On October 31, 2023, after six astronauts successfully completed the space handover, the return module of the Shenzhou 16 spacecraft landed safely and smoothly, marking a new stage in China's aerospace industry.In recent years, China's aviation industry has entered a new stage of development, and a group of outstanding aerospace heroes have emerged

On October 31, 2023, after six astronauts successfully completed the space handover, the return module of the Shenzhou 16 spacecraft landed safely and smoothly, marking a new stage in China's aerospace industry.

In recent years, China's aviation industry has entered a new stage of development, and a group of outstanding aerospace heroes have emerged.

They roamed the sky and conducted various space experiments, and behind this, everyone made tremendous sacrifices.

Astronaut Zhai Zhigang is a typical representative of them. In 2003, while carrying out a closed training mission for space flight, his mother, who was far away from home, suddenly passed away. Zhai Zhigang returned home and his mother had already moved to another world.

Zhai Zhigang was filled with guilt. He hurried back to his hometown and cried bitterly with his mother's urn in his arms. The scene made everyone on the scene cry.

Not being able to see his mother for the last time has become a lifelong regret for Zhai Zhigang.

How did Zhai Zhigang enter the aerospace field? What touching stories do he have?

Pilots from Poor Families

Zhai Zhigang's hometown is a small village in Qiqihar City, Heilongjiang Province. In 1966, when Zhai Zhigang was born, he already had three older sisters and two older brothers, and the family had many children, making life naturally difficult.

To make matters worse, shortly after Zhai Zhigang was born, his father fell and injured his lumbar spine while working in the farmland, leaving behind serious sequelae.

The pillars of the family collapsed, making life even more difficult for Zhai Zhigang's family.

Helpless, the strong mother picked up the big beam and worked day and night in the production team to support six children.

At that time, in impoverished rural areas, especially in families with many children, children had to drop out of school and go home to work as they grew older. However, Zhai Zhigang's mother was very visionary, insisting that several children read and learn, and educating them to change their destiny with knowledge.

In those years, the mother often worked late at night frying melon seeds to earn tuition for her children.

Carrying melon seeds to sell in the town during the day.

In Zhai Zhigang's impression, his mother has never been idle, only in her fifties, with white hair crawling all over her temples.

In this way, with the support of their mother, several children went to high school, and the eldest sister was the first to enter a normal school, becoming the first child to step out of the agricultural field.

At that time, Zhai Zhigang was still in elementary school, and under the leadership of his older brother and sister, his academic performance was very excellent.

Seeing his mother getting older, Zhai Zhigang felt very sorry for her and often helped her with her work.

In the difficult life, Zhai Zhigang gradually grew up and went to high school.

As he was about to graduate from high school, Zhai Zhigang experienced a transformation in his life.

At that time, the air force came to Longjiang No.2 Middle School where he studied to recruit pilots in advance.

In the 1980s, during the period of rapid development of China's air force industry, there was an urgent need for a large number of outstanding young talents. Therefore, the country usually recruits qualified pilots from various high schools in advance of the college entrance examination.

If you pass the medical examination, it means becoming a glorious air force. Zhai Zhigang and his classmates actively signed up.

Air Force recruitment has very strict requirements, not only requiring good physical fitness, but also possessing special qualities to resist dizziness. Zhai Zhigang, who was originally slightly weak in physique, did not hold out hope, but he unexpectedly passed all his indicators.

In this way, Zhai Zhigang was fortunate enough to become a pre selected candidate for an air force pilot.

Soaring into the sky, soaring into space

In May 1985, Zhai Zhigang received an admission letter from Changchun Second Flight Academy.

After receiving the notification, Zhai Zhigang immediately told his mother the good news.

Mother looked at the admission letter and shed tears excitedly.

Continuously speaking,The old son has become a member of the country and has finally achieved successMy father, who has been paralyzed for many years, is also particularly happy. He repeatedly said that we must invite the elders in the village to celebrate together.

