Chapter 729 Return!

"5!"

"4!"

"..."

"0!"

"ignition!"

The spout shoots flames.

This time it was the return module on top of the lunar module that ignited.

Dragging the splendid arc of fire, the hemispherical aircraft separated from the huge base, easily got rid of the shackles of the moon's gravity, and slowly flew into space along an upward direction.

At the same time, the Xiangrui, which was cruising in lunar orbit, began to decelerate and change orbit, and greeted the return capsule that rose into the sky.

380,000 kilometers away, presented on the big screen of the ground command center, our staff in the command room saw only two white dots marking the spacecraft, below the 127-minute orbit, along the same direction After flying in parallel for a while, they slowly approached, approached, and finally merged into one...

Immediately afterwards, the refreshing voice came from the communication screen.

"...This is Xiangrui, the return capsule has been successfully received, requesting instructions for the next step."

Standing in front of the podium, Hou Guang looked solemn, and immediately ordered: "This is the ground command post. After hearing the order, please return immediately."

Two seconds later, a reply came.

"receive."

After receiving the order from the ground command, the blue light from the nozzles of the five engines gradually enlarged, pushing Xiangrui to accelerate, changing its orbit from a 127-minute orbit to a 3.5-hour orbit, and then shifting from a 3.5-hour orbit to a 12-hour orbit.

After several hours of slow acceleration, the Xiangrui, which returned to the near-moon point, finally reached the lunar escape velocity of 2.4 kilometers per second, and successfully cut into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.

After entering orbit and continuing to fly for a short period, Nie Yun, who was sitting in the cockpit, skillfully shut down the engine and switched to cruise mode. Under the traction of the earth's gravity, Xiangrui will gradually accelerate during the return segment, and then successfully enter the 48-hour orbit.

This is the best return route calculated by the ground command supercomputer.

It is also the only safe channel to return to the atmosphere safely with the remaining 9% propellant!

The long flight took more than fifty hours in total.

Finally, on the morning of the sixth day, the Xiangrui, which sailed from deep space, approached the edge of the atmosphere.

Until the curtain fell last night, the North American media seemed to be clinging to their last pride, using news headlines such as "Successful landing on the moon does not mean successful return" to accuse China of disregarding the safety of the astronauts. , Use human life to test immature technology.

However, now that the Xiangrui has successfully appeared at the boundary of the atmosphere, many NASA experts and North American journalists are dumbfounded.

Not only in North America, space centers, space enthusiasts all over the world, and even people who eat melons who are usually indifferent to space, are paying attention to the Xiangrui cruising at the edge of the atmosphere.

Especially Chinese.

The heartstrings of countless Chinese people were all tugged at by that spaceship.

This is already the last 100 meters of the marathon.

Successfully landing on the moon is something to be proud of, but whether you can successfully bring the fruits of victory from the moon to the surface is the key to declaring the final victory!

"...This is Xiangrui, we have successfully entered the return orbit," Nie Yun, who took a deep breath and put on the space suit in the cabin, said in a calm voice, "We will contact the atmosphere in 5 minutes."

Without waiting for a long time, the voice of the ground command came.

"...Received, good luck to you."

Five minutes passed quickly, and the belly of Xiangrui began to contact the atmosphere. With the opening of the airbrake of the wings, it was gradually pulled towards the ground by the gravity of the earth while decelerating, and then thrown outward.

After several turns and turns, the Xiangrui finally entered the dense section of the atmosphere.

50 kilometers!

10 kilometers!

5 kilometers!

2 kilometers!

Appeared!

The clouds were broken.

When the Xiangrui appeared in the blue sky, the ground crew standing on the runway of the space launch center, the engineers and technicians in the ground command center couldn't help cheering excitedly for this hard-won victory cheers.

The huge fuselage landed slowly, and the lowered landing gear hit the runway smoothly.

At the same time, the parachute ejected backwards, dragging the Xiangrui to a slow stop.

As the Xiangrui came to a complete stop, the mobile gangway, the ground crew and the reporters with cameras rushed forward.

After a soft sound of air leaking, the heavy alloy hatch slowly opened outwards, and the three astronauts soon appeared in people's sight.

Amid the cheers of the people, Liu Zhengwen, who walked down the Xiangrui with the handrail of the gangway, felt as if he was dreaming when he saw everything in front of him.

I……

Is it a hero?

Blood boiled in the veins, tears filled the eyes.

At that moment, he felt the responsibilities and pressure he had endured in the past few days, as well as all the efforts he had put in for it.

It's all so worth it...

...

From the moment the plane successfully landed, the mission of the ground command ended. The engineers and technicians working here either ran to the runway outside the control tower, or returned to the lounge for a nap.

Many people have been on the job for 24 hours.

Even if it is made of iron, it should not be able to hold on now.

In particular, Hou Guang, the commander-in-chief of the Ground Command, has not closed his eyes since the aerospace plane entered the 24-hour orbit. After seeing the Xiangrui landed, the whole person seemed to be on a stimulant, and immediately took the lead in throwing down the earphones and ran out of the command room.

It looks like he's going to take a look at the runway for himself before going back to rest.

Standing on the control tower, looking at the three astronauts on the runway surrounded by ground crews and reporters, Lu Zhou finally let go of the stone hanging in his heart, and a smile could not help but appear on the corner of his mouth.

Yan Yan, who was one step away behind him, said something jokingly.

"Aren't you going to grab a spotlight?"

Originally, she was still worried when she watched the plane come down. She was afraid that this guy would come into close contact with the back of his head and the ground because of over-excitement. As a result, what she was worried about didn't happen this time. Until the plane landed, Lu Zhou's spirit The condition is still good.

Thinking of this, Yan Yan couldn't help feeling a little relieved.

It seemed that he really listened to what he had to say.

After hearing Yan Yan's teasing, Lu Zhou couldn't help but smile as he looked at the bustling crowd outside the floor-to-ceiling windows.

"no need."

"My reward has just been received."

After leaving this sentence of unclear meaning, Lu Zhou turned and walked towards the door of the command room under the gaze of the confused Yan Yan.

Just two minutes ago, he had received a reminder from the system that the side mission was completed.

Now that the branch rewards have been recovered, he can't wait to find a place to lie down and see what the next stage of the task is...