In memory of him! He gave up his high salary to build the "Dongfeng" for the country and made immortal contributions to China's aerospace industry

Seven years ago today, an old man named Liang Sili left us forever at the age of 91.

This old man has too many labels: son of Liang Qichao, one of the founders of my country's aerospace industry, famous missile and rocket control system expert, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, academician of the International Academy of Astronautics, consultant of the Science and Technology Committee of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation...

"If it is beneficial to the country, I will do it regardless of life or death. I will not avoid it because of misfortune or fortune." This is the old man's life motto. No matter when, the old man said, "Everything starts from patriotism."

Image source: Chinese Academy of Sciences official website

With the dream of "saving the nation through industry", he returned to China after completing his studies

In August 1924, Liang Qichao, 51, gave birth to his ninth child, Liang Sili. Perhaps because he looked the most like his father, or because he was the youngest, Liang Qichao loved him very much and gave him the nickname "Lao Baibi" (a homonym of the English word "Baby").

Liang Sili's father died when he was 5 years old, but the patriotic ideas his father taught him had a profound impact on him. He later recalled: "My father had little direct influence on me. My brothers and sisters were all taught by him. I was the weakest in Chinese studies, but I never missed a single lesson in patriotism."

When he was young, Liang Sili witnessed his alma mater, Nankai Middle School, being bombed by the Japanese army, which strengthened his determination to serve his country. In 1941, Liang Sili applied for a full scholarship to Carleton College in the United States, and he went to the United States to study with $400 scraped together by his mother.

With the ideal of "saving the country through industry", Liang Sili studied hard and obtained a doctorate degree in automatic control from the University of Cincinnati in 1949. In September 1949, Liang Sili boarded the "President Cleveland" cruise ship and returned to China.

On the way, Liang Sili heard the news broadcast of the founding of New China on the radio he carried with him. He told the compatriots on the ship the news, and everyone was ecstatic. When they heard that the national flag of New China was the five-star red flag, they found a white bed sheet, dyed it red with red medicine, placed a large yellow five-star in the center, and a small yellow five-star in each of the four corners, as the national flag to celebrate the motherland.

In September 1949, Liang Sili (front) and Chen Hui (back) boarded the "President Cleveland" cruise ship in San Francisco to return to their motherland.

Image source: Senior Scientists Academic Growth Data Collection Project

Building "Dongfeng" for the country

1956 was the starting year for my country's aerospace industry. In the same year, Liang Sili was appointed as the deputy director of the Missile Control System Research Laboratory, becoming one of the ten directors under President Qian Xuesen. From this point on, he devoted his whole heart and soul to the development of my country's missile and rocket industry.

In 1958, China began to copy the Soviet P-2 missile, and Liang Sili was one of the persons in charge of the control system technology. At the critical moment when the copying entered the decisive battle, the Soviet Union withdrew its experts and took away all the teaching plans and technical materials, which was tantamount to cutting off the firewood from under the pot.

Together with many experts, Liang Sili was determined to develop China's own missiles. He boosted morale, faced challenges head-on, successfully solved one problem after another, and developed alternative qualified domestic fuels, materials and components.

On November 5, 1960, my country's first missile "1059" (later named Dongfeng-1) was successfully tested at the Jiuquan Missile Test Base, with a range longer than that of the P-2 missile. From then on, the Chinese had their own missiles.

Image source: Official website of the Museum of Chinese Scientists

Putting the "strongest brain" into the "Dongfeng-5" intercontinental missile

The design of the Dongfeng-5 intercontinental missile began in 1965. The Dongfeng-5 requires higher target strike accuracy, and the control system must first change the previous guidance scheme, but the technical gap is very large.

Given the long range and high precision of intercontinental missiles, a computer-controlled guidance system was required. However, at that time, only the U.S. military's Minuteman missiles used integrated circuits, and the Soviet Union had not yet successfully developed one. In order to seize the commanding heights, Liang Sili decided to use an inertial platform-computer guidance technology on the Dongfeng-5.

When talking about the ideas at that time, Liang Sili was often proud of it: "Our missile-borne computer used an incremental computer solution. There was no multiplication or division, only addition and subtraction. Although it was a bit crude, it used nearly 1/3 fewer integrated circuits, solving the problem of miniaturization."

It is hard to believe that the first onboard computer used on the Dongfeng-5 intercontinental missile had only 12 instructions. It was an arithmetic incremental computer without multiplication and division instructions. Its computing speed was only nearly 20,000 times per second, and its storage capacity was only 768 words. The guidance calculations were entirely obtained by accumulating increments.

On September 10, 1971, this missile-borne computer participated in the first flight test of my country's "Dongfeng-5" intercontinental missile and was a complete success.

In addition, he also participated in the development of the Long March II series of rockets. The "space reliability engineering" he pioneered has become a solid guarantee for the safe flight of the Long March series of rockets. Since 1975, the Long March II has successfully sent 23 recoverable remote sensing satellites into space.

“Hardware is the body, software is the soul.” After 1981, Liang Sili vigorously promoted the engineering of aerospace software, which made the reliability and safety of the subsequent Shenzhou V, Shenzhou VI, Shenzhou VII, Shenzhou VIII, Shenzhou IX, Shenzhou X spacecraft reach unprecedented heights.

Liang Sili takes a photo with the astronauts

Image source: Chinese Academy of Sciences official website

In August 1996, 72-year-old Liang Sili retired from his position as deputy director of the Science and Technology Commission, but he always cared about the development of the country's aerospace industry. In June 2006, at the annual meeting of the Science and Technology Commission of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, he raised the issue of top-level design for aerospace development, and once again put forward constructive suggestions for the country's aerospace industry.

The journal "Bai Nian Chao" once commented on Liang Sili: "The Shenzhou V manned spacecraft fulfilled the Chinese people's dream of flying into space, and Liang Sili, an academician who was involved in the Shenzhou V spacecraft project and an expert in rocket control systems, fulfilled his father Liang Qichao's dream of science and technology. Liang Sili's father's blood runs in his veins. He has devoted his life to serving the country. Although he has experienced many hardships, he has never changed his mind and has won glory for the country and the nation. Like his father, Liang Sili has always put the country as his first priority. As a son and daughter, no matter what situation he faces, he will never abandon this "family".

On April 14, 2016, Liang Sili passed away in Beijing at the age of 91. For the sake of his country's missile cause, he spent most of his life in anonymity, experienced many hardships, and dedicated his life to the strength of his country. His patriotism, dedication, and rigorous style are admired by the world.

Today, let us remember this backbone of China!

Comprehensive sources: Xinhuanet, Senior Scientists Academic Growth Data Collection Project, Chinese Academy of Sciences, etc.