SOUNDING ROCKET
A sounding rocket - also called a research rocket - carries instruments for space research. Scientists believed the sounding rockets could pave the way for satellite-carrying rockets.
Yang Nansheng and Wang Xiji were appointed to head the design of a sounding rocket at the Shanghai Institute of Mechanical & Electrical Engineering in late 1950s.
Wang recalls how - with no computers - researchers had to calculate their computations by hand or by abacus. They worked in three shifts, and spent almost a month calculating an orbit. The computing papers were stacked higher than their desks.
After overcoming many barriers, they produced the T-5 sounding rocket - only to find they lacked the necessary equipment for engine testing. The rocket ended up in an exhibition display case.
"To reach space in a single bound was too ambitious," says Wang. Learning from their failures, they turned to researching the smaller T-7M sounding rocket.
The lack of funds made an incredibly shabby research environment, Wang recalls. The engine test room was a refitted toilet. The timing device controlling the separation of the head and body of the rocket was modified from a table clock. Scientists made the ignition device by taking the filament from the small bulbs of an electric torch, and wrapping them with nitro-cotton. With no equipment to pressurize the fuel, they used a bicycle pump to get the propellant in the tank.
On February 19, 1960, at the launch site on a beach in suburban Shanghai, the T-7M soared into the air, reaching 8 kilometers above the ground. There were no telephones, walkie-talkies or loudspeakers - only hand gestures and shouting.
The nation that invented the primitive rocket 800 years before had successfully launched its first modern rocket.
NEW SATELLITE PLAN
Suspension of the satellite plan failed to stifle the Chinese space dream. The Chinese Academy of Sciences hosted interstellar navigation forums 12 times from 1961 to 1964. In 1964, China successfully tested its first ballistic missile and atomic bomb.P That progress prompted the reconsideration of satellite research. Scientists Qian Xuesen and Zhao Jiuzhang suggested the central government put the satellite back on the agenda. It was approved.
In the autumn of 1965, discussions on the overall satellite plan lasted 42 days. Many scientists said it was the longest meeting they had ever attended.
They decided that the task of China's first satellite was to provide experience and data for future satellites to carry out missions such as earth observation, communication, broadcasting and meteorology.
They planned the launch for 1970.
Wang Xiji presided over the appraisal and design of the carrier rocket Changzheng 1, or Long March 1. He combined the technology of the sounding rocket and missiles in a creative way.
However, the start of the Cultural Revolution threatened to disrupt the plans.
In early 1967, many scientists, including Wang, were denounced. Rocket expert Yao Tongbin was beaten to death at the door of his home. Zhao Jiuzhang, the founder of China's satellite research program, committed suicide rather than endure more suffering. Qian Ji, who drafted the launch plan, was identified as a "reactionary of academic authority." Confined to bed by illness, Qian wrote more than 50,000 documents to record the precious research.
At a critical juncture, Premier Zhou Enlai and Vice Premier Nie Rongzhen established the China Academy of Space Technology as an arm of the military under the leadership of the Communist Party. This kept the satellite launch on schedule.
