Ten years, what can happen? Ten years, you can make an island full of coral and stone into trees; ten years, the coconut seedlings planted have long grown sweet coconuts; ten years, a modern space observatory on the island in the South China Sea...
Ten years ago, in the early days of the station
Explore and embark on a journey
On the morning of April 17, 2012, a fishing boat slowly sailed out of the Tanmen Wharf in Qionghai City to the Paracel Islands to unveil the mystery, but the road to exploration was uneven, and engine failure caused more than half of the fishing boat to have to return. Then, two days of fierce storms once again stopped the small boat with a displacement of only 75 tons. In this way, everyone was anxiously waiting, and on April 21, the small fishing boat embarked on the journey again, stopping and stopping on the vast sea at a speed of 6-7 knots, twisting and turning all the way, and it took two days to set foot on this small island in Xisha.
In the early days of the establishment of the station, Ning Xianju Wang Bo carried out task discussions
Construction, life, security, meteorology, after careful investigation of all aspects, the Xisha satellite observation station was finally selected on this deserted island. If there are no trees, they will plant; if there is no soil, they will move; if there is no water and electricity, water supply systems will be erected and oil engines will be added. Equipment layout, installation and commissioning, road hardening, vegetable greenhouses..... Step by step, the Xisha astronauts took root here.
"The island is very small, you can walk several laps in one breath, you can shout at one end; the island is very lonely, people come and go easily, just look at the tide rising and falling, the full moon is lacking; the island is far from the mainland, close to the sun, every day the body is wet, wipe it, you can touch the transparent salt grains on the neck, that is sweat and salt; I said that the island is a mushroom growing from the sea, the master said that it is the nail nailed by the motherland in the sea; I said that we are the island, the glorious astronauts, the master said that it is still on the South China Sea, Unsinkable eyes of heaven. ”
The few words in their poems reveal the hardships of life on the island, but also their pride and enthusiasm for the space industry.
Ning xian shouted the dispatch password
Climb, overcome the difficulties
On August 16, 2013, in the main control room, accompanied by the password of "random difference pass", the test lasted more than 7 hours was successful, and the first set of equipment on the small island of Xisha initially had the ability to participate in the test, and then in the next month, the joint test and joint commissioning were completed one month later, and all the equipment installation and commissioning tasks were successfully completed.
In order to smoothly promote the task of equipment installation and commissioning, all the personnel on the island did not have weekend holidays, worked more than 10 hours a day, were busy outdoors when there was no sun, turned to the indoor battlefield after the high temperature came up, and successively completed the work of antenna hoisting, subsystem testing, joint testing and joint commissioning of all equipment, solved more than 40 problems of various equipment and facilities, and rectified more than 40 infrastructure problems.
The power distribution group shuts off the oil engine at 12 o'clock every night to rest, starts at 6 o'clock in the morning to generate electricity, gets up the earliest, sleeps the latest; the 2 comrades of the security group are responsible for more than 50 people's three meals a day every day... Most people go to the island for 4 or 5 months, but they have never had a good look at this small island with an area of less than 0.5 square kilometers.
Wang Bo checks the status of the equipment
Wang Bo of the radar system is physically strong, but he cannot withstand the wind and waves on the sea, and every time he takes a boat is an ordeal for him. But once he landed on the island, he immediately regained his vitality, often carrying an instrument, braving the cold and damp sea breeze to climb up and down on the signal tower and the radome, in his eyes, it was his deeply loved work, "Even if I have suffered enough seasickness, I still have to go to the island, that is where I build my dreams, it is worth my efforts to pursue!" ”
Ning Xianju is now a gold medal operator in the station, when he first landed on the island, he was still a big boy with a green and astringent, a delicate face spoke softly, but he never did anything when he worked, and when the supply ships docked, he scrambled to transport supplies; when fighting against the typhoon, dozens of pounds of sandbags resisted on one shoulder, and for a long time, his body was also sunburned into "Xisha Black", but Ning Xianju did not care, and also made many exquisite handicrafts to decorate the yard in his free time. In this way, the Paracel astronauts built this place into a home.
Station Manager Zeng De led the team to carry out on-site inspections
Build dreams, graze arrows and chase the stars
The great mission is urgent, and the time is right for the deep sea to explore the sky. In 2014, the Paracel Satellite Observatory faced their first challenge.
Written tests, self-statements, and questions, focusing on the organization and command, the principle and composition of the equipment, the task process and the overall test document, the "one mouth clear, ask not to fall" assessment is in full swing; do not let go of any sign of failure, do not let go of any safety hazards, in the "find problems, pick faults" activities, has eliminated more than 20 hidden dangers of various types of faults; visit to learn, research and experience, and constantly refine the task execution process, technical status settings, fully test the reliability and safety of equipment. In the end, the target discovery and capture were timely, the tracking and positioning were accurate, and the data was received correctly, and the Xisha satellite observation station successfully completed its first actual combat mission.
At 1:56 on May 10, 2022, accompanied by the vibration of the mountain and tsunami, the Long March 7 Yaowu carrier rocket took off from the Wenchang Space Launch Site, and the Xisha Satellite Observation Station once again captured the target in time and successfully completed the tracking and measurement task.
Recent photo of the Paracel Satellite Observatory
Beidou, Chang'e, Tianwen, and then to today's space station, in the past ten years, the Xisha satellite observation station has been step by step, never slack, never stopped, those places where the horn trees have opened, is the frontier of our struggle. There we looked up at the stars, grazing the arrows.
(Author: Yu Xinhe )