"Oh no, Comrade Pengamu is gone!"
At 11:30 on June 17, 1980, the members of the scientific expedition team who were inspecting Lop Nur were about to report the relevant situation to the person in charge, Peng Jiamu, when they accidentally found that he was missing.
Peng Jiamu is a great biochemistry expert in the mainland, and his enthusiasm for biochemical research is far beyond ordinary people, even two cancers have not stopped him from exploring, for which he has been to Xinjiang 13 times, in order to create a frontier scientific research career, enrich the motherland's biochemical data.
Of the 13 trips to Xinjiang, three have been to Lop Nur. In the first two times, Peng Jiamu led the scientific expedition team to explore deeply, made many discoveries, and also made great contributions to the biochemistry of the mainland. However, such a tireless scientist did not expect an accident during the third exploration of Lop Nur.
Later, the team members found a note on his SUV that he was going east alone to find a water well to solve the water problem for the team.
However, many days passed, Pengamu still did not return, this news alarmed the country, the country immediately launched three carpet searches, strangely nothing was found, not even Pengamu's body was found, and this is also the unsolved mystery of Lop Nur to this day.
What's going on here?
Let's take a closer look!
The road encountered bad weather, and disappeared in search of water
Lop Nur belongs to the Xinjiang region, and because the water source has dried up, it has turned into a barren sandy soil, and is known as the "Sea of Death".
There, the climate is unusually harsh, with dry and hot conditions being the norm, especially in the summer, when the climate is even more severe. So there is a local saying, that is, do not enter Lop Nur in May and June.
Because in May and June, the scorching heat of Lop Nur makes people feel scorching, and at the same time, the dry climate makes people feel dry. What's even more dangerous is that a sandstorm can hit at any time, sweeping away the rolling yellow sand, making it almost impossible to distinguish the direction and sight.
So even seasoned explorers can get lost in this harsh environment, put themselves in danger, and even disappear forever in this mysterious desert.
However, this difficulty did not frighten Pengamu, who had the experience of exploring Lop Nur in the first two times, and the third time he was full of confidence and determined to solve the mystery of Lop Nur.
So in early May 1980, Pengamu organized a scientific expedition team and came to Lop Nur again. This time he re-routed his route and set his departure point at the Malan base, planning to explore from the north and cross the Lop Nur Lake Basin. He hopes that through this expedition, more valuable data and discoveries will be made to the scientific community.
After 28 days of arduous adventures, they finally completed the task, but at this time, Pengamu came up with a plan, he planned to return to Lop Nur in about 20 more days.
And it is precisely because of this decision that this scientific research journey became the last exploration of his life, and he was buried in Lop Nur forever.
It was June, and on their way back, they encountered a problem. The weather in Lop Nur is unusually hot, and you have to find a place to rest every time you travel. And it was precisely because of the hot weather that the water used by the team was quickly running out, and the gasoline was running out at this time.
So at this time, some team members suggested that they needed to contact the relevant personnel and bring them gasoline and water to solve the current situation.
But Pengamu hesitated, he thought that the country was in a state of poverty at that time, and if the country needed to use helicopters to deliver supplies to them, it would undoubtedly be a waste of resources, so he suggested that he wait a little longer, not to the point of last resort, and not to trouble the country.
After a few more days, the team finally ran out of water, and by this time it had reached the point of last resort, so Pengamu asked the state for support.
However, the process of requesting support and transporting supplies will take three or four days, and during this period, it will definitely not be able to survive in such a hot Lop Nur without water.
So for the sake of the team's lives, he decided to go and find the water source himself. Before leaving, he left a note for his team members in the off-road vehicle and headed east alone to find water. However, he disappeared forever before our eyes.
The team searched hard, but found nothing
Not long after Peng Jiamu left, the team members who were trying to report to him on the inspection could not contact him, and a sense of foreboding rose in the hearts of the team members, could it be that something was wrong?
Before they had time to think about it, the team members immediately reported the situation to the team, and everyone was shocked that they disappeared in the vast Lop Por, which is undoubtedly a very dangerous thing.
So the team members began to search hard, and finally found the note left by Peng Jiamu, and then everyone decided to look east. At first they found Pengamu's footprints, thinking that he would be not far ahead, so they sped up their journey, but after three days of searching, until the footprints disappeared, they did not find Pengamu.
During this time, they also found a candy wrapper, which must have been a clue left by Pengamu, but after searching the same place, they found nothing.
Thinking that their scientific expedition team did not have many people, it was definitely impossible to conduct a large-scale search. However, at this time, for Pengamu alone, time is of the essence. Therefore, after the team members discussed, they decided to report to the relevant departments and ask them to send more personnel to search for it, praying that they could be rescued.
Peng Jiamu has always been committed to biochemistry research, and it is his continuous exploration and research that has pushed China's biochemistry career forward a lot. Therefore, the state also attaches great importance to such outstanding talents, but now they are in danger on the way to research.
So a lot of manpower and material resources were dispatched to find Pengamu, but the search and rescue team conducted three carpet searches in Lop Nur, but in the end there was no news.
