Science and Technology Daily reporter He Liang
The memorial hall has been renovated, the work area is clean and tidy, and the ecological environment is getting better and better... In the Jinyintan grassland of Qinghai Province, a stable and harmonious life is unimaginable, 63 years ago, Jinyintan was deserted, in order to develop the nuclear industry, this place mysteriously disappeared from the map, followed by a large number of scientific researchers.
Yang Du, who has worked in qinghai 221 factory for nearly 30 years, can still clearly tell the location of each branch factory and what work content they are responsible for. He told reporters that most of them did not know what kind of weapon they were building. It wasn't until October 16, 1964, over Lop Nur in western China, that a gorgeous mushroom cloud rose in the air and China's first atomic bomb was successfully exploded, and many people vaguely realized how important their work was.
On October 16, 1964, China's first atomic bomb was successfully detonated. Xinhua News Agency
Liu Zhendong, who is 91 years old and was a technician who made atomic bomb explosives at the 221 factory, talked about the past and said excitedly and high-pitchedly: Participating in the development of the atomic bomb is the honor of my life!
The symphony of "Two Bombs and One Star" was played by tens of thousands of "Yang Du" and "Liu Zhendong".
In 1955, the central government made a strategic decision to develop the atomic bomb, and the curtain on China's development of the atomic bomb slowly opened.
Tens of thousands of soldiers, university graduates, workers and technicians have come to camp in a large Gobi desert. They put down their guns and pens, carried pickaxes and shovels, set up tents and pots on the moraines, and braved the hot heat and the dust that swept over their faces, digging wells and opening up the wilderness, and launching a battle for survival.
After years of hard fighting, the original empty Gobi Desert was dotted with buildings.
In November 1962, the Central Committee set up a 15-member special committee headed by Comrade Zhou Enlai to lead the development of the "two bombs and one satellite." Zhou Enlai repeatedly stressed that our development of cutting-edge undertakings is different from that of capitalist countries, and that we must carry forward the superiority of the socialist system, organize vigorous coordination throughout the country, organize cooperation from the beginning of scientific research, and twist into a rope to jointly overcome technical difficulties.
In order to develop and test nuclear weapons, the state has organized scientific research forces in five aspects, namely, scientific research forces in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, national defense scientific research institutions, industrial departments, institutions of higher learning, and local scientific research forces. There are 26 ministries (institutes) in the country, and more than 20 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities, including more than 1,000 factories, colleges and universities, have participated in the battle to tackle key problems. The "nine calculations" and "grassland congress battles" in the development of the atomic bomb; the "mass discussion" and the "Shanghai Hundred Days Offensive" in the breakthrough of the hydrogen bomb principle are all the results of the collective wisdom to tackle key problems, and they are all fully embodied and successfully practiced by the advantages of the socialist system.
In developing the "two bombs and one satellite," in addition to independently overcoming theoretical problems, it is also necessary to vigorously coordinate efforts to overcome industrial and technological difficulties.
The development of sophisticated weapons requires many new raw materials. At that time, the development and development of thousands of new raw materials could not be completed without the coordinated research of the whole country. Together with electronic components, precision machinery, instrumentation, special equipment, testing technology, and measurement benchmarks, they were known as the "Seven Things to Open the Door" of the cutting-edge cause of national defense, and became a well-known mobilization order on the scientific research front at that time.
In order to concentrate on the two bombs, sputnik research has been slowed down. When the two-bomb business came to an end, the development of artificial satellites also accelerated.
Initially, the development of the Long March 1 rocket was difficult. In order to ensure the successful development of the first artificial satellite, in the second half of 1967, the central government decided to establish the China Academy of Space Technology, and Sun Jiadong was appointed to be responsible for the overall design of the satellite.
Sun Jiadong selected eighteen technical backbones with experience in missiles, satellites, and systems engineering to undertake the task of developing satellite bodies. Qian Xuesen once said: I hope that you can become the eighteenth warrior of aerospace and break out a heavenly road for China's satellites!
As a result, the entrepreneurial road of Chinese exploring the mysteries of space was opened.
The project required a plug of more than two dozen pins, and Sun Jiadong found the Shanghai Radio Fifth Factory to help make it. In early September 1969, the Long March 1 carrier rocket completed commissioning. At this time, six ground satellite monitoring and control stations in Kashgar, Nanning, and Hainan were also built, and Chen Fangyun and other scientists tracked and observed foreign satellites, proving that the performance of China's measurement and control network was excellent.
On April 24, 1970, China's first artificial satellite was finally successfully launched. Nearly 60 percent of the country's communication lines were used during the launch, and hundreds of thousands of people guarded the communication lines alone, from the test site area to the various observation and control stations.
It is precisely the powerful joint force formed by the socialist system that can ensure the realization of such a great feat as "two bombs and one satellite." Qian Xuesen once deeply felt that China is engaged in "two bombs" when its industry and technology are very weak, and it is impossible without a socialist system.
Editor: Liu Yiyang
Review: Yue Liang