The third Monday of October.

Today is definitely a significant day for the two superpowers in the space race.

According to the schedule announced by the Martian Rescue program's final work report, today is the time for the two astronauts to return to their respective countries.

The greatest rescue in human history, which spanned tens of millions of kilometers, finally came to an end at this moment.

After going through so much along the way, the two astronauts were already physically and mentally exhausted.

After consulting with the astronauts themselves, Jones, who was originally a Dutch national, would return to Amsterdam on a flight provided by the Dutch government. As for Johnson, who was originally an American, naturally took the flight arranged for him by the White House and returned to his homeland.

Shangjing International Airport.

The Hwa Concierge arranged a grand handover ceremony.

Standing at the door of the special security channel, Johnson finally met his savior, Lu Zhou, the chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee, who promoted the entire rescue plan and sent the Xiaguang to Mars.

"Thank you," holding Lu Zhou's right hand shook vigorously, Johnson's Adam's apple moved slightly, looked at him with a somewhat complicated gaze, and said without misery, "Thank you, bring me back from Mars!" ”

Although because of his identity and position, the person standing in front of him can be said to be the biggest competitor of the Ares program and even NASA. But this did not prevent him from expressing his highest respect and gratitude to Lu Zhou himself.

"You're welcome," Holding the astronaut's hand back vigorously, Lu Zhou nodded with a smile and said, "If you have a chance in the future, remember to come here often." ”

"It will be," let go of Lu Zhou's right hand, Johnson looked at the American diplomats standing next to him, then at Lu Zhou, took a deep breath, and continued, "That...... I'm leaving. ”

"Well, go ahead," Lu Zhou continued to smile as he waved his hand, "Remember to say hello to Mr. Carson for me." ”

"I'll bring him your greetings!"

Nodding, Johnson picked up his large luggage, turned and walked to the gangway to board the plane.

Soon after, the hatch closed, the gangway was withdrawn, and the flight took off.

As the roar of the engines faded away, the plane had already dragged a white line and disappeared into the end of the clouds.

Seeing the plane go away, Lu Zhou squinted his eyes and was about to turn around and leave.

The U.S. ambassador to China, who was standing next to him, smiled at him and stretched out his right hand.

"Thank you for all that you have done for the people of the United States and for the people of the world, and history will remember this moment of friendship."

"You're welcome, although we have different countries on the earth, but out of this planet, we are all earthlings," holding the ambassador's hand and shaking it gently, Lu Zhou smiled lightly and said calmly, "May history be remembered, and may friendship last forever." ”

The ambassador smiled slightly.

"Definitely!"

After the handover ceremony, there will be a banquet.

Not very good at this kind of occasion, Lu Zhou pushed the matter of the banquet to another person in charge of the Martian Rescue team team.

As for himself, he returned to the hotel where he was staying.

When passing by the hotel lobby, Lu Zhou borrowed the printer equipment from the hotel receptionist, and instructed the receptionist to deliver the printer equipment to his room, and then went straight back to his room, took out the unfinished paper on the mass projector on the lunar surface from the suitcase, sat at the desk and thought about it for a while, and then continued to refine the unfinished part.

In fact, the idea of building a mass accelerator on the moon was not a temporary idea for him.

As early as about 12 years ago, NASA put forward a similar idea, and even completed a technical demonstration, and the relevant papers are publicly available on its official website.

In principle, the acceleration technology used in this facility is actually similar to the technology used in maglev trains.

That is, through a long and narrow orbit and electromagnetic acceleration technology, the ore or spacecraft is accelerated to a detached speed, and then directly into the orbit around the moon.

Of course, while the whole technical principle is a one-sentence thing, it is not easy to actually turn it into reality.

As the chief designer of the entire lunar orbit construction committee, what Lu Zhou needs to do now is not to make detailed drawings of the entire project, but to make an overall assessment of the entire project.

For example, how long does the track need to be? What is the cost per meter, or budget? What is the technical feasibility? How risky is it? And most crucially, built on that crater!

The data that may be used in the entire paper has been collected in advance by the researchers on the Moon Palace.

With his current LV5 engineering level, coupled with the experience he has accumulated over a long period of time in the position of chief designer of the Lunar Orbit Construction Committee, it was not very difficult to complete the entire thesis.

Typing down the last line, Lu Zhou clicked the mouse and chose the option to print.

Soon, the printer resting next to the desk whined, and after a while, it spat out papers that smelled the warmth of ink.

Picked up the printed paper and checked it carefully, just when Lu Zhou was starting to feel a little hungry, footsteps sounded outside the door, and after knocking on the door, Wang Peng, who was carrying a plastic bag, walked in from outside.

"Still busy?"

"Yes," Putting down the paper in his hand, Lu Zhou noticed what he was carrying, so he asked casually, "What are you carrying?" ”

"I went to the headquarters in the afternoon, and when I came back, I brought you some souvenirs."

As he spoke, Wang Peng put the things he was holding in his hand on Lu Zhou's desk.

"Roast duck?" Seeing the contents clearly, Lu Zhou's eyes suddenly lit up, and he picked it up with interest, "Good thing, Quan Jude's?" ”

"I found it in the alley," Wang Peng said with a smile while sitting on the sofa, "It's not a big brand, but I personally feel that the taste is more authentic." ”

"It's really fragrant," he tore open the plastic bag and took a sip intoxicated, looking at the roasted roast duck that was crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, Lu Zhou said with a smile, "It's just in time for the meal, if you come to listen to the beer again, it's perfect." ”

Wang Peng, who had just sat on the sofa, stood up again.

"What brand do you drink, I'll buy it for you."

"No, no, I'll call the hotel front desk to send a few sounds," Closing the bag casually, Lu Zhou opened the drawer, took out a file bag, and stuffed the newly baked paper into it, "Compared to a trivial matter like buying wine, I have some things here, so I have to trouble you to help me deliver it." ”

Wang Peng didn't ask what he wanted to send, and said directly.

"Where?"

Lu Zhou stretched out his hand and solemnly handed the document bag in his hand to Wang Peng's hand.

"West of the Forbidden City, Chang'an Street."

"You know who it should be."