【Spiritual Genealogy of Chinese Communists】
Guangming Daily reporter Chen Yi Cui Xingyi
A full moon, a pair of footprints. The logo pattern of "China Lunar Exploration Project" on the launch platform is full of oriental charm and attracts everyone's attention.
Whose footprints is this?
"This is the footprint of our Chinese astronauts!"
At 1:59 a.m. on December 17, 2020, the Four Sons Of Wang Banner in Inner Mongolia was covered with snow, and the Chang'e-5 returner broke through the sky like a meteor, carrying lunar rock and soil samples safely to the landing site.
This moment means that China's first lunar sampling and return mission has been a complete success, and it also marks the smooth conclusion of the three-step plan of China's lunar exploration project of "circling, falling and returning".
On the same day, General Secretary Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the lunar exploration project mission headquarters and all comrades participating in the Chang'e-5 mission: "I hope that you will vigorously carry forward the spirit of lunar exploration that chases dreams, has the courage to explore, coordinates to tackle tough problems, and cooperates in win-win results, opens a new journey of interstellar exploration step by step, makes new contributions to building a space power and realizing the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, and makes greater pioneering contributions to the peaceful use of space by mankind and the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind!" ”
The lunar exploration spirit of "chasing dreams, daring to explore, coordinating to tackle tough problems, and cooperating for win-win" is rooted in the practice of the lunar exploration project for 17 years, which is the winning code of the lunar exploration project "six battles and six victories", and its connotation is also continuously enriched with the continuous deepening of the project, and has written a colorful stroke in the history of world aerospace development.
"Chinese Dream: Exploring the Moon" (Chinese painting) Huang Jian
1． Chase your dreams
"White rabbit pounding medicine autumn and spring, chang'e lonely perch with whom neighbors?" "Poor three nights in the beginning of September, the dew is like a pearl moon like a bow." ...... Chinese love and desire for the moon, hidden in poetry and song, countless literati and inkers have used the moon as a carrier to express emotions and pin their inner ideals and ambitions.
The moon is called the moon in literature, and in science it is called the moon. The Moon is more than 380,000 kilometers away from the Earth, its surface is not surrounded by an atmosphere, and the temperature difference between day and night is extremely large, with a difference of hundreds of degrees Celsius.
The deep sky hides the unknown, and the jade plate jade rabbit lifts up the dream. The Chinese nation has a thousand-year dream of exploring the moon, and Comrade Mao Zedong has a poetry cloud: "You can go up to the moon for nine days." ”
"Great things start with dreams." In the past seventeen years of overcoming difficulties and continuing to struggle, the Chinese nation's long-cherished wish of flying in the sky and catching the moon has been realized. "Chang'e" has successfully run to the moon again and again, and the once unreachable sky can no longer stop the footsteps of the chinese sons and daughters' continuous exploration.
In fact, many countries in the world have introduced different lunar exploration plans: some want to launch probes to the moon, some want to build scientific research stations on the moon, and some want to land on the moon... Today, not many countries have successfully fulfilled their lunar mission. In order to get closer to this huge satellite that is hundreds of thousands of kilometers away step by step, the Chinese astronauts looked up at the stars, down-to-earth, and realized the established plan step by step with the rational deployment of "circling, falling, and returning".
Only when you have faith in your heart can you go far. The moon changes in the starry sky, and the Chinese astronauts run and catch up under the starry sky. After 17 spring, summer, autumn and winter, China's lunar exploration project did not exceed the budget, did not reduce the indicators, and did not miss the time, and achieved solid progress from "following the run" to "running together" to some "leading" in the field of lunar exploration, and handed over a beautiful answer sheet to the world.
On December 17, 2020, the Chang'e-5 returner carried lunar samples to land safely in the predetermined area of Siziwangqi in Inner Mongolia, successfully realizing the return of lunar surface samples. The picture shows the Moon Soil on May 15, 2021, at the Wuxi Museum in Jiangsu Province, where the audience views the moon soil on display at the exhibition of major scientific and technological achievements in deep space and deep sea. Xinhua News Agency
On October 24, 2007, Chang'e-1 was launched in the spotlight, and on March 1, 2009, it was controlled to hit the moon, successfully completing the "orbit" lunar mission. As a pioneer in lunar exploration, the gift sent by Chang'e-1 did not disappoint.
