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At 3:32 on April 26, the Shenzhou-18 manned spacecraft successfully docked with the radial port of the Tianhe core module of the space station.
Li Cong, an astronaut from Handan, Hebei Province, as one of the three astronauts on this expedition, has successfully entered the space station, where they will complete a six-month space mission.
In the past few days, Li Cong has become a star in the eyes of his hometown.
On April 25, when the launch of the Shenzhou 18 manned spacecraft was live, the small courtyard of Li Cong's house was surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside, and even the villagers who came to refuel on the roof of the house.
We also visited the area to find out how an astronaut grew up.
He hadn't been home for more than four years
On the afternoon of April 26, in the Fengfeng mining area of Handan, Chen Xingfeng and Li Junsheng came from a distance, looking a little tired. "Yesterday at noon, my blood pressure was high again. Chen Xingfeng said that in the past few days, she has not been calm for a moment.
On the morning of the 24th, when Chen Xingfeng was washing clothes at home, he received a call from his wife Li Junsheng, asking her to quickly turn on the TV and watch the news. "Our son Li Cong is being introduced in the news, saying that he was selected as the astronaut of Shenzhou 18. I'm happy, I'm so happy. Chen Xingfeng said that the more than 2-hour program, she saw the end from the beginning, and she didn't have too much worry at that time, "The country has invested so much manpower and material resources to study the spacecraft to carry people into the sky, I believe in the country." ”
This excitement lasted until the evening of the 25th.
At 20:59 on the 25th, the rocket was ignited and launched. Watching the live broadcast, sitting in his own small courtyard in Nanwang Village, Dashe Town, Fengfeng Mining Area, Chen Xingfeng straightened his upper body, clenched his fists with both hands, and stared at the TV screen with his eyes, this posture was maintained almost the whole time.
There were many cheers on the scene, but she didn't hear anything until the TV broadcast "Shenzhou 18 launch mission was a complete success", and she stood up "poof". In the cheering crowd, no one noticed, her clenched fist stretched out, and quietly wiped her eyes.
It's been more than 4 years since I last saw my son.
That time, Li Cong went home to visit relatives, and after just two days, he received a mission to return to the army. Since Li Cong was admitted to the Air Force Aerospace University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army 15 years ago, his family has been accustomed to it, Li Cong's study and work discipline are very strong, do not take the initiative to contact, do not disturb his training.
On March 22, 2024, Li Cong wears an underwater training suit and prepares to enter the water. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Xu Bu)
This is another dedication made by this ordinary family to Li Cong from an ordinary rural child to an astronaut.
When Li Cong and his sister were about to enter primary school, Li Junsheng decided to move the family to live in the city so that the children could receive a better education.
Li Junsheng has suffered the loss of backwardness in education. When he was in junior high school in the township, textbooks were distributed for some subjects without teachers, and he was angry that he was not admitted to the secondary school, and he was determined not to let the children follow his path again.
When he entered the city, Li Junsheng drove a factory in Handan No. 14 Middle School, and had an income of only a few dozen yuan a month, and he had to advance the next month's salary every month to support his family.
When the whole family goes to the city to eat and rent a house, life will be more difficult.
Chen Xingfeng remembers that the family rented two bungalows in Heilongdong Village, next to the No. 3 Primary School in the Fengfeng Mining Area, where the children slept in the inner room and the adults slept in the outer room. Not long after, forced to make a living, Chen Xingfeng also went to the factory where Li Junsheng worked as a pieceworkman, ordering hundreds of bags a day, and earning only a few yuan.
"We don't know much and we don't give our children any guidance. Every time he gets admitted to this, he chooses that, and he tells me about it, and I'll give me a hum. In fact, I was very excited and didn't know how to express it. Li Junsheng said that in the past few days, he has not slept well, and on the morning of the 26th, he took out his mobile phone again to see what his son was doing on the space station.
In 2009, he sent Li Cong to report to the Air Force Aerospace University of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. The teacher who picked up the new students said to the parents, "Don't worry, the school will take care of you better than the parents." Li Junsheng recalled, "We just gave the child a good physique, and he was trained by the state." ”
On December 7, 2023, Li Cong was conducting spacecraft operation training. Xinhua News Agency (photo by Kong Fangzhou)
Step by step, he approached his dream
At 10:14 on April 24, Li Yong, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of Dashe Town, Fengfeng Mining District, Handan City, and secretary of the Party branch of Nanwang Village, sent a message to Moments: "The pride of our village, Li Cong, Nanwang Village, Dashe Town. A few minutes later, the message set a record for the most likes since he started using WeChat.
Nanwang Village, more than 2,200 acres of land, more than 1,300 people. For the first time, many locals deeply felt that someone around them had become an astronaut.
On the evening of April 25, an hour before the launch of the Shenzhou 18 spacecraft, the courtyard of Li Cong's house was crowded with people. Others stood on the roof of the next door neighbor's house to witness the moment.
Du Wei is Li Cong's cousin, and he made a special trip from the city after work. His dream has finally come true. Du Wei said. In 2009, Li Cong, who was in college, came home from vacation and brought back a photo. Du Wei took a closer look, and the person in the middle of the group photo was actually Yang Liwei.
At that time, Li Cong was very proud to tell me that this was his senior brother. Du Wei recalled, "I can see that he is very envious of his senior brother." Du Wei felt that for a rural child, he had gone far from the village to be able to fly a fighter jet, and he never thought that Li Cong could become an astronaut.
Becoming a pilot and astronaut was not Li Cong's original dream. He used to want to be a singer.
