Source: China Military Network-People's Liberation Army Daily
A long journey to explore the moon
■Xu Binru
Chang'e-6 went home with the "souvenirs" of the "Guanghan Palace"! Many people are waiting for it and looking forward to it.
On the afternoon of June 25, in the high-voltage substation of the Wenchang Cosmodrome, Yang Hengdong, the person in charge of the power supply system, had just returned to the duty room of the dispatching center against the sun, and his mobile phone received the news that the Chang'e-6 returner had successfully landed in the Siziwang Banner of Inner Mongolia with lunar soil.
Yang Hengdong is 45 years old this year, because he has been deeply involved in the field of power supply and distribution at the space launch site for more than 20 years, and is an authoritative figure in the profession, and everyone is used to calling him "Lao Yang".
Space launch, power supply first. From the arrival of rockets and spacecraft at the launch site, key links such as testing, final assembly, and filling rely on high-quality power guarantee as a prerequisite, and all kinds of precision instruments and equipment in the plant rely on the power supply system to continuously transmit electric energy, and the control of ambient temperature and humidity is also inseparable from power guarantee.
It has been 20 years since China's lunar exploration program was officially established in 2004. From Xichang Cosmodrome to Wenchang Cosmodrome, from Chang'e-1 to Chang'e-6, Laoyang has participated in the power supply guarantee work of all launch missions since the lunar exploration project.
From its launch on May 3 to today's return home with "local products," "Chang'e" has been on a "business trip" in space for 53 days.
The mission was successful, and Lao Yang's heart finally fell into his stomach. The last time he was so excited was when the Chang'e-6 lander raised the five-star red flag with a robotic arm on the far side of the moon. Lao Yang watched this news video over and over again, with a proud and relieved smile on his face, just like seeing his own child unfold the award.
Along the way, "Chang'e" seems to be an old friend who has known Lao Yang for a long time and has been walking together. In the days of walking with the lunar exploration project, Yang Hengdong adhered to a pure heart and witnessed the solid pace of China's aerospace industry towards deep space with thousands of astronauts.
Yang Heng, the person in charge of the power supply system of the Wenchang Cosmodrome, used a telescope to observe the high-voltage overhead lines outside the site during his eastern patrol. Photo by Li Wenjun
Lingshan Snow
"I really caught up with a good time"
"I got in touch with 'Chang'e' in Daliang Mountain, Xichang." Yang Hengdong's thoughts went back to 27 years ago-
In the winter of 1997, on the bumpy bus, Yang Hengdong looked out the window at the continuous snow-capped mountains. This is the first time I have seen such a beautiful snow-capped mountain.
At that time, he did not know that just a few months ago, three academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences had just published the "Proposal for the Development of Continental Lunar Exploration Technology". At that time, he never imagined that he would have such a wonderful intersection with the distant moon in the future.
After officially becoming an astronaut at the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, Yang Hengdong's deepest impression was not only the snow in Daliang Mountain, but also the endless charts in the computer room.
At that time, the power quality monitoring method adopted at the launch site was still very traditional. Yang Hengdong, the post operator, has to calibrate and zero the testing instruments in the computer room every day: wait for the pointer voltage recorder to draw lines on the paper to form a chart, and then manually interpret, count and analyze.
A thick handwritten data record book, like the annual rings of a big tree, records the energy flow of this space launch site in the depths of Daliang Mountain, and also witnesses the surging blood of astronauts.
In 2003, the Xichang launch site promoted the upgrading of old facilities. At that time, the No. 3 tower area, which had gone through decades of wind and rain, had problems such as aging circuits and corrosion of equipment, and was a key renovation project, and it was urgent to expand the talent force. Yang Hengdong, who has studied abroad for two years and has a foundation in electricians, wrote a "letter of request" to the party branch and took the initiative to ask to participate in the task.
Seeing the old yellowed drawings and broken lines, Yang Hengdong felt as if he had stepped on a real "battlefield" where theory was transformed into practice.
Liang Xingchi, the assistant engineer who took the lead in the transformation of the power supply system, is a professional in strong electricity, with solid knowledge reserves, and a special entrepreneurial energy. Under his leadership, the team worked hard to promote the upgrading and transformation of equipment.
During the day, Yang Hengdong followed everyone to climb the pole, drill the tunnel, and touch the line; In the evening, he worked overtime to write materials, compile documents, and study relevant literature and books. Under the guidance and help of Stephen Leung, Yang Hengdong clarified the logical relationship between stacks of circuit drawings, and was able to quickly identify key lines and control logic.
