United States, White House.
From the moment Xuannv No. 1 took off, Albert's office was filled with a dead silence.
"Molton, keep a close eye on this Xuannv No. 1!"
The moment Xuannv No. 1 disappeared into the clouds, Albert said sternly to Morton in front of him, "If you lose it, you won't have to work as director anymore!"
Morton's face turned slightly pale and he reached out to wipe the cold sweat from his forehead.
Then he hurriedly took out his cell phone from his pocket and made a call.
"O'Casey, listen, the situation is urgent, get all NASA's surveillance satellites moving, I want to know the real-time information of the Xuannv No. 1 that Xia Country just took off!"
A female voice came from the microphone: "Director Moulton? Are you sure you want to use all of NASA's surveillance satellites?"
"The damage caused by this..."
"Shut up!" Morton looked at Albert's slightly sinister eyes, and sweat broke out on his back. "I will be responsible for any losses. Now, tell the staff to immediately send me the detailed flight data of Xuannv No. 1!"
O'Casey was stunned: "Mr. Morton, you are now..."
"Fxxk! Oval Office!"
Morton cursed and hung up the phone.
Then he quickly ran to Albert and whispered, "Mr. President, I need to use your computer."
Albert nodded grimly without saying anything.
A few minutes later, Morton let out a long breath: "Mr. President, the data has been transmitted."
It has to be said that NASA's surveillance satellite performance is still very powerful.
On the computer in front of Albert, the high-definition pictures and flight data of Xuannv No. 1 were clearly visible!
Looking at the dense data that was constantly refreshing, Albert frowned.
He closed his eyes slightly and rubbed his brows with his hand: "Anthony, take a look at these data."
Anthony did not dare to neglect the president's order. He immediately stepped forward and looked at the computer screen on the desk.
The moment he saw the data, Anthony's pupils shrank suddenly and he exclaimed, "What?!"
"This, this is impossible!"
Anthony's reaction made Albert's heart sink.
This is not a good sign.
"What's going on?" Albert frowned and asked in a low voice, "Is there anything wrong with this data?"
Anthony swallowed slightly, his blue pupils trembling slightly: "Its speed has reached Mach 5!"
Albert had little idea of these numbers: "Mach 5? What's wrong with Mach 5?"
Facing Albert's somewhat naive question, Anthony smiled bitterly and said palely: "Mr. President, the current maximum speed of the US fighter jets is basically around Mach 3. Once an air battle occurs, we may not even be able to see the opponent's buttocks!"
Albert's breath suddenly choked, and he waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "What about the missile? We can just shoot it down with a missile!"
Anthony's eyes were filled with bitterness: "That's where the problem lies."
"Except for some specific air-to-air missiles, most air-to-air missiles in the world currently have a speed of only around Mach 4."
"Our missiles can't even catch up to this plane."
"As for air-to-air missiles with higher speeds... Mr. President, I'm not saying this to discourage you, but air-to-air missiles below Mach 6 are basically useless against them."
"If Xia Guo is not lying, the flight endurance of this aerospace plane that uses nuclear fusion as its energy source will far exceed our imagination."
"The missile's fuel... may not be enough to consume it."
Albert's face suddenly turned as black as a big iron pot.
What the hell is this?
Chase, but cannot catch up; consume, but cannot outlast!
Just as the two fell into silence, Morton's exclamation came from the side: "It, it's speeding up again!"
The moment he heard these words, Anthony's heart trembled violently.
Looking at the rising speed and height on the computer screen, Anthony's face turned pale.
"Mr. President, I don't think we need to discuss this."
"This plane has now reached the Earth's low-Earth orbit, and its speed... is about Mach 23, which is what we often call the first cosmic speed."
"I don't know where its limit is. At least, judging from the current situation, even if we launch the fastest intercontinental missile, it will not be able to gain much advantage in front of it."
Albert didn't say anything, just stared at the computer screen in front of him.
As time goes by bit by bit, the speed of Xuannv No. 1 continues to increase, and so does its height.
As the numbers on the computer screen continued to rise, the faces of the three people became more and more ugly.
Albert had a gloomy face and said nothing.
On the screen, the two numbers 36,000 kilometers and Mach 30 (10.2 km/s) deeply hurt his eyes.
Even he knew what these two numbers meant.
Seeing that Xuannv No. 1's flight data began to decline, Albert slowly breathed a sigh of relief: "Anthony, where do you think the limit of this aerospace plane is?"
"Huh..." Anthony exhaled deeply, straightened up and said softly: "Mr. President, this is not important anymore."
"You just need to understand one thing: from now on, the United States has lost air superiority over Xia Country."
Albert fell silent.
You are right.
In this case, the extreme data of Xuannv-1 is no longer important.
Even if it can break through the second cosmic speed and reach the moon, it has nothing to do with the United States.
"How should we guard against it?"
After a long silence, Albert took a deep breath and asked softly.
Anthony's eyes were full of bitterness, and he slowly shook his head: "Mr. President, we can't defend against it."
"Although it is unclear whether the Xuannv No. 1 carries any weapons, I can tell you responsibly that no country on Earth can resist its attack, given its flight altitude, speed, and endurance."
"As long as Xiaguo wants, the White House may be reduced to ashes in a few minutes."
The moment he heard these words, Albert's pupils shrank suddenly.
"Molton."
Albert said in a hoarse voice: "From now on, we will advance the Pathfinder Project at all costs."
"Mr. President?" Anthony was startled and reminded in a low voice, "We should not compete with Xia Country at this time!"
"We have lost the qualification for this competition!"
Albert closed his eyes slightly, then opened them suddenly, with a hint of madness in them.
"No, as long as we occupy Mars first, the United States still has a chance to turn things around!"
"From now on, suspend all unnecessary domestic spending, and put all funds into scientific research projects!"
"I don't believe that with all these years of accumulation, we still can't beat Xia Country!"