Chapter 14 Chapter 11 Anomaly Detection Procedures for Satellites

The director of the Polar Density Scan Satellite Division escorted Gabrielle Ash back to his office, closed the door, and at that moment felt his hatred for the head of NASA deepen.Harper sighed.He knew it was time to tell the truth. The launch of the Polar Orbit Density Scan Satellite went smoothly and the satellite entered a standard polar orbit as planned.However, just when they were excitedly preparing the preparation and began to check the ice layer for ice blocks with abnormal density, the satellite's anomaly detection program failed.Due to a mistake in Harper's programming, the polar density scan satellite was completely useless.The election was just around the corner, and Senator Sexton was so unceremoniously picking on NASA.Harper immediately told the director that the problem should be solved when the next space mission is carried out.But it was too late.He was fired.

Two weeks ago, the director called Harper again and asked him to hold a press conference and announce to everyone that he had found an alternative solution to the problem with the polar orbit density scan satellite program, and that it would be detected in a few weeks Related Information.Harper turned down the director's offer.But an hour later, the Chief was in Harper's office with Marjorie Tench.Tench told Harper that the senator was going to privatize NASA and that he was supposed to save the president and NASA.Tench then told Harper that the White House had intercepted strong geological evidence that a massive meteorite, one of the largest ever discovered, was buried beneath the Milne Ice Shelf.

Gabrielle looked stunned. "Wait a minute, so you mean someone knew the meteorite was there before the PODS found it?" "Yes. PoDs has nothing to do with this discovery. The Director knew of such a meteorite. He just gave me the coordinates of the meteorite and told me to reset PoDs on the ice shelf. location, pretending that the PODS satellite made the discovery. So, that press conference was a hoax." Out of desperation, Harper agreed to help.Gabrielle then asked, "You didn't know that the meteorite contained fossils until this evening?" "Yes, everyone here. We were all stunned to hear that. I found evidence that aliens exist, and now everyone calls me a hero. But I don't know what to say .”

Harper told Gabrielle that someone else had discovered the meteorite first.A Canadian geologist named Charles Brophy accidentally discovered something during a geological survey on the Milne Ice Shelf. It seemed that there was a huge meteorite under the ice.He radioed the message, only to be intercepted by NASA.Now, that person is dead. Michael Tolan closed his eyes and listened to the hum of the G4 jet engine.Before returning to Washington, he called his crew, only to be surprised to learn that his crew, Xavier, had discovered a stupid error in his documentary about meteorite petrology. Now, on a secret military airstrip outside the District of Columbia, Delta forces leave the Aurora behind and board their new vehicle, the Kiowa Warrior helicopter.

Delta One climbed into the pilot's seat of the Kiowa, buckled up, and felt a weight that was familiar to him.He had trained on the aircraft, flying it on three covert missions.Of course, he has never shot dead a high-profile American official.He had to admit that the Kiowa was the most suitable aircraft for this task. As the Kiowa cleared the runway, Delta One headed southwest.He had seen the Roosevelt Memorial twice, but tonight was the first time he had seen it from the air. Polar density scanning satellites have nothing to do with the discovery of meteorites!Gabrielle didn't know what the ramifications of this information would be, but it was undoubtedly a scandal.That was bad news for Tench, but good news for the Senator.

"I mentioned," said Harper, looking stern at the moment, "that the meteorite was actually discovered through an intercepted radio message. Are you familiar with a program called 'INSPIRE'? It's 'National NASA's Space Physics Ionospheric Interactive Radio Experiment'. This is a series of very low frequency radio receivers located at the North Pole. A few weeks ago, an INSPIRE radio receiver accidentally picked up a A message was sent. A Canadian geologist sent a message on a very low frequency requesting help." Harper hesitated, "Actually, that frequency is so low that no one except NASA's very low frequency receiver We were able to hear the message. We assumed the Canadian was transmitting on long wave."

"What did his message say?" "The information is short. The Canadian said he was probing the ice on the Milne Ice Shelf and detected a super-dense anomaly in the ice which he suspected to be a large meteorite, but when taking measurements it was Trapped in a blizzard. He gave the coordinates of his location and asked to be rescued from the blizzard, and the signal was lost. Upon receiving the message, NASA's Intelligence Communications station dispatched a A rescue plane flew in from Thule, and after hours of searching they found him, a few miles off course, with his sled and dogs crashing to the bottom of a crevasse to his death. Apparently, he was trying to get out of the blizzard, but couldn't see, went astray and ended up falling into a crevasse."

