On April 24, 1970, China's Long March 1 sent Dong Fang Hong 1, the first man-made earth satellite, into low Earth Elliptic orbit.Usually the satellite will fall to the earth after completing its mission, but why did our Dong Fang Hong 1 stay in space for 53 years and still not fall?Is it still working or not? We will then answer this question

On April 24, 1970, China's Long March 1 sent Dong Fang Hong 1, the first man-made earth satellite, into low Earth Elliptic orbit.

Usually the satellite will fall to the earth after completing its mission, but why did our Dong Fang Hong 1 stay in space for 53 years and still not fall?

Is it still working or not? We will then answer this question.

The reason why it can orbit the Earth for half a century

At that time, the service life of Dong Fang Hong 1 was only 20 days, but it "competently" stayed in space for 28 days, about a week longer than expected.

After working for a month, on May 14, 1970, it stopped transmitting signals and lost contact with the ground.

Because of the technical constraints at that time, people were unable to charge the Dong Fang Hong 1 with silver zinc battery, and could not maintain long-term communication with it.

However, with the progress of modern science and technology, we can know from the orbital parameter data of Dong Fang Hong 1 that it is still running in orbit without falling.

What is the real reason for this magical phenomenon? Why can it still firmly orbit the Earth after spanning over half a century?

This involves its flight altitude. It is all due to the fact that the Perigee altitude of Dong Fang Hong 1 is relatively high, which makes it difficult for atmospheric drag to affect it!

As early as when China launched Dong Fang Hong 1, it set a suitable flight altitude for it.

To sum up, Dong Fang Hong 1, which has a life span of only 28 days, can travel in space for so long and cannot fall down, but it has not returned to the atmosphere.

In addition, the gravitational force of the layer it is located on is extremely small, making air resistance almost "useless" to it.

Under the combined influence of these conditions, Dong Fang Hong 1 keeps its rotating centrifugal force at the same level with Gravity of Earth. If there is no interference from external factors, it will keep circling the earth.

In fact, our country's scientific and technological personnel at that time also fully considered this and did not recycle satellites that were completed missions like some other countries. Why is this?

02 Recycling it seems impractical

Because theoretically, it is unrealistic and extremely difficult to use today's technology to recover Dong Fang Hong 1.

Limited by the conditions at the time of its production, Dong Fang Hong 1 operates in battery mode and cannot be disposed of with this technology today.

Moreover, if we want to recover the Dong Fang Hong 1 satellite, we must launch a special "recovery satellite" to dock and capture it.

This involves very accurate orbit parameters and relative velocity calculations, and slight deviations can easily lead to complete failure.

In addition, this specially manufactured "recycling satellite" must be equipped with a Reentry capsule that can resist atmospheric friction, so that Dong Fang Hong 1 can "completely" return to the ground and land at a suitable location.

The cost is also huge - the weight of the Reentry capsule, the materials used, and the structure are all important considerations.

The last factor that cannot be successfully recovered is that the investment risk may far outweigh its practical significance.

Because if, after multiple evaluations, it is found that it is not suitable for recycling for research, then the previous human and material resources have been wasted a lot, which is not worth it.

All of these reasons make it difficult for China to successfully recycle it. Of course, if technology can develop more rapidly in the future, perhaps we can still easily "retrieve" it from space.

Put it in the museum for exhibition, so that people can better understand the development of China's History of spaceflight.

But as far as the current situation is concerned, the best "destination" of Dong Fang Hong 1 is to travel in space.

03 rough and exciting initial launch

In any case, Dong Fang Hong 1 satellite plays an important political role in China's space industry.

Its successful launch symbolizes that China, after the UK, the US, France, and Japan, has become the fifth technology country in the world to launch domestic satellites using self-made rockets! It is an important milestone in the aerospace industry!

So how was the Dong Fang Hong 1 that showed national pride to the best of its ability developed? That started with the official establishment of China's Space Technology Research Institute in 1968.

At that time, Qian Xuesen, a great patriotic scientist, served as the president of the Institute. After China determined the general idea of "Dong Fang Hong 1" satellite, scientific and technological personnel were fully engaged in satellite research.

After many difficulties and obstacles, and in the face of the strong dominance of the United States and Japan in science and technology, Chinese researchers did not get discouraged but increased their research power, and finally successfully launched the Dong Fang Hong 1 satellite in April 1970!

This has to make European and American countries and Japan stand out!

Although in Asian countries, we successfully launched later than Japan.

But our first satellite is much more advanced than other countries: Dong Fang Hong 1 alone weighs 173kg, while Japan only weighs 9.4kg, and the United States 8.22kg

As is well known, the heavier the satellite launched by a country, the more mature its launch technology is.

This made Dong Fang Hong 1 the "big star" of the world, the first man-made satellite that can be observed by human eyes, and the most brilliant "star of tomorrow" at that time.

The Dong Fang Hong 1, which has leaped into space, has also fulfilled its mission, sending telemetry parameters and detection data back to the earth one by one, greatly promoting the research, design and development of China's space satellites.

It has become a pioneer in the field of technology, shining and heating up as much as it can

Some people say that Dong Fang Hong 1 will leave the earth in the future. Is it possible?

In fact, no one can guarantee that, because Space debris and other things often collide with each other, if they collide with Dong Fang Hong 1, their orbits will be disturbed, and even make it threaten other planets.

However, some scholars made a bold prediction: in the next millennium, Dong Fang Hong 1 will not collide with other celestial bodies, and may survive until the day when the earth is destroyed!

epilogue

Now, although Dong Fang Hong 1 satellite no longer transmits signals, it cannot change the fact that it is the "Cornerstone" for the development of aerospace industry.

It is also an eternal pride in the hearts of the Chinese people, and an important foundation for China to successfully explore the moon, Mars, and other areas.

Although in the early stages of the development of artificial satellites, China's strength was weaker than other countries, we Chinese people have an unwavering determination in science and technology, a determination to persevere, and unwavering faith.

With these supports, we can unite and move forward bravely towards a common goal!

The legend of Dong Fang Hong 1 will not become a thing of the past. In the future, China will create countless "Dong Fang Hong 1".

I believe that in our contemporary society, which vigorously advocates "technology as the primary productive force", we will always keep our scientific research level at the forefront of the world, and under the strong patriotic drive, produce technological products that Western countries admire even more!

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