New Year's Day.
Almost half of China was celebrating Skyglow's launch. Most people didn't know the difference between ion thruster and chemical propulsion, nor did they know what the Hall-effect thruster was. However, as the first spacecraft that could safely travel between the Earth's surface and outer space, Skyglow filled the gap in China's aerospace industry.
However, on this happy day, the New York Times suddenly released a report, which put a damper on everyone's excitement.
In the report, the New York Times excerpted some of the comments made by the NASA spokesperson. They also quoted the opinions of other Silicon Valley aerospace engineers, who believed that Skyglow's design had serious flaws.
This fatal flaw made it easy for the spacecraft to go up, but difficult for it to come down.
The final result was likely to be like the Space Shuttle Columbia, which would disintegrate in the atmosphere …
The moment this interview was released, it set off a heated discussion on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms.
When the New York Times report was sent back to China, it caused an even bigger uproar. Especially when the 25-second New Year's Day video was released, the news about Skyglow's successful launch was overshadowed by a layer of haze.
People couldn't be excited anymore.
Many people were worried for Professor Lu, who was still in the sky.
[F * ck sake! The Americans have bad intentions! You watched our plane go up and then you cursed it to fall down!]
[Can a spacecraft be cursed to come down? They're just giving us a friendly reminder!]
[Not necessarily! I think the Americans are plotting something. They're not trying to secretly shoot down the spacecraft with a missile, right?]
[MiG-25: As long as I run fast enough, the missile can't catch up to me (laughing)]
[Pray for God Lu (candle) (candle) (candle)]
[I'm willing to be single for the rest of my life for Skyglow to land safely (candle)]
[…]
This topic quickly became a trending topic.
Fortunately, Lu Zhou couldn't use his phone or Weibo. Otherwise, he would have laughed out loud.
Can't come back?
How is that possible …
Even if they can't come back, they still have a spare escape capsule. He wasn't going to risk his life.
At this moment, four hundred kilometers above the sky.
Skyglow, which was in low-Earth orbit, had completed a series of basic operations, including orbital maneuvering, cabin pressure adjustment, backup sanitation system testing, weightless sleeping, eating, etc. It also exposed 20 fruit and vegetable seeds to the space environment to observe the possible effects of cosmic rays on life activities.
After completing a series of flight tests and scientific investigation activities, the cruise time had reached 23 hours and 50 minutes.
Just like the plan, Skyglow restarted its engine under the command of the ground command center, preparing to return to Earth.
Nie Yan was sitting in the co-pilot seat. She was checking the operation of the power supply components while imitating the voice of a flight attendant.
"Professor Lu, please put on your spacesuit and lie in the passenger seat. This flight is about to return … "
"I know, you don't have to remind me." Lu Zhou smiled and gave the two of them a thumbs up. "Good luck. I'll leave the return flight to you two."
He was in a good mood.
This time, he had finally satisfied his craving for the Heavens.
Of course, the most important thing was the 50,000 experience points and the lucky draw ticket.
Even if it was just for the 50,000 experience points, the cost of this test flight was already worth it.
Nie Yun turned his head and forced a smile, but his palms were already sweating.
The difficulty of returning was comparable to the difficulty of launching.
Even though Skyglow's return strategy was theoretically much safer than a normal reentry spacecraft, no one could guarantee that there wouldn't be any accidents. After all, this was the first time he and Skyglow had flown this high …
"Professor, can you promise me one thing?"
Lu Zhou: "What?"
"If we can return safely …"
"Stop!" Lu Zhou quickly raised his hand and interrupted Nie Yun. He said, "Don't be in such a hurry, I'll promise you anything when we get on the ground."
As long as it's not too much.
Don't rush me to get married.
However, Nie Yun didn't appreciate it.
Seeing how Lu Zhou was being perfunctory, Nie Yun's hands left the control panel as he spoke angrily.
"No, I have to say it now!"
Lu Zhou: "…"
MMP！
You're a man, can't you wait an hour or two?
Lu Zhou sighed and forced himself to speak.
"Okay then … But if you say it now, I can't promise you anything."
Nie Yun: "My request is simple, promise me this will be the last time I fly to the sky!"
When Lu Zhou heard this, he had a constipated look on his face.
Of course not!
I still have a long life ahead of me!
Lu Zhou looked at Nie Yun's determined face and reluctantly agreed.
"I can promise you this will be the last time I fly on your plane."
Nie Yun thought for a bit and reluctantly nodded.
"Okay!"
As long as I don't get on my plane.
If something were to happen to him, he would definitely be nailed to the pillar of shame in history.
This was the first time he was afraid of death in the military.
"Okay, Brother, that's enough!"
Nie Yan shook her head and pressed a few buttons on the control panel.
"The navigation system has been activated, confirming that there are no abnormalities in the flight path. The energy supply device is warmed up, engines 1 and 2 are on standby.
"Orbit change preparations are complete."
Nie Yun recovered his usual calmness and calmness. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening his eyes again.
"Ignite!"
…
Whether it was a space shuttle, aerospaceplane, or any other manned spacecraft, returning from low-Earth orbit was always a technical task.
Nie Yan, who was the co-pilot, first confirmed Skyglow's "fuel" status. The remaining deuterium-tritium gas mixture was quite sufficient, more than enough for another round trip to the surface. The only thing that was running out was the solid xenon in the working medium cabin. There was only 21% of it left.
After all, a spacecraft couldn't climb out of the gravity well without a certain amount of thrust. If they wanted to fly from the surface to low-Earth orbit, they had to increase the amount of working medium ejection and sacrifice a certain amount of specific impulse to increase the thrust of the engine.
However, this amount of working medium was more than enough for a return flight.
With the guidance of the ground command center and the spacecraft's intelligent navigation system, Nie Yun successfully completed the orbit change and entered the transition orbit.
At the same time, in the NASA satellite control room, a voice of surprise was heard on the control panel.
"The target has begun to return."
"I hope they die in the Pacific Ocean." Aiden stared at the green dot on the screen and added viciously, "Except for the spacecraft, it's best not to leave their bodies intact."
The eyebrows of several engineers monitoring the movement of the spacecraft twitched fiercely.
For the astronauts, this curse was too vicious.
Even for their competitors …
The engineer sitting in front of the console stared nervously at the green dot that was close to the dense boundary of the atmosphere.
He suddenly said, "Skyglow's trajectory is abnormal …"
Eden slammed his hands on the table and said in delight, "Did they malfunction?"
Could it be that God had heard his prayers?
If they really fell in the Pacific Ocean, the fleet stationed in Guam would be happy to help salvage them.
"The return method they are using is different from the return method we know …"
The excitement in his heart gradually faded, and Eden, who realized that the situation might be different from what he imagined, gradually furrowed his brows.
"What do you mean?"
"There is only one possibility."
"What is it?"
"They still have fuel left …" The engineer gulped and said with an incredulous expression, "And there's a lot left."
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