No matter who the informant was, or who they worked for, The New York Times had really struck gold this time.
The next day, the latest issue ran a headline in huge red letters that took up nearly a third of the front page: Hua Nation's Moon Landing Program had suffered a major setback—the Moon Palace core module's heat dissipation system had a critical design flaw, and the Lunar Orbit construction project might be delayed!
According to informed sources, the error had occurred partly because Hua Nation lacked experience in space station construction. The other reason was that the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee had set its mission schedule far too hastily.
And the latter was likely the main reason.
With the Hua Nation–American space race in full swing, the news immediately caused an enormous uproar across North America.
NASA quickly confirmed the speculation on its official Twitter account, saying it had indeed heard related reports but could not yet verify the situation's current progress.
Compared to The New York Times' report, NASA's statement was undoubtedly far more credible. The tweet immediately sparked widespread discussion among North American netizens.
[God... We were waiting for our opponent to throw a punch, so how did they collapse on their own?]
[I said it long ago, this isn't a space race at all. Sure, they accomplished something the Soviets couldn't, but they're still half a century behind us. :D]
[Maybe we should organize a fundraiser for the Moon Palace? :P]
[I'm in! It'd be too boring if the race ended just after it started! XD]
[I'm looking forward to the end of the month more and more! Hope Space-X doesn't disappoint us!]
[...]
What was more interesting was that, although most people were laughing at Aerospace Science Group and the Lunar Orbital Construction Committee,