Man Deported From USA Then Became China's Father of Space Tech

宝安外语协会

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Most of the people will never hear or even know the name of this man, Qian Xuesen, whom apart from contributing to the US landing on the moon, he spearheaded programs that propelled China into space. And he achieved the latter feat because he was deported from the US.

According to an excerpt from Wikipedia:

Qian Xuesen, or Hsue-Shen Tsien, was a Chinese mathematician, cyberneticist, aerospace engineer, and physicist who made significant contributions to the field of aerodynamics and established engineering cybernetics. Recruited from MIT, he joined Theodore von Kármán's group at Caltech. During WWII, he was involved in the Manhattan Project, which ultimately led to the successful development of the first atomic bomb in America. Later on, he would eventually return to China, where he would make important contributions to China's missile and space program.

Born to well-educated parents in 1911, it was evident from an early age that Qian had superior intellect. He graduated at the top of his class at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and won a scholarship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Qian arrived in Boston in 1935. He eventually moved to the California Institute of Technology (CalTech) to study under Hungarian aeronautical engineer Theodore von Karman, one of the field’s most influential at the time. It was in CalTech when Qian became a member of a group of innovators called Suicide Squad, which aimed to build a rocket on campus. They earned their nickname, however, due to botched experiments involving volatile chemicals.

At the end of the World War 2, he was among the world’s leading experts in jet propulsion. But his involvement with anti-racism movements in the US put him on suspicion list in FBI. Political atmosphere at the time when PRC had just been established also made him a target of alleged accusations that he spied for his mother country just because he was Chinese despite the absence of evidence.

Qian was put on house arrest for five years and in 1955, President Eisenhower deported him to China. Qian left America by boat with his wife and two U.S.-born children. He vowed never to return again. The scientist arrived as a promising talent in China.

In the following years, he oversaw the launch of the first Chinese satellite into space -- and a multitude of other projects that laid the foundations of China’s Lunar Exploration Program.

Despite the turnaround of his life, Qian reportedly remained fond of the American people. In 2002, Frank Marble, a CalTech colleague, stated that Qian had “lost faith in the American government” but “always had very warm feelings for the American people,” according to The New York Times. Qian died as an accomplished scientist at the age of 98 in Beijing. He has since been revered as a hero in China.

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