Growing up with the "Chinese Heavenly Eye" - the young people in Da wo Tai

Guangming Daily reporter Qi Fang

On March 31, the world's largest single-aperture radio telescope (FAST) in Dawotai, Pingtang, Guizhou, was opened to scientists around the world, making the "China Sky Eye" once again the focus of public opinion. More than 10 years of project establishment, 5 years of construction, to the present output of fruitful scientific research results, how many people have dedicated their youth and life to the "Chinese Tianyan", and how many people here from scientific research "Xiaobai" to the backbone of the independent force.

There is a group of young people with an average age of less than 40 years old. Peng Jiang, Executive Deputy Director and Chief Engineer of FAST Operation and Development Center, 43; Hengqian Gan, Director of the Electronic and Electrical Engineering Department of FAST Operation and Development Center, 43 years old; Sun Jinghai, Director of measurement and control Engineering Department of FAST Operation and Development Center, 38 years old; Hui Li, Director of Structural and Mechanical Engineering Department of FAST Operation and Development Center, 47 years old; Pan Gaofeng, Director of The General Management Department of FAST Operation and Development Center, 40 years old; Qian Lei, 39 years old, head of the scientific observation team of the scientific observation and data department of the FAST center; Rui Yao, 37 years old, head of the mechanical team of the structural and mechanical engineering department of the FAST center; Sun Chun, field engineer of the FAST center, 33 years old; and many younger team members.

"We grew up with FAST." Jiang Peng said that during the construction period, they ate and lived on the construction site like the workers, solving one problem after another that they did not know whether they could find the answer; during the operation period, they became waiters and security personnel, not only to meet the needs of scientists, but also to ensure the safe and normal operation of the "Chinese Tianyan".

Regarding the "Chinese Heavenly Eye", everyone can tell a lot of stories.

In the story, there are hardships and dangers. Jiang Peng recalled that in the early days of construction, There was neither a road nor a house in Dawotai, and the instruments had to rely on people to carry them up the mountain, so they lived in tents and drank surface water. "Guizhou is humid, and the quilt can squeeze out water. The last thing I was used to was not being able to take a shower, and it was really uncomfortable. "Yu Dongjun, head of the surveying team of the Measurement and Control Engineering Department of FAST Center, almost fell off the cliff." That time, I carried more than 30 pounds of equipment up the mountain. There is no road, only a temporary path cut out by migrant workers, and it takes about 3 hours to climb to the top of the mountain. There is a huge rock in the middle of the mountain, and you have to climb it yourself to get up the mountain. I climbed halfway through my hands and feet, and the grip suddenly shattered, and I subconsciously grabbed the branch next to me so that it didn't fall. When I climbed up the stone and looked back, next to it was a cliff more than ten meters deep. I'm really scared to think about it. ”

In the story, there is learning and progress. During the construction, Sun Jinghai was assigned a task - lightning protection. "I am a graduate student of Professor Nan Rendong, but I have never studied lightning protection, let alone FAST, a precision device that is exposed to the wild, has a lot of metal structures, and is covered with strong electricity and weak current, and there is no experience to learn from." My team and I learned a lot of lightning protection knowledge, consulted many experts and scholars, and finally designed a complete lightning protection system. Since the inauguration of FAST in 2016, fast subjects have not been damaged by lightning strikes. ”

In the story, there are breakthroughs and innovations. One of Yao Rui's tasks is to reduce the weight of the feeder cabin. The feeder module is fast's "eyeball", which is pulled by 6 steel cables above the sky eye and is the core component of the radio telescope. In fast design, the feeder compartment must lose weight in order for it to "move". Yao Rui introduced that the initial feeder chamber was a cylinder, "but because the weight once exceeded 30 tons, which affected the safety of the entire feeder support system, the weight had to be reduced." After repeated calculations, Yao Rui and the team finally changed the design of the feeder capsule to a diamond triangle, and changed and optimized the layout of the equipment in it.

These stories all have a starting point - Nan Rendong, people's scientist, initiator and founder of FAST, and researcher of the National Astronomical Observatories of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Jiang Peng said: "In the early days of construction, we were ignorant. It was Teacher Nan Rendong who put pressure on us, encouraged us with his words and deeds, supported us, spurred us on, and let us persevere and come to this day. Yao Rui said: "Although the new design of the feeder cabin has been calculated repeatedly, I was still very nervous when I showed the design to Teacher Nan, he looked at it for a long time and said' it is not ugly." It should be said that without the support of Teacher Nan, there would be no innovation in today's feeder cabin. ”

The years pass and the times grow old, but this inheritance will not be interrupted. Jiang Peng introduced that the team is looking for a new direction to carry out core technology research and development. "I believe that there will be many more results in the next 5 years." Jiang Peng said, "We will also get old, and we will eventually become the past tense, but there will be more young people joining FAST, there will be more young people engaged in astronomy, at that time, what we have to do is to support young people to continue to move forward." ”

Guangming Daily ( 2021-05-05 01 edition)

Source: Guangming Network - Guangming Daily