Producer: Popular Science China
Producer: Li Huichao (Harbin Institute of Technology, Shenzhen)
Producer: Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Sciences
On April 29, 2021, the Tianhe core module was successfully launched, which marked that the construction of the Chinese space station was on the right track, and China's manned space project has reached the last step of three steps.
"Tianhe" core module composition diagram (Source: authorized by @Star Zhi Kechuang team, the names of each component are marked by @Frozen Sunflowers)
But in fact, as early as nearly thirty years ago, the predecessors who pioneered this cause had already anticipated today's scene.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, China was demonstrating the planning of manned spaceflight projects, and the construction of the space station was the ultimate goal of the manned space development project in the foreseeable future at that time, and the development of new generation rockets such as the Long March 7 and the Long March 5, as well as the key technologies verified and achieved by various manned space missions, must ultimately serve this goal.
However, the dream of the space station Chinese did not begin in 1992 when the central government approved the manned space project program.
"Artificial Satellite, Spaceship Ten-Year Development Plan (Draft)", where the dream began
As early as 1968, there was another document that not only planned a 150-ton space station for China, but also proposed reconnaissance spacecraft and fighter spacecraft, which now seem quite "sci-fi" plans. Although most of the plans proposed in the document entitled "Ten-Year Development Plan for Artificial Satellites and SpaceCraft (Draft)" due to the limitations of the comprehensive national strength and technological foundation at that time could not be implemented within the time it expected, it pointed out the future direction of China's space industry with great foresight, and those imaginative ideas that were very imaginative at that time were later realized one by one.
The leader and moderator of this document is None other than Mr. Qian Xuesen, a man who has led China's aerospace forward all his life, but who has been dealing with "suspension" and "dismounting" all his life.
Mr. Qian Xuesen is not only a meritorious achievement of two bombs and one star, but also a banner for Chinese scientists (Source: CCTV News)
The great scientist who worries about a hose
In 1959, in the United States, east of the Pacific Ocean, rocket expert von Braun was busy planning a series of rockets. Von Braun was the leader in the development of the V2 rocket in Nazi Germany during World War II. After being captured by the U.S. military, he was reused because of his special status as a top rocket expert, not only escaped the trial of war crimes, but also became a guest of honor for the Americans, leading the development of American missiles and launch vehicles.
In 1958, he led the design of the Juno 1 rocket that successfully launched the first artificial satellite in the United States and the Western world, The Explorer One. By 1959, he was already working on the better-performing Saturn 1 launch vehicle and began to envision how to send astronauts to the moon.
In that year, Mr. Qian Xuesen, who had been interrogating von Braun as a representative of the U.S. Military, was now worried about a hose on the other side of the Pacific.
In April 1959, the Shanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering was intensively developing the T-5 sounding rocket. Compared with the large rockets that have been successfully developed in the United States, the performance of this type of sounding rocket is very shabby. It is a "youth version" of the German V2 rocket after a shrinkage, and the entire rocket takes off weighs only more than two tons.
But it was such a seemingly simple small rocket, but the development work could not be moved forward because of a hose: the boiling point of liquid oxygen was minus 183 degrees Celsius, but at that time, no unit in the country could produce liquid oxygen hoses that could withstand temperatures below minus 180 degrees.
In addition to "it is difficult for a smart woman to cook without rice", the Shanghai Mechanical and Electrical Research Institute led by Mr. Qian Xuesen is also facing the problem of "a penny is difficult to defeat a hero". At that time, the country's economy was in difficulty, the finances were tight, and there was not much money to support rocket development.
Qian Xuesen (third from right) with the students of the systematics seminar (Source: China Academy of Aerospace Systems Science and Engineering)
The predecessor of the Shanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering was the First Design Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences established in Beijing, which was an overall satellite and rocket design and development institution established to implement Chairman Mao's call of "we must also engage in artificial satellites" in 1958.
Originally, scientists and engineers were gearing up to make China's artificial satellites go to the sky as soon as possible.
