"Welcome to the Tiangong Space Station."

A new batch of crew members boarded the space station, and Wu Yuan, as the commander, warmly greeted his new colleagues.

The first time she really experienced the weightless environment, Xu Ying felt a little uncomfortable.

It's kind of disgusting.

Wu Yuan's enthusiasm made the three people who had just entered space a little overwhelmed.

Less than three minutes after entering the space station, no less than twenty or thirty precautions had already been told in their ears.

But it also makes everyone forget about physical discomfort for a while.

"Let's take a group photo first."

Before Xu Ying could write down what he had just said.

Wu Yuan pulled everyone again, ready to take the first group photo.

Six people in navy blue uniforms are suspended inside the space station.

Although the body is a little uncomfortable, it is an unprecedented experience of weightlessness.

It still makes Xu Ying feel very magical.

Looking at the camera, several people were all smiling.

It's just that the reasons vary.

The astronauts of the fifth crew have been in space for half a year.

Even if I feel new to the environment of space at first, it took more than five months.

This bit of freshness has long passed.

At this time, they miss the feeling of being down-to-earth.

This feeling is even far greater than that of submariners in the deep sea.

Now there are new crews to take over their jobs.

The day of going home is not far away.

It's like waiting for a holiday on a Friday afternoon.

As for the astronauts of the sixth crew, they are the same as the fifth crew five months ago.

They are still in the fresh stage of entering the space station work.

"In the next few days, we will take you to familiarize yourself with the work of the space station."

After taking the photo, Wu Yuan said to the sixth batch of crew.

The commander of the sixth batch of crew members is Nie Haisheng.

This is already his second time in space.

Adapting to it, it is much better than Xu Ying, who entered space for the first time.

"I'm sorry for you." Nie Haisheng said politely.

"Haha, after you guys came, we actually had a lot easier."

Wu Yuan said with a hearty smile.

He is the second batch of astronauts to be selected into the astronaut team, and he is actually Nie Haisheng's junior.

After some politeness, Nie Haisheng said:

"This time, there are only two people who can carry out construction and scientific research tasks."

"Therefore, your return time will be pushed back by more than half a month."

The sixth group of members is very special in itself.

Except for Nie Haisheng, who was born as a professional astronaut, the remaining two people are not professional astronauts.

Xu Ying was born as a construction engineer, not to mention aerospace engineering before that.

The only way to catch up with aerospace is to take a plane.

There is one person left, and it is the load expert - Zhu Haichao.

"His mission is more dangerous than ours."

Wu Yuan had already known from the command center the reason for their postponement of returning to Earth.

But there was no resentment about it.

Space missions, there are too many contingencies of all kinds.

Just postponing the return to Earth for a few days is nothing at all for them.

In comparison, Xu Ying's task is actually more difficult.

Pilot a solo engineering spaceship on a starport construction mission.

"Do you feel nervous?"

Wu Yuan skillfully floated to Xu Ying's side and asked.

"This task can only be completed by you alone, in case something happens."

Wu Yuan didn't finish speaking, but the meaning was already very clear.

If there is an accident in space, he may not even be able to return to the ground.

"I'm ready to give my life."

Xu Ying's reaction was unexpectedly flat, as if he had put life and death out of the way.

But looking into his eyes, he could know that Xu Ying was actually still a little panicked.

Just try not to show yourself.

To celebrate everyone's successful rendezvous in space.

Not much work was done on the day.

Instead, I took out most of the fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as all kinds of meats brought from the earth, and made a big meal.

"It's lettuce that we grow ourselves, try it."

Wu Yuan was very enthusiastic and served food to the new astronauts.

The idea of a space farm is undergoing various detailed experiments within the space station.

Vegetables grown without water have an even shorter growth cycle than on Earth.

Because of the environment of the space station, there are no pests and diseases that can be seen on the ground.

Of course, this also brings trouble to the cultivation of some vegetables.

Vegetables need to be pollinated manually.

"It tastes pretty good."

After Xu Ying tasted it, he swallowed a water balloon and said.

In space, because of its weightlessness, liquids do not fall to the ground, but float directly in the air.

