Chapter 723 Enough to Be Proud of Something for a Lifetime
The hatch closes.
Went to the driver's seat and sat down.
After connecting the environmental control and life support system and the fixed safety belt to the spacesuit in the cabin, Nie Yun took a deep breath, then slowly turned his body's center of gravity back, and handed it over to the seat behind him.
The electronic clock on the dial walked quietly, but the beating numbers seemed to be audible.
"It's about to start."
"Um."
Stretching out his fist and touching Nie Han who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, Nie Yun returned his gaze to the console, and after hearing the "voice of all units getting ready" from the earphones, he raised his head. He opened the safety lock of the fusion device switch with his right hand, and then twisted the start knob.
The moment the knob was turned, a huge amount of energy poured out from the fusion core, and the entire aerospace plane woke up from a deep sleep like a behemoth whose heart was ignited.
Feeling the slight tremor on the soles of his feet, Liu Zhengwen, who was sitting in the passenger seat, swallowed and asked a little nervously.
"Is this going to be set on fire?"
The communication screen was not opened, so naturally no one heard his voice.
Looking at the rising energy on the dial, Nie Yun reached out and tapped the side of the helmet lightly, speaking in a clear voice.
"This is Xiangrui, the fusion device has been ignited successfully, all preparations have been completed, ready to take off at any time! Approval requested!"
Soon, the answer sound from the ground command came from the headset.
"Request approved, countdown to ignition will begin in one minute."
"receive."
Holding the joystick tightly with both hands, Nie Yun closed his eyes, took a deep breath slowly, and pushed the switch to start the engine with his thumb.
The moment he opened his eyes again, the countdown, as clear and steady as a bell, rang in his ears at the same time...
"5"
"4"
"3"
"2"
"1"
"0"
"ignition--!"
The countdown to the ignition countdown for the first flight of the Xiangrui last time was given to Hou Guang by Lu Zhou, and this time the countdown to the manned moon landing, Hou Guang gave the opportunity to Lu Zhou.
As soon as the voice fell, the five seats were connected to the huge nozzle at the tail of the aerospace plane, and a bright blue light began to bloom, pushing the huge aerospace plane forward slowly.
And when the blue light bloomed, whether it was the ground crew standing near the runway, the army soldiers standing guard with guns, or the engineers standing in front of the French windows of the control tower, their eyes were completely taken away by it at this moment. .
No matter how many times you watch this shocking scene, you will never get tired of it.
Director Li, standing next to Lu Zhou, looked up at the scene on the big screen.
After a long time, he suddenly spoke in a tone of emotion.
"I somewhat understand why you want to go up."
Hearing this sentence, Lu Zhou smiled and did not answer.
"Then there is a chance to go up together some other day?"
Director Li said without hesitation.
"Don't even think about it!"
While the two were talking, the aerospace plane on the runway was getting faster and faster.
In the end, the blue arc light supported the silver spaceship from the end of the runway and slowly left the ground, flying to the distant skyline, pulling out a flame like an aurora in the dark night sky.
Watching the flight carrying hope disappear at the end of the night, the ground crew on the ground burst into cheers, and the aerospace experts standing in the control tower overlooking the sky, many of them had tears in their eyes .
Although the journey to the moon has just begun, this difficult first step has been successfully taken, and whether it succeeds or fails, this moment will be remembered in history.
As for whether the footprints can be successfully printed on the moon's land and return successfully.
Then it depends on the creation of the astronauts...
"Xiangrui, this is the ground command center, report your situation."
After a brief electric tone, the voice of the co-pilot came from the other end of the phone.
"...This is Xiangrui, the current altitude is 5km, the speed is 1000km/h, and the acceleration is 1.25G. The temperature sensor feedback of each part is good, and everything is normal!"
"Very well, please keep in touch, the ground command center will continue to provide you with navigation."
"receive."
There was no trace of the Xiangrui in the night sky.
Looking at the ground crew who started to clean up the runway and arrange the equipment in the open space of the launch site, Director Li, who was standing next to Lu Zhou, suddenly asked.
"If it takes two hours to get to low-Earth orbit, how long will it take to get to the moon?"
Although the estimated arrival time is written on the launch schedule, the launch schedule from the launch center is sent directly to the space agency, and the Science and Industry Bureau is not responsible for specific launch projects. Although Xingkong Technology also sent a copy to the Science and Industry Bureau, Director Li came to Jinling in a hurry this time, so he didn't get the schedule.
Lu Zhou glanced at the fading green dot on the radar, smiled and said.
"56 hours is probably enough."
"It only takes 56 hours?" Director Li looked at Lu Zhou in surprise, "If I remember correctly, the American Saturn V took more than 70 hours, right?"
"If the distance scale is increased, we can fly faster." After a pause, Lu Zhou smiled and continued, "The launch is over, I plan to catch up on sleep later, you should also go to rest early. This plane is already in the sky, I can't possibly fly up by myself."
After finishing speaking, without waiting for Director Li to answer, Lu Zhou took off the headset on his head, looked at Hou Guang who was standing beside him, and said in a serious tone.
"I'm counting on you here."
After taking the headset from Lu Zhou, Hou Guang nodded solemnly.
"clear."
...
Above the blue sky.
The Xiangrui, which has reached an altitude of 20 kilometers, successfully switched the launch mode under the control of a skilled driver, and began to use the engine to work directly against gravity, galloping towards outer space along the tangential direction.
Feeling that the focus gradually shifted from the butt to the back, Liu Zhengwen took a deep breath, raised his index finger and tapped on the side of the helmet, switching to the crew channel.
"...have we left the atmosphere?"
After a while, Nie Han's voice came from the communication channel.
"It's still early, if you feel nervous, you can consider sleeping with your eyes closed."
"...I just woke up a few hours ago and couldn't sleep."
Only ghosts can sleep in such an environment!
Nie Han said with a smile: "Be brave, the old man is also engaged in research. When Professor Lu sneaked up, he was not like you."
Most of the young scholars in Huaguo regard Lu Zhou as a role model, or even an idol.
After thinking that Lu Zhou also sat on this thing, the panic in Liu Zhengwen's heart dissipated somewhat.
"Professor Lu...what was he like when he came up?"
Nie Yun, who had already switched the Xiangrui to automatic flight mode, smiled and continued.
"Him? It's awesome. We professional astronauts are still a little nervous, but he is good, not to mention that he didn't panic during the whole process, and even took a selfie with the earth when he went into space."
Liu Zhengwen: "..."
As expected of God Lu.
Now he doesn't know what to say other than saying "Lu Shen is awesome" on his scarf.
Looking at Liu Zhengwen who fell into silence, thinking that he hadn't come out yet, Nie Yun paused for a moment, then changed to an encouraging tone and continued.
"Actually, you can take it easy and think on the bright side. When we come back from the moon, we will be the heroes of the people, and you will be proud enough for the rest of your life."
Liu Zhengwen raised his head and subconsciously asked, "What if you don't come back?"
Nie Yun smiled.
"That's a martyr, and it's not a loss."