Google China Logo - Qian Xuesen's Birthday
Qian Xuesen (simplified Chinese: 钱学森; traditional Chinese: 錢學森; pinyin: Qián Xuésēn; Wade-Giles: Ch'ien Hsüeh-sên) (11 December 1911 – 31 October 2009) was a scientist who made important contributions to the missile and space programs of both the United States and People's Republic of China. NASA documents commonly refer to him as H.S. Tsien.
During the 1940s Qian was one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at the California Institute of Technology. During the Second Red Scare of the 1950s, the United States government accused Qian of having communist sympathies, and he was stripped of his security clearance in 1950. Qian then decided to return to China, but instead was detained at Terminal Island near Los Angeles. After spending 5 years under virtual house arrest[5], Qian was released in 1955, in exchange for the repatriation of American pilots captured during the Korean War. Notified by U.S. authorities that he was free to go, Qian immediately arranged his departure, leaving for China in September of 1955, on the passenger liner SS President Cleveland of American President Lines, via Hong Kong. He returned to lead the Chinese rocket program, and became known as the "Father of Chinese Rocketry" (or "King of Rocketry").
Asteroid 3763 Qianxuesen was named after him.
钱学森（Tsien Hsue-shen、H.S. Tsien，1911年12月11日－2009年10月31日），浙江杭州人，中国空气动力学家，中国科学院、中国工程院院士，中国两弹一星功勋奖章获得者之一。曾任美国麻省理工学院教授、加州理工学院教授，为中美两国的导弹和航天计划都曾作出过重大贡献。被誉为“中国航天之父”和“火箭之王”。
