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 | Tuesday, April 25, 2000, updated at 09:37(GMT+8) | ||||||||||||
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China's 1st Satellite Still OrbitingDongfanghong-I, China's first satellite which was launched into the orbit 30 years ago, continues to orbit the Earth, though its storage batteries have run out of power, Beijing Youth Daily reported Monday in Beijing."The day, April 24, 1970, was the happiest day of my life," said Qi Faren, an expert who joined the Dongfanghong project at the age of 37. On this day 30 years ago, the rocket carrier, now known as " Long-March I," stood on the launch-pad waiting for the order for projection at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwestern Gansu Province. The ignition took place at 21:35. "Upon seeing it ignite on cable TV in an underground compound, I ran out and saw the beautiful rocket dashing into the sky southeastward," recalled Shen Jianan, a rocket expert. The satellite, weighing 172 kg, had been broadcasting the melody of Dongfanghong (The East is Red), a chant for late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, until its storage cells stopped working. Over the past three decades, China has launched 65 satellites including 20 foreign ones. Last year, China sent its first experimental spacecraft into orbit, opening a new era for the country's ambitious space industry. Chinese astronauts are expected to make a journey into space in domestically manufactured space shuttles.
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