[Unity and Struggle to Start a New Situation, Welcoming the 18th National Congress of the Trade Union, the Song of Laborers]

Original title: Yang Shenshen bravely climbed the deep-sea scientific and technological peak and experienced the pedigree development of manned submersible in China (introduction)

Strugglers who pursue dreams in the deep sea (theme)

Worker's Daily - Huang Hongtao, reporter of China Industrial Network

From Jiaolong to Deep Sea Warrior and then to Endeavor, Yang Shenshen knows all about these three "great power heavy weapons". "Jiaolong is the first deep manned submersible in China, which has developed from scratch. It has gone from 600 meters to 7000 meters. The Deep Sea Warrior is a solution to the problem of localization, and all core technologies have been independently developed. The Endeavor is the forefront of the breakthrough technology. It has gone down 10909 meters to successfully sit at the deepest known ocean."

Yang Shenshen is the director of the underwater engineering research and development department of China Ship Science Research Center, and the academic leader in the field of electromechanical integration of manned submersibles in China. He has personally experienced the development process of the pedigree of manned submersibles in China. The research and development of these "big power heavy weapons" also witnessed his hard work, dedication and courage to climb the deep-sea technology peak.

"Personal dream integrated into national dream"

In 2005, Yang Shenshen, who had just started working, followed his team to the research and development of Jiaolong. "For me, this is undoubtedly very lucky. When my personal dream is integrated into the national dream, I am full of energy every day."

At that time, at the beginning of the Jiaolong project, the deepest submersible ever developed in China was only 600 meters deep, "almost a blank" in the deep-sea field. Against this background, Jiaolong was established as the first deep-sea manned submersible in China, with a target depth of 7000 meters. "This is a huge technological leap, we can only cross the river by feeling the stones," Yang Shenshen said.

From being familiar with the technical scheme, to participating in the equipment commissioning, and then to participating in the sea trial, Yang Shenshen went step by step into the team's research and development process and witnessed it.

"At that time, we learned while researching and developing, understood the equipment structure, and absorbed foreign advanced technology. Each of us was working overtime, and all of us were working hard to develop the Jiaolong," Yang said.

After countless experiments and four years of sea trials, the Jiaolong submersible dived 7062 meters in the Mariana Trench on June 27, 2012, creating the world record for the largest depth of manned submersible diving at that time.

"Never give up halfway"

During the development of Jiaolong, researchers found that China's deep-sea manned submersible was weak in some key materials and equipment, and many core technologies were constrained by people. In order to achieve independent and controllable technology, the project of the second deep-sea manned submersible, "Deep Sea Warrior", was approved.

Yang Shenshen was appointed as the Deputy Chief Engineer of the Deep Sea Warrior due to his outstanding performance in participating in Jiaolong. At the same time, as the main person in charge of mechatronics, Yang Shenshen and the team continued to tackle key problems, repeated tests and improved equipment performance.

The battery is the driving force for the operation of the submersible, and its importance is self-evident. At that time, silver zinc battery was widely used internationally, and its technology application was relatively mature. However, based on the consideration of economy, service life and other aspects, Yang Shenshen and his team boldly proposed the technical scheme of replacing silver zinc battery with lithium battery.

Once, a fault occurred in the battery experiment. Do you want to give up the lithium battery and choose the silver zinc battery that you have used skillfully in the past, or do you not give up and continue to study the lithium battery? "Never give up halfway!" Yang Shenshen and his team chose to insist and finally overcome the technical difficulties. The originally conceived lithium battery scheme was successful, and the battery performance far exceeded the silver zinc battery used in the past.

Sea trial is the last and most critical stage of submersible research and development. In only three months, the "Deep Sea Warrior" successfully completed all sea trial tasks.

"We are very proud to see the success of the submersible completely developed by our Chinese people," said Yang Shenshen.

"The application and development of deep diving technology is unlimited"

After the success of the "Deep Sea Warrior", the manned deep diving team launched a charge to 10000 meters.

As a core member of the deep diving team, Yang Shenshen led the design team to conquer many key core technologies such as "low noise and efficient propulsion system" and "integrated control hydraulic system", and successfully realized the localization of many key materials or components.

On November 10, 2020, the Chinese "Endeavor" all sea deep manned submersible successfully sat at the bottom of 10909m in the Mariana Trench.

"For the first time, the Chinese measured the depth of the Mariana Trench with their own equipment. From a worldwide perspective, our submersibles are the most capable and technologically advanced." Yang Shenshen is extremely proud.

"The depth of the ocean is limited, but the application and development of deep diving technology is unlimited." Yang Shenshen is still very busy every day, devoting himself to the research and development of new materials and technologies for deep-sea manned submersible.

"We are developing a fully permeable manned submersible." Yang Shenshen said that in the future, deep-sea manned submersible will achieve greater operational capacity and efficiency, and will be deeply applied to more special purposes such as archaeology, tourism, water conservancy and hydropower.

From following up to running together to leading the way, Yang Shenshen witnessed the pedigree development of China's manned submersible. He said, "I will practice the Chinese manned deep diving spirit of 'rigorous and realistic, unity and cooperation, hard work and dedication, and dare to climb the peak', continue to climb the deep-sea science and technology peak, and become the 'striver' of the deep sea."