Exhibition Honors Pioneering Rocket Scientist

On October 3, the Graduate Aerospace Laboratories at Caltech (GALCIT) will host an exhibition titled Qian Xue-sen: A Man of Science and an Inspiration to Scholars, in honor of Qian Xue-sen (PhD '39). The exhibit will feature photos, documents, and medals from the Qian Xue-sen Library and Museum at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Shanghai, China.

Xue-sen, also known as Tsien Hsue-Shen, was a student of Professor Theodore von Kármán working on supersonic flight and rocket propulsion. As a member of the so-called "Suicide Squad," Xue-sen was one of a handful of Caltech graduate students and rocket enthusiasts whose work led to the envisioning and founding of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He went on to advise the U.S. Army on ballistic-missile guidance during World War II. During the McCarthy era, Xue-sen was accused of having communist leanings and his security clearance was revoked. When he tried to return to China, the U.S. government held him under house arrest. In 1955, he returned to China, where he applied his vast knowledge of aerodynamics and rocket propulsion toward founding the Chinese missile and space programs.

The exhibit will be on display in the Dabney Hall Lounge from October 3 to October 9 and is free to the public.