Chapter 1093 Network Connection

The successful ignition is only the first step in the long journey of the Shenzhou V mission.

Therefore, the atmosphere in the command and control hall did not relax at all because of the rocket takeoff.

In the guest seats at the back, several people had already raised their hands, apparently ready to applaud, but after noticing the serious atmosphere around them, they stopped.

"Dongfeng, program turn!"

A few seconds after launch, the first control command sounded.

The rocket then changed from a vertical ascent to a climb inclined at 45 degrees to the east.

At the same time, due to the change in the angle of view of the rocket relative to the camera, a cloud of obvious white smoke suddenly appeared behind the tail nozzle and quickly grew longer.

In just a few seconds, the entire arrow was almost completely covered.

For those who are watching a rocket launch for the first time, this is definitely a very nerve-wracking moment.

Chang Haonan even vaguely heard a few short exclamations coming from behind him.

However, the worrying situation did not last long.

"Suzhou, optical tracking is normal, Dongfeng, flight is normal!"

"..."

"Qingshan, USB radar tracking is normal..."

Clear commands were still being transmitted as usual.

Although most of the audience were laymen, the word "normal" was not difficult for them to understand.

The atmosphere returned to calm.

However, the attempt to fly a man into space is destined to be not smooth sailing.

There are many details that cannot be fully verified by unmanned spacecraft...

120.17 seconds after the rocket was launched, the escape tower separated from the rocket body.

I don’t know if it was affected by this action, but the images sent back by the camera in the cabin suddenly began to shake violently.

Judging from the amplitude alone, the severity does not seem to be serious.

At least it won't affect rockets or spacecraft.

But it is inevitable that people will feel a little worried when seeing the astronaut lying motionless on the seat.

At this time, the spacecraft was still in the fairing, and was only illuminated by the lights in the return capsule.

The reflection caused by the space suit mask and the camera's less-than-ideal resolution made it difficult for ground staff to clearly see the astronauts' facial details.

In fact, objectively speaking, it takes less than ten minutes from the launch of the spacecraft to its final entry into orbit.

During this process, astronauts wear heavy space suits, are fixed on seats, and have to endure continuous high G-forces and vibrations caused by acceleration.

It's normal to be motionless.

But it is obviously impossible for people on the ground to take it so lightly.

Especially for some comrades at the launch posts, their work has been basically completed and they have free time to look at the pictures on the screen in front of them.

It made me even more nervous...

In fact, don’t even mention anyone else.

As someone who has read the memoirs of astronauts, Chang Haonan couldn't remain completely calm when facing this situation.

All I can say is that the decision not to broadcast the launch live is indeed correct...

And then, there is another series of continuous actions.

140 seconds, throw the booster.

161 seconds, primary and secondary separation.

At this time, the low-frequency vibration in the cockpit image has ended, but the astronauts still maintain their previous movements.

Fortunately, the team responsible for bioinformatics monitoring did not make any reports, indicating that there were no major problems.

Chang Haonan glanced over there with a little curiosity.

Relying on his extraordinary eyesight, he discovered that even at this time, the astronaut's heartbeat was still maintained at less than 70 beats per minute.

"Throw the fairing!"

At 9:03:20, 200 seconds after takeoff, the carrier rocket completely left the atmosphere. The fairing that was originally used to protect the spacecraft lost its function, split into two halves along the longitudinal direction of the rocket body and was thrown away.

Unlike most of the bits and pieces that are bound to burn up in the atmosphere, the fairing will fall to the ground in most cases.

Due to high strength, it is possible to maintain structural integrity.

There was even an incident where the fairing wreckage was picked up by onlookers and then quickly turned into a rain shelter before being found by the relevant authorities.

In the end, it was just a waste of time.

Of course, these are all for later.

Now, Shenzhou V is directly exposed to the space environment for the first time.

The sunlight also shone through the porthole and onto the astronaut's face.

The image inside the helmet visor quickly became clear.

At one point, almost everyone saw it.

The astronaut blinked slightly.

Someone suddenly shouted excitedly:

"Look! He blinked!"

Although it was just one person's voice, it seemed to express the emotions of everyone present.

It's one thing to see the cold data from the sensors, it's another to see the astronauts in action.

