Chapter 87 86. Qian Xuesen——Two Bombs and One Satellite High-tech Father

Qian Xuesen (1911-2009), male, Han nationality, from Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, a member of the Communist Party of China.Senior Advisor to the Science and Technology Committee of the General Armament Department of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, Honorary Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, and Former Vice Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.famous scientist. Qian Xuesen graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 1934, went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study in 1935, obtained a master's degree in the following year, and then entered the California Institute of Technology. After receiving a doctorate in aviation and mathematics in 1939, he stayed at the school to teach and engaged in applied mechanics and rocket and missile research. . After returning to China in 1955, he successively served as the director of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the director of the Fifth Research Institute of the Ministry of National Defense, the deputy director of the Seventh Ministry of Machinery, the deputy director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, and the former deputy director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission. In 1956, the "Opinions on Establishing my country's National Defense Aviation Industry" was put forward, which was the first to propose an extremely important implementation plan for the development of China's rocket and missile technology.Since then, he has served as a technical leader in the development of my country's rockets, missiles and spacecraft for a long time, and with his rich knowledge in the fields of overall, power, guidance, aerodynamics, structure, materials, computers, quality control and technology management, he has contributed to China's rockets and missiles and He has made outstanding contributions to the establishment and development of the aerospace industry.He is an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, a representative of the Ninth to Twelfth National Congress of the Communist Party of China, and won the first prize of the Natural Science Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the special prize of the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the Rockwell Medal and the title of World-Class Science and Engineering Celebrity , was awarded the honorary title of "National Outstanding Contribution Scientist" by the State Council and the Central Military Commission, and was awarded the "Two Bombs and One Satellite" Meritorious Medal by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council, and the Central Military Commission.

In 1935, the 24-year-old Qian Xuesen felt that the domestic jackals were in charge and the people were struggling to make ends meet. He came up with the idea of ​​studying in the United States and dedicating to the country after he was successful in his studies.After arriving in the United States, he first studied in the Department of Aeronautics of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a year later decided to follow Professor von Karman, the "father of the supersonic era" at the California Institute of Technology at that time.Under the guidance of Professor Carmen, his diligence and creativity have been brought into full play, and he has written a lot and achieved outstanding results.At the end of World War II, Qian Xuesen had gained valuable scientific research experience in modern mechanics and jet propulsion, and became a famous outstanding scientist at that time and the veteran of the rocket team of Caltech. He made great contributions to the rocket research of the United States during World War II. . In 1943, entrusted by the U.S. military, Qian Xuesen and his colleagues collaborated on research and presented an important research report entitled "Comments and Partial Analysis of Long-Range Rockets", which helped the U.S. successfully develop the first batch of surface-to-surface missiles in the 1940s. laid the theoretical foundation. In 1945, he became a member of the U.S. Air Force Advisory Group.After the war, the U.S. Air Force praised Qian Xuesen for his "inestimable contribution" to the victory.After the war, Qian Xuesen served as the director of the Jet Propulsion Research Center of the California Institute of Technology.His contribution and value have been praised and confirmed by the U.S. military and officials many times. The American columnist Milton Vioscheng once wrote, "Money is the scientist in the galaxy who helped the United States become the world's first-class military power." A Bright Star" was "a key figure in developing the long-range plan for the transition of the U.S. Air Force from propeller-driven aircraft to jet aircraft and eventually to unmanned spaceflight vehicles."

In 1949, when New China was established, just as Qian Xuesen stepped up his preparations to return to China in order to realize his long-cherished wish of serving the motherland for many years, an anti-communist frenzy erupted across the United States. In 1950, the U.S. intelligence agency accused him of being a member of the Communist Party and disqualified Qian Xuesen from participating in classified research.Filled with righteous indignation, Qian Xuesen met with US Navy Undersecretary Daniel Kinkel and announced his decision to return to the motherland.Qian Xuesen's solemn statement made Kinkel very angry.When Qian Xuesen walked out of his office, he almost shouted: "I would rather shoot this guy than let him leave the United States! He knows too much about the most precious things to us. No matter where he goes, He is worth five divisions!" After that, the US government put Qian Xuesen under house arrest on Termina Island in California, USA, for five years, and his actions were restricted by the Immigration Bureau and monitored by FBI agents.