But when these imaginative and executive geniuses examined the reality of the country, they had to realize with a heavy heart that the self-made industrial system and the national economy of the new China could not support such a complex and comprehensive project as artificial satellites at that time.
After the Central Committee instructed in 1959 that "now the release of satellites is not commensurate with national strength, and space technology research tasks should be adjusted", the Shanghai Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Research turned to the development of less difficult sounding rockets.
However, even these products, which are much less difficult to develop, still make scientists encounter many objective problems that are difficult to solve on their own in a short period of time.
If Mr. Qian Xuesen had not returned to China...
If Mr. Qian Xuesen had not chosen to return to his homeland and continued to work in the United States, he probably would not have to worry about research and development funds and the technical basis of cryogenic hoses.
Due to the huge military value of missiles and rockets and the political need to carry out a space race with the Soviet Union, money was never an issue in the United States at that time.
In 1944, the U.S. Military wanted to develop plans for future airborne weapons tactics and missile development, and invited Mr. Qian Xuesen to participate as a core member. The U.S. military has promised to "not matter how much money it costs" on the issue of funding.
In the subsequent moon landing competition, the United States poured more than 200 billion US dollars (converted into the current currency) to NASA, which is responsible for civil spaceflight. During the Apollo program, NASA's annual budget accounted for about 4.5% of the total federal annual budget, but the current proportion is only about 0.5%.
Not only that, the scientific and technological industrial base of the United States at that time was complete and the technology was strong enough to make the scientists' ideas become a reality as soon as possible. Take, for example, the development of the high-thrust rocket engine needed to land on the moon. It requires the cooperation of many technical disciplines such as materials, metallurgy, machinery, chemical industry, electronic information, precision remote sensing measurement and control.
The American science and technology industrial system was not destroyed by war in World War II, but was greatly developed due to the stimulation of military orders. A large number of scientific and technological experts who came to the United States voluntarily or involuntarily from war-torn areas (such as German prisoners of war) also injected new strength into the post-war scientific and technological development of the United States.
von Braun (Image: Wikipedia)
Among the historical images of the Apollo moon landings is a rather symbolic photograph: von Braun's office is filled with rockets of all models he led, from launching the first satellite to sending astronauts to the moon. Von Braun's name was also permanently associated with the Apollo moon landings because of the important role he played in rocket development.
Mr. Qian Xuesen's mentor, the aerodynamics titan von Carmen, once praised Mr. Qian Xuesen as "the greatest genius in the field of American rocket technology". If Mr. Qian had not returned to China, who would have worked in that office?
Choose to return to your homeland, choose to be a sower
In that era when the national strength could not support the "bold" ideas of scientists, the only thing they could do was to work silently, sow one seed after another for the future, and wait for the day when the sun and rain were sufficient, and the buds could grow into towering trees as soon as possible.
Mr. Qian Xuesen gives a lecture (Source: China Academy of Aerospace Systems Science and Engineering)
In 1958, when the development of artificial satellites and launch vehicles had just begun, Mr. Qian Xuesen realized that if he wanted to have a better rocket in the future, he must pre-study the high-specific fuel in advance.
At that time, the development of high-than-impulse fuels abroad was still in the exploration stage, and there was no information to refer to. Under the leadership and presidency of Mr. Qian Xuesen, the Chinese Academy of Sciences built a test base for high-energy fuels in Huairou, and after exploration, the liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen fuel combination was selected as the development direction. In the 1960s, liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines were initially developed.
When the Long March 5 rocket roared up and sent the core module of the Tianhe space station and the Tianwen-1 Mars rover into space, the two 50-ton liquid hydrogen/liquid oxygen engines of the core level provided the key power, and their roots were in the test base built by Mr. Qian.
The two manned spacecraft planned in the "Ten-Year Plan" were named "Qianjun Stick I" and "Qianjun Wand II", which respectively had the functions of strategic reconnaissance of the ground and launching an offensive in space. Their name is derived from Chairman Mao's poem "The golden monkey rises up a thousand sticks, and Yuyu clarifies wanlie", which is quite romantic and expresses the mission of defending the family and defending the country.