A few days later, Zhai Zhigang set off to report to the Flight Academy.

My mother stuffed a handful of change into Zhai Zhigang's hand, and Zhai Zhigang refused to accept it. He also handed over the 200 yuan living expenses he had saved in his daily life to my mother to make her not so tired.

Zhai Zhigang instructed his mother not to spend money on food, clothing, and housing in the military academy, and to receive a monthly allowance so that she didn't have to worry.

With the sound of the train whistle, Zhai Zhigang embarked on a journey and also embarked on his soaring blue sky career.

After arriving at school, there are busy study courses and various basic flight training sessions every day.

After receiving the allowance at the end of each month, Zhai Zhigang would send all 12 yuan to his mother, leaving only one or two yuan as pocket money.

Knowing that his mother had worked hard for a lifetime and had great expectations of himself, Zhai Zhigang never dared to slack off in his studies and ranked among the top in various academic and training achievements.

Four years later, Zhai Zhigang graduated from military academy and was assigned to work as a pilot in an air force unit.

In just a few years, Zhai Zhigang became the captain of the flight squadron and a flight instructor through his own efforts.

In those years, Zhai Zhigang witnessed the development and changes of his country, and almost every year a batch of the most advanced aircraft were put into service, gradually leading the world in various technological indicators.

In 1994, at the age of 28, Zhai Zhigang met his gentle and virtuous wife Zhang Shujing through the introduction of his leader.

My wife is also a soldier in the Air Force, and the two fell in love at first sight. After falling in love for several months, they quickly entered the palace of marriage.

In 1996, our country's aerospace industry gradually entered a period of rapid development, and manned spaceflight also made significant progress.In order to send the Chinese people into space as soon as possible, the space base has started selecting excellent pilots nationwide as reserve astronauts.

This year, Zhai Zhigang, who achieved excellent training results, passed through multiple selections and became a quasi astronaut.

During that time, Zhai Zhigang came to the space base and began a brand new learning of various aerospace knowledge.

There is a great difference between astronauts and pilots. In addition to being able to adapt to the air environment, they must also adapt to the space environment and master the operational skills of various spacecraft.

Years of study and training were not beneficial for Zhai Zhigang to attend a military academy again.

It was precisely because of the busy study and training that she and her wife never had to have children.

It wasn't until 1999, after five years of marriage, that they had a lovely son named Zhai Tianxiong by Zhai Zhigang. The moral is to make the child also known as a sky hero in the future.

With the child, all the burden of the family fell on his wife Zhang Shujing. Zhang Shujing never complained until her husband engaged in an extremely noble career, although he was very busy and tired.

At the age of 3, the child suddenly developed a high fever one night.

At that time, Zhai Zhigang was undergoing intense aerospace training and couldn't make it back. Zhang Shujing came to the hospital alone with her child in her arms.

The nurse saw Zhang Shujing sweating profusely and scolded her for not letting her husband come along.

Little Zhai Tianxiong excused his father by saying that he was an astronaut and was preparing to fly into space.

There are still many such situations, Zhang Shujing always silently supports her husband behind the scenes and has contributed a lot to the family.

Zhai Zhigang was also aware of his wife's efforts and felt very guilty. Whenever he had time, he would return home to visit his wife and children.

In fact, as a national astronaut, Zhai Zhigang, like others, has many regrets in his life.

I couldn't even see my mother's last face.

Strolling through space, leaving behind regrets

In 2003, astronaut Yang Liwei, as the first Chinese person to fly into space, made his first successful flight.

This marks a new stage in China's aerospace industry.

Little known is that Zhai Zhigang was also a reserve astronaut for the Shenzhou-5 mission, but at the last moment, Yang Liwei underwent a comprehensive investigation and was ultimately designated as the first astronaut to fly.

During that period, Zhai Zhigang, along with outstanding astronauts such as Yang Liwei and Nie Haisheng, were confined to training bases. In order to ensure the psychological stability of the astronauts, they even remained isolated from the world.