In the past, the illustrations involving the moon and the lunar surface in China's primary and secondary school textbooks were based on images taken by the United States on lunar exploration. Since Chang'e-1 obtained China's first lunar surface image and 120m resolution full moon stereoscopic image map, elevation map, lunar surface element content distribution map and other important image data, China's primary and secondary school textbooks were quickly replaced with images taken by Chang'e-1. Whenever I think of this, Academician Luan Enjie, former director of the China National Space Administration and the first commander-in-chief of China's lunar exploration project, always can't help but sigh: "Finally, we can use our own map!" Although we were late, we finally had it. ”
As Luan Enjie said, China's lunar exploration project started late. More than 30 years ago, Academician Ye Peijian, chief designer and commander-in-chief of the Chang'e-1 satellite, saw the lunar rock sample for the first time in front of the exhibition window abroad. In 2019, Ye Peijian personally experienced and witnessed the whole process of Chang'e-4 landing on the far side of the moon for the first time in human history.
Good meals are not afraid of late. China's lunar exploration project has shown the remarkable characteristics of high starting point, low input, more scientific and technological output, and higher launch success rate. "With the moon debut appointment, we are undoubtedly serious!" Academician Wu Weiren, chief designer of China's lunar exploration project, said that every bold idea and every successful implementation of China's lunar exploration project is to fulfill the solemn promise to the people and is a dream-chasing journey that comes out of one stick after another and step by step.
2． Dare to explore
The lunar exploration project, from the beginning of the start, has launched a series of core technologies to carry out "positive attacks" -
Thirteen years ago, Chang'e-1 acquired one of the most complete full-moon maps in the world at the time.
Eight years ago, the Chang'e-3 probe soft-landed on the moon, and its lander became the world's longest-working spacecraft on the lunar surface.
In the winter of 2020, the Chang'e-5 mission created five "Chinese firsts": one is the sampling and encapsulation of extraterrestrial objects, the second is the take-off of extraterrestrial objects, the third is the rendezvous and docking of lunar orbits, the fourth is the high-speed re-entry of the earth with samples, and the fifth is the storage, analysis and research of samples.
Behind one "first" after another is the never-ending exploration of unknown space and scientific undertakings by Chinese astronauts.
At the end of 2020, after successfully sending the Chang'e-5 probe into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit, Fat V flew over the Philippine Archipelago, and its arrow body separated section by section after completing the accelerated mission. Due to the multi-ballistic launch, the sub-stage wreckage drop-point dispersion area shows a significant horizontal and longitudinal dispersion. In order to minimize the range of shooting dispersion and optimize the safety of the landing area, the scientific research team carried out multiple rounds of optimization design for the horizontal and longitudinal dispersion of the multi-ballistic moon launch scheme with variable shooting direction and variable sliding time. In the end, the wreckage of the "Fat Five" fell into the intended sea accurately.
When Chang'e 5 returned from the moon to enter The Earth, the speed was close to the second cosmic speed, much higher than the first cosmic speed. Crossing the atmosphere into the Earth at such a high speed is as difficult as you can imagine.
How to solve the landing point accuracy problem?
The scientific research team overcame difficulties and creatively adopted the "semi-ballistic jumping" re-entry, commonly known as "water drifting": when re-entering the earth, Chang'e 5 maintained the same speed, attitude, angle, etc. as the initial, and finally realized the heading control and pitch control of the flight trajectory through lift control, so that it accurately landed at the predetermined landing site.
From one idea to one experiment after another, behind every technological breakthrough and difficulty, there are Chinese astronauts working hard. "For China's space capabilities, lunar exploration is a major expression and an important stage link. If we want to go further, this step must be taken. Luan Enjie said.
3． Work together
How many people are involved in China's lunar exploration projects?
No one can give an exact number.
As the most difficult and complex task in China's aerospace field so far, the lunar exploration project has involved thousands of units and tens of thousands of scientific and technological workers across the country, including Hong Kong and Macao, including those from traditional "national teams" such as aerospace central enterprises and supporting scientific research institutes, as well as from private institutions such as high-tech companies and enterprises.
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "The complete success of the Chang'e-5 mission marks the successful conclusion of the three-step plan of the lunar exploration project of 'circling, falling and returning', is another major achievement in giving full play to the advantages of the new national system to overcome difficulties, is an important milestone in the construction of a space power, and is of great significance to the development of China's aerospace industry." ”
Behind the success of the lunar exploration project is the result of the strong support of the people of the whole country, the vigorous coordination and close cooperation of various elements of the military and civilian businessmen throughout the country, which fully reflects the institutional advantages of the new national system.
In 2007, during the implementation of the Chang'e-1 mission, 82 researchers were stranded at Beijing Capital Airport due to the delay of the aircraft at the critical juncture when the satellite equipment was about to be delivered to the destination and waiting for the researchers to unload the trucks for follow-up work. Upon learning of this emergency, civil aviation immediately decided to re-coordinate the transport of scientific researchers by aircraft. When 82 researchers successfully boarded the plane, they found that the position was not enough, and there were still 2 seats. The flight attendant explained the situation to the passengers through the broadcast: "The researchers of the Lunar Exploration Project Chang'e-1 want to take this flight to carry out the mission, and there are still two positions left, which two passengers are willing to give up their seats?" As soon as the words stopped, the two strange passengers immediately got up to pack their bags and get off the plane...
