Space physicist Liu Zhenxing Lao Ji Futuo did not forget to give back to his alma mater

Liu Zhenxing (third from left) took a group photo with the children of Huo Shunan, the old principal of Laichangle No.1 Middle School, who participated in the school celebration activities.

In his later years, Liu Zhenxing had a clear idea, liked to debate, and rode a bicycle with "the most broken in the space center" to commute to work every day, making a report for two or three hours. He doesn't drink alcohol and says he wants to "protect his brain." He returned to his alma mater, Changle No. 1 Middle School, many times to make reports and donated important historical materials to the school history museum to inspire future generations.

In his later years, he worked diligently and tirelessly to make reports for two or three hours a station

Liu Zhenxing experienced three marriages in his life. Only the first marriage had a son, Zhou Xinmin.

Zhou Xinmin recalled: "My father fell in love with my mother when he was in college in 1953, I was born in Qingdao in 1954, with my father's busy study and work, my parents gathered less and more, separated between two places, my father was later busy with scientific research, the work was highly confidential, and my parents labored and flew apart." After Zhou's mother remarried, in order to facilitate her son's local schooling, she changed her stepfather's surname to Zhou. "Later, my membership in the regiment and the review of the party organization have comprehensively proved my relationship with my father Liu Zhenxing. My father kept correspondence with me despite his busy schedules, and later I went to Australia to work and study. My father cared about my growth in a busy schedule, and every New Year's Day, I returned to China to reunite with my father. ”

In the 1960s, Liu Zhenxing began a second marriage, because of the political struggle at that time, he was very unhappy and divorced for a long time.

"It wasn't until 1985 that my father met my stepmother, who took good care of my father's later life, which made me work overseas a lot less." Zhou Xinmin recalled.

In 1985, Liu Zhenxing and Wu Fengyun married, although they were both remarried, but the two respected and loved each other and began a happy and happy married life. Wu Fengyun and her ex-husband have a daughter, Wu Zhaoxia, who works in the administrative bureau of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and is now retired.

In his later years, Liu Zhenxing lived with Wu Fengyun and Cui Lishan, the daughter of Wu Chaoxia, in a house of more than 150 square meters in the Academician Building. In stark contrast to his age, he was tireless, coming to the office early every morning, starting his busy research work, reading documents, attending various meetings and many foreign affairs activities, and rarely resting on weekends and holidays. He has always maintained the habit of writing in the morning that he developed when he was young, and if there is material to be used for the day, he will get up at two or three o'clock in the morning to write, and he says that the quality of what he writes in the morning is high.

In his later years, Liu Zhenxing commuted to work every day on a bicycle, a dilapidated bicycle produced in the 1980s, which he said was the most broken in the center of the space and recognized at a glance. Many people called him an academician of the Academy of Sciences "riding the most worn-out, doing the most cutting-edge, thinking of the most distant".

After leaving his hometown, Liu Zhenxing has been speaking a standard and thick Changle dialect. In his later years, he had a clear mind and liked to debate. Every time he gives a report, he likes to stand, he says that standing and talking freely, doing movements is not constrained, once he sits down, he can't speak. He often stands for two or three hours, dancing with his hands, lively and lively, going deep and shallow, and not drinking water or resting in the middle. He said it had been like this for all these years and was used to it.

At the end of each report, he would "blow" a cigarette and take a break. He calls smoking "blowing smoke", and the biggest difference from other people's smoking is that he never actually smokes the cigarette, "just here!" He pointed to his throat and explained, "I'm playing, not sucking in, blowing." ”

Liu Zhenxing does not drink alcohol, even if there is socializing, it is a shallow taste. Referring to the amount of alcohol, he laughed boldly: "Some people joke that I have a small amount of alcohol." I am also a Big Han in Shandong, how can I have no alcohol. But I can control myself, just don't drink, I have a lot of things to think about, I have to protect my brain. Speaking of which, the humorous man did not forget to point to his big head.

He returned to his alma mater many times to make a report and encourage students to work hard

In his later years, Liu Zhenxing lived in the Zhongguancun community in Beijing's Haidian District. On weekdays, he often volunteers to explain popular science knowledge to residents, in order to let the Zhongguancun community participate in the evaluation of popular science characteristic communities, he wears a ribbon in the community to distribute popular science atlases for residents to carry out publicity. The healthy growth of adolescents is his greatest concern, and during the breaks, he is often surrounded by children and talks about scientific knowledge. In 2003, Liu Zhenxing's "handprint" was printed on the handprint wall of scientists in the Zhongguancun community.