"So, if I just relocate the polar density scan satellites to the coordinates that the Canadian mentioned in his distress call, no one is smart enough to see. Next, I can pretend Spotted the meteorite in the first place, and in doing so, salvaged a little respect from an embarrassing failure." "So you did it." "As I said, I had no choice. I blew up the mission." He paused and said, "However, when I listened to the President's press conference tonight, I learned that the meteorite I pretended to find When there are fossils..." "You are shocked?"

"It's just overwhelmed, really!" Gabrielle not only confirmed Senator Sexton's speculation, but also obtained information about Canadian geologists.After that, she left Chris Harper, who was pale, and drove away in a car. "To the Westbrook luxury apartment building," she said to the driver.She was about to overjoy Senator Sexton. Rachel thought about her promise, and dialed the anti-tapping mobile phone that William Pickering always carried with him.She asked Pickering to help him get a landing permit at GAS-AC so they could get a helicopter and go somewhere else.

GAS-AC is the NRO's cryptic shorthand for the Coast Guard's Atlanta Air Station. Driving along the Leesburg Highway in his limousine, William Pickering felt an uncharacteristic loneliness.It was almost two o'clock in the morning, and there was not even a soul on the road.He hadn't driven so late in years. The piercing voice of Marjorie Tench was still in his head.Meet at the Roosevelt Memorial. A mile away from the Roosevelt Memorial, a "Kiowa Warrior" flew over. The Kiowa slowed, approaching the Roosevelt Memorial in the darkness, but not directly above it, and the plane was now 2,100 feet above the ground.Delta One hovered in the air, checking its position.He looked to his left, where the Delta Two was operating the night-vision hyperopia.The video shows a green image of the memorial's entrance driveway.This area is empty.

