Chapter 701 Overlooking Earth

"This is Skyglow…"

"We have a… problem."

Nie Yun hesitated for a bit before deciding to report the situation to the ground command center.

"Professor Lu is here."

The ground command center went silent for a bit.

Hou Guang's voice came through after a while.

"Okay, we understand."

Understand?

That's it?

Nie Yun hesitated on whether he should ask what to do, but Hou Guang spoke first.

"Continue flight, flight plan remains unchanged… Make sure Professor Lu is safe."

Changing the flight plan would increase the mission risk.

Nie Yun was well aware of this, so he nodded.

"Roger that."

Nie Yun took a deep breath and looked at Lu Zhou, who was putting away his coffee cup.

"We're approaching a critical altitude value, flight mode is about to change."

Due to the pressure and temperature curve, when the altitude reached more than 20 kilometers, the outside atmospheric density would drop to a relatively low value. At this altitude, it was no longer possible to rely on the wings to provide upward power. Therefore, it was necessary to rely on the thrust of the engine to counteract the gravitational force. The space shuttle would begin to fly upward at a greater tilt angle.

At this altitude, the crew could no longer move around freely in the spacecraft.

"Okay."

There was no need for Nie Yun to remind him. Lu Zhou already walked next to the passenger seat and opened a metal door. He dragged out a bulky spacesuit.

As Nie Yun looked at Lu Zhou struggling with the spacesuit, he asked, "Do you know… how to wear a spacesuit?"

Lu Zhou skillfully put on the spacesuit, which had various bio-security systems and cabin environmental information panels. He looked at Nie Yun and raised an eyebrow.

"Of course, I've practiced this at home many times."

Nie Yun: "…"

Nie Yan: "…"

For f*ck's sake…

He had this planned from the beginning!

The acceleration of this space shuttle wasn't particularly high, so the spacesuit was only needed for protection during the landing phase. However, because this was the first flight test, there were many uncertainties, and they had to stay prepared.

In order to stay as safe as possible, they had to follow procedures. This bulky spacesuit could only be taken off after they were in the orbit.

Lu Zhou stood beside the passenger seat and looked at himself in the mirror.

Compared to the outer-spacesuit with its own power system and portable life support system, the in-cabin spacesuit was relatively lightweight but still bulky. The cost was much cheaper than outer-spacesuits, only around 10 million yuan.

Speaking of which, this was probably the most expensive piece of clothing he had ever worn before.

Lu Zhou had an idea in his mind.

Should I take a photo?

In the end, he decided not to take the photo.

As expected, it was difficult to use his phone while wearing this thing.

After reaching an altitude of around 20 kilometers, the engine output power of Skyglow gradually increased. The tip of the spacecraft began to rise, beaming toward outer space along a trajectory that was tangent to Earth…

…

Going to outer space was a long journey.

Strictly speaking, altitudes from 100 kilometers[1] to 2,000 kilometers were counted as low-Earth orbital space. The height of this test flight was based on the International Space Station's orbital height of 419 kilometers. The total flight time was about two hours, and they were expected to return to Earth after staying in low-Earth orbit for 24 hours.

This altitude was pretty good for manned spaceflights like this. Generally speaking, most manned flight activities in low-Earth orbit were completed at an altitude below 400 kilometers. Lu Zhou didn't want Skyglow to fly too high for its first flight.

The five engines at the back of the spacecraft were all turned on, and like a meteor, it left behind a blue light arc. The altitude continued to increase. The three people sitting in the cabin could definitely feel the increase in g-force. However, the g-force was weak enough that they got used to it after a while.

Lu Zhou looked at the planet from the window, and his pupils dilated. As the azure sea and thick clouds blended together, thousands of manmade lights sparkled in the distance.

It took him a while to digest the shock in his heart, and he said emotionally, "This is the best place to witness the fact that Earth is round."

Nie Yun: "Can't you see it from a globe?"

Lu Zhou smiled and said, "That's a conclusion made by others, it's different seeing it with my own eyes."

Nie Yan also looked down at the planet, and she felt completely different from the two men. Compared to their rational thinking, she was appreciating Earth's beauty.

After a long time of staring at the planet through the window, she said, "It's beautiful."

Nie Yun nodded.

"Yeah… Beautiful."

After breaking the 100 km boundary, the spacecraft entered the thermosphere from the mesosphere. About 60 kilometers forward, they would have reached the lowest altitude for low-Earth orbit—160 kilometers.

At that point, even though they hadn't left the exosphere, the air resistance was at a negligible level.

The blue arc of light behind Skyglow began to weaken. It went from a bright beam to a swaying candle. Lu Zhou heard "successful entry into orbit" in his headset. The Skyglow's controllable fusion engines began to shut down and switched instead to a lithium-sulfur battery-powered system.

Even though Lu Zhou couldn't hear anything, he could almost feel the cheering sounds from the ground command center, as well as the national anthem, and the pride of all the people on the ground.

"We're in orbit… Jesus, this suit is easy to put on, but it's a pain in the a*s to take off."

Especially in a zero g-force environment…

Lu Zhou finally was able to get out of his passenger seat and take off his spacesuit. In a clumsy-looking manner, he floated off his seat and toward the space shuttle's window.

Lu Zhou looked at the blue Earth and held his breath. He took out his phone and took a picture.

The moment he pressed the camera shutter, a light blue panel appeared in his sight.

[Secondary mission: Overlooking Earth

[Description: Exploring science is more than excellent research, but also dedication and courage!

[Requirements: At an altitude of 100-2000 km, manually operate a camera and take a photo of Earth. (Has to be completed by the user himself)

[Rewards: 50,000 free experience points, one lucky draw ticket. (rewards are given after the first phase of the main mission is completed)]

This mission is…

It makes it seem like I'm dedicating my life to science.

Lu Zhou looked at the mission description and shook his head. He then shoved his phone back into his pocket.

Even though the mission description was strange, the rewards were quite satisfying.

It's just that…

The people in the ground command center are probably going crazy.

What do I tell them?

I can't just tell them that I flew up here to admire the view, right? Even though the view is pretty nice.

Emmmm…

Lu Zhou shook his head and decided to not think about it.

Forget about it, who cares.

He didn't have any obligation to explain himself.

You guys want a reason?

Well, think of one yourselves.

[1] upper bounds of international airspace