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Qian Xuesen

Qian Xuesen (Tsien Hsue-shen)
Tsien Hsue-shen.jpg
Native name 钱学森
Born (1911-12-11)11 December 1911
Hangzhou, China
Died 31 October 2009(2009-10-31) (aged 97)
Beijing, China
Residence China
United States
Nationality Chinese
Fields Aeronautics
Engineering cybernetics
Institutions California Institute of Technology (professor)
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (co-founder)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (professor)
Fifth Academy of the Ministry of National Defense, PRC (first director)
Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (first director)
Commission of Science and Technology for National Defense of the PLA (vice director)
Alma mater The High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University
Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
California Institute of Technology
Doctoral advisor Theodore von Kármán
Doctoral students Cheng Chemin
Known for co-founder of Jet Propulsion Laboratory
father of Chinese space program
Notable awards Distinguished Alumni Award from Caltech (1979)
Spouse Jiang Ying (m. 1947)
Children Yonggang
Yungjen
Qian Xuesen
Traditional Chinese 錢學森
Simplified Chinese 钱学森

Qian Xuesen or Hsue-Shen Tsien (Chinese: 钱学森; 11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009) was a Chinese engineer who contributed to aerodynamics and rocket science. Recruited from MIT, he joined Theodore von Karman's group at Caltech, including the founding of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Later he returned to China as Qian Xuesen and made important contributions to China's missile and space program.

During the Second Red Scare in the 1950s, the United States government accused Tsien of communist sympathies. In 1950, despite protests by his colleagues, he was stripped of his security clearance. Tsien decided to return to China, but was detained at Terminal Island near Los Angeles.

After spending five years under virtual house arrest, in 1955 Tsien was released in exchange for the repatriation of American pilots captured during the Korean War. He left the United States in September 1955 on the American President Lines passenger liner SS President Cleveland, arriving in China via Hong Kong.

Upon his return, Tsien helped lead the Chinese nuclear weapons program. This effort ultimately led to China's first successful atomic bomb test and hydrogen bomb test, making China the fifth nuclear weapons state, and achieving the fastest fission-to-fusion development in history. Additionally, Qian's work led to the development of the Dongfeng ballistic missile and the Chinese space program. For his contributions, he became known as the "Father of Chinese Rocketry", nicknamed the "King of Rocketry".


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