Without the influence of external forces, the water will naturally remain in a spherical state to maintain its own balance.

Watching Xu Ying happily play and eat water polo.

Wu Yuan suddenly had a hint of teasing, so he raised his eyebrows and said:

"How does our drinking water feel?"

Xu Ying felt a little strange, but still said seriously:

"It tastes good, and it's a little sweet."

"Do you know where this water comes from?" Wu Yuan said with a wicked smile.

Xu Ying's mind was spinning rapidly, and he had a bad premonition.

"It won't be"

Wu Yuan still smiled and said, "That's right, it's what you think." ”

"This is circulating water~"

Although the space station will be replenished every half a month.

But most of it is to replenish the space station's fuel, oxygen, spare parts, and so on.

Only a small part of it is the daily necessities of the astronauts.

There is even less food and water.

Therefore, the water of the space station is basically circulating water.

To put it simply, the waste liquid generated by all activities will be collected, filtered layer by layer, and then drunk by astronauts.

Waste fluids include sweat, urine, and more.

Xu Ying almost couldn't hold back squirting, but she still held back at the last moment.

Move the muscles in your throat a little hard and swallow the water balloon into your stomach.

Zhu Haichao on the side also looked at the drinking water in his hand with an embarrassed face.

Nie Haisheng, who had already entered space once, had the same complexion.

Then he picked up the glass of water at hand and took a sip.

"He lied to you, we're drinking the water we just brought."

"Real circulating water, no taste at all."

Wu Yuan was able to deceive two newcomers who had just entered space, but Nie Haisheng, who had already been in space twice, was not fooled at all.

Hearing Nie Haisheng's words, the two people on the side breathed a sigh of relief.

"But inside the space station, most of it should be recycled water now."

Nie Haisheng looked at Wu Yuan and said.

"It's true that we're running out of water."

Wu Yuan held up a small water balloon and said:

"We've been drinking circulating water for almost a month."

"If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have been able to drink such good water."

At the end of the meeting, after a brief introduction to the facilities of the space station.

Everyone began to take turns resting.

Despite her excitement, Xu Ying forced herself to rest for six hours.

After washing up with a little novelty, Xu Ying found that Wu Yuan and Nie Haisheng had already started working.

"Let's eat something first."

Wu Yuan handed over a slice of bread.

Xu Ying casually put it in his mouth and drank a few more sips of water.

After a simple satiety, Xu Ying is ready to start working for the first time.

Xu Ying's job is very simple, which is to drive the engineering spacecraft and complete the construction of the star port.

However, this work is also dangerous.

This is because the star port has not yet installed an energy core, nor has it installed a propulsion system.

It is completely pulled by an unmanned engineering spacecraft to be able to maintain its own orbit normally.

The high-speed flying star port, as long as it flies out of a component, it can crash the engineering spaceship piloted by Xu Ying.

"Be careful, if you can't do it, activate the emergency escape system."

When Xu Ying entered the transfer module of the engineering spacecraft temporarily connected to the space station, Nie Haisheng said with concern.

Unlike the others, Xu Ying had to stay alone on the engineering ship for nearly ten days.

After completing a lot of heavy and complex construction work, I can return to the space station for a short rest.

After all, the height of Starport is much higher than their current position.

A trip requires a lot of fuel.

Therefore, there are a lot of tasks to be completed every time you go.

"I'll take note, thanks."

Xu Ying smiled, and then got into the engineering spaceship without looking back.

The interior of the engineering ship is already full of fuel and various construction tools.

As well as a large number of high-precision thrusters.

This time, Xu Ying's most important job is to install a temporary propulsion system for Xinggang.

Originally, Starport did not have a temporary propulsion system.

According to the design plan, Starport will directly use the electric propulsion system after the installation of the nuclear reactor.

However, many countries that have made money think that the current construction plan is too extensive.

Zhang Xingyang can actually understand their thoughts.

It's nothing more than the fear that the domestic excuse is that the unmanned spacecraft has a power failure, and then directly smash the starport on top of their heads.

With a mass of thousands of tons, the speed is able to reach a kinetic strike close to the first cosmic speed.

Anyone who sees it is afraid.

