Tag Archives: China

Elon’s Female Dog

23 Wednesday Mar 2016

Posted by in Book, Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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  • Mars Date/Time:  Year 001, Sur Two, Monday, Sol 19 (001.2.19)  03:21 NST
  • Earth Date/Time:  Wednesday, 23 March 2016  2:00 PM PDT  
  • Distance traveled:  94,628,520 kilometers   Time Delay:  3 mins 48 secs
  • Distance to Mars Rendezvous:  297,781,232 kilometers

It was a pleasant day in southern California. Two men sitting on the deck at the Cheesecake Factory at Marina Del Rey did not seem out-of-place. It was two o’clock and they were enjoying the Sun, the ocean breeze, and a late lunch. One man was wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap and sunglasses. The other was overweight, and looked like a tourist.

“I hope you understand that we have to move fast,” said the man in the baseball cap. The other man answered in a heavy Russian accent, “Mr. Musk, I assure you, we understand the urgency of the situation; however, we cannot pay for your space program on our own. If you can bring our friends in, then I think we can do business.”

Musk leaned forward and said, “The United States is no problem. After this election, ESEP will be as hated by Republicans as much as the Mexicans, and as for China, I’m working on them. They’ll come around.”

The overweight man replied, “But Mr. Musk, it does not seem that the Republicans will win this election. I don’t see how this helps us.” Musk answered, “Liberals hate space programs. If they win their will be no money for ESEP, but we can leverage the Republicans to demand funding for our program as a matter of national honor. Americans have to be one of the elite, and if we offer a Mars program that is exclusively run by the three super powers, they will not want to be left out. In fact, they will leap to be in a space race with ESEP.”

“Well, Mr. Musk,” said the big man, “you are very good at talking. Rest assured that if you bring the US and China to the table, we will be there, too.” Musk smiled and sat back. He had two partners in the bag. Now he needed China.

“Excuse me,” Musk said as he stood up, “I have two launches next month and I need to get back. Thank you again, for your support, and please let Mr. Putin know that he is welcome anytime to come to Texas and see our facility.” Musk walked through the restaurant and headed to the front door. As his driver opened the door he pulled out his phone and called Charles Bolden, Administrator of NASA. Musk started the conversation, “Russia’s on board if I can bring in China. What can I offer them?”

Musk’s call lasted almost all the way to his office, with several outbursts on his part, reminding Bolden that NASA was rapidly becoming irrelevant. In the end, Musk had what he wanted. China would build, Russia would launch, and the NASA would let SpaceX run the show. If Bolden didn’t feel like Elon’s administrative assistant before, he did now.

The Smell of Musk

19 Saturday Mar 2016

Posted by in Book, Earth Space Exploration Program, Mars, Mars 2016, Mars calendar, Science Fiction, Space, Space, Virtual Adventures

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  • Mars Date/Time:  Year 001, Sur Two, Thursday, Sol 15 (001.2.15)  05:55 NST
  • Earth Date/Time:  Saturday, 19 March 2016  2:00 PM PDT
  • Distance traveled:  80,208,936 kilometers   Time Delay:  3 mins 30 secs
  • Distance to Mars Rendezvous:  312,200,816 kilometers

“What did you find out about Musk?,” Jenna asked. Ken replied, “We’ve confirmed he is talking to the Russians. He also contacted at least two of our suppliers and tried to work out an exclusive arrangement with them if they dropped our account. He’s actively working to sabotage us, but I think there is more to it than what we’ve found so far.”

Roman had just walked in to Jenna’s quarters for the morning briefing from Megan. He asked, “Who are we talking about?” Jenna said, “Elon Musk. We’re on his enemies list.” Roman replied, “That’s not good. He doesn’t like to play fair.” “What do you know?,” Jenna asked.

Roman replied, “I know he’s smart, and he likes taking advantage of the stupid. He played several states against each other when he was making noise about building his lithium battery plant, but the only place that had an active lithium mine in the North America was in Nevada. Nevada already had no income, corporate, or tax, but he managed to sucker them into over a billion dollars in tax breaks, even though it made no sense to build the factory anywhere in but Nevada. Then he contracted with a minor lithium mine in Mexico to put pressure on the Nevada lithium mine. He bullies people, and he seems to enjoy it.”

Ken added, “He is talking to the Russians about a partnership with SpaceX, and he’s trying to interfere with our suppliers.” Roman replied, “That sounds like Musk. If he follows his pattern, he’ll make a big show of it and try to manipulate people by scaring them.”

Naomi broke in to the conversation, “Director, I have Megan’s briefing ready.” Jenna said to everyone, “Let’s get started.”

Naomi started the recording and Megan’s image came up on the large monitor,

Good morning. The first item today is Elon Musk. We have learned that he is trying to create a private-based, joint space venture with Russia, China, and the United States. He is asking the United States and China to cut off funding to ESEP immediately, even though they have a five-year commitment. He has been working on this for some time, but has been aggressively pursuing his goal since your remarks on the Charlie Rose show. He also has contacted almost half of our suppliers and is offering them eight percent more per contract than what ESEP is offering. He also is posting bail and providing legal assistance to the ESEP engineers that were involved in the management coup. Apparently, he plans to tap them for their knowledge. He also is talking to Donald Trump. We don’t know what that is about, but I suspect ESEP is going to become the target of U.S. conservatives. We’re following the situation and our PR team is coming up with some ideas. I’ll be interested to see what your reaction is to this…

Jenna suddenly interrupted, “Naomi, pause that, please.” Naomi paused the playback, and Jenna continued, “I know what we need to do, but I want to hear everyone’s thoughts. Let’s deal with this now and get ESEP Earthside to start moving on it.

Ken said, “His whole game is to bluff people into doing something. We need to be careful at how we react.” Naomi added, “But we can’t ignore it. That also plays into his game.”

Jenna said, “We’re not going to play his game, we’re going to play ours.”