Chapter 728: Return!
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
“5!
“4!
“...
“0!
“Let’s go home!”
The thrusters lit up.
The return cabin on top of the lunar module was ignited.
The hemispherical aircraft separated from the huge module, and it easily overcame the Moon’s gravitational force and began to fly upward.
On the other hand, Skyglow began to decelerate and change its orbit. It welcomed the returning cabin.
380,000 kilometers away, two white dots were presented on a large screen inside the ground command center. They flew side by side and gradually approached one another, before finally merging into one...
After that, a refreshing voice was heard on the communication channel.
“... This is Skyglow, the return cabin has been successfully connected. Requesting instructions.”
Hou Guang was standing on the podium, and he said, “This is the ground command center. Please return immediately.”
Two seconds after, a response was heard.
“Roger that.”
After receiving orders from the ground command center, the five thrusters lit up with blue lights, gradually accelerating Skyglow. Skyglow went from the 127-minute orbit to the 3.5-hour orbit, then from the 3.5-hour orbit to the 12-hour orbit.
After several hours of acceleration, Skyglow finally reached the moon escape velocity of 2.4 kilometers per second, successfully entering the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.
Nie Yun, who was sitting in the pilot’s seat, skillfully shut down the engine and transitioned into cruise mode. With the help of Earth’s gravity, Skyglow successfully entered the 48-hour orbit.
This was the optimal return route, which was calculated by the ground command center supercomputer.
With only 9% of the working medium left, this was the only safe way for re-entry!
The flight lasted more than 50 hours.
Finally, six days after Chinese New Year’s Day, Skyglow began to approach the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.
Until yesterday, the American media were still sticking with their story. They posted headlines such as “successful moon landing leaves the question of successful return” and accused China of disregarding the safety of the astronauts. They claimed China was using human lives to test immature technologies.
Skyglow’s successful entry into the atmosphere made the NASA experts and American journalists look stupid.
It wasn’t just America, space centers and space enthusiasts all around the world were focusing on Skyglow; even normal civilians were paying attention to Skyglow.
Especially Chinese people.
Countless hearts and minds were praying for that spacecraft.
This was the last hundred meters of a marathon.
Landing on the Moon was an accomplishment, but bringing the victory back from the Moon was the ultimate victory!
“... This is Skyglow, we have successfully entered the return orbit,” Nie Yun said as he took a deep breath. He said in a calm voice, “Re-entering the atmosphere in 5 minutes.”
Soon after, the ground command center replied.
“... Message received, good luck.”
Five minutes quickly passed by. Skyglow began to make contact with the atmosphere, and the deceleration plates on the wings opened in hopes of counteracting Earth’s gravitational pull.
Skyglow finally entered into the troposphere, the densest part of the atmosphere.
50 kilometers!
10 kilometers!
5 kilometers!
2 kilometers!
It’s there!
Skyglow broke through the clouds.
The moment Skyglow appeared in the sky, the staff on the runway, the engineers, and the technicians in the command center couldn’t help but cheer for this hard-won victory.
The giant fuselage landed slowly and smoothly onto the runway.
A parachute was ejected, dragging Skyglow to a stop.
The ground crew and reporters swarmed to the spacecraft.
The sound of air leaking was heard. The heavy hatch slowly opened, and three astronauts appeared in everyone’s sight.
Liu Zhengwen held the handrails and walked down the airstair. When he looked at all of this happening in front of him, he felt like he was dreaming.
I’m...
A hero?
Tears filled his eyes.
That moment, he realized that the responsibilities and pressure he had to endure over the past few days were all worth it.
...
The moment the spacecraft successfully landed, the ground command center’s work was done. The engineers and technicians working there either ran to the runway or went to the lounge for some rest.
Some of them had worked for more than 24 hours straight.
Especially Hou Guang, the chief commander of the ground command center. He hadn’t had a second of sleep ever since the aerospaceplane entered the 24-hour orbit. After seeing Skyglow successfully land, it was almost like he was on drugs. He dropped his headset and ran out of the command room.
It seemed like before taking a break, he had to see it with his own eyes.
Lu Zhou was standing in the command center, and he watched from a distance as the three astronauts were surrounded by the ground crew and reporters. He couldn’t help but smirk.
Yan Yan, who was standing behind him, teased.
“Aren’t you gonna let the reporters take some photos of you?”
She was quite worried. She thought that Lu Zhou would become overly excited after the spacecraft landed. Fortunately, Lu Zhou’s health had been stable.
Yan Yan couldn’t help but feel relieved.
It seemed like Lu Zhou finally started to take care of his health.
Lu Zhou stared at the crowd outside and smiled.
“I’m good.
“I already received my rewards.”
Yan Yan was confused. Before she could ask, Lu Zhou turned around and walked out of the command room.
Two minutes ago, he received a reminder from the system that his side mission had been completed.
He could finally collect his side mission branch awards, and he couldn’t wait to find out what the next phase of the mission chain was...
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