Chapter 58 57. Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center: City of Aerospace

Manned spaceflight has made the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center a landmark of media attention around the world, and it has also become a symbol of China as a rising power. In October 2003, Shenzhou V and Yang Liwei made China the third country in the world capable of sending astronauts into space.Next, China launched manned spacecraft into space in 2005 and 2008 respectively.The Jiuquan Satellite Generation Center, or Dongfeng Aerospace City, is located in the depths of the deserted Badain Jaran Desert in Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, and is more than 200 kilometers away from the nearest Jiuquan City.The launch center is 1,000 meters above sea level. It was founded in October 1958. It covers an area of ​​about 2,800 square kilometers. It is flat and sparsely populated. It has an inland and desert climate with an average annual temperature of 8.7 degrees Celsius. It is dry and rainless all year round. Spring and autumn are short. , the two seasons are long in winter and summer, there are many sunny days throughout the year, the cloud cover is small, the sunshine time is long, and the living environment is difficult, but it provides good natural environmental conditions for space launches, and launch tests can be carried out about 300 days a year.It is one of the launch test bases for China's scientific satellites, technology test satellites and carrier rockets. It is the earliest and largest comprehensive missile and satellite launch center in China, and it is also the only manned space launch site in China.Among the 23 launch sites in the world, Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is as famous as the Baikonur launch site in the former Soviet Union and the Kennedy Space Center in the United States, and can launch manned spacecraft.

"Mom, I'm going on a business trip." "Son, is it far?" "Yeah, far, mom." "How far is that?" "It's far, mother!" Former Soviet cosmonaut Gagarin bids farewell to his mother before leaving Earth for space.He became the first human being in space.The warmth contained in this dialogue is the same as the pride of Armstrong, the first human astronaut who landed on the moon, "This is one small step for me, but one giant leap for mankind". classic discourse. The dream of human beings to leave the earth and enter space is almost as long as human beings began to look up at the stars.But it was only when Gagarin went into space that the dream began to come true; when Armstrong stepped on the moon, man's first real contact with other planets.The exploration of space became a means of competition during the Cold War period between the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union; later, it became a way to demonstrate a country's scientific research strength and human beings' endless curiosity and exploration of space.It seems to have nothing to do with the lives and lives of most of us, but every successful journey and disaster brought about by failure makes the whole world either cheer or mourn.

Therefore, when the spacecraft named Shenzhou V was successfully launched in October 2003 and returned to Earth safely, the whole world watched the performance of the Chinese people-even though the country's media always used to exaggerate the outside world's views. Self-sufficient attention levels, like to enjoy this false "global attention" feeling, but this time it is true.China has become the third country in the world capable of sending astronauts into space, the first two being the countries of Gagarin and Armstrong.It also turned Chinese astronaut Yang Liwei and the western city of Jiuquan into stars.

Two years later, on October 12, 2005, China once again sent the spacecraft Shenzhou VI and two astronauts into space.Agence France-Presse said in a news cable on this day: "As with human beings' exploration of space, China's Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center today sent the'Shenzhou' VI into space orbit, and it also allows humans to say goodbye to space in one place." Where there is life there survived. This satellite launch center is often referred to as 'China's Cape Canaveral'. It is located on the edge of the Gobi, against the backdrop of the endless tawny desert around this small piece of The place where humans live is particularly conspicuous."

"China's Cape Canaveral" began construction on October 20, 1958.A group of engineers came to this desert together with the 20th Corps of the Chinese People's Volunteers who had just returned from North Korea.Although this area later became known as the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, it is still 300 kilometers inland from Jiuquan City.Its real location is not in Gansu Province, but in Ejina Banner, Alxa League, Inner Mongolia, surrounded by deserts. "During the day, the desert scorched by the scorching sun is like a huge steamer, and the heat waves are suffocating; at night, the wind is howling and the cold is blowing, even if you cover it with a quilt and a coat, you are still shivering. The people who came to the Gobi Desert for the first time, almost all had dry mouth and bloody nose", said the author Wang Yanmei in a book "Shenzhou Internal Report - From China Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center" describing the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center .Wang Yanmei is also a news officer and a soldier at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center.She has been working in this desert for more than ten years. It is hard to imagine that this Jiangnan girl will not include the feeling of self-sufficiency when describing this Gobi Desert.

This team, which includes soldiers returning from the Korean War and engineers transferred from other places, spent two and a half years building China's first rocket and satellite comprehensive test range on this oasis in the Badain Jaran Desert.The reason why this base is called the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center is that, at that time, missile and satellite launch bases were named after the real places where they were located from time to time; Named after a well-known place name, Jiuquan is the closest to the launch center, and it is also a famous city in history. After the first atomic bomb was successfully detonated over Lop Nur in October 1964, the Jiuquan Satellite and Missile Launch Center felt more pressure.Because after having the atomic bomb, we must start to consider the means of transporting the atomic bomb-missiles.Just as the founding general Zhang Aiping was personally in charge of the Lop Nur base, Marshal Nie Rongzhen personally came to the Jiuquan missile launch base to direct the missile nuclear weapon test.This seasoned general is always used to wearing a black coat, black hat and sunglasses. When he personally commanded the first Chinese-made missile to be successfully launched at the Jiuquan Missile Center, he said excitedly, from now on, we have own missiles.At that time, this country and this regime were constantly refreshing history, and the joy of standing up intertwined with the dream of a strong country, impacting everyone from the founding fathers to ordinary Chinese.Later, he was buried in the Dongfeng Martyrs Cemetery near the satellite and missile center in Jiuquan.