The story of Qian Xuesen quickly spread to China, and the Chinese government, which has been paying close attention to Qian Xuesen's situation, made various mediation efforts for his return to China.At that time, China and the United States were holding marathon-style ambassadorial talks in Geneva, and Qian Xuesen's return to China also became one of the contents of the talks.After unremitting efforts, on August 4, 1955, Qian Xuesen finally received a notice from the U.S. Immigration Service that he could leave the United States.After suffering the bitterness of unfair treatment, Qian Xuesen packed his bags and returned to his motherland.According to Wang Bingnan's recollection, at the end of the 1950s, Premier Zhou Enlai said to everyone with great satisfaction at a meeting: "Although the Sino-US ambassadorial talks have not achieved positive results for a long time, this is the one thing to come back with a Qian Xuesen. It's worth it, the talks are worthwhile."

Kinkel's evaluation of Qian Xuesen is undoubtedly not sufficient. Qian Xuesen is not only worth 5 teachers. After returning to the embrace of the motherland, Qian Xuesen radiated great enthusiasm and creativity.He participated in the deployment and successfully organized the manufacture and flight test of China's first short-range missile, mid-range and short-range missile, and the flight test of carrying an atomic bomb with a medium-range and short-range missile; he was the first to study the feasibility of the theory of interstellar navigation in China , Solved many key technical problems for the development of China's first artificial satellite.He is also engaged in research work in a broader academic field, and has made groundbreaking contributions to operations research, systems engineering, systems science, modern science and technology system theory, human science, thinking science, and geographical science. In October 1991, when Beijing was in full bloom in the golden autumn, Comrades Jiang Zemin and Li Peng signed an order to award Qian Xuesen the honorary title of "National Scientist with Outstanding Contribution" and the first-class Hero Model Medal.Qian Xuesen deserves it!

Speaking of which, Qian Xuesen has a predestined relationship with USTC. In the spring of 1958, scientists from some research institutes in the Beijing area of ​​the Chinese Academy of Sciences proposed to use the power of the Academy of Sciences to establish a new type of university. At that time, Qian Xuesen was one of the active advocates.When the University of Science and Technology was founded, he was one of the members of the preparatory committee. This preparatory committee was established with the approval of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. Qian Xuesen was the only one involved when his identity was involved.At that time, he was the director of the Institute of Mechanics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.He and Guo Yonghuai, deputy director of the Institute of Mechanics, and other famous scientists actively prepared to establish the Department of Mechanics and Mechanical Engineering of HKUST, and determined that the department would set up four majors: high-speed aerodynamics, high-temperature solid mechanics, chemical fluid mechanics, and soil and rock mechanics.Since then, Qian Xuesen has served as the head of the Department of Mechanics of HKUST for 20 years.

As an internationally renowned great scientist, Qian Xuesen insisted on giving lectures to HKUST students despite his busy schedule. From 1961 to 1962, he gave lectures on "Introduction to Rocket Technology" for the 58th and 59th grade students of the Department of Modern Mechanics. More than 400 people attended the lectures, once a week for three hours each time, when he was 50 years old. In 1962, Qian Xuesen lectured on the course "Physical Mechanics" for the 58th grade students of the Department of Chemical Physics. "Physical Mechanics Lecture Notes" was written in English when he was in the United States. Special teaching materials for HKUST.

At the award ceremony held by the central government for Qian Xuesen in 1991, a woman stood quietly beside Qian Xuesen.Although she is nearly seventy years old, she has a dignified demeanor and an elegant temperament.She is Qian Xuesen's wife Jiang Ying.At the end of the award ceremony, Qian Xuesen delivered a speech. After expressing his gratitude to the central government, Qian Xuesen changed the subject, pointed to Jiang Ying and introduced to everyone: "We have been married for 44 years, and our family life in these 44 years Very happy. But during the five years from 1950 to 1955 when the U.S. government persecuted me, Comrade Jiang Ying was the housekeeper. She made a huge sacrifice. I will never forget this. I also want to express my gratitude to the leaders present today What I introduced to my comrades is that Jiang Ying’s major is very different from mine—she is a soprano singer, and she specializes in singing the most profound German classical art songs. It was she who introduced me to these musical arts. The poetic charm and deep understanding of life enriched my understanding of the world and learned the broad way of thinking of art. In other words, it is precisely because I have been influenced by these arts that I can avoid giving up my mind and avoiding Mechanical materialism, thinking about the problem can be broader and livelier." Qian Xuesen's words moved everyone present.

Qian Xuesen has published many insightful papers on aesthetics, literature and art, sociology, culture, thinking science, and technical aesthetics.In his heart, country is more important than family, science is the most important, and fame and fortune are the least important. Returning to the country in 5 years, two bombs in 10 years.He was the pioneer who created the aerospace industry of the motherland. He cut through the thorns and forged wisdom into a ladder, leaving it to the later climbers.He is a treasure of knowledge, a banner of science, and a model of intellectuals of the Chinese nation.