves. State we are working with the UN to get some of the top qualified scientists in the world to compare ours to China’s. Say we are confident when the rocks are compared, they will prove to be of different origin.”
President Edwards again leaned back in his chair and put his hands behind his head. “Why do I get the feeling we are setting ourselves up?”
6
PRESS CONFERENCE
President Edwards waited behind the curtain, reviewing the final notes handed to him by his press secretary, Harry Minas. He was pleased to read NASA’s confirmation they would be able to modify the LRO with cameras powerful enough to take detailed pictures of the landing sites. The notes indicated implementing these changes should not have any impact on its original launch date of May 9, just two weeks away. The LRO would not have enough propellant to fly over all the landing sites, but would at least be programmed to fly over two of them. NASA was confident changing the LRO’s flight plan to accommodate this request would not prevent it from completing its designed mission. If any issues or problems developed in getting accurate pictures from either site, they could change orbits so it could fly over other sites. However, changing to multiple orbits could prevent the LRO from ultimately completing its intended mission. The president smiled, relieved NASA could at least get pictures of two of the sites. Such pictures showing the hardware left by the astronauts should be proof enough to the world. He looked up from his notes, saying to Harry, “This is good news.”
The president gave Harry a nod that he was ready to start the press conference. As he turned and started to walk out from behind the curtain, Harry quickly grabbed the president’s arm, indicating he needed to wait. Harry was talking on a headset handed to him. The president turned, raised his eyebrows and mouthed, “Why?”
Harry pointed to the headset and covered his microphone before saying in a whisper, “There is a technical problem with one of the microphones. They are fixing it now and it shouldn’t take long.”
Bill took a few steps back from the curtain and stood waiting for the go-ahead. This gave him a chance to organize his thoughts on what he planned to say. After another quick review of the information, he looked down at the floor, thinking of the magnitude of this press conference. When he was a teenager he watched the moon landings on television with his family. Like most of his friends, he too wanted to be an astronaut. He considered them heroes. He remembered how proud his dad was when America first walked on the moon. His dad said with all the turmoil going on around the globe, this was what the world needed. For that brief moment in time, the human race had become one—no Germans, no Chinese, no Russians, and no Americans. They were all human beings reaching out to another planet. The president smiled remembering how his dad glowed with excitement during that first landing, as did everyone in the room. He preached to everyone how lucky they all were to witness one of the greatest achievements ever by man.
Now here he was, president of the United States, having to go in front of the world to defend America and this great accomplishment. He had a responsibility to all the astronauts who risked their lives for their country, as well as the hundreds of thousands of men and women who worked many long and hard hours, sacrificing family and friends so the United States of America could reach the goal of being the first country to put a man on the moon before the ’60s ended. He owed it to his dad, who passed away just two years ago.
Harry turned to Bill and said he was clear to go. The president confidently walked through the curtain into the East Room, holding his head high. As he turned to go up the stairs to the podium he looked around to see the room packed with journalists, many standing against the walls. He expected this kind of interest considering one superpower was basically calling another a liar. There would be only one winner in this fight, and the world wondered which country it would be. President Edwards needed to make a strong and confident response to China’s bold-faced lies. He could feel the energy and buzz in the room. He planned on attacking these lies with honesty and integrity. China was up to something even though his top advisors assured him their accusations would be proven wrong. His response would be the reaction China would be expecting. He decided to just present the facts as they were.