Qian Xuesen: Father of China’s Space Program 钱学森：中国航天之父

钱学森于1911年12月11日出生于上海。1914年父亲到北平民国政府教育部任职，迁居北京。1929年秋，钱学森入交通大学机械工程系，攻读铁道机械工程。1934年毕业，同年在美国麻省理工学院和加利福尼亚理工大学学习。1935年赴美国研究航空工程和空气动力学，1938年获加利福尼亚理工学院博士学位，后留在美国任教并从事火箭研究。
Qian Xuesen was born in Shanghai on December 11, 1911. In 1914, his family moved to Beijing when his father went to work in ministry of education of Peking-based government of Republic of China. In Autumn 1929, Qian Xuesen studied railway mechanical engineering in Mechanical Engineering Department of Jiaotong University and graduated in 1934. In that year, he went to the United States and studied in Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the California Institute of Technology. In 1935, he studied aerospace engineering and aerodynamics in the United States. In 1938, he earned his doctorate from Caltech. Later, he stayed in the United States to teach and study rocket science.
1950年开始争取回归祖国，当时美国海军次长丹尼·金布尔说："钱学森无论走到哪里，都抵得上五个师的兵力，我宁可把他击毙在美国也不能让他离开。"因此钱学森失去了自由，历经5年于1955年才回到祖国。
In 1950, Qian Xuesen tried to go back to China. Then Undersecretary of the Navy Dan Kimball, said, "He's worth five divisions anywher. I'd rather shoot him than let him leave the country." Thus, Qian Xuesen lost his freedom and could not go back to the motherland until five years later in 1955.
钱学森为中国火箭和导弹技术的发展提出了极为重要的实施方案。1958年4月起，他长期担任火箭导弹和航天器研制的技术领导职务，对中国火箭导弹和航天事业的发展做出了重大贡献。2009年10月31日上午8时6分在北京去世，享年98岁。
Qian Xuesen proposed a vitally important implementation plan for China's rocket and missile development. Starting April 1958, he took the leading position in researching technologies of rocket, missile and spacecraft, making great contributions to China's rocket and missile development and spaceflight cause. At 8:06 on the morning of October 31, 2009, Qian Xuesen died in Beijing at the age of 98.
钱学森被誉为"中国航天之父"、"中国导弹之父"、"火箭之王"。他在上世纪40年代已经成为国际航空航天领域内的最为杰出的科学家，并以《工程控制论》的出版为标志在学术成就上实质性地超越了科学巨匠冯·卡门，成为上个世纪整个应用科学领域中最杰出的代表，成为二十世纪众多学科领域的科学群星中最为璀璨的极少数巨星之一。
Qian Xuesen was honored as "father of China's spaceflight program," "father of China's missile" and "king of rocket." He became the most outstanding scientist in international spaceflight area in the 1940s. He published Engineering Cybernetics, indicating that he had substantially surpassed Von Karman in academic achievements and becoming the most outstanding representative in applied sciences in the last century. he was one of the most brilliant stars among the many scientific stars in various areas in the 20th Century.