JIUQUAN, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Staff and students from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center honored aerospace martyrs at a cemetery in northwest China's Gobi Desert on Tomb-Sweeping Day, which fell on Tuesday.

Sci-tech workers, students and staff of the center visited the Dong Feng revolutionary martyrs' cemetery and paid tribute to more than 700 people who devoted themselves to national defense and sci-tech projects.

Among them was Marshal Nie Rongzhen, who headed research on the country's first atomic bomb and satellite in the 1950s and 1960s.

The center has witnessed 24 firsts in the country's aerospace history, including the successful launch of its first man-made satellite and the first space lab.

Tomb-Sweeping Day, also known as Qingming Festival, is the most important occasion for Chinese to honor their ancestors. The three-day holiday lasts from April 2 to 4.