After retrieving the return capsule, Starlight continued to travel around Mars for 3/4 of a week. After that, it started the return program and began to switch trajectories.
Before returning, Xu Zhenghong took out a key from his chest pocket and inserted it into the control panel. After that, a black dot was dropped from Starlight's cargo bay and fell toward the fiery red planet.
Liu Biao saw the black dot through the porthole. He stretched his neck and looked out the window, but he couldn't see the black dot anymore.
"Did you see anything outside the window just now?" he asked after staring for a long time.
Xu Zhenghong stared at the speed indicator on the control panel. He reached out and pressed the button that controlled the main engine nozzle.
"I didn't see anything, you're probably seeing things."
Liu Biao was sure that he was seeing things.
Before he joined the astronaut team, he was a fighter pilot. Even if a fly flew by the cockpit, there was no way he would miss it.
"Could it be that they fell down?"
"Nope." Xu Zhenghong skillfully changed the topic. He said, "After the acceleration ends, go say hello to them, then tell them what to pay attention to on Starlight. Also, arrange for them to stay in the cabin. Oh yeah, remember to turn on the 'law enforcement recorder'. Also, put away the black box. "
Liu Biao responded with a smile and made an 'OK' gesture.
"Understood."
…
From the moment the return capsule broke through the Martian atmosphere to the moment Starlight successfully retrieved the return capsule, it took less than 10 minutes. The camera installed in the belly of Starlight perfectly recorded this historic moment.
The 20-minute video traveled tens of millions of kilometers and was sent back to the Jinling ground command center. It was stored in the database and sent to the editing room of CTV's "Mars Rescue" program team, forming the final part of the documentary.
The filming that took more than 40 days was finally completed.
The day after the Lunar Orbit Committee announced the success of the Mars rescue mission, CCTV released the complete version of the documentary "Mars Rescue" during prime time.
The entire documentary was 120 minutes long. After a certain degree of artistic processing, it basically reproduced the SOS signal from the Qianzhou Radio Observatory, the call for help from the White House, the instructions from the Communist Party of China, and the Starlight, which was on a mission on the Moon, rushed to Mars within 15 minutes of receiving the SOS signal. This was a historic moment.
At the same time, the electronic version of the documentary was also released on major domestic video websites and social media, causing a huge response on the Internet.
In less than half an hour, the comment section of a video website was flooded by excited netizens.
[Starlight is awesome! Professor Lu was awesome!!! (national flag) (national flag)]
[From the time the rescue signal was received to the time Starlight departed, it took 15 minutes! My blood was boiling! (crying) (crying)]
[Strongly demand that the Moon Palace open its astronaut recruitment!!! Give me a chance to fly!!! (pitiful)]
[If the United States can't bring him back after sending him there, then we'll go over and bring him back. Emmm … So, who's responsible for the Mars landing this time?]
[Gorgeous and beautiful, both literary and artistic … Forget it, I'll just go with the flow. (dog head) (dog head)]
[Am I the only one who noticed that the total rescue cost is 1.714 billion, and the US is only paying 1 billion? Why are we spending $714 million to save Americans? Don't we know we are in a space race? If I were the chief designer, I would definitely force the Americans to return the money, and hand over the people at the same time! If you don't give me the money, I'll kill her! (Angry) (Angry)]
[Thank the heavens. Fortunately, you're not. (Husky)]
[…]
The heated discussion was like a raging flood. As the "Mars Rescue" documentary was moved to YouTube, it swept from the intranet to the extranet.
Even though NASA's inefficiency and powerlessness during the entire rescue operation made many North American netizens feel ashamed, the White House's decision to put down its resistance and make a phone call at a critical moment still won a lot of points for the then-president.
China's open and responsible attitude during this rescue operation added a touch of brilliance to China's national image, winning praise from netizens all over the world.
Although there was competition between countries on Earth, in space outside of Earth, everyone came from the same blue planet and were the same earthlings.
Regardless of what kind of hidden story or exchange of interests was behind this, the brilliance of humanity reflected from this rescue operation across tens of millions of kilometers was worthy of being remembered by history.
Of course, the most eye-catching performance was the performance of the Lunar Orbit Committee.
It took a total of 15 minutes for the rescue team to receive the order to set off. The efficiency and execution shown during this time deeply shocked netizens from all over the world, and countless Chinese people were proud of them …
The third day after the press conference.
Inside the dean's office at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study, Lu Zhou was drinking tea with Director Li, who came from Beijing, while talking about recent events.
They happened to be talking about the public opinion on the Internet. Lu Zhou couldn't help but speak emotionally.
"Sometimes I find that if you don't occupy the high ground of public opinion, someone else will. We have been too passive in this aspect."
The space race had been officially launched for more than a year and a half.
The Lunar Orbit Committee had been established for a while, and they even sent a space station to lunar orbit. However, this was the first time they had won so heartily in the battle of public opinion.
Director Li nodded. His tone was also a bit emotional.
"Yeah, but this isn't something that can be changed overnight."
Lu Zhou nodded in agreement. He didn't continue to talk about this topic.
Like Director Li said, some things couldn't be changed overnight.
Whether it was on the material level or the spiritual level, it all took time to complete.
Director Li paused for a second and suddenly spoke.
"Oh yeah, speaking of which, did you guys get the black box of the BFS spacecraft?"
Lu Zhou nodded and said, "We got it."
Director Li thought for a second and said, "I'm afraid this isn't going to be easy."
There was no way they could hide it.
There was no reason for the three astronauts to keep the secret.
Although this "trivial matter" was nothing in the light of humanitarianism, it would more or less taint the glory.
Lu Zhou smiled and said, "There's nothing difficult to do, right? Just copy the data and return the original to them."
Director Li rolled his eyes and suddenly spoke.
"You guys do an accident appraisal, then we'll send the accident appraisal report and the black box to them."
Lu Zhou paused for a second. He didn't understand at first, but he quickly realized what Director Li meant.
He couldn't help but speak emotionally, "You're quite evil."
Director Li paused for a second and spoke with a frown.
"What does that mean?"
Lu Zhou coughed and spoke.
"It's nothing … I guess it just means' smart ', sort of an internet term."
"You young people always say things that are difficult to understand." Director Li shook his head and stood up from the sofa with a smile. He said, "Okay, I won't bother you anymore. I have to go to the launch site for a meeting in a while. Do you want to come over?"
Lu Zhou drank the tea in his cup and smiled. He then stood up.
"I'll walk you to the door."
"I know you're too lazy to go." Director Li smiled and shook his head. He said, "I'll go to the meeting myself, just walk me to the office."
"Take care."
Director Li walked out of the office and disappeared around the corner. Lu Zhou took out his phone and looked at the time.
Speaking of which, it had been a long time. It was about time for the thing he asked the captain of Starlight to land in Mars orbit …
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