What Zhai Zhigang didn't know was that at that time, his mother had a serious illness, which was likely to be life-threatening.

But in order not to affect Zhai Zhigang's training, his mother repeatedly reminded his family not to tell Zhai Zhigang the news of his illness.

When the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft was launched, Zhai Zhigang, as a reserve astronaut, appeared on television footage with Yang Liwei. When his mother saw the footage of Zhai Zhigang, she was extremely excited, and two lines of tears welled up.

But this mission ultimately missed Zhai Zhigang's flying dream, and his mother was also unable to see his son enter space due to illness.

On November 21, 2003, it was Zhai Zhigang's birthday. He ended his closed training and quickly called his hometown.

To Zhai Zhigang's surprise, there was no familiar voice from his mother on the other end of the phone. My brother told him a shocking news: my mother has just passed away.

Putting down the phone, Zhai Zhigang was completely lost.

He quickly asked for leave with his leader and rushed back to see off his mother for the last leg.

On the 23rd, Zhai Zhigang hurried home, and his brothers and sisters had already erected a mourning hall for his mother.

Zhai Zhigang knelt down in front of his mother's throne, holding the urn and crying bitterly.

The death of his mother dealt a heavy blow to Zhai Zhigang.

The mother has worked hard all her life and raised six brothers and sisters, but she failed to see her little son soar into the sky.

After burying his mother, Zhai Zhigang turned his grief into strength and quickly entered a new job.

At that time, our country's aerospace industry was developing rapidly, and as a mature astronaut, Zhai Zhigang was always ready to accept new space missions.

However, two years later, when the Shenzhou-6 spacecraft was launched, Zhai Zhigang missed another flight opportunity.

Until 2008, Zhai Zhigang finally arrived at the most important moment in his life, and he was ordered to carry out the Shenzhou VII flight mission.

This is a special flight mission, which is an important step in the "three step" of China's aerospace engineering. It will be the first time to implement an astronaut's spacewalk and conduct multiple technical experiments.

Everything is a new challenge, and this task is glorious and significant.

When it was confirmed that Zhai Zhigang was carrying out the Shenzhou-7 flight mission, his hometown became boiling. This is not only the glory of Zhai Zhigang, but also the glory of that small village in his hometown.

On September 25, the day of the official launch of Shenzhou VII, people from home came to Zhai Zhigang's home spontaneously, and relatives and friends put out banners to debug the TV signal in advance, waiting for the exciting moment.

The rocket was successfully launched into space, and Zhai Zhigang and two other astronauts will spend three days in space. During this time, Zhai Zhigang will perform a spacewalk mission and also release accompanying satellites, each step of which is full of unknown dangers.

Zhai Zhigang was stranded in space for 14 minutes and successfully completed various tasks.

On September 28th, Shenzhou VII entered the return program.

Zhai Zhigang realized his dream of flying and became the first person in China to walk in space, but by this time, his mother had already passed away for 5 years.

Zhai Zhigang always felt that he had not fulfilled his filial piety. After his mother passed away, he transferred this sense of guilt to his family, especially his sister who had a deep relationship with him.

Warm power, helping to create new brilliance

As the saying goes, the eldest sister is like a mother.

Zhai Zhigang is particularly friendly to his elder sister.

The eldest sister's name is Zhai Pengsu, who is over 20 years older than Zhai Zhigang. The eldest sister's child is the same age as Zhai Zhigang, and they grew up together from a young age. small

At that time, my parents were laborious, and Zhai Zhigang was raised by my older sister.

For a long time, Zhai Zhigang lived at his sister's house and went to school with his nephew Zhang Guanghui.

My sister knows that Zhai Zhigang is honest, diligent in learning, and nurturing and taking care of his younger brother even more than his own biological son.

During the difficult years at home, my sister fully supported Zhai Zhigang in going to school.

After Zhai Zhigang was admitted to the Flight Academy, her sister was very happy and even made a delicious table for her younger brother before leaving.