Now, they have to wait. As soon as the target appeared, Delta One opened fire. There was a sharp hissing sound from under the fuselage of the plane, and then, a very dim light fell directly on the ground.A second later, in a blinding burst of flames, the car in the parking lot was blown apart.Twisted metal flew everywhere, and burning tires rolled into bushes. "The operation is complete," Delta One said, and immediately drove the helicopter to accelerate away from this area, "Call the commander." Less than two miles away, President Zach Herney was getting ready for bed.The "palace" had Lexan bulletproof windows an inch thick.Apparently, Herney never heard the explosion. Rachel and the others had just climbed out of the G-4 jet onto an empty runway when they saw a Coast Guard standard crimson HH-65 Dolphin waiting nearby .Against the shiny white stripe of the tail, a pilot in full uniform beckoned them over. The pilot led them onto the plane without asking their names at all, just joking and some safety precautions.Pickering apparently made it clear to the Coast Guard that the flight was an unannounced operation.During the conversation, the pilots learned that their destination was "Goya". "Damn it," the taxi driver cursed, turning to Gabrielle, "it looks like something's up ahead. We can't go anywhere, and it looks like we'll have to wait a little longer." Gabrielle looked out of the car and saw the constantly rotating lights of the ambulance piercing the night, and a few policemen standing on the road ahead, calling for cars to stop around the avenue. "Something must have happened." The driver said, pointing to the fire near the Roosevelt Memorial. He turned on the car radio and switched from channel to channel.A newscaster on the radio was reporting a car bombing and possible terrorism. I have to escape the city, Gabrielle thought for the first time since arriving in the country's capital. Commanders rarely get tired, but today the damage has been done.It seems ironic that the most difficult step in the plan turned out to be the least problematic.That thing was plugged in a few months ago, and it went smoothly without encountering any obstacles.Once this anomaly is in place, the next thing to do is to wait for the polar orbit density scanning satellite to be launched into the sky.Unexpectedly, this damn anomaly detection program is broken.The commander had to find a way to surreptitiously alert those inside NASA to the presence of the meteorite.The implementation of this plan involved the sending of an urgent radio message: a Canadian geologist sent the message near the site of the inserted meteorite.For obvious reasons, the geologist had to be killed immediately, and his death looked like an accident.Throwing an innocent geologist from a helicopter is just the beginning.Now things are developing rapidly. Weli Ming, Nora Manger, both are dead. A blatant murder has just occurred at the Roosevelt Memorial. Soon to be added to the dead list are Rachel Sexton, Michael Tolan, and Dr. Mallinson. There's no other way to go, the Commander thought, suppressing his growing regret.Too many bets have already been placed. The Coast Guard's Dolphin was flying three thousand feet above the ground. Suddenly, Tolland and the pilot discovered through the night sight that a huge, constantly beating spiral red vortex was shining on a dark sea. The pilot said it was magmatic rock, which was often encountered before. Rachel asked Tolan with a sullen face: "So, the documentary you recorded here before was about the magma phenomenon?" "It's strong plumes and hammerhead sharks, hammerhead sharks like warm water," Toland said. Seen from the air, the flickering silhouette of "Goya" gradually approached.Half a mile away, Tolland could make out the bright lights on the deck that his crewman Xavier had wisely turned on.He saw the lights and felt like a weary traveler pulling into his driveway. The Coast Guard helicopter slowed down, banked around the big, brightly lit ship, and the pilot began to steer toward the helipad on the aft deck.The helicopter finally landed on the aft deck of the Goya, Rachel Sexton felt only slightly more relaxed.The good news is that she no longer has to fly on the surface of the sea. The bad news is that she is standing on the surface of the sea at this moment.On deck, Tolland told them that the sharks here have the most acute sense of smell—with well-developed olfactory lobes of the telencephalon.They can smell blood from a mile away. Gabrielle Ash's taxi stopped moving.She took out her cell phone and dialed the senator's number, however, the line was busy. At this time, Gabrielle saw more official vehicles coming and asked the driver to take a detour.When the taxi passed the senator's office building, she returned to her office. She has a complete budgeting document for NASA's Earth Observing System that includes information on many polar-orbiting density-scanning satellites.When Sexton heard about Harper, he must have wanted to get all the data from the polar-orbiting density-scanning satellites he could get his hands on. NASA lied about polar-orbiting density-scanning satellites. Gabrielle was flipping through files when her cell phone rang. The call was from Yolanda.She told Gabrielle that they had two space reporters who were also investigating Sexton's campaign finances and the Space Frontier Foundation.She also found out that there were others besides Tench who also thought the senator might be taking dirty money, and they believed that Sexton had stumbled for money—even went bankrupt. In the quiet office, Tench's harsh voice of condemnation echoed in Gabrielle's ears.After Catherine's death, the senator squandered much of her estate on bad investments and personal pleasures, and