Intelligent power monitoring, terminal display, screening data ...... The rapid development of science and technology not only empowers the aerospace industry, but also brings huge challenges and opportunities to Yanghengdong.
"I'm really in time for a good time!" With the original intention of doing a good job in aerospace power supply, Yang Hengdong worked hard and quickly grew into the backbone of the power supply post in the launch area.
Xichang Yue
"The name of the lunar exploration mission is really touching and apt"
While Yang Hengdong and his colleagues were working hard, in 2004, China's lunar exploration program was officially approved.
Knowing that the No. 3 tower he participated in the transformation was going to help "Chang'e" fly into the sky, Yang Hengdong was very excited: "The name of the lunar exploration mission is really moving and appropriate!" ”
After taking up the power supply post, Yang Hengdong has been living in the launch area. In the early morning, the door of the dormitory is like a framing frame: in the distance, the Daliang Mountains are layered on top of each other, and they turn white early in autumn, and the snow-capped mountains are holy and beautiful.
Together with Yang Hengdong, who was in charge of ground power supply equipment in the launch area, there were also colleagues Bo Aishan and Jiang Xizheng. "At that time, the equipment files were all handwritten by the three of us." Yang Hengdong believes that no matter how advanced the equipment and facilities, people are always the decisive factor, in order to really manage the equipment well, maintain it well, and use it well, we must treat the equipment as a friend, and really understand their temper and habits.
Three people establish a resume and ledger for each ground equipment, and record the tasks, tests, and failures they have experienced from putting into use to the end of their life in the whole cycle. Later, these handwritten materials became important data for post operators to familiarize themselves with and master the equipment.
The Chang'e-1 mission is an important launch mission carried out after the upgrade of the No. 3 tower of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center. On October 24, 2007, the Long March-3A carrier rocket carrying China's first lunar exploration satellite, Chang'e-1, was ignited and launched at the No. 3 pylon of the Xichang Satellite Launch Center.
That night, Yang Hengdong deliberately opened the curtains of the dormitory. He lay on his bed, looking at the night sky. At this moment, the autumn moon 380,000 kilometers away seems to be in front of you and in your arms. He had never looked at the moon from such a perspective or in such a state of mind. From now on, Chang'e's flight to the moon is no longer a myth, it is becoming a reality step by step from the hands of Chinese astronauts.
What Yang Hengdong didn't know was that on this night, in a tea shop in Xingguang Village, Longlou Town, Hainan, 2,000 kilometers away, a group of villagers were also watching the live launch of Chang'e-1 in front of the TV. Next to them, a modern cosmodrome is about to break ground......
More than a year later, good news came from Chang'e-1. Yang Hengdong, Bo Aishan, and Jiang Xizheng were crowded in front of the TV in the dot duty room, for fear of missing a detail.
On November 12, 2008, Chang'e-1 released a stunning image of the whole moon. This is the first complete high-precision image of the lunar surface in human history, including the north and south poles of the moon, and it is the highest resolution map of the whole moon published in the world at that time.
"Chang'e-1 can fly around the moon, obtain three-dimensional images of the moon, and draw a map of the distribution of elements on the lunar surface." "Fly into the sky from our No. 3 tower!" The three of them were in awe in front of the TV, looking forward to participating in the next mission of the lunar exploration project.
Two years later, the saga continues. On October 1, 2010, Yang Hengdong and his partners spent the most special National Day: on this day, the Long March-3C carrier rocket ignited and took off from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center, sending Chang'e-2 into the Earth-Moon transfer orbit.
This mission has set a new height for China's lunar exploration program, obtained higher-resolution imaging of the lunar surface, and verified new technologies such as orbit control and autonomous navigation, laying the foundation for the subsequent soft landing of Chang'e-3.
Optimus Arrow
"We have to find a way"
There is a saying in the field of aerospace: how big the carrying capacity of a rocket is, how big the space launch stage is.
In order to promote the sustainable development of the mainland's aerospace industry and meet the needs of the launch of a new generation of carrier rockets and spacecraft, in August 2007, the CPC Central Committee and the State Council made a major decision to build a modern space launch site in Wenchang, Hainan Province, with high carrying efficiency, wide range and strong launch capacity, which will mainly undertake the launch of spacecraft such as geosynchronous orbit satellites, large-mass polar-orbiting satellites, large-tonnage space stations, cargo spacecraft, and deep space probes.
In the summer of 2012, Yang Hengdong, who had been sticking to the depths of Daliang Mountain for many years, went to Hainan to participate in the initial entrepreneurial work of the construction of the fourth launch site in the mainland.