Nie Rongzhen personally directed the missile-borne atomic bomb test at the Jiuquan Satellite and Missile Launch Center.It is said that when the test station of the launch center inspected the projectile body, it was found that there was a small white hair about 5 mm at the fifth joint of a plug.Worried that it would cause poor electrical contact, Wang Changshan, the head of the test station, used various tools and methods to try to remove the white hair, and finally he picked it out with a bristle.This story was greatly praised by Qian Xuesen, the hero of the two bombs. The successful missile-borne nuclear weapon test on October 27, 1966 caused the outside world to call it "thunder over Asia".

On April 24, 1970, China successfully launched a rocket carrying an artificial satellite from the Jiuquan Missile and Satellite Launch Center.The artificial satellite played the music "Dongfanghong" non-stop while orbiting the earth.Jiuquan once again refreshed the history. For a long time thereafter, although the aerospace city in this desert was still conducting various missile and satellite launch tests, it no longer attracted the attention of the outside world like every time it created or refreshed history, until China began Carry out manned aviation experiments. When China began to conduct manned spaceflight tests in 1992, among the three alternative sites of Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, Xichang Satellite Launch Center and Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center, the launch site system expert group finally chose Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center as the manned space test. Space launch site.From July 1994, China began to select a site near the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to build the Space City, a launch site for manned spaceflight and space stations.Wang Yanmei described the hardships of the construction of the Aerospace City in the "Shenzhou Internal Report". "Tens of thousands of construction workers gathered in the desert... they couldn't buy enough vegetables, so everyone often ate instant noodles. Because the water and soil were not acclimatized, many people had diarrhea every day. They are yellow and thin, and walk like a jerk. When they first arrived, almost everyone had nosebleeds. When they woke up every morning, the nosebleeds covered their lips and chins. It was as scary as eating a living thing... During the initial construction period, the surrounding areas of the Gobi Desert were bare. There is no tree to cover it. In spring and autumn, there is a strong wind, and the wind blows the yellow sand and howls. Suddenly, the sand and rocks cover the sky, and people can’t be seen clearly from a few meters away. Cars with heavy loads can also be overturned by it. Construction workers are walking on the road. If you encounter a sandstorm suddenly, you have to lie on the ground quickly, otherwise you risk being swept away."

Every subsequent link is full of rigor and hardship.There is an example in Wang Yanmei's book, "The first pass that the spacecraft and rockets have to go through when they arrive at the launch site is the 'hoisting pass'. In order to improve the hoisting accuracy, the hoisting officers and soldiers tie their chopsticks to the hook and put them into a beer bottle from a high altitude to practice. 'Quite', hang a bucket of water as 'S' exercise to practice 'steady', use a stopwatch to measure time and practice 'quick'. Hard work pays off, in the absence of command, the operator only relies on vision and feel, The chopsticks can be accurately placed into a container with a diameter of 8 cm from a height of tens of meters at one time; with the cooperation of the commander, the chopsticks can be placed in a beer bottle with a diameter of 2 cm at one time within 5 minutes."

Then on November 21, 1999, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center used the Long March rocket to put the Shenzhou-1 spacecraft into orbit; on January 10, 2001, the Long March-2 lifted Shenzhou-2 from the Jiuquan Satellite Center; in 2002 On March 25, the then Chinese President Jiang Zemin took a special plane to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center to watch the launch of Shenzhou-3 in person; on December 30 of this year, Shenzhou-4 was sent into the sky again. The real climax was the launch of Shenzhou V in 2003.From October 13th of this year, martial law began in Jiuquan Oriental Space City, and all buses and people without a pass were not allowed to enter the space city.The media described, “In the hotels and guest houses in Jiuquan Oriental Aerospace City, you can see people carrying big bags and small bags eagerly looking for accommodation. As early as two days ago, all the hotels in Oriental Aerospace City were already saturated. ', Many guest houses have converted meeting rooms into temporary guest rooms, built up shop to expand capacity, in order to receive a steady stream of people. The usually extremely cheap accommodation prices in Aerospace City are also bullish all the way because the launch time of "Shenzhou V" is approaching. According to local sources, the current accommodation price in Aerospace City is more than double that of a week ago. Since there is no direct flight from Lanzhou to Jiuquan, as the launch time approaches, more and more people flock to Jiuquan, and they can go to Jiuquan instead. Air tickets from Lanzhou to Jiayuguan are in short supply, and all air tickets have been booked within three days.” But not all people who come to Jiuquan have the opportunity to witness the ascension of Shenzhou 5, even for media reporters, only those “very few” Some media with invitation letters from units above the regiment level can obtain interview passes and stay in the space city for interviews”, while “all (people) without pass will be cleared out of the space city, including media without invitation letters from units above the regiment level reporter".

At 5:50 a.m. on October 15, astronaut Yang Liwei, who is 1.68 meters tall, began to walk towards the elevator, preparing to enter the spacecraft.At this time, Jiang Mianheng, the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the deputy commander of the manned spaceflight project, shouted loudly: "Return in triumph!" So all the reporters and staff present began to shout these four words, as if sending an expedition warrior. Then, after circling the earth 14 times, Yang Liwei returned to the earth at 6:23 Beijing time on the 16th and landed on the Amugulang Ranch in the northern part of Siziwang Banner, Inner Mongolia.He said that his feeling about space is: "fantastic". In October 2005, Shenzhou-6 sent two Chinese astronauts, Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, into space for a 5-day and 5-night flight.This is China's first space experiment involving humans. So far, the missile and satellite launch center established in 1958 has achieved countless firsts.It has also become a launch center capable of launching manned spacecraft alongside the Baikonur launch site in the former Soviet Union and the Kennedy Space Center in the United States.