he also bought people's hearts to make his candidate's primary election look like a sure thing.In fact, your candidate went bankrupt half a year ago. Gabrielle hung up and called Senator Sexton's security.Sexton couldn't get through on the phone, and she asked the guard to knock on the door for her. The guard made a beeline for Sexton's room. "I only did this, though, because he was glad I let you in earlier." Reluctantly, he raised his hand to knock on the door. "What did you just say?" Gabrielle asked eagerly. The guard stopped his fist in mid-air and told the full story of Gabrielle's entry into the Senator's room.After listening to the guard's narration, Gabrielle canceled her original plan and did not let the guard alarm the senator. Sexton knows I've been to him...why doesn't he mention it to me at all? Tonight's elusive oddities just got more puzzling.Gabrielle remembered the Senator's call from her time at ABC.She was flabbergasted when the Senator gratuitously admitted that he had met with and taken money from the airline.His candor drew her back to him, even made her feel ashamed.Now, however, his confession really doesn't look so noble. A small amount of money, Sexton had said.All perfectly legal. For an instant, all of Gabrielle's shadowy suspicions about Senator Sexton seemed to resurface at once. Outside, the taxi horn was beeping. After Rachel sent Tolland and Corky to find Xavier, she was ready to contact Pickering.She had promised the Director to call him when she got there, and she was eager to know what news he had gained from his meeting with Marjorie Tench. She dialed Pickering's private number, but the phone rang fifteen times, but no one answered. She became more and more worried, picked up the headset of the shipboard integrated communication system and dialed the number again.After five rings, the phone was connected.Rachel breathed a sigh of relief, but it was fleeting.There was no one on the other end of the phone, no sound. There were three rapid clicks on the wire. "Hello?" Rachel said. There was a burst of static on the line, blasting in Rachel's ears.She yanked the earphones off her head in pain.The noise suddenly disappeared.Now she could hear rapid vibrating tones half a second apart.Rachel's doubts disappeared, and she suddenly understood what was going on, and a burst of fear came to her heart. "Damn it!" She turned to the controls on the bridge and dropped the receiver into the mount, cutting the wire.For a moment, she stood there terrified, wondering if she had hung up on time. Tolan found Xavier in the underwater laboratory and learned from her that the mistake was indeed related to the meteorite chondrules.Xavier promised to tell them all she knew about the chondrules and then help them examine a rock sample. On the outer deck, Rachel found the pilot of the Coast Guard and asked him to turn on the low-altitude radar to monitor the surrounding movement. Rachel felt nervous as she walked towards the underwater laboratory.She walked into the lab, "Mike, how long will it take us to get this information and get off the ship?" Tolland paced the underwater lab, waiting with Rachel and Corky for Xavier's return.The news of the chondrules was almost as unpleasant as the news of Rachel's attempt to contact Pickering. The chief didn't answer. And some people tried to steal the location of "Goya" through the pulse signal. "Relax," Tolland said to the group. "We're safe. The Coast Guard pilot is watching the radar. If anyone comes our way, he'll alert us in time." Rachel nodded approvingly, but she still looked very disturbed. While they were talking about the strong plume, Xavier came in with some papers in hand. On the Goya's outer deck, Coast Guard helicopter pilots watched warily the radar screens of the electronic information system. As far as the pilot could see, neither the sea nor the air for a radius of ten miles seemed to be anything out of the ordinary.Eight miles away, a fishing boat drifted away.Occasionally, a plane skimmed the edge of their radar monitoring range and flew towards an inexplicable destination. He turned his gaze to the radar screen, paying attention to the movements on it, not daring to be careless. Xavier spoke up, her tone stern, "Mike, you said in your documentary that those tiny metal inclusions in this rock could only have formed in space." Tolland immediately felt a pang of apprehension.Chondrules only spawn in space.That's exactly what NASA told me. "But according to the records," Xavier said, holding up the documents in his hand, "that's not entirely true." Corky's eyes widened and he shouted, "Of course it's correct!" Xavier looked down at Corky, raised the document in his hand, and said: "Last year, a young geologist named Lee Pollock from Jelu University used a new type of marine robot to do a deep-sea crustal survey in the Mariana Trench. While sampling, a loose rock was pulled out that exhibited a geological feature he had never seen before. The feature was very similar in appearance to a chondrule. He called it an 'anorthosite stress inclusion'— —these are small metal bubbles, apparently rehomogenized by the pressurization of the deep sea. Dr. Pollock was astonished to discover the bubbles on a rock at the bottom of the ocean, and then he expounded a unique theory to explain these metallic bubbles." Corky muttered, "I guess he had to." Xavier ignored him and continued: "Dr. Pollock asserts that this rock was formed in an extremely deep ocean environment, where the extreme pressure caused a qualitative change in a previously existing rock. The metal immediately melted." Pollock recorded in his diary, "The submarine crust of the Mariana Trench already exists under a state of strong hydrostatic pressurization, and the