Chen Xin was also sitting in front of the TV, focusing on this operation. After all, it concerned the life and death of all humanity. At this moment, all media across the Blue Star were reporting on the matter non-stop, 24 hours a day.
Although the meteor was getting closer to the Blue Star, and countries had issued disaster warnings, the meteor was still approaching the Moon’s orbit, and the Blue Star hadn’t experienced any substantial impact. Therefore, Chen Xin hadn’t retreated to the shelter he dug for himself.
Moreover, although the shelter was safe, being buried deep underground meant there was no internet or TV. If Chen Xin wanted to stay updated on the rescue operation, he still needed to stay home and watch TV.
As for the other people in Chen Xin’s city, they had already been evacuated in batches during this time and had entered the shelters, which were mostly remodeled by now.
If the operation was successful, they would leave the shelters after the successful interception of the meteor. But if the interception failed, everyone would spend the remainder of most people’s lives in the shelter.
Due to personal reasons, Chen Xin didn’t live in the city center. Although government officials had tried to persuade him to go to a shelter, because he had already dug his own, he stayed at home instead of going to a state-constructed shelter.
And although the state had done its utmost to remodel the shelters and tried to make it possible for everyone to enter one, some shelters hadn’t been completed on time, and the capacity of the shelters was limited. In fact, not everyone could enter the shelters.
According to Chen Xin’s estimation, his city was relatively favorable since the population wasn’t large, allowing most people to enter the shelters.
But on a national level, managing to house over 80% of the population in shelters was already quite remarkable, Chen Xin thought.
After refueling, the spacecraft from the Flame Country and the Federation departed from the Tiangong Space Station and the International Space Station to embark on their mission again.
They would first orbit the Blue Star, utilizing its gravity to accelerate towards the Moon, then use the Moon’s gravity for a second acceleration in lunar orbit. This way, the spacecraft could speed up to nearly match the meteor’s velocity, to accurately land on the meteor.
Watching the three increasingly distant spacecraft, as captured by the space station’s camera, Chen Xin couldn’t help but silently pray for the heroes aboard them.
Now, the hopes of all humanity rested on their shoulders. If their mission failed, humanity would face the kind of global extinction event experienced by the dinosaurs 65 million years ago from a meteor hitting the Gulf of Mexico.
Some might argue that the dinosaurs’ extinction can’t be definitively attributed to a meteor impact. But Chen Xin was sure that if this meteor heading towards the Blue Star really impacted, over 90% of the existing species on the Blue Star would be completely wiped out, causing an extinction apocalypse across both land and sea.
Birds, as the descendants of dinosaurs, might have escaped the previous disaster, but they might not be so lucky this time. The sweeping global firestorms, with high temperatures and toxic gases, followed by long and harsh cold nights, would lead to the extinction of flying birds, large terrestrial creatures, most plants, and all fish in shallow marine areas.
Only burrowing animals with strong survival instincts, such as mice and cockroaches, might survive this catastrophe. However, whether they could survive the subsequent food-scarce, extremely cold nights remains uncertain.
Regarding marine life, there’s less concern. Though marine ecosystems in shallow areas would face devastating blows, deep-sea creatures wouldn’t go extinct, and some shallow marine species might even survive if lucky.
As for humans, their survival would depend heavily on luck.
In countries where social order hadn’t collapsed, at least governments would organize sheltering efforts, giving people a significant chance of survival after the initial disaster from the meteor impact, potentially carrying forward the torch of human civilization.
However, those living in countries where social order had already collapsed wouldn’t be so lucky. If they were far from the impact zone and managed to find a sturdy basement with enough food for the upcoming duration, they had some chance of survival.
Otherwise, they might painfully perish within days of the disaster following the meteor’s impact.
Naturally, if they were extremely unlucky and located near the impact site, they wouldn’t survive a single day but would die painlessly.
The vicinity near the impact site encompasses a circle with a radius of at least one to two thousand kilometers.
Since it took a long time for the spacecraft to reach the lunar orbit, Chen Xin didn’t keep his eyes glued to the TV despite the continuous live broadcast. Instead, he was making final preparations before entering the shelter.
Though this concerned the life and death of six billion people worldwide, and Chen Xin earnestly hoped for a successful mission, he wasn’t optimistic about the plan.
The Flame Country and the Federation intended to use nuclear bombs to blow up the meteor and then use thrusters to push it off collision course. This plan sounded promising and was quite feasible, achievable with humanity’s current technology if efforts and costs were disregarded. It’s what they were doing now, but there were numerous uncertainties involved.
For example, before landing on the meteor, debris streams around it might hinder or destroy the spacecraft, and once on the surface, if the meteor’s material was too hard, it might be impossible to drill into it...
The meteor wasn’t a uniform sphere. Its irregular shape and uneven texture could withstand the nuclear blast without being shattered, or it could be blown apart into several pieces.
If not blown apart, the meteor might be denser than expected and much more massive, making it difficult for the heavy spacecraft prepared by the Flame Country to push it, or their thrust might be insufficient to completely alter its trajectory.
In such a scenario, they could only hope Lucia’s people could shatter the meteor using all of the world’s nuclear arsenal.
But even then, the best we could expect would be a massive meteor shower worldwide, inflicting significant damage on human society.
And if it shattered and split into several pieces, that would be the worst-case scenario.
The Flame Country’s single heavy spacecraft could only push one piece of the meteor.