After becoming a pilot, every time Zhai Zhigang finished calling his mother, he would call his sister again to report on his growth and achievements, making her feel at ease.

After becoming an astronaut, the base often distributed some nutrients and daily necessities, but when he couldn't use them all, Zhai Zhigang sent the excess to his sister.

My sister is not in good health and suffers from severe asthma. Zhai Zhigang saved money to buy an oxygen machine for her sister and contributed to the renovation of her house.

In 2008, after completing the Shenzhou-7 manned space mission, Zhai Zhigang's mother had passed away for many years. Zhai Zhigang immediately called his sister to report his safety.

During Zhai Zhigang's three days in space, his sister almost kept up with news reports and worried about his younger brother's safety.

This kind of kinship has always accompanied and warmed Zhai Zhigang, and has become an important driving force for him to overcome difficulties and achieve breakthroughs.

In 2021, our country has entered an important stage of space station construction. On October 16 of this year, Zhai Zhigang was once again selected as an astronaut to carry out the mission, entering the space station with Wang Yaping and Ye Guangfu, completing a 6-month in orbit flight mission.

This is a more severe test, with a long time in orbit and heavy execution tasks.

It is a great test for the psychology and physiology of astronauts.

Moreover, three astronauts also have to spend the Spring Festival in space.

On New Year's Eve, Zhai Zhigang and two other astronauts paid New Year's greetings to the people of the whole country in space, and the warm scene was touching.

Zhai Zhigang's sister also keeps an eye on his younger brother's updates, and on New Year's Eve, she stayed in front of the TV all the time.

When I saw my younger brother paying New Year's greetings to the people of the whole country, my sister shed tears.

On April 16, 2022, Zhai Zhigang and his comrades, who had spent six months in space, completed their mission and successfully returned to Earth.

Zhai Zhigang's hometown was once again boiling up, and his parents and fellow villagers gathered together to watch the live broadcast. Zhai Zhigang's sister specially made a table of food to entertain the villagers.

After seeing Zhai Zhigang being successfully lifted out of the cabin door, I reported to everyone that I felt everything was good. My parents and fellow villagers paid tribute to the hero with warm applause.

Highly acclaimed excellent astronaut

Zhai Zhigang comes from a farming family, is generous, hardworking, studious, and steady, which is the evaluation of all those who are familiar with him.

At Zhai Zhigang's alma mater Longjiang No.2 Middle School, Vice Principal Xu Dongsheng was his homeroom teacher back then.

Xu Dongsheng recalled that during his high school years, Zhai Zhigang was introverted and hardworking, serving as a class labor committee member.

Every time the school organizes labor, Zhai Zhigang is very active, leading his classmates to conscientiously complete the tasks assigned by the teacher.

Every time Zhai Zhigang performs a flying mission, the school organizes students to watch, using Zhai Zhigang's experience to encourage students to study hard and grow up to be useful to the country.

In the eyes of his brother Zhai Zhiqiang, he is a very sensible and filial person.

Every time Zhai Zhigang goes home for vacation, he hands over a sum of money to his mother, chatting with her step by step, and taking good care of her.

Zhai Zhigang's colleagues also have a very high evaluation of him.

Zhai Zhigang loves calligraphy and often uses it to calm himself down. After long-term exploration, Zhai Zhigang also created his own "Zhai style" calligraphy.

In addition to calligraphy, Zhai Zhigang also enjoys sports competitions and excels in social dance.

Every time the unit organizes activities, Zhai Zhigang actively participates and uses his superb dance skills to impress everyone.

Astronaut Commander in Chief and Chief Designer Chen Shanguang praised Zhai Zhigang for his steadfastness, stability, strong decision-making ability, and firm belief in overcoming difficulties.

It is precisely with this powerful decision-making ability that Zhai Zhigang has entered space multiple times and completed unprecedented space missions time and time again.

Many excellent astronauts like Zhai Zhigang deserve our respect.

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