Therefore, they strongly requested that China add a temporary propulsion system to the starport.

Ease the sense of crisis in their hearts.

Even they are willing to pay a lot of money for it.

For example, the right to garrison several important ports, the trade of military equipment.

Or just pay for it.

After Xu Ying entered the engineering spacecraft, he did not disconnect from the space station at the first time.

Instead, he checked the amount of supplies in the ship.

In particular, oxygen, water, food, and so on are related to one's own survival.

The most important of these is oxygen.

Without water and food, he was able to survive for a few days.

Without oxygen, he couldn't survive even five minutes.

Then check the operating status of each equipment.

After making sure that everything was fine, Xu Ying reported to the space station and the ground command center.

"Tiangong No. 2 engineering spacecraft, ready for separation."

"A detachment request has been received."

"The separation request has been approved."

Whether it's inside the space station or in a command center on the ground.

Countless people are sweating for Xu Ying who is alone in the spaceship at this moment.

But Xu Ying was not too nervous.

Very skillfully initiated the automatic separation procedure of the engineering spacecraft.

Then it's just a matter of waiting.

After receiving the program, the first thing to work on was the attitude engine of the Tiangong space station.

Complete the adjustment of your own posture.

The Tiangong-2 spacecraft then detached from the rear of the space station and started its own engines.

Complete the separation from the space station.

Xu Ying, who fixed herself on the seat, only felt the spacecraft move slightly.

After confirming that a certain distance has been maintained from the space station through the observation and sighting equipment.

Xu Ying started the autopilot program of the spacecraft.

Began to fly towards the orbital altitude of the starport.

The attitude engine first adjusts the orbit of the spacecraft.

Have the ship no-clip into an elliptical orbit with the Earth as the focus.

The engine then kicks in, spewing out a pale blue flame.

When the highest point is reached, the attitude engine adjusts the track again and enters a higher stage of orbit.

Rely on this to constantly shift its own tracks.

The engineering spacecraft is little by little further away from Earth.

Xu Ying looked down from the porthole and could already see the whole picture of the ball.

Inside the space station, it is still difficult to get a full view of the earth.

Because the orbit of the space station is only 400 kilometers high, and the diameter of the Earth itself is close to 13,000 kilometers.

It's too close to see the whole planet.

And Xu Ying's current altitude is more than 10,000 kilometers, and he can see half the world clearly.

After more than ten hours of orbit transfer, Xu Ying finally came to the geosynchronous orbit altitude.

"It's pretty to look at the earth this way."

Xu Ying leaned near the porthole and looked at the earth in the distance and said.

It is often said that when you leave your hometown, you will not stop thinking about the good of your hometown, and only when you leave your motherland will you understand the good of your motherland.

Xu Ying also thinks so, only after leaving the earth will she find that this inconspicuous planet in the universe is so beautiful.

After sighing with emotion, Xu Ying first reported to the ground command center that he had reached the predetermined orbit.

After getting about the location of the unmanned engineering spacecraft and the starport.

After Xu Ying imported the data into the computer, the autopilot system began to adjust its speed.

Wait for a few hours to allow the ship to meet with the starport.

Although she flew for more than ten hours, Xu Ying did not feel sleepy.

There are even some spirits.

Ate a pack of self-heating rations carried on the ship.

Xu Ying began to use her tablet to keep a diary.

He's going to be alone in space for about ten days, if he doesn't do something.

Xu Ying felt that she might go crazy.

[July 11, 2007, weather]

Xu Ying originally wanted to write like on Earth, but found that the weather didn't know how to write.

So I glanced at the earth below the porthole, and the azure surface revealed patches of white clouds.

"It's supposed to be a cloudy day."

[July 11, 2007, the weather was cloudy]

[Today is the second day of space, and the closest human to me is now nearly 35,500 kilometers away. 】

[If I had to choose the loneliest person in the world, I would definitely vote for myself.] 】

[I can already see the starport in the distance, it's really big!] 】

[Compared to it, I'm sitting on a small sampan now!] 】

Xu Ying turned off her tablet and looked at Xinggang in the distance.

It's like a skyscraper, erected in front of your eyes!

(End of chapter)