Chen Xingfeng remembered that Li Cong spoke very late when he was a child, and he couldn't speak clearly when he was about 3 years old. One day, she found that Li Cong pressed an old tape recorder at home over and over again, followed the tape to learn a song, and within a few days, she actually babbled and sang it.
In junior high school, Li Cong was also an active member of the school's cultural activities. Chen Xingfeng can't remember how many times he helped Li Cong find costumes and props for the performance.
This is very consistent with Ye Guangfu, the commander of the crew of the Shenzhou 18 manned mission, who commented on Li Cong: he is relatively lively, and he often hears his laughter and laughter in training.
How did Li Cong, who wants to be a singer, become a pilot?
Li Cong said in an interview with the media that in his third year of high school, because he liked sports more and had certain specialties in sports, many people thought he was suitable for being a pilot.
Li Cong is a good swimmer. Near the village of Black Dragon Cave, there is a Dragon Cave Pearl Spring, which the locals say is the source of the Fuyang River. "When he was a child, he liked to swim there, and he stole there in the winter. Li Junsheng said.
This family that is not wealthy has not provided Li Cong with special classes or training. Li Junsheng still remembers that in the second half of 2008, Li Cong took home a propaganda color page for recruiting pilots and wanted to sign up.
"I think it's too far away from our village. Li Junsheng said that after some inquiry, he learned that the recruitment examination was an early admission and did not affect the application for other universities, so he did not stop it.
At the beginning of 2009, Li Cong passed the pilot physical examination and returned to Hebei Fengfeng Chunguang Middle School (renamed Hebei Fengfeng No. 1 Middle School in 2015) to prepare for the college entrance examination. His homeroom teacher, Hu Yunlin, kept cheering Li Cong up, so that he must grit his teeth and survive the past few months. "For rural children, this is a great opportunity, and they can't be brushed off because they don't pass the cultural class. Hu Yunlin said that at that time, the school organized several teachers to help Li Cong consolidate his achievements.
Hu Yunlin emphasized that Li Cong worked very hard. "At most, the teachers are pushing, but the key is the individual children. This child has many excellent qualities, has the characteristics of a rural child who is hard-working and hard-working, and also has a simple and tenacious character. Hu Yunlin said.
He never said anything about the hardships he endured
From being selected as an astronaut to the first expedition, it took Yang Liwei 5 years, Nie Haisheng 7 years, Fei Junlong 7 years, Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming, Jing Haipeng 10 years, Tang Hongbo 11 years, Ye Guangfu 11 years, Liu Wang 14 years, and Zhang Xiaoguang 15 years.
In September 2020, Li Cong was selected as the third batch of astronauts in the mainland. After Du Wei heard the news, he was very eager for his cousin to go to space as soon as possible. But he also knows that the process is long and difficult.
At the astronauts' meeting on April 24, Li Cong said that it was the time when China's space station was fully completed and the frequency of manned missions changed from once every few years to twice a year, and he was lucky to catch up with the good time when "missions wait for people".
But this also requires learning more knowledge in a shorter period of time in order to embark on the road to flying in the selection of the best of the best.
Li Cong rarely talks to his family about work. Chen Xingfeng only knew that his son flew a plane, and his son was selected as an aeronaut, including Li Cong who became one of the members of the Shenzhou 18 flight crew, and their whole family also knew it from the news.
This time, Chen Xingfeng also knew more.
For the first time, this peasant woman learned about the centrifuge and "her chest was completely overwhelmed" when she applied a certain amount of pressure, and for the first time, she knew that after wearing a pressurized training uniform and performing upper limb operation training underwater, "her hands trembled so much that she couldn't hold the sprouts".
Talking about these, Chen Xingfeng's eyes were a little red, "But every time he calls, he says it's okay, don't worry." ”
From being selected to going out, Li Cong must have paid a lot. Ye Guangfu commented on Li Cong, the youngest in the crew, "The ability to learn and understand is very strong, and the ability to operate is also very good." ”
Li Cong has loved to fiddle with things since he was a child. Li Junsheng remembers that because of poor conditions, Li Cong had almost no toys in his childhood. Once Li Junsheng came home and saw Li Cong holding a few corn cobs and wanted to set up a tower, and the corn cobs slid down when they reached a certain height. Repeated several times, Li Cong was so angry that he cried and stomped his feet, but he never stopped. "At that time, I thought, this kid is okay, he has a lot of perseverance. Li Junsheng said.
This kind of tenacity has never been lacking in Li Cong's growth.
Li Cong flew into the blue sky for the first time, "feeling dizzy and wanting to vomit". That night, he couldn't sleep all night, not believing that he couldn't be a pilot, and decided to fly again. This time, the discomfort of the previous day was completely gone. During his four years at the Air Force Aviation University, he was rated as an "outstanding cadet" every year.
In 2018, Li Cong took a group photo with Nie Haisheng at the astronaut selection site, and Li Cong was very shy in the photo. This is very different from his sister Li Nana's feelings when she watched the live broadcast on the evening of the 25th, "I haven't seen him for a few years, and it looks like a brand new brother on TV." His eyes became more determined, his expression more calm, and his tone of voice became more confident. ”
This change comes from precipitation. Li Cong once said that being a pilot made him feel more sassy and cool, and he was passionate and heroic in doing some stunts in the air. After becoming an astronaut, I can calm my mind more and make myself more calm.
"I'm looking forward to the wonderful feeling of weightlessness in space. This time, you can feel how the space home is built. The most anticipated thing is how to complete the 6-month flight (mission) safely, smoothly, without errors and without mistakes. This expectation is both a challenge and a goal. At the astronaut meeting, Li Cong said.
Let's look forward to the return of the Hebei guy from his "business trip".