A song of Dongfanghong sings for 50 years: from the blue strands of the road to the stars and the sea

　　China News Service, Beijing, April 24. Title: A song of Dongfanghong singing for 50 years: from the blue stalks of the road to the stars and the sea

　　Author Guo Chaokai

　　April 24 is the 5th China Aerospace Day. Today, 50 years ago, China successfully launched the first man-made earth satellite, Dongfanghong-1, into space with its first carrier rocket, "Long March One," which opened the prelude to the Chinese nation's entry into space. Today, the Dongfanghong-1 satellite is still in orbit. On a sunny day, many astronomy enthusiasts can also take pictures of this satellite passing over the motherland.

　　In 1957, the Soviet Union's first artificial earth satellite went to heaven. The following year, Chairman Mao Zedong issued a call at the second meeting of the Eighth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, "We must also make artificial satellites." In 1965, China's first artificial earth satellite development plan was officially launched, with the mission code "651 Project."

　　"Going up, grabbing, hearing, and seeing are the instructions from the central leadership when China determines the first artificial satellite development plan." The head of satellite technology of Dongfanghong-1, "Two Bombs" Academician Sun Jiadong, winner of the "One Star" Merit Medal, said.

　　At that time, the researchers clenched their teeth and insisted on difficult problems, overcame a series of technical and technological difficulties such as the rocket interstage connection and separation technology, the design of the last stage rocket observation skirt, etc. In terms of surpassing the first satellite of other countries.

　　At 21:35 on April 24, 1970, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Base, as the operator pressed the red ignition button, the "Long March 1" rocket held the "Dongfang Hong-1" satellite straight into the sky. The satellite accurately entered the predetermined orbit according to the design requirements, and a loud "Dongfanghong" resounded all over the world.

　　That launch made China the fifth country to send satellites into space after the Soviet Union, the United States, France, and Japan, and China has since entered the space age. According to the old astronauts, although the "Long March One" launch vehicle made its first appearance, although it only won the fifth seat in the International Space Club, its carrying capacity ranked third in the world, only lagging behind the Soviet Union and the United States. The "Dongfanghong-1" satellite has stood at a high starting point since birth-the total weight of the satellite is 173 kg, which is more than the weight of the first satellite launched by the first four countries.

　　Recalling the past, Qi Faren, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said with emotion: "The Dongfanghong-1 satellite does not use a foreign component. They were made by the Chinese themselves, breaking the monopoly of the former Soviet Union, Europe and the United States on cutting-edge space technology in one fell swoop."

　　A song "Dongfanghong" opened the prelude to China's spaceflight. The development and launch of the "Dongfanghong-1" satellite has enabled China to initially form a relatively complete supporting scientific research and production system of "artificial satellite + launch vehicle", laying an important foundation for the development of China's aerospace industry. Taking this as a starting point, "Beidou" leads the way, "Chang'e" asks the moon, "Tiangong" wins the victory ... The pace of China's space industry has never stopped.

　　To date, China has successfully launched a series of remote sensing satellites such as "Fengyun", "High Score" and "Resources", and initially established a stable operation of the Chinese satellite remote sensing system. Dong Yaohai, chief designer of the Fengyun 4 satellite of the Shanghai Aerospace Technology Research Institute affiliated to China Aerospace Science and Technology Group, said: "Chinese aerospace personnel used the 2nd generation 4 type 17 Fengyun series of meteorological satellites to explore a development path for meteorological satellites with Chinese characteristics and contributed to The three-legged pattern of the meteorological satellites in China, the United States and Europe. "

　　If counting from the first star of Beidou-2, China has launched 54 Beidou navigation satellites, and this year will also launch the last Beidou satellite to complete the deployment of the Beidou-3 global constellation network. "Now the last satellite of the Beidou-3 project, GEO-3, has been delivered to the launch site to prepare for the final launch," said Wang Ping, chief designer of the Beidou-3 satellite of the China Academy of Space Technology, a subsidiary of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation. .

　　Over the past 50 years, the communication satellite platform represented by the "Dongfanghong" brand has undergone continuous technological breakthroughs after the development of the East 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 4th generation satellite platforms, and has achieved an exponential increase in capabilities. China independently developed 17 models of the Long March series of launch vehicles, successfully implemented more than 300 launches, and sent more than 500 spacecraft into space with a success rate of 96%. Reliability, safety, and orbital accuracy reached the world's leading level.

　　Over the past 50 years, manned spaceflight and deep space exploration have continuously made major breakthroughs. China has become one of the few countries in the world that independently masters major technologies such as manned space travel, space exit, space rendezvous and docking, and propellant supplementation on orbit. . In 2019, the Chang'e-4 probe will realize the soft landing and patrol survey of spacecraft on the back of the moon for the first time in human history. China has entered a new era of exploring the mysteries of the deep space universe.

　　From the first artificial satellite to multiple arrows, from the unmanned test spacecraft to the astronaut space capsule, from the probe flying around the moon to the soft landing on the back of the moon ... China is making great strides from a space power to a space power. In 2020, Beidou-3 is expected to achieve global networking, the construction of China's space station orbit will begin, and Mars exploration will be on the agenda. China's spaceflight is heading to the broader sea of ​​stars. (Finish)