At 10:00 on June 29, 2021, the awarding ceremony of the "July 1st Medal" was solemnly held in the Great Hall of the People. According to the "Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Awarding the "July 1st Medal", 29 comrades were awarded the "July 1st Medal". Among them, the eldest is a person from An Zhangshan, Comrade Lu Yuanjiu.
In the twenty-sixth year of Guangxu (1900), Lu Zizhang, a 12-year-old lai'an teenager, won xiucai. In the thirty-fourth year of Guangxu (1908), Lu Zizhang graduated from the Department of Mathematics and Physics of The Liangjiang Excellent Normal School in Nanjing. On The ninth day of the ninth month of the Republic of China (1920), this Lu surname Xiucai was pleased with his noble son and named him "Yuan Jiu". During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Mr. Lu Zizhang founded lai'an County Junior High School, the first middle school ever built in Lai'an County, in his hometown, the Guandi Temple in the north of Zhangshan Ji, which is the predecessor of the current Lai'an Middle School. Mr. Lu Zizhang is known as "the first person to come to An modern education".
In 1925, Lu Yuanjiu went to primary school, graduated in 1930, and jumped a grade in the middle. In this year, Chuzhou began to run a junior high school, and Lu Yuanjiu became the first junior high school student of Anhui Provincial No. 8 Middle School (later renamed Anhui Provincial Chuzhou Middle School). In the junior high school stage, Lu Yuanjiu began to show outstanding intelligence and mastered the knowledge of natural science relatively well. In 1933, Lu Yuanjiu entered Jiangsu Provincial Nanjing Middle School to attend high school, and in the third year of high school, the school opened an elective course of "higher physics", Lu Yuanjiu asked for an elective, but without the approval of the teacher, he could only observe. The teacher's heuristic teaching method in the classroom stimulated Lu Yuanjiu's interest in learning, and his academic performance has made a new improvement.
In the summer of 1936, Lu Yuanjiu graduated from high school, but due to a serious foot disease, he delayed the college entrance examination, and had to study at the Lai'an Middle School where his father taught while treating his illness. Lu Yuanjiu later recalled: This illness was blessed by misfortune. Cultivated self-learning ability, under the guidance of many teachers, through their own exploration, mastered a set of learning methods.
In 1937, Lu Yuanjiu chose three universities to apply for the examination, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Central University and Nantong Textile Institute (Baodi), and in terms of majors, he chose the Department of Aeronautics of Central University, the Department of Electrical Engineering of Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Department of Textile Machinery of Nantong Textile College. On July 7, the Lugou Bridge Incident broke out. In late July and early August, Lu Yuanjiu took the admissions exams of three schools in Shanghai and Nanjing, respectively. Lu Yuanjiu was admitted to three universities at the same time.
After the "August 13 Incident" in Shanghai, wars were raging and the situation was turbulent. Lu Yuanjiu first received a notice of registration from Nanjing Central University. Central University decided to relocate the school from Nanjing to Chongqing, Sichuan. In early October, braving the smoke of gunfire, Lu Yuanjiu went up the river, passing through Anqing and Wuhan, and arrived in Chongqing, the rear area, where he lived in Chuandong Normal School. In mid-November, in a bungalow built on a hill in Shapingba, Lu Yuanjiu began his university studies.
It was only in 1937 that Chuo University began to display the sign of "Department of Aviation". In the early 1930s, for the purpose of military aggression and control, Japan always paralyzed the Government of the Republic of China: "In terms of the air force, we can protect you, and you do not need to build your own air force." In 1933 and 1934, college students who had graduated were recruited to train for two years in the "mechanical special class" (actually aviation technology training class) of Chuo University, and then sent abroad for further study. The name "Mechanical Special Class" was chosen so as not to touch the nerves of the Japanese. The country is poor and weak, and it has to rely on people's sniffles.
Chuo University is a cultural area, and according to international practice, military aircraft should not bomb this area, but the school was bombed three times. Once, Lu Yuanjiu and his classmates had just run to the door of the air raid shelter, and the air waves formed by the explosion threw them to the ground. In June 1941, an enemy bombing flattened part of the classroom, Lu Yuanjiu's graduation thesis was found in the rubble, and a copy of the English-Chinese Dictionary still had shrapnel. Therefore, Lu Yuanjiu especially cherished the opportunity to go to college during the war, although he chose the engine major, he also studied the basic courses of other majors very seriously. Relying on scholarships and student loans to support the years of hard study, I hope that I will become a talent as soon as possible and serve the country.