From Qingshan to Bihai, more than 20 technical backbones from various systems of Xichang launch site, including Yang Hengdong, started a new journey of entrepreneurship in the humid sea breeze after two full days and two nights.
Scorching sun, high temperature, salt spray and humidity, typhoon rain, wilderness, poisonous snakes and poisonous insects...... The astronauts who participated in the entrepreneurship surveyed nearly 20,000 acres of land in only one month, buried 700 boundary posts, and completed the boundary mapping task.
"Sweat wet clothes every day, Diyuan Primary School lives in a board house, tanned face under a hard hat, and is busy with business on electric vehicles." Back then, Yang Hengdong learned to slip through the tongue like this. "When I first arrived in Wenchang, the foundation of the substation had not yet been excavated." Recalling the years of struggle from scratch, his heart swells with excitement and fulfillment.
The high-voltage substation is the "heart" of the launch site. Due to the wide range of the site, the long transmission distance and the large load power, the Wenchang launch site took the lead in using 110 thousand volt high-voltage power supply, providing solid and powerful support for the large-scale transmission capacity. Yang Hengdong participated in the design, equipment installation and commissioning and adaptive transformation of the project.
On October 31, 2013, the high-voltage substation of the Wenchang launch site was officially put into operation. The power supply system is the first system to form capacity at the Wenchang launch site, and it is also a prerequisite for the commissioning and life support of various surface system equipment such as filling, tower, and gas supply. In order to further improve the background operating system of power supply and distribution of high-voltage substations, Zhang Chuang, then the director of the substation, led Yang Hengdong to carry out arduous research.
"I am responsible for sorting out the operation logic relationship of all equipment in accordance with the power safety regulations, and Stationmaster Zhang is good at computer software, and is responsible for writing the sorted data into the system and generating operation subjects." To Yang Hengdong's great pride, this operating system still plays an important role in the power supply and distribution of the launch site.
The safety of high-voltage lines is of paramount importance to the normal operation and testing of all important equipment in the site. After the substation was completed and put into operation, the line patrol became the monthly routine work of Yang Hengdong, and he was the first person to measure the high-voltage overhead line outside the field with his feet: "When patrolling the line, the car can not reach the place to use the legs to walk, and the legs can not go to the place to open the mountain and cut down trees...... In short, we have to find a way! ”
High temperature, high humidity and high salt fog are the significant environmental characteristics of Hainan. After the Wenchang launch site carried out the first flight of the Long March 7 and Long March 5 rockets, Yang Hengdong found that a certain power supply equipment often has a certain risk in different areas. He and his colleagues consulted a lot of material and "brainstormed". After fully weighing the risk, Yang Hengdong proposed a new operation idea, which finally effectively solved this problem.
Yang Hengdong is more familiar with the rows of equipment in the computer room and the dense underground circuits in the field than his own body. He and his colleagues maintain the equipment as if they were caring for their bodies. With the joint efforts of Yang Hengdong and the team, the substation has maintained a record of "high quality and zero failure", providing a steady stream of power guarantee for various launch tasks.
On December 2, 2013, the Chang'e-3 lunar probe was successfully launched from the Xichang launch site. A telemetry point located at the Wenchang launch site is an important part of the tracking and control system of this launch mission. Yanghengdong's responsibility is to provide high-quality and stable power for this telemetry point to ensure the smooth completion of the TT&C task.
Soon after, Chang'e-3 successfully landed on the moon, and the mainland became the third country in the world to achieve a soft landing on the moon. On the night of December 15, Yang Hengdong was on duty at the Wenchang launch site substation. Looking out through the window, the bright moon hangs high, and it is extraordinarily bright.
On this day, the "Jade Rabbit" lunar rover left two lines of imprints belonging to Chinese on the lunar surface for the first time. In this situation, Yang Hengdong, who is not interested in poetry and songs, actually popped up a sentence in his mind: "I hope that people will last a long time, and they will be together for thousands of miles." ”
Thousands of miles away, in Hengyang, Hunan, Yang Hengdong's wife and daughter are also looking at this round of bright moon. He silently calculated that in the past two years, he would take them to Wenchang and reunite the family.
Five years later, the Chang'e-4 mission arrived as scheduled. In the early morning of December 8, 2018, the substation of the Wenchang launch site was brightly lit, and Yang Hengdong paid close attention to the power transmission of a telemetry point in the field.
When he thought that Chang'e-4 was about to take off from the Xichang launch site with the "Yutu-2" lunar rover and rush to the far side of the moon that mankind had never been to, he was full of energy and had no sleep.