Hundreds of millions of hands, holding up "Chang'e"; hundreds of millions of hearts, worried about "Chang'e". The lunar exploration project is composed of five major systems, including satellites, launch vehicles, launch sites, measurement and control, and ground applications, and is a complex multidisciplinary high-tech integrated system engineering. Every step of China's lunar exploration has condensed the painstaking efforts and wisdom of thousands of units, tens of thousands of scientific and technological workers, and commanders and fighters of the People's Liberation Army.
On February 22, 2021, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed when meeting with the representatives of the participants of the Chang'e-5 mission of the lunar exploration project and visiting the exhibition of lunar samples and lunar exploration project achievements: "We must carry forward the spirit of lunar exploration, give play to the advantages of the new national system, bravely climb the peak of science and technology, serve the overall situation of national development, step by step to open a new journey of interstellar exploration, continuously promote the innovative development of China's aerospace industry, and make new and greater contributions to the peaceful use of space by mankind." ”
4． Win-win cooperation
At the beginning of the Chang'e-5 mission, during a review of the probe program, some experts raised objections: "There are too many institutional movements, too many links, and every action is a bottleneck risk point. The task is too risky. ”
"What are the difficulties of the lunar exploration project? The hardest part is to string so many complex things together into a whole. Chang'e 5 is the most complex system mission in our entire single space mission, and each process is a single point mission of the mission. A single point task means that if one link in the middle of the process goes wrong, then the subsequent tasks cannot continue. So every link is the core. Hu Hao, chief designer of the third phase of the lunar exploration project, said.
Whether it is the white-haired academicians and experts, the scientific and technological leaders who grew up with the lunar exploration project, or the fledgling scientific research "recruits", it is their common outstretched hands that have lifted "Chang'e" to successfully fly again and again.
Wu Yanhua, deputy director of the China National Space Administration and executive deputy commander of the lunar exploration project, said that since the establishment of the China Lunar Exploration Project, it has adhered to "one blueprint to the end", "one dragon" to tackle key problems, "one game of chess" to promote coordinatedly, and "integration" to iteratively improve, achieving "six battles and six victories". The lunar exploration project brings together thousands of units and tens of thousands of scientific and technological workers across the country, including Hong Kong and Macao, and every breakthrough in technology and every step of the project is the result of unity and cooperation.
Exploring the vast universe not only carries the flying dream of Chinese, but also the common long-cherished wish of all mankind.
In 2019, Chang'e-4's lunar journey carried 4 scientific payloads developed by scientists from the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden and Saudi Arabia, and its lander had a lunar neutron and radiation dose detector developed by Germany, a neutral atom detector developed by Sweden on the rover, and a Dutch low-frequency radio detector on the relay star. The Argentine deep space station built by China in South America participated in the Chang'e-4 monitoring and control mission, and the European Space Agency monitoring and control station also provided support. What ensures that Chang'e-4 can safely spend the lunar night is the isotopic heat source of cooperation between China and Russia...
China's proposition of "cooperative exploration, joint development and peaceful use" of outer space has contributed Chinese wisdom, Chinese spirit and Chinese strength to the expansion of human living space and the construction of space dreams. China's open and cooperative Aerospace is actively using bilateral and multilateral cooperation mechanisms, vigorously carrying out international cooperation in space science, space technology, space applications and other fields, and constantly expanding the circle of friends for lunar exploration.
"At present, China's lunar exploration project is in line with the principle of 'consultation, co-construction, sharing', advocating the establishment of an international lunar scientific research station, and striving to make unswerving determination, bravely climb the peak, and have more creativity and greater achievements in the new era of moving towards deep space, exploring the mysteries of the universe and improving human well-being." Wu Yanhua said.
The open and pragmatic cooperation attitude and win-win model are another important practice of China's construction of a community with a shared future for mankind in the field of spaceflight. At present, China has carried out extensive and in-depth exchanges and cooperation with Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Chile, Saudi Arabia, Russia, the European Space Agency and other countries and international organizations in the field of deep space exploration, and has embarked on a Chinese path of exploring the vast universe and peacefully using space.
In the future, Chang'e's journey to the moon will continue.
In the face of new opportunities and challenges, Zhang Kejian, director of the China National Space Administration, made a commitment on behalf of Chinese astronauts: "We will vigorously carry forward the spirit of lunar exploration in accordance with the decision-making and deployment of the central government on building a space power, and use the dream of lunar exploration to support the Chinese dream and space dream, promote the peaceful use of space, promote the construction of a community with a shared future for mankind, promote the progress of human civilization, and continue to contribute Chinese wisdom and Chinese strength." ”
Guangming Daily ( 2021.12.08 05 edition)