I ask you to build tractors, but you build rockets?

The space agency is in great tangle.

Even without the XS-62 tourist cabin, Tiangong-2 can still complete its residency mission, and the presence or absence of it will have little impact.

But if it is docked with the XS-62, it means that the astronauts' space can be greatly expanded. One super large cabin can match the capacity of a dozen small cabins, which cannot be ignored.

The most important thing is that the price is not expensive, 1.6 billion, 620 cubic meters of space, and launch is included. The space agency can't figure out how to build such a big thing with 1.6 billion.

During the ideological struggle between the Fifth Academy and the space agency for several days, Progress had already returned to Earth.

At 12 noon on July 24, the trio had the last lunch of the flight together in the narrow crew cabin of the space shuttle.

Kung pao chicken, minced pork and eggplant, charcoal grilled beef ribs...all sponsored by the space agency, free of charge.

This is a new generation of space food that the aerospace food department has continuously improved after many missions. It is much more delicious than the food made by Xinyuan's food department.

The latter, because of time constraints, just went for it to ensure that no one would die, and it was definitely not as delicious as the space agency's.

But Deng Lei gnawed on the beef ribs, but he had no appetite.

It's not that I'm disappointed about leaving space. There's some but not the main problem. The main problem is the smell inside the Progress cabin.

With three grown men crammed into a space of more than ten cubic meters, three days could pass easily, but they didn't go without food or drink during these three days.

The toilet on the Progress is a narrow space blocked by hard cloth. It is used for bathing (wiping the body) and going to the toilet. Although the excrement has been vacuumed, there is still a smell.

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

There is nothing we can do about it on the ground, mainly because the space is too small. Once you endure it, you will feel more comfortable when you have space to stand.

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

The threesome place the bags in the same place while having lunch: this is important because the aluminum foil wrapped in it is conductive and has sharp corners, which is also dangerous.

The last three people opened the plastic knob of a small plastic bag at the same time. Inside was 5 ml of wine, which would bring an end to the 72-hour space trip.

Commander Deng Lei raised his drink high: "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 of respect!"

The three of them raised their heads at the same time and squeezed the wine into their mouths. Zhao Xiaowen rolled backwards due to excessive force, but fortunately he even grabbed the chair.

Any items that might fall in the cabin were firmly secured. The three of them helped each other put on thick pressurized anti-gravity spacesuits, fastened their masks and fixed themselves firmly on the chair.

The seat back and leg rests 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, while Deng Lei continued to operate on the console and check the status of various components.

The most important parts are communications, radar, engine, and heat insulation. Losing the latter will destroy the aircraft and kill people, and losing the first two is equally dangerous.

If it loses contact with the ground and cannot navigate, the entire space shuttle will rely on Deng Lei to estimate its position with the help of offline maps, find a suitable place to make an emergency landing, and then think of a way to do it. It is very bad when you think about it.

Unlike ordinary manned spacecraft, the control rights of Progress are shared by the ground and the astronauts, and the astronauts have independent decision-making rights.

So after Deng Lei checked the parameters, he sent an instruction to the spacecraft's control system to decelerate and lower its orbit.

The RCS pushes the space shuttle to slowly turn its direction, at an opposite angle to the direction of operation, and then the 25-ton hydrogen-oxygen engine at the tail starts working, limiting the thrust to about 13%, which is the most fuel-efficient node with small engine thrust.

Due to the large thrust and decreasing fuel, the deceleration will become faster and faster, and eventually it will completely fall off the orbit in about 40 minutes and start heading towards the atmosphere.

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. This is all done by the computer.

"02, 03, our aircraft is about to enter the atmosphere, please adjust your attitude!"

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

Deng Lei felt like he was not entering the atmosphere, but like he was sitting on a surfboard rising and falling due to the tide.

Progress touched the atmosphere from above Aramco's San Francisco. The insulating layer at the bottom rubbed fiercely with the atmosphere, producing a bright orange fire.

It was 22:00 on the evening of the 23rd in San Francisco. As soon as many people looked up, they found a gorgeous meteor streaking across the sky and moving rapidly to the east.

"catch it! catch it! (catch up!)"

But not everyone thinks it is a meteor. There are also many aerospace enthusiasts in Ami who are tracking the Progress as it streaks across the sky in the countryside.

"The shuttle, Jinbu shuttle!"

"She's so beautiful. She's like a smaller version of the STS. God knows why the space shuttle was grounded."

"(Translation) Those three people are the coolest astronauts I have ever seen. Two of them are university teachers, and one of them is almost 60 years old. The space shuttle can really bring civilians into space."

There was another blond old man among these people. He was on the top floor of his luxury hotel and also saw the Progress cutting across the sky.

"Tear it down, break it down, break it down!"

Like China, there are many people in Ami who love the space shuttle. Especially after the space shuttle was retired in 2011, they have always been obsessed with it.

In the vision of Deng Lei and Zhao Xiaowen, they were like small boats in the huge waves, and the thick atmosphere was the scattered waves. They were like assault boats gliding rapidly on the waves, constantly flying up and down, compared with roller coasters. Just like the Pleasant Goat rocking car at the entrance of the supermarket.

When the particles in the atmosphere passed by the portholes, it was like someone was smashing the glass with a hammer, and the Progress's body was shaking to the point of falling apart.

This is not a matter of intensity. This tremor will not cause any harm to the Progress. If it is replaced by 100 tons of H2, even the tremor will be much smaller.

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

Progress' current altitude: 50,000 meters.

The tremors of the space shuttle had disappeared, and all Deng Lei could hear was the steady sound of the air circulation system and the electrical sound of the machine's operation.

He grasped the rudder with thick palms. Now it was his time to come on.

Now, he has entered the outer airspace of the island country. Two F15Js and a P3C took off, watching from a distance below the Progress that had slowed down to Mach 5.

The ground reported the situation to Deng Lei, who opened the public channel and heard the greetings from the other party.

"Hongzu Yoshihiro, the hero's commander."

However, before he had time to think about whether to respond, he heard the familiar Chinese on the public channel.

"This is PLA AirForce, the external aircraft ahead. We are conducting an escort mission. Please avoid it and keep your distance."

Four J11BSH fighter jets took off from Fuzhou, met the Progress head-on on the high seas, and escorted it all the way.

Deng Lei, who was escorted by his own people, felt much more at ease. As the altitude slowly decreased, when he was outside Qiongzhou Island, his altitude had dropped to 13,000 meters. The pilots of the two fighter jets next to him gave him a thumbs up, and then Pulling the nose of the plane, it flew away from both sides and returned to the airport.

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

Deng Lei raised the nose of the plane slightly according to his experience in the simulation cabin, approached the airport at a speed of 340 kilometers per hour, and landed on the runway perfectly.