Chapter 201 - 195 Lift Off!_1

"Prince Swetan, Director of Abe Space Agency: The Mecca is in good condition and can head to the Tiangong Space Station at any moment."

The Mecca was still docked at the "Sheila" space station, but according to King Hamand’s instructions, if Abe’s old friend Lin Ju needed any help, the Mecca had to provide any assistance within its power immediately and unconditionally.

Meanwhile, Russia and the ISS also indicated they had two Union spacecraft on standby for the Progress’s remote-six launch mission.

Adding to the New Yuan’s own and the Tiangong Space Station’s Shenzhou-11 spacecraft, there were a total of three spacecraft from four countries/organizations that could provide rescue for the Progress...

This might set a record for the world’s most luxurious launch lineup, at least Lin Ju himself never realized his trio was drawing so much attention.

Actually, Ma had wanted to set off as well, but after considering it, he decided against it.

The second-generation Manned Dragon Spacecraft still did not meet standards, and the emergency retrofit of the First-Generation Dragon Spacecraft was a reluctant choice, not worthy of causing further embarrassment.

NACA had long noticed the three standby spacecraft at the Qiongzhou Launch Site, who needed rescue from others?

China’s National Space Administration had no such plan; after launching Shenzhou-11, they did not follow the usual practice of producing Shenzhou-12. It was too expensive; they’d rather use the CZ-7 to launch future spacecraft.

It was now 8:30, and the number of people watching the launch through television and internet platforms had surpassed 100 million according to the backstage count, most of whom were not there for Lin Ju, but for Commander Li Wei.

Many who had watched the live launch of Shenzhou-5 were moved to tears seeing Li Wei once again donning the white space suit.

But the latter had no time to consider that, his strong mental fortitude enabled Li Wei to quickly press switches, completing the last combination check before takeoff.

"01 reporting, self-check passed."

"02 reporting, all indicators are normal, spacesuit condition is normal."

"Yuanwang-2 radar is normal."

"Meridian Intelligence Network control is normal."

"..."

As Guo Shen listened to reports from multiple channels, his eyes were fixed on the data on the screen, his mind filled with the current state of each part of the rocket. After listening, he looked down and said:

"Crew, you can pull down the visor now."

In the cabin, Lin Ju reached for the handle connected to the visor and pulled it down hard, hearing a "click" sound before twisting the locking mechanism below his ear.

The other ear, not wearing an earpiece, immediately felt the isolation of sound; meanwhile, a crisp and clear female voice rang out inside the spacesuit:

"Spacesuit is sealed, check passed!"

The voice wasn’t very pleasant, but it was quick and the enunciation was clear, capable of grabbing attention fast.

In the remaining 30 minutes, Lin Ju turned off the screen and stopped receiving messages from outside, except from the launch control center. After closing his eyes for two or three seconds, he opened them and looked out the porthole at the earth and ocean.

He didn’t know how many people in the world had been reborn, but among those who entered space after rebirth, he guessed he must be one of the earlier ones, right?

Be it money, fame, or status, they all felt so powerless facing space.

"Zhuangzi": "Beside the sun and moon, holding the universe, for its perfect harmony." In this context, "universe" refers to all spaces, "time" refers to all times.

years ago, Zhuangzi’s recognition of the universe as a combination of time and space already encompassed the concept of spacetime, aligning with the scientific understanding of the universe today.

And then there was "Shi Zi": "The dimensions in all directions make the cosmos, the passage from ancient to modern times constitutes time." "Wen Zi Nature" also says: "The passage from ancient to modern is called time; the dimensions in all directions are called space."

The cosmos, just the name itself evokes a sense of the ethereal.

Lin Ju suddenly remembered a long-ago memory, when the New Yuan tractor factory was first established, they produced the first locally-made 40-horsepower caterpillar tractor to suit the local environment. At that time, he was hoisted onto the tractor adorned with red flowers by the master mechanic and together, they drove onto the dirt road outside the factory building.

The Progress too was built on the original site of the tractor factory, its body carrying the genes of its heritage.

Scenes from the past flashed through his mind, some from long ago, others just occurred.

By the time he snapped back to the present, there were only three minutes left until launch.

The seven engines each made slight movements under the lens, confirming that all control mechanisms were functioning properly.

On the beach, in front of the television, on mobile phones, and computers, hundreds of millions watched the live broadcast.

Lin Ju and Li Wei lay in the C-shaped unloading chairs, occasionally offered in close-up, but little emotion could be seen on either man’s face.

The former, in fact, was silently counting down the time in his head. Lin Ju had learned a somewhat useful skill during astronaut training: estimating time, and his error was not large.

When he counted to the thirteenth second, he knew he had counted too fast.

"Countdown, fifteen seconds!"

The announcer’s voice came through clearly to his ears, and through the electric current, it traveled past the launch tower to the future world outside.

Inside the International Space Station, 13 astronauts from various countries also gathered together, watching this launch.

"Ten."

When Lin Ju whispered this number, 260,000 people on the beach outside the launch site, and hundreds of millions in front of media terminals, shouted it out loud together.

At the same time, hundreds of tons of water began to spray towards the tail of the rocket, washing over the engine nozzles and flowing into the deflector trenches.

"Nine, eight, seven, six, start ignition."

The outer ring of six liquid oxygen and methane engines began to ignite in pairs. Even through the water curtain, people could see the red glow that appeared behind them, and as they all ignited, the countdown just happened to reach one.

"...One, engine number one ignition!"

In the camera feed aimed at the launch pad, every scene was enveloped in a suddenly brightened white light, then the live feed switched to the launch tower.

Under the propulsion of the seven ground engines, each with a maximum thrust of 227kN, the body of New Yuan-2 began to tremble, and the four connectors linking the body disengaged simultaneously, quickly retracting.

The rocket’s vibration transmitted to the crew cabin. Lin Ju felt goosebumps break out all over his body with each shake of the rocket, not just once. He looked up at Li Wei who was above him; the latter’s hands were simply resting on the armrests, his face not visible.

The overload he had experienced on the centrifuge was applied to his body, but as the spacesuit automatically began to pressurize and his legs were mechanically compressed, it allowed his blood to continue to flow smoothly.

New Yuan-2’s thrust-to-weight ratio was quite low, roughly only about 1.2, which meant a slower acceleration phase and a longer experience of the overload. However, the advantage was a higher payload coefficient; under reusable conditions, it reached 3.5%.

And it was not just New Yuan-2. The entire New Yuan series of rockets maintained a lower thrust-to-weight ratio for high lift capacity during recyclability, resulting in bigger, longer-lasting, and more powerful launch scenarios.

kilometers away, the Columbia Broadcasting Company (CBS)’s foreign correspondent stood sideways in front of a camera, microphone in hand, with the glowing New Yuan-2 rocket blossoming behind him.

"and lifted off the X2! Two of the world’s most important humans have left the surface and are ascending into space!"