Liu Zhenxing has a deep affection for his alma mater Changle No. 1 Middle School, visiting his alma mater many times, giving reports to students, reviewing his reading life, introducing his scientific research achievements, sharing his experience in doing learning, putting forward expectations and requirements for students, and encouraging them to learn and become talents... He used his own growth and development to give students a lesson in popular science knowledge and ideal talent education. In the spring of 2002, Changle No.1 Middle School named the boulevard that runs from east to west and ascends step by step on the campus as "Academician Road". In front of the teaching building on the north side of the road, statues were erected for liu zhenxing and liu yixun.

On the eve of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Changle No. 1 Middle School in 2008, the school history exhibition hall collected relevant materials and pictures from liu zhenxing and Liu Yixun, two academicians from Changle No. 1 Middle School, and set up an independent academician exhibition hall. In the early autumn of 2008, the school sent someone to Beijing by appointment, walked into the homes of two academicians, and personally received their donated materials. Liu Zhenxing donated the "Double Star Plan" exploration satellite model, lunar exploration engineering model, the first set of satellite cloud maps transmitted by the "Fengyun 3" meteorological satellite and other physical materials are particularly precious.

Seriously ill do not put forward special requirements, instructed to donate scientific research materials

In February 2016, on the eve of the Spring Festival, Liu Zhenxing was hospitalized for treatment due to lung disease aggravating breathing difficulties. When Zhou Xinmin received the news, he immediately put down his work and flew back from Australia to take care of his seriously ill father at Beijing Haidian Hospital. "My father was transferred to Peking University First Hospital and Zhongguancun Hospital for treatment for several months, and I have been with him." Speaking of those days, Zhou Xinmin was more admiring of his father's strong perseverance. "His father dedicated his youth to his lifelong career, and eventually accumulated into a disease, because chronic bronchitis caused lung infection, the disease tortured him to great pain, but he gritted his teeth and insisted, asking the family not to burden the medical staff and the organization, and he never made any special demands to the organization."

Before his death, Liu Zhenxing instructed his son to continue to do a good job in sorting out his materials and papers, contribute materials beneficial to the people and society to scientific research units at the appropriate time, and donate some souvenirs from his personal collection to the history museum of his alma mater, Changle No. 1 Middle School.

Zhou Xinmin said he accompanied his father through his final years. At 3:45 a.m. on March 23, 2016, Liu Zhenxing died in Beijing at the age of 86.

On March 29, 2016, the farewell ceremony of academician Liu Zhenxing's body was held in the Plum Hall of Babaoshan Funeral Home. Directly above the door of the hall hangs a banner with white characters on a black background and a link, "Academician Liu Zhenxing is immortal" and "A new monument to the career of space exploration in his life, nine days of sadness and the stars flashing back to the soul". Directly below the hall is the remains of Academician Liu Zhenxing. The body of Academician Liu Zhenxing lay in a cluster of flowers and cypresses, covered with the flag of the Communist Party of China. Wreaths presented by party and state leaders, the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other units were placed on both sides of the hall. Hundreds of leaders of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, leaders of relevant units and departments, friends, colleagues, and students of Academician Liu Zhenxing, as well as staff and workers and graduate students of the National Space Science Center of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, went to the funeral home to bid him farewell.

Double stars shine brightly, and the dream is realized. Academician Liu Zhenxing has driven the crane to the west, and the double-star plan has successfully completed its mission. But human beings look up at the stars and pursue their dreams.

Changle No.1 Middle School built a cultural wall for academicians, and the tall and wide stone surface was inscribed with eight big characters of "Training Spirit, Revitalizing and Chasing Dreams". Today, the Academician Road, Academician Statue and Academician Culture Wall on campus have attracted many students, parents, alumni and people from all walks of life to stop. The spirit of academicians and the achievements of academicians are inspiring generations of students to strive for self-improvement, pursue excellence, and move forward to realize the "academician dream".

Images in this issue are courtesy of Zhou Xinmin and Wu Wenfu