“5！”
“4！”
"…"
“0！”
"Ignite!"
Flames shot out from the nozzle.
This time, it was the return capsule at the top of the lunar module that was ignited.
With a trail of fire, the hemispherical aircraft separated from the huge base and easily broke free from the shackles of the Moon's gravity. It slowly flew upward into space.
At the same time, Skyglow, which was cruising in lunar orbit, began to decelerate and change its orbit, heading toward the return capsule.
Three hundred and eighty thousand kilometers away, on the big screen of the ground command center, the staff in the command room could only see two white dots marking the spacecraft. They flew in the same direction for a while, then slowly approached each other and finally merged into one …
Immediately afterward, an invigorating voice came from the communication channel.
"This is Skyglow. The return capsule has been successfully received. Requesting further instructions."
Hou Guang, who was standing in front of the podium, looked solemn. He immediately said, "This is the ground command center. Please return immediately."
Two seconds later, a response came through.
"Roger that."
After receiving the command from the ground command center, the nozzles of the five engines gradually enlarged, pushing Skyglow to accelerate. It changed from a 127-minute orbit to a 3.5-hour orbit, then from a 3.5-hour orbit to a 12-hour orbit.
After a few hours of slow acceleration, Skyglow finally reached a lunar escape velocity of 2.4 kilometers per second, successfully entering the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.
After entering orbit, Nie Yun, who was sitting in the cockpit, skillfully turned off the engine and switched to cruise mode. Under the pull of Earth's gravity, Skyglow would gradually accelerate during the return leg and successfully enter the 48-hour orbit.
This was the best return route calculated by the supercomputer of the ground command center.
It was also the only safe route to safely return to the atmosphere with the remaining 9% of the propellant!
The long flight took more than 50 hours.
Finally, on the morning of the sixth day of the lunar month, Skyglow approached the edge of the atmosphere.
Until last night, the North American media seemed to be clinging to their last bit of pride. They used headlines such as "Successful Moon Landing Doesn't Mean Successful Return" to accuse China of disregarding the safety of astronauts and using human lives to test immature technology.
However, now that Skyglow had successfully appeared at the edge of the atmosphere, many NASA experts and North America journalists were dumbfounded.
It wasn't just North America. Space centers, space enthusiasts, and even people around the world were paying attention to Skyglow, which was cruising at the edge of the atmosphere.
Especially the Chinese.
Countless people's heartstrings were pulled by that spaceship.
This was the last 100 meters of the marathon.
Successfully landing on the Moon was something to be proud of, but successfully bringing the fruits of victory from the Moon back to the surface was the key to victory!
"This is Skyglow, we have successfully entered the return orbit." Nie Yun took a deep breath and put on a spacesuit. He said in a calm voice, "We will enter the atmosphere in five minutes."
Not long after, the ground command center spoke.
"… Roger that, good luck."
Five minutes quickly passed by. Skyglow's belly began to come into contact with the atmosphere. The deceleration panels on the wings opened, and Skyglow was gradually pulled toward the ground by Earth's gravitational pull.
After a few turns, Skyglow finally entered the dense part of the atmosphere.
50 kilometers!
10 kilometers!
5 kilometers!
2 kilometers!
It appeared!
The clouds were broken through.
The moment Skyglow appeared in the blue sky, the ground crew standing on the runway, as well as the engineers and technicians in the ground command center, couldn't help but cheer excitedly for this hard-won victory.
The huge fuselage slowly landed, and the landing gear landed smoothly on the runway.
At the same time, the deceleration parachute opened, dragging Skyglow to a slow stop.
As Skyglow came to a stop, the ground crew and reporters with cameras swarmed onto the ship.
After the soft sound of air leaking, the thick alloy hatch slowly opened outwards, and the three astronauts quickly appeared in front of everyone.
Liu Zhengwen walked down from Skyglow while people cheered. He looked at everything in front of him and felt like he was dreaming.
I …
Am I a hero?
His blood was boiling, and his eyes were filled with tears.
At that moment, he felt the responsibility and pressure he had endured for the past few days, as well as all the hard work he had put in.
It was all worth it …
…
The moment the plane successfully landed, the ground command center's mission was over. The engineers and technicians either ran to the runway outside the command center or returned to the lounge to take a nap.
Many people had been at their posts for 24 hours.
Even if they were made of iron, they wouldn't be able to hold on for much longer.
Especially Hou Guang, the chief commander of the ground command center. He hadn't slept since the aerospaceplane entered the 24-hour orbit. When he saw Skyglow land, it was like he was on steroids. He threw away his headset and ran out of the command center.
It seemed like before he went back to rest, he planned on going to the runway to take a look.
Lu Zhou stood on the command tower and looked at the three astronauts surrounded by the ground crew and reporters. He finally felt relieved, and he couldn't help but smirk.
Yanyan, who was one step behind him, joked.
"Aren't you going to get a shot?"
She was worried when she saw the plane land. She was afraid that this guy would be too excited and hit the ground with the back of his head. However, this time, what she was worried about didn't happen. Lu Zhou was still in a good state of mind until the plane landed.
Yan Yan couldn't help but feel relieved.
It seemed like he really did listen to what she said.
After hearing Yan Yan's words, Lu Zhou looked at the lively crowd outside the floor-to-ceiling window and smiled.
"No need.
"I've just received my reward," Lin Feng said with a smile.
Under Yan Yan's gaze, Lu Zhou turned around and walked to the door of the command room.
Two minutes ago, he received a notification from the system that he had completed his side mission.
Now that he had received his side mission, he couldn't wait to find a place to lie down and see what the next mission was …
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