At more than 2 o'clock in the morning, the launch mission was a complete success, and Yang Hengdong's tense nerves finally relaxed. He walked out of the quiet courtyard of the substation and strode in the direction of home......
Yang Hengdong (right) and Guo Ge inspect equipment. Photo by Li Wenjun
Baby's heart
"A grander and more ambitious task awaits you young people"
In the 8th year that Yang Hengdong came to Wenchang from Xichang, he finally escorted "Chang'e" into the air at close range again. On November 24, 2020, the Long March 5 Yao-5 carrier rocket carried the Chang'e-5 probe from the No. 1 tower of the Wenchang launch site.
China's space exploration journey to the moon has since had the footprints of Wenchang astronauts. At this time, Yang Hengdong has grown into a power supply system commander and has become the "old yang" in everyone's mouth.
On December 17, the Chang'e-5 returner landed in the predetermined area of Siziwangqi in Inner Mongolia with lunar samples, realizing the first sample return of extraterrestrial objects from the mainland, marking the completion of the three-step plan of "orbiting, landing and returning" of the mainland lunar exploration project as scheduled.
In the first half of this year, ensuring the Chang'e-6 mission of the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project was the main theme of Laoyang's work. Compared with the Chang'e-5 probe taking off from the lunar surface and returning to the earth, the Chang'e-6 probe took off from the far side of the moon and could not be directly supported by ground tracking and control.
Before the Spring Festival this year, Lao Yang led the team to devote himself to the preparation of the Queqiao No. 2 mission. They carry out all-round inspections of power system equipment around functional verification, parameter indicators, hidden danger investigation, pre-inspection and pre-test, etc., and do not let go of any doubts.
On March 20, the fourth phase of the lunar exploration project, the Queqiao-2 relay satellite, was successfully launched. As the main operator of the power supply system, Yang Hengdong said frankly: "Along the way, I really feel that China's aerospace is a great cause that has been relayed repeatedly, continued and moved forward all the way. ”
Strictly controlling the status of power equipment and ensuring the safe operation of the system is an important part of ensuring the success of the launch mission. During the Chang'e-6 mission, a voltage stabilizing device was used for the first time in the high-voltage substation of the Wenchang launch site. In the early stage, Lao Yang led the team to win the three "tough battles" of high-density task support, high-intensity project construction, and high-quality process control.
On the evening of May 3, 2024, like every launch day, Yanghengdong sat in the high-voltage substation to ensure the uninterrupted transmission of high-quality power to all stations and facilities at the launch site.
In the dispatch center, Lao Yang faintly heard the voices of people coming from the field not far away. Space enthusiasts from all over the country are waiting to witness the grand launch of Chang'e-6.
Yang Hengdong and his colleagues waited longer: when the Chang'e-6 returner landed safely with the "gift" of the moon, their hearts could be settled.
As a front-line astronaut, Lao Yang has never seen a rocket launch in the whole process. "In Xichang before, we had to retreat into a cave when we launched. Now in Wenchang, our post cannot leave people. He pointed to the window and said, "After the rocket leaves the pylon, I can stand here and look at the tail flame in the sky." ”
As the power supply behind the "ignition" of the rocket, the magnificence of the rocket launch is also quietly burning in the bottom of my heart. From Chang'e-1 to Chang'e-6, the magnificent journey of lunar exploration is inseparable from the silent efforts of generations of astronauts like Lao Yang.
On the evening of June 25, when Lao Yang and his "big apprentice" Guo Ge returned to the substation from the project site, they were already surrounded by moonlight and insects.
"When the lunar exploration project first started, I was just sensible. Now, it is said in the news that the tasks of the lunar landing stage of the manned lunar exploration project have been launched, which is really changing with each passing day! Guo Ge talked about the news he watched during the day, and his eyes flashed.
Lao Yang patted Guo Ge on the shoulder and said, "A grander and more ambitious task awaits you young people!" ”
"The new generation of manned spacecraft is called 'Dream Boat', and the lunar lander is called 'Lanyue', these names are so beautiful......," Guo Ge looked up at the moon and muttered.
According to reports, the Long March 10 series of carrier rockets, a new generation of manned spacecraft, a lunar lander, a manned lunar rover, and other major heavy weapons are in full swing Chinese......
The moonlight fell on the shoulders of the master and apprentice who returned late. Lao Yang couldn't help but recall the amazement he was at when he first heard about the lunar exploration project. Lao Yang thought that the moon would not change, and the things they guarded in their hearts would not change.
The wonderful story of China's astronauts and the moon continues to be written.