From obscurity to limelight
-- Remembering the growth path of "Commander Zero".
"5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition! Take off!" At 20:59 on April 25, 2024, as the command issued by Commander Zero Zhao Lei resounded through the accusation hall, the Long March-2F carrier rocket held the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft, crossed a beautiful arc in the sky, and successfully sent three astronauts to the Chinese space station. Zhao Lei once served as the zero commander of the Shenzhou 17 manned mission, and in just half a year, he once again stepped into the position of zero commander. After the successful launch, he was relieved, and a relaxed, happy expression appeared on his face, perhaps only he knew best in his heart how much hard work he and his team zero had put into making this moment a complete success.
"Zero" is not achieved overnight, but accumulated steadily
"If the ideal is a peak in life, then every step towards the peak must be down-to-earth in order to be imprinted", this is Zhao Lei's motto. In 2006, after graduating from university, Zhao Lei came to work at Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center, and has successfully completed 10 manned spaceflight and more than 100 satellite launch missions. Every time the roar of the rocket ignition and take-off made him intoxicated, for the love of the aerospace industry, for the aerospace dream in his heart, he has always persisted and struggled. From an ordinary operator to the commander of the rocket subsystem, from the commander of the rocket to the commander of the zero of the manned spaceflight, he took every step firmly and powerfully.
Zhao Lei's first position in the work was the operator of the rocket and arrow, and he dealt directly with the rocket every day, and he was excited in the face of this behemoth. In order to be competent for the post as soon as possible, he flipped through the drawings and checked the information in the office during the day, practiced various operational skills in the arrow, worked overtime at night to study various professional theoretical knowledge, summarized and refined the key points of the work in a timely manner, and soon grew into the technical backbone and sub-system commander of the professional group by relying on diligence and hard training.
Since his work, he has always insisted on doing one post, loving one post, specializing in one post, and refining one post, treating the job as a classroom, taking command and operation as a subject, concentrating on the study of professional theoretical knowledge, and carefully polishing the task team. In his work, after integrating and comprehending, he can always form a unique innovative perspective, explore and form a set of professional construction and talent training ideas and measures suitable for the actual situation of the unit, promote the completion of the construction of the professional training supporting teaching material system from a high starting point, and form a series of good experience and practices in the process of performing the task, which has effectively promoted the comprehensive construction of the unit and the innovative development of the launch mission.
"Zero" is not a talent, but a hard work
The most intuitive impression left by Commander Zero is that he calmly issued various orders in the command hall and carried out the ignition countdown. However, this is only a small part of what is seen in the work of Commander Zero.
In the manned space launch mission, Commander Zero is the highest dispatcher of the launch site area and the "leading goose" of the entire mission implementation team.
In order to adapt to the various ability requirements of the zero commander position, in the Shenzhou 16 manned flight mission, Zhao Lei, as the new zero commander training object, was arranged to study in the trainee position. In the face of new challenges, he used all his time to learn the overall knowledge of rockets, spacecraft and launch site systems, comprehensively analyzed and studied the test process and coordination relationship of each system, was familiar with the information interaction and interface between the systems, and sorted out the typical failures, main risks and emergency response strategies of each system. In this mission, although he is the backup zero, he strictly demands himself according to the standards of the main post, and through hard training and the careful help of the master, he has achieved "clear key parameters, clear important work processes, clear command process passwords, and clear emergency response steps". In the Shenzhou 17 manned mission, he successfully passed the pre-job assessment with excellent results, and was appointed as the commander of Zero.
Zhao Lei often said that when you are desperate, you must not be merciful to your subordinates, only by working hard can you deserve a better self, and only by taking root downwards can you continue to grow upward. It is with this unswerving tenacity, down-to-earth drive and positive hard work that Zhao Lei stepped out of his own sea of stars step by step.
"Zero" is not alone, but united
Space launch is a high-risk and complex system project, and the standards and quality requirements of manned space flight are even more stringent. Commander Zero is faced with such a complex system, and it is impossible to rely on it alone. Before the official debut, Zhao Lei and his team Zero made the most adequate preparations, the complex project seems to be complicated, but in fact, the context is clear, the operation is smooth, and under the coordination and cooperation of the team, the progress of the work is in an orderly manner.
Zhao Lei said: "Zero" is not a person, but a team, since the start of the space station construction project, we have tempered a normal operation, dedicated to the main business, capable and efficient manned space professional team, our team is responsible for organization and coordination, responsible for the overall technical and positive work to promote, and also responsible for reverse plan deduction and risk prevention and control. We have a clear division of labor, tacit cooperation, like a precision machine, orderly and autonomous operation. ”
"After the experience of many launch missions, we have designed systematic plans and plans, formed a standardized test and launch process and post configuration, built modular support elements and procedural disposal capabilities, and highlighted the work concept that prevention is better than filling leaks after the fact, and through these standards, norms, systems and experience practices, we have ensured the efficient development of various tasks," said Du Jianzhou, the overall task of the Zero team.
"We have caught up with a good era, the development of China's aerospace is booming, providing us with a broad stage to realize personal value, my growth can resonate with China's aerospace at the same frequency, I am deeply honored and proud. Next, our team will move to the second half of the Shen 19 mission preparation, we will live up to expectations, forge ahead, do every job to the extreme, make each position a bright spot, return the motherland with success, and strive to write a new chapter in China's aerospace in the new era. Zhao Lei said proudly.
Author丨Wang Lingshuo