In 1942, at the invitation of President Wang Xinggong, assistant professor Lu Yuanjiu accompanied Li Dengke, a professor of engineering at Central University, to Wuhan University in Leshan, Sichuan Province, to assist in the preparation of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering. However, a year later, the Ministry of Education decided that the conditions for Wuhan University were not mature enough and did not approve its establishment of a department of aviation, so Li Dengke and Lu Yuanjiu returned to the Central University in 1943.
In the days when he was a teaching assistant at Central University, Lu Yuanjiu used his spare time to study hard, and finally obtained the qualification to study in the United States at public expense. In August 1945, Lu Yuanjiu embarked on a foreign study path, arrived in New York three months later, and was assigned to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At the beginning of 1946, as a transitional period, Lu Yuanjiu worked full-time in the school for half a year.
During the Second World War, automatic control technology developed rapidly, and inertial technology has been widely used in the fields of aviation and navigation. The German V-2 missile uses a gyroscope and an accelerometer to complete the task of controlling the missile's flight trajectory. At this time, inertial navigation is still in its infancy. Professor Dreber of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology advocates the application of automatic control theory and methods to the field of inertial technology. This technology is critical, and the U.S. government lists it as an important military research project. The main research content of the instrumentation major in the Department of Aeronautics is inertial navigation. Lu Yuanjiu, who had the courage to challenge, resolutely applied to participate in the work of the Instrumentation Teaching and Research Department and was approved.
Instrumentology is a newly created cross-cutting major, and there are more basic courses required to be read: in addition to some courses in the Department of Aeronautics, there are also more than 20 courses in the Department of Electrical Engineering, the Department of Physics and the Department of Mechanics. For a full-time student, three years is required.
Faced with difficult learning tasks, Lu Yuanjiu did not dare to slack off in the slightest. At that time, his life trajectory was the three-point line of classrooms, laboratories and dormitories. For a while, the Nationalist government cut off financial support for international students, and Lu Yuanjiu was forced to study while working in the canteen. At that time, Lu Yuanjiu rarely went out of the school gate. Watching a movie once a year during the holidays is to treat yourself. Kung Fu paid off, and in less than two years, Lu Yuanjiu completed the study of the basic course with full honors.
Subsequently, Lu Yuanjiu passed the thesis defense and became the first doctoral student in Professor Dreb's instrumentation major. Under the leadership of this "father of inertial navigation technology", Lu Yuanjiu has entered the world frontier of this subject field.
In 1949, Lu Yuanjiu was happy to be at the door: first, he obtained a doctorate; The second is to marry Wang Huanbao, a master's degree in the United States and a fellow villager in Anhui.
In 1950, Lu Yuanjiu and Wang Huanbao's first child was born, named Huailai; In 1953, the second child was born and named Huaixin; In 1955, the third child was born and named Huaizhong. One is to always miss New China, and the other is because the children's father is from Lai'an, Anhui, and their mother is from Huaining, Anhui.
After receiving his doctorate, the 29-year-old Lu Yuanjiu was hired by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as an associate researcher and research engineer, and continued to engage in research work in different research groups. In 1950, he transferred to the structural dynamics laboratory to study the destructive effects of atomic bombs, in order to avoid difficulties in returning to China, he avoided similar sensitive professional fields, to the United States Ford Motor Company Science Laboratory as a chief engineer, Lu Yuanjiu participated in the exploration of a number of advanced scientific and technological projects, including the development of the world's first air cushion car.
Living in the United States for ten years, Lu Yuanjiu has been worried about the motherland all the time. At the end of 1955, Lu Yuanjiu saw a proclamation: "According to the Geneva Agreement between China and the United States, the Chinese in the United States includes international students, and those who voluntarily return to China can now go back." If you have difficulties and need help, you can contact the Indian Embassy in the United States..." The agreement applies to American prisoners of war in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and in a certain sense, this is the Exchange of Chinese Students by the United States for American Prisoners of War.
After many efforts, through various checkpoints, and certificates issued by the Indian Embassy in the United States, in March 1956, the passport required for the booking of the ferry ticket was finally solved.
