It was the last day of the National Day holiday.
After a series of orbital adjustments, the silvery cargo capsule finally entered the atmosphere for the third time, using atmospheric drag to slow down before landing safely on an open stretch of ground at the Jinling Aerospace Launch Center.
The cargo capsule embodied the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study's achievements in materials science and engineering. Apart from some wear to its heat-dissipating surface coating during reentry, its main structure remained largely intact and could be reused after minor repairs.
Meanwhile, most importantly, the cargo stored inside the return capsule was also completely undamaged.
When the news arrived, the entire Space Institute at the Jinling Institute for Advanced Study took on an almost festive atmosphere. The same was true of the other domestic aerospace organizations involved in the project. With the burden finally lifted from their shoulders, the project leaders were all beaming.
Before the seven-day holiday came to an end.
The Lunar Orbital Construction Committee finally delivered a tremendous gift to the entire nation in its own way.
The gift consisted of 4.27 tonnes of lunar ore, 50 kilograms of wheat, corn, and potatoes, along with some biological reagents and research specimens produced on the Moon.
At the sight of this precious gift, many of the senior academicians and experts at the Aerospace Science Group were so overwhelmed that tears filled their eyes.
How many years had it been?
Almost two generations had passed since the space program began.
Never before had they reaped such an enormous harvest from the Moon-or from outer space!
During the honeymoon period in relations between Hua Nation and the United States in the seventies, a lunar rock sample brought by President Carter's national security adviser had been treasured beyond measure.
And that sample had