Three searches, three to no avail
Adhering to the idea that a faster search will make it more likely to survive. After receiving the request for help from the expedition team, the state did not hesitate and immediately sent the army and guards to Lop Nur.
Finally, on June 18, 1980, two days after there was no news from Pengamu, the helicopter began its first carpet search.
According to the analysis of the members of the scientific expedition team, before Pengamu's disappearance, in order to solve the problem of food shortage, they wanted to kill a camel to fill everyone's stomach, but in the process of catching the camel, the camel struggled so badly that they were tortured enough, although they finally subdued the camel, they were also exhausted.
In addition, Pengamu is still staying up late to cook camel meat, so that when his body is tired and he does not sleep for a long time, and his physical strength is not replenished, he goes out to find water the next day.
So for the first search, they set within 50 kilometers of the tent.
The helicopter flies at a low altitude, which makes it easier to observe the ground. The pilot was extremely attentive throughout the whole process, not letting go of any creature on the ground, but to his great surprise, he was so clear that he could tell how many of the rabbits were hiding in the grass, but he couldn't find Pengamu.
And in the process, he found that there were no shoe prints on the ground, so why did Pengamu disappear out of thin air?
Is there really a mysterious area in this world that no one can touch?
The idea was quickly rejected by search and rescue teams who believed in science. They soon conducted a second carpet search, and this time they re-planned the search.
Given that the previous search was within 50 kilometers of the tent at the station, it was clear that there was no trace of Pengamu, so this time they expanded the area to 4,000 square kilometers.
In view of the fact that Pengamu will collapse in the process of searching for water, once he encounters the moving quicksand and is unfortunately buried, according to the surface temperature of 60 degrees during the day at that time, it is very likely that the buried Pengamu will eventually die of dehydration and coma.
Thinking of the urgency of time, the second search proceeded quickly, this time the pilots were more careful, not to mention the grass, and even the slightly raised small sand dunes.
But even after all this hard search, Pengamu was still not heard from. At this time, more than ten days had passed since Pengamu's disappearance. In the past ten days, in the plains, those who have not eaten or drunk may not be able to survive, and they are in Lop Nur, where the environment is so precipitous.
In fact, everyone already had the answer in their hearts at that time, and Peng Jiamu was probably more than lucky this time.
But if the person is gone, the body must also be found, otherwise how can it be worthy of the scientists who have contributed to the motherland?
From November to December of the same year, the state sent 69 helicopters, 48 cars, 118 search and rescue personnel, in addition to six police dogs from the Shanghai Public Security Bureau, all of whom came to Lop Nur to conduct a final in-depth search.
This can be said to be unprecedented for China, which was so short of materials at that time, to use such a large scale in order to find a scientist.
This time, they once again expanded the search and rescue area, targeting more than 1,000 square kilometers from east to west. However, as far as the eye can see, Lop Nur is a vast expanse of endless sand, where does the slightest human population come from?
However, although the hope was very slim, none of the people present gave up lightly.
At that time, the sun was scorching, and the surface temperature exceeded 40 degrees, and everyone searched in such a difficult environment. Eventually, they had some catches, vague footprints and a crushed reed.
They even found part of the body of a camel that had been killed a few days earlier, which Pengamu probably had brought with him when he went to find a source of water so that he could have his stomach full when he was hungry.
With these clues, they were refreshed, and then confidently plunged into the search. However, the efforts put in did not yield satisfactory results.
They still haven't found Pengamu's body, Penggamu really seems to have evaporated from the world, and everyone is surprised and sad at the same time.
Such a great scientist, for the sake of scientific research, did not even find the corpse in the end, how can he not be sad!
As of the end of the third search, Pengamu had disappeared for almost six months, and the possibility of survival could basically be regarded as none, so the relevant authorities gave the final result, Pengamu had been killed in Lop Nur.
Revolutionary martyrs who mysteriously disappeared
For Pengamu's disappearance in Lop Nur, it has always been regarded by many people as a mysterious event, so in order to explore this matter, someone entered Lop Nur later, the most famous of which is Yu Chunshun, he is an excellent explorer, has been to many places to explore, but such a person with excellent exploration ability, in the end, he failed to escape the clutches of Lop Nur and was drowned in Lop Nur.
But that's all for later, back at that time, Pengamu's disappearance in Lop Nur caused a very sensational effect, and many people admired this scientist who braved the difficulties and dangers to explore the mysteries of Lop Nur, and at the same time was saddened by his unexpected death.
Therefore, in order to commemorate Pengamu's great achievements, in 1981, the state specially erected a monument to him, which still stands in the place where he disappeared, so that future generations can visit and pay respects.
In addition, Pengamu was posthumously awarded the title of revolutionary martyr in recognition of his contributions to the motherland.
Words written on the back
Pengamu was an outstanding scientist who put great effort into the exploration of Lop Nur. He was not afraid of extreme environments and difficult tests, led the team to conduct scientific research, and made outstanding contributions to the scientific and technological cause of the motherland.
Although Pengamu disappeared in Lop Nur and will never return, his fighting spirit and love for the cause of science will always remain in our hearts and encourage us.
Do you have any views on Pengamu's disappearance? Welcome to leave a message in the comment area to discuss.