At the end of April 1956, Lu Yuanjiu and his wife took their three children and boarded a ship back to their motherland. After many hardships, on May 23, he finally arrived at the Luohu Port in Shenzhen, stepped on his own territory, and saw the five-star red flag. Lu Yuanjiu couldn't help but shout, "We're home!"
In June 1956, Lu Yuanjiu was assigned to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and participated in the preparation of the Institute of Automation, successively serving as a researcher, director of the research office, deputy director, and participating in the research and development of inertial navigation technology. Lu Yuanjiu invited Yang Jiaqi and Tu Shancheng, who returned to China after him, to join him in the automation institute to start a business. Later, Tu Shancheng and Lu Yuanjiu became the technical leaders of China's artificial satellite control system, and Yang Jiaqi became one of the four initiators of China's famous "863 Project".
In 1958, the tasks of the Institute of Automation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences shifted from industrial automation to sounding rockets and satellites. After the Soviet Union and the United States successively launched artificial earth satellites, Zhu Kezhen, Qian Xuesen, Zhao Jiuzhang and other scientists suggested that China should also carry out research on artificial earth satellites. At a mobilization meeting, Lu Yuanjiu pointed out: "It is necessary to carry out research on the automatic control of artificial satellites, and it is necessary to recycle it by means of control. The concept of "recycling satellites" was proposed earlier in the world.
In August 1958, the Chinese Academy of Sciences established three design institutes. Among them, the second design institute is responsible for the development of the control system, with Lu Qiang as the director, lu Yuanjiu, Tu Shancheng and Zhang Hanying as the technical guides.
During the National Day in 1958, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and relevant units cooperated to hold an exhibition of natural science achievements, which was visited by nearly 40,000 people from 445 units. China's first sounding rocket instrument module assembled by Lu Yuanjiu and his colleagues attracted attention, and Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Zhou Enlai, Zhu De, Chen Yun, Deng Xiaoping, and others visited the scene one after another, and Lu Yuanjiu served as the interpreter of this exhibition.
On November 3, 1962, the Central Fifteen-Member Special Committee ("CPO") was established to lead the development of atomic bombs, missiles and satellites.
From 1958 to 1965, Lu Yuanjiu was also the deputy director and professor of the Department of Automation at the University of Science and Technology of China.
In 1965, the Central Special Commission approved the satellite planning plan, and at the same time issued several tasks to the Chinese Academy of Sciences: the establishment of the Satellite Design Institute (code name "651" Design Institute); Set up the code name "157 Project" (Lu Yuanjiu is the technical leader); In Changchun, the first liquid float inertial device research base in China was established. Lu Yuanjiu led the team to carry out the development of a single-degree-of-freedom liquid floating gyroscope, a liquid floating pendulum accelerometer and a liquid floating gyro stabilization platform. Under the presidency of Lu Yuanjiu, China's first large precision centrifuge was born in Changchun.
From 1968 to 1978, Lu Yuanjiu was assigned to the 502 Research Institute of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry as a researcher, and was not arranged to engage in practical work. In 1978, Lu Yuanjiu was transferred to the 13 institutes of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry as a researcher and director.
In 1980, Lu Yuanjiu was elected as a member of the Faculty of Chinese Academy of Sciences.
In December 1982, at the age of 62, Lu Yuanjiu honorably joined the Communist Party of China.
After 1984, Lu Yuanjiu successively served as the chief engineer of the Ministry of Aerospace Industry (Ministry of Aerospace Industry, China Aerospace Industry Corporation, China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation), member of the Standing Committee of the Science and Technology Commission, and consultant of the Science and Technology Commission. Today, the 101-year-old academician Lu Yuanjiu is connected to China's space industry. Since studying aviation in 1937, he has been working in this field for more than 80 years. He often said: "Heavenly products, 99 points fail, equivalent to zero points." 100 points to pass, pass the pass to evaluate good or bad. ”
In 1985, Lu Yuanjiu became an academician of the International Astronautical Chinese Academy of Sciences; Vice-President of the International Astronautical Federation from 1987 to 1990; In June 1994, he became one of the first academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, one of the few academicians of the Two Academies.
On June 29, 2021, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China awarded Lu Yuanjiu the "July 1st Medal".