In 1980, my country's first intercontinental ballistic missile launch nearly failed. Why did Zhang Aiping order: "Everyone, take off your shoelaces!"

In 1980, the atmosphere at a space launch site in western China was incredibly tense. China's first-generation intercontinental ballistic missile, the Dongfeng-5, stood on the launch pad, awaiting a landmark moment.

However, at this crucial final moment, news from the inspection department sent a chill down everyone's spine: an unidentified "shadow" seemed to have been detected in the missile engine's fuel line.

This vague "shadow" instantly stirred up ripples within the team. "Whose responsibility is it?" "Which link went wrong?" Disputes began, and tension and anxiety permeated the air.

At this critical juncture, Zhang Aiping, then director of the Science and Technology Equipment Committee of the Central Military Commission, demonstrated extraordinary decisiveness. Upon learning of the situation, he didn't hesitate for a moment, decisively issuing the order: "Any doubts must be thoroughly investigated! We cannot allow any hidden dangers to go into space!" This order, like a bolt of lightning, pierced the fog of debate, focusing all efforts on a single goal—to uncover the truth.

Military orders are absolute. The task ultimately fell on the shoulders of Zhang Lianfu, the Vice Minister of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery Industry.

This vice minister didn't sit in his office giving orders; instead, he made a move beyond what most people would imagine—he personally crawled into the cramped rocket engine compartment. The space inside was confined, and the working environment was extremely harsh, but he didn't flinch.

To see the suspicious shadow clearly, they even used an endoscope used for examining the stomach in a hospital. When the instrument's lens carefully penetrated deep into the pipes, the truth was finally revealed—the "shadow" that had caused such immense tension and a series of actions was simply an ordinary shoelace!

For a small shoelace, a vice minister personally crawled into the compartment, and the entire elite team spent several days working on it; this might seem unbelievable to outsiders.

However, every aerospace worker present knew that if this hidden danger had not been discovered, the shoelace could have blocked a critical oil passage under the complex mechanical environment as the rocket launched, with absolutely disastrous consequences, and all previous efforts would have been in vain.Realizing this, everyone felt a wave of relief mixed with lingering fear. The root of the problem had been found, but Zhang Aiping's anger hadn't subsided. He demanded sharply, "How was the 'Five Fixed Points' implemented? Investigate thoroughly!" The "Five Fixed Points" he referred to were an extremely strict management system within the aerospace industry, requiring every position to have "fixed personnel, fixed responsibilities, fixed location, fixed actions, and fixed relationships," aiming to eliminate any human negligence. The investigation revealed that the shoelace had been unintentionally dropped by an assembly worker during work.

"Isn't it clearly stipulated that no unrelated items are allowed in the work area?" Zhang Aiping's question was forceful. Some people quietly argued that shoelaces were essential and not "intentionally" contraband.

However, Zhang Aiping did not accept this "close enough" logic. In his philosophy, safety had no "close enough," only "zero or one hundred." He immediately issued an order that seemed almost "inhuman" to outsiders: "Then untie the shoelaces of everyone entering the workshop!"

This order, at the time, was like a pebble thrown into a pond, creating ripples. However, no one could have imagined that the ripples from this pebble would transcend the vast expanse of time.

More than a decade later, a female cadre from the Foreign Affairs Bureau of the Ministry of Aerospace visited a top-secret launch test site. As she approached the workshop gate, she was politely but firmly stopped by the gatekeeper: "Comrade, please untie your shoelaces." The female cadre was stunned, asking in utter bewilderment, "Why?" The gatekeeper's answer was concise, resolute, and left no room for doubt: "This is Zhang Aiping's order!" The female cadre was even more astonished, pressing for an answer: "When was this order given?" The young gatekeeper scratched his head and smiled sheepishly: "I don't know the exact time. Anyway, this rule existed before I came to work here. My mentor said it's been in place for at least ten years."

Thus, an order originating from a shoelace, passed down orally between mentor and apprentice, became a silent ironclad rule of this base, transcending the changing times and continuously safeguarding the purity and safety of aerospace.The Chinese nation's journey to the stars and the sea is paved with countless details like "a single shoelace." It is this almost obsessive rigor that has forged the brilliance and heights of China's aerospace industry today. This is the weight of a single shoelace, and also the immense weight of the Chinese aerospace spirit.