Now, everyone's hearts, which had been hanging in the air, have finally settled down.

Not long after, the island city tracking and control station sent a report.

"The spacecraft has been detected to have entered the planned orbit, and the ship and the rocket have separated!"

Being able to successfully enter orbit basically means that there will be basically no major errors in the launch process.

So this time, there was finally a short round of applause in the command and control hall.

Of course, now is still not the time to celebrate.

Next, the spacecraft will briefly leave the signal transmission range.

If it can be accurately captured by the next tracking and control point, it can be completely confirmed that the spacecraft is operating correctly.

Soon, the images from inside the cabin were cut off, leaving only the radar data from several other tracking and control stations that were still changing.

Chang Haonan noticed that Shen Junrong beside him had almost held his breath.

Whether the measurement and control network he has been building for more than ten years can really play a role will be proven in the next twenty minutes.

However, new changes have appeared on the display console in front of Chang Haonan.

The images from the Danzhou Remote Sensing Center showed that the number of accessible terminals displayed in the Qingluan constellation suddenly changed.

The first few that have completed the connection are undoubtedly the four Qingluan satellites themselves, the Ocean No. 1 satellite, the Danzhou ground station, and the Gaojing ground station via the stratospheric airship.

The batch of new terminals that have just been searched and have not yet entered the communication network are undoubtedly from the Shenzhou V, which has not yet flown out of the relay work area.

Of course, there are a lot of things to accomplish in the first two laps after entering orbit.

Therefore, the first relay communication test will officially begin during the third orbit around the earth.

Subsequently, according to the continuous changes in the satellite cluster's orbital position relative to the spacecraft, the accessible time reached its highest during the 8th and 9th laps.

However, no access means no access.

If there is a signal, it means that everything matches the previous calculations.

This is certainly not as convincing as the final word from the measurement and control point directly capturing the target.

But at least it is circumstantial evidence.

Therefore, Chang Haonan patted Shen Junrong lightly and indicated to him the content displayed in front of him.

The latter was stunned for a moment, but soon saw the clue and nodded slightly.

The body that had been sitting upright with tension finally relaxed a little.

It was not until around 9:31 that the Yuanwang- survey ship in the South Pacific sent a report that it had successfully captured the spacecraft information.

A few seconds later, the voice and images in the cabin reappeared on the big screen.

According to the plan, at this time, the astronauts should communicate with the ground for the first time to confirm their own conditions and those in the cabin.

Perhaps he sensed the feelings of the ground personnel, so he added a sentence after the call was connected:

“I feel good!”

The ground medical supervision team also confirmed that the astronauts were in good physical condition.

Immediately afterwards, the commander-in-chief of the manned space program left his seat, walked slowly to the command podium, and slowly scanned the entire control hall with his eyes.

At this moment, all experts, leaders, engineers, media personnel...

Except for a few people who still had work on hand, all eyes were focused on him, waiting for the result they had been looking forward to for a long time.

"I declare that the launch mission of the Shenzhou V manned spacecraft has been a complete success!"

The commander-in-chief's tone was steady and solemn.

In an instant, the emotions that had been suppressed for more than half an hour completely burst out.

Cheers and applause like huge waves suddenly resounded throughout the hall.

China's dream of manned space flight has lasted for 921 years, even if we count from the time when the 11 Project was launched.

If the earlier Project 714 is included, the wait would be more than 30 years...

Among the jubilant crowd, there was a colonel in military uniform who stood out among the generals around him.

He didn't cheer or even stand up.

I just looked at the big screen in front of me with a little emotion.

Li Qinglong.

The first group of astronauts were selected to go to Russia for training that year.

He is also one of the first two people in China to obtain an international astronaut certificate.

However, since the requirement of Project 921 was to "let astronauts trained by China realize the thousand-year dream of flying on the spacecraft developed by China", as a "returnee", he was destined to miss this first space mission.

And later on, as you get older, the probability of being selected will gradually decrease.

As an astronaut coach, it would be a lie to say that I have no regrets at all.

But now, looking at the student who had successfully flown into space, he still felt almost equally proud...

Apart from him, Chang Haonan did not stand up to celebrate.

For many technicians, the spacecraft entering orbit marks the end of a stage of work.

But for him, his mission has just begun.