tectonic forces of the subduction zone in this area make it more compact. The fluid The combination of static and tectonic pressures has the potential to turn the crust into an elastic or semi-fluid state, allowing lighter elements to melt to form chondrule-like structures thought to only occur in space. I found this specimen to be moderate in nickel, which is not often characteristic of rocks on Earth, so it was a total surprise to me, although it is not in the range of generally recognized intermediate levels that are characteristic of meteorites However, it is surprisingly close to this limit. Xavier told them that there are many chemical differences between the rock Pollock found and the real meteorite, one of which is the chemical structure of the chondrules themselves.It seems that the ratio of titanium to zirconium is not the same.In the spherulites of this subsea specimen, the ratio of titanium to zirconium shows a very low zirconium component.Only two parts per million.That's why Pollock doesn't think his specimen chondrules arose in space. Tolland leaned over and whispered to Corky, "Did NASA measure the Ti-Zr ratio in the Milne stone?" "Of course not," Corky said angrily. "Nobody's going to test that. It's like looking at a car and checking the rubber content of the tires to see if what you're seeing is a car!" Tolland sighed and looked back at Xavier. "If we gave you a rock specimen containing chondrules, would you be able to confirm experimentally whether the chondrules are meteorite chondrules or... what Pollock calls a deep-sea compression?" Xavier shrugged and said, "I think it's all right. Electronic microprobes are accurate enough. But what the hell is going on here?" Tolland said to Corky, "Give it to her." Corky reluctantly took out the meteorite specimen from his pocket and handed it to Xavier. Xavier took the stone plate, frowning.She scrutinized the fusion crust and the fossils embedded in the stone. "My God!" she exclaimed, looking up suddenly, "isn't that part of..." "Yes," said Tolland, "unfortunately, exactly." Gabrielle Ash was alone in her office, leaning against the window, wondering what to do next.She walked out of the office, all the way back to the front lobby, and up a wide passage across the way.At the far end of the road she could see the heavy oak door of Sexton's office. Ten feet from Sexton's office, Gabrielle made a sudden right turn into the women's room.The fluorescent lamps turned on automatically, reflecting dazzling light on the white tiles. Are you sure you want to do this? Gabrielle knew that Sexton was eagerly awaiting her full report on the PoDs.Sadly, she was now aware that Sexton had masterfully controlled her this evening.Gabrielle Ash doesn't like being controlled.This evening, the Senator had something to hide from her.The question was how much he was hiding from her.She knew that the answer was hidden in his office - just across the wall from this bathroom. She walked to the bathroom storage closet, reached up to it, and found one hand on the door frame.A key fell to the floor with a clang.A month ago, while looking for tissues, Gabrielle suddenly discovered that the private restroom in the senator's office was separated from the storage room by a removable fiberboard ceiling tile. This evening, Gabrielle came to the storage room again at this time, not to get toilet paper.Gabrielle came down from the ceiling of Sexton's private bathroom, her stockinged legs on the cold porcelain sink, and she jumped to the floor.Holding her breath, she walked out and into Sexton's private office. Thirty miles away, a black Kiowa helicopter gunship skimmed over the pine forest tops of North Delaware.Delta One checked the locked coordinates on the automatic navigation system. At this point, Delta One was following their target from the closest flight, less than twenty miles away. "Air defense fire nets in place?" he turned to ask Delta Two, which was operating radar and weapons equipment. "Confirmed. Waiting to get within five miles of range." The radar display of the Coast Guard helicopter on the deck of the Goya beeped as a new signal appeared within ten miles.The pilot sat up straight, staring intently at the screen.The signal appeared to be that of a small cargo plane heading west toward the shore. Maybe fly to Newark.The plane moved on—now away from them. The pilot let out a breath and relaxed. But then, the most incredible thing happened. "Air defense fire nets activated," Delta Two yelled, thumbs up as he sat in the weapons control chair next to the Kiowa gunship door. "Fire net, modulated noise, cover pulse all active and locked." Delta One understood and steered the plane sharply to the right, and the plane took a straight path to Goya.This trick can escape the radar monitoring of "Goya". "Foil pack confirmed!" Delta Two yelled. They use radar jamming to prevent the target from making all possible contact with the outside world.Their target had a lucky and cunning escape from the Milne Ice Shelf, but this time they won't get away with it.Rachel Sexton and Michael Tolan chose to abandon the shore and go to the ship, which was a terrible choice.Still, it would be the last bad decision they make. Inside the White House, President Zac Hurney sat up from the bed in a daze, and picked up the phone receiver. "Now? Ekstrom wants to talk to me now?" Herney glanced at the bedside clock: 3:17 in the morning. "Yes, Mr. President," said the operator, "he said it was an emergency." Corky and Xavier huddled in front of the electronic microprobe, measuring the zirconium content of the pellets, while Rachel followed Tolan through the lab and into the next room.Here, Tolland turned on another computer.Obviously, the oceanographer also wanted to check another thing.