On the evening of April 24, 1970, at 21:35, China’s first artificial satellite, Dongfanghong-1, was launched into space. Ten minutes later, the satellite successfully entered an elliptical orbit with a perigee of 439 kilometers and an apogee of 2,384 kilometers, and the Dongfanghong melody echoed through near-Earth space.
Although this achievement appears outdated compared to the technology fifty years later — the communication lines between the surveying stations were still open, the third stage of the rocket was a solid rocket engine that could not be precisely regulated, and the scientific equipment on the satellite was mainly a solar angle meter (used for technical verification) — for the then twenty-something, still in the stage of industrialization in socialist New China, this was a monumental achievement! In less than twenty years, from a poor and blank slate to an industrialized and electrified nation capable of producing rocket engines, manufacturing highly corrosive liquid rocket fuels, and building multiple observation stations on the borders of the motherland, it was an unprecedented monument, beyond doubt.
So, how did New China achieve this? It relied on Mao Zedong Thought and the proletarian revolutionary line, not on so-called “aerospace enthusiasts’ sentiments.” Launching a satellite is backed by a complete, organized industrial production and scientific research system. If the space program is compared to a fist, then the one wielding this fist is a healthy body, with nerves, muscles, and circulatory systems working in organized cooperation — not the fist itself! Although communication lines are open, they are carefully guarded by militia, and maintained meticulously by workers (out in the field!); although the satellite’s observation skirt looks simple, the polymers adapted to space environment are the research results of Shanghai Textile Factory; the instruments necessary for control and remote control were almost nonexistent in China before the Cultural Revolution (《自然辩证法》, 1976, Issue 3), but under the self-reliance line, rapid leaps were made… Launching a satellite is a collective achievement, and cooperation across various industries depends on workers taking the lead and integrating scientific researchers with frontline production, all of which is inseparable from the correct line.
Let us also look into the 《自然辩证法》 magazine to see how workers actively and creatively contributed at that time! The “Boiling Furnace” (《自然辩证法》, 1974, Issue 3) is a good example: in traditional thermal power plants, coal furnaces burned coal powder suspended in air. To ensure complete combustion, either increased wind power or extended furnace length was used to increase combustion time. Workers analyzed the movement of coal powder and believed that sufficient relative motion between the powder and air was necessary for full combustion, so they redesigned the furnace to allow coal powder to enter from above and air to flow in from below, moving towards each other. As a result, the coal powder moved up and down with the air in the furnace, boiling like a “boiling furnace.” This allowed the coal particles to fully contact oxygen and burn completely, and the quality requirements for coal (impurity content) were relaxed. Furthermore, workers redesigned the heat exchange device to prevent coking caused by excessively high furnace temperatures. Modern industry is a rigorous system combining breadth and depth; without political leadership, without Mao Zedong Thought guiding frontline workers, and without encouraging workers to innovate bravely, how could China’s industry grow so rapidly?
In the development of instruments, organic synthesis materials (1976, Issue 3), the combination of scientific researchers and workers was the fundamental source of scientific progress and understanding. In socialist countries, the doors to scientific exploration and technological innovation are open to all people, and the people gain knowledge and strength through scientific practice.
In contrast, imperialist scientific research and space systems have always been characterized by a divide between scientific researchers and workers. They fund bourgeois universities or research institutes with the labor of the masses but cultivate scientists into bourgeois intellectuals or worker aristocrat engineers. In an interview with an engineer involved in the Apollo program, the interviewee was selected in university to handle CNC work for the Saturn V rocket, later working as a technical elite in enterprises. Over 400,000 people were employed in the entire Apollo program[1], many of whom were university students pushed into the worker aristocrat class. Besides political propaganda, one function of imperialist space programs is to reproduce bourgeois and worker aristocrat classes internally.
Unfortunately, revisionism has also cast a shadow over China’s space industry. During the autumn recruitment season in aerospace departments, students found that companies and research institutes require overtime work; female students also face discrimination in this industry (“Should I switch to administrative work?”); recalling their master’s studies, they found the topics lacked meaning, were repetitive, and only taught some skills. Ultimately, they tried to comfort themselves with “space passion,” but had to sigh at “just trying to get by.” Even if they subjectively adopt a idealistic “passion” to comfort themselves, the objective petty-bourgeois situation causes sighs. Using the fist metaphor again, the “middle-class revisionist” fist, though swung more frequently, cannot hide its internal contradictions — a tumor called “private ownership” has spread throughout the body!
P.S. I planned to post on the 24th, but the draft was lost halfway… Also, welcome everyone’s criticism!