In addition, a space shuttle with a take-off weight of 50 tons and capable of flying back and forth between earths and reusing is planned.
For this type of spacecraft, Mr. Qian Xuesen put forward a preliminary idea in 1949, using the V2 rocket to transform into an air and space aircraft capable of taking off horizontally, and achieving intercontinental rapid transportation through flight outside the atmosphere. This idea inspired the U.S. X-20 test vehicle, which is considered one of the sources of design ideas for the space shuttle that the United States later realized.
However, the development of these complex spacecraft was almost impossible for China at that time.
When the central government approved the development of a manned spacecraft code-named Dawn in 1970, the designers had to return to reality once again, designing the spacecraft to be a kind of spacecraft with similar performance to the "Gemini" spacecraft used in the United States in the sixties, capable of carrying two astronauts on a one-time round-trip mission between space and earth. It was such a pragmatic solution that had to be suspended in 1975 for various reasons. During the "Dawning" project, the Institute of Aerospace Medical Engineering, which is directly related to human activities in space, was established. After the suspension of "Dawn", the relevant departments once wanted to abolish the institute in order to save money.
It was Mr. Qian Xuesen who ran around and actively did all aspects of work, telling everyone that "the matter of people going to heaven is an inevitable trend in the development of aerospace science and technology" and that "if the 507 is withdrawn now, it will be difficult to engage in this business in the future." ”
A few years later, when the idea of the institute was raised again, Mr. Qian, who had always been gentle and elegant, once slapped the table. Now, this institute has become a scientific research and training center for Chinese astronauts, and all Chinese astronauts who have traveled in space in the past, present and future have been selected, trained and guarded throughout the flight process.
With the improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and the overall level of science and technology, many of the far-sighted ideas in the "Ten-Year Plan" have gradually become a reality. For example, the lighthouse-1 and lighthouse-2 navigation satellites planned in the "Ten-Year Plan" can provide navigation and positioning for China's global voyages. In 2020, the "Beidou" global navigation and positioning system was completed, becoming a shining Chinese beacon in the sea of stars. After 2010, Dongfanghong No. 3 B, Dongfanghong No. 4 and other communication satellite platforms were successfully developed and began to provide stable and reliable services, and the concept of "ion rocket-driven and large-capacity synchronous orbit satellite" planned in the "Ten-Year Plan" was realized.
epilogue
From Shenzhou 5 to Shenzhou 7, whenever an astronaut triumphs from space, he will make a special trip to Mr. Qian Xuesen's home to report to him.
Aerospace hero Yang Liwei returned from his first flight and reported to Mr. Qian Xuesen (Source: CCTV)
Mr. Qian Xuesen has seen with his own eyes that the seeds sown by him and other older scientists have grown into towering trees. The steel forest called "Dongfeng" that they cultivated guards the peaceful life of the people every day.
At that time, the youngest professor at MIT returned to his homeland, where his national strength was not yet developed, giving up not only a comfortable life and a good income, but also many opportunities to associate his name with "the first time of mankind", and many opportunities to write his work into university textbooks. In 2009, when reporting the news of Mr. Qian Xuesen's death, many Western media simply attributed the reason for Mr. Qian's return to China to the prevalence of McCarthyism at that time.
Mr. Qian Xuesen and his father Qian Junfu, who is one year old (Source: "Approaching Qian Xuesen")
What they didn't know, however, was that when Mr. Qian stepped out of the country, his father had sent a message to him:
"Man is born with qualities: such as philosophy, such as benevolence, such as righteousness, such as wisdom, such as loyalty, such as compassion, such as filial piety." "Wu'er's journey to the west this time is not his dream, when he returns gently, he will return brilliantly."
The feeling of home and country is engraved in the bones of every true Chinese, although the forms of expression and realization are different, but it is the common pursuit of Yanhuang's descendants to make earth-shattering or obscure achievements for the prosperity and strength of their own country.
Image source: Animation "That Year's Rabbit Those Things"
Resources:
1. Qian Xuesen's Aerospace Years, China Aerospace Publishing House