The space agency is in a great state of turmoil.

Even without the XS-62 tourist cabin, Tiangong-2 can complete the residency mission, and it has little impact.

But if docking with the XS-62 means that the space of the astronauts can be greatly expanded, and the capacity of a super-large module can be compared to the capacity of a dozen small modules, which cannot be ignored.

The most important thing is that the price is not expensive, 1.6 billion, 620 cubic meters of space, and the launch is also included, and the space agency can't think of how it can use 1.6 billion to get such a big thing.

During the days of ideological struggle between the Fifth Academy and the Space Agency, Progress had already returned to Earth.

At 12 noon on July 24, the trio shared their final lunch of the flight in the cramped crew compartment of the space shuttle.

Kung Pao chicken, minced eggplant, charcoal-grilled beef ribs...... It's all sponsored by the space agency, no money.

This is a new generation of space food that has been continuously improved by the aerospace food department after many flight missions, and it is much more delicious than the food department of Xinyuan.

The latter, because of the urgency of time, rushed to ensure that no one would die, and it was definitely not as delicious as the space agency.

However, Deng Lei nibbled on beef ribs, but he had no appetite.

Not so much because of the loss of leaving space, there are some but not the main ones, the main problem is the smell in the Progress module.

More than a dozen cubic meters of space are crammed into three big men, and three days can be passed, but these three days are not without food or drink.

The toilet on the Progress is a cramped space enclosed by a stiff cloth, where bathing (wiping down) and going to the toilet are all there, and although the excrement is vacuumed, there is still a smell coming out.

The air circulation system has turned on the power to the maximum, and the first indicators are normal, but there is always a strange smell in the air.

There is no way on the ground, mainly because the space is too small, endure it, and it will be comfortable to have a space station.

The XS-62's independent bathroom is about the same size as the orbital module of the Shenzhou spacecraft, and there is also an independent air circulation system, so there will be no odor.

The trio ate lunch and put the bags together: this is important because the material that wraps the aluminum foil is electrically conductive and has sharp corners, which is also dangerous.

The last three people open the plastic knob of a small plastic bag at the same time, and inside is 5 milliliters of wine, which will end the 72-hour space journey.

Commander Deng Lei held up the wine: "Everyone, what we want to celebrate is not three days in space, but 48 days, because we have experienced 48 sunrises and sunsets. ”

Zhou Rui: ......

Zhao Xiaowen: ......

"Forty-eight days!"

The three of them raised their heads at the same time to squeeze the wine into their mouths, and Zhao Xiaowen rolled backwards because of too much force, but fortunately, even if he grabbed the chair.

Securely fastening any items in the cabin that might fall, the trio helped each other put on heavy pressurized load-resistant spacesuits and fasten their hoods to secure themselves to their chairs.

The backrest and leg rest are automatically adjusted to the most comfortable state based on the body data of the three occupants, and the life-support system begins to pressurize the spacesuit.

At this time, only Zhou Rui was idle, and Deng Lei was constantly operating on the console to check the status of various components.

The most important parts are communications, radar, engines, and thermal insulation, the loss of the latter is the destruction of the aircraft, and the loss of the first two is equally dangerous.

If it loses contact with the ground and cannot navigate, the entire space shuttle depends on Deng Lei to estimate the location with the help of offline maps, find a suitable place and then find a way to make a forced landing, which is very bad when you think about it.

Unlike ordinary manned spacecraft, Progress's control is shared between the ground and the astronauts, who have separate decision-making powers.

Therefore, after Deng Lei checked the parameters, he issued an order to the spacecraft's control system to slow down and lower the orbit.

The RCS pushes the shuttle to slowly turn around at opposite angles to the direction of travel, and then the 25-ton hydrogen-oxygen engine in the tail starts working, limiting the thrust to about 13%, which is the most fuel-efficient node for the engine's small thrust.

Due to the high thrust and the continuous reduction of fuel, the deceleration will get faster and faster, and eventually it will completely fall off the orbit and start heading towards the atmosphere in about 40 minutes.

This is different from flying an airplane, Deng Lei does not need to control the attitude of the space shuttle before fully entering the atmosphere, all this is done by the computer.

"02, 03, my plane is about to enter the atmosphere, please adjust your attitude!"

In low-Earth orbit, a remote sensing satellite belonging to the space agency also locked onto Progress, and continuously sent correction data to the Progress computer through positioning on the ground and in space.

Deng Lei felt that he was not entering the atmosphere, but rather sitting on a surfboard and being undulated by the tide.

Progress came into contact with the atmosphere from above Aramco's San Francisco, and the adiabatic layer at the bottom rubbed against the atmosphere, producing a bright orange fire.

It was 22 o'clock in the evening of the 23rd in San Francisco, and many people only had to look up to find a brilliant meteor in the sky, moving rapidly to the east.

“catch it！ catch it！ (Caught up!) ）”

But not everyone thinks it's a meteor, and Amico also has many space enthusiasts, tracking the Progress that pierces the sky.

"the shuttle, Jinbu shuttle (that's the space shuttle, the 'progressive' space shuttle)!"

"She's so beautiful, she's a miniature version of the STS, and God knows why the space shuttle was grounded."

"Those three guys are the coolest astronauts I've ever met, two of them are university teachers, and one of them is almost 60 years old, and the shuttle can really take civilians into space."

Another old man with blond hair was on the top floor of his luxury hotel, and he also saw the Progress that pierced the sky.

"Demolish, dismantle, dismantle!"

Like Huaguo, Aramco has a lot of people who love the space shuttle, especially after the retirement of the space shuttle in 2011.

In Deng Lei and Zhao Xiaowen's field of vision, they are like boats in the huge waves, the thick atmosphere is the scattered waves, they are the assault boats gliding rapidly on the waves, constantly flying up and down, and the roller coaster is like a pleasant goat rocking car at the door of the supermarket.

As particles in the atmosphere passed by the portholes, as if someone was smashing glass with a hammer, the Progress's body shook and almost fell apart.

It's not a matter of strength, this tremor is not harmful to Progress, and even the tremor will be much smaller if it is changed to 100 tons of H2.

In the constant ups and downs, the dark space in front of us gradually replaced by a bright blue sky.

Progress's current altitude: 50,000 meters.

The tremor of the space shuttle had disappeared, and all Deng Lei could hear was the steady sound of the air circulation system and the sound of the current running the machine.

He grabbed the rudder with Houda's palm, and now it was time for him to play.

Now, he has entered the perimeter of the island's airspace, two F15Js and one P3C have taken off, and from below he has watched from afar the Progress, which has slowed down to Mach 5.

The ground informed Deng Lei of the situation, and the latter opened the public channel and heard the greetings sent by the other party.

"航自よろしくお願いします,heroの指令長."

However, before he could think about whether to respond, he heard the familiar Chinese of the public channel.

"This is PLA AirForce, the front is an external aircraft, we are carrying out an escort mission, please pay attention to avoid and keep your distance."

Four J11BSH fighters took off from Fuzhou and met the Progress head-on on the high seas, escorting them all the way.

Deng Lei, who was escorted by his own people, was much more relieved, as the altitude slowly decreased, when he was on the periphery of Qiongzhou Island, his altitude had dropped to 13,000 meters, and the pilots of the two fighters around him gave him a thumbs up, and then pulled the nose of the plane and flew away to both sides to return to the airport.

The ground air command at the Xinyuan launch site guided the Progress into the landing route, and at the same time took off a Y-12 to monitor the attitude and guide the landing.

According to the experience of the simulation cabin, Deng Lei raised the nose slightly, approached the field at a high speed of 340 kilometers per hour, and landed perfectly on the runway.