Ep. 334 | Qian Xuesen (Part 1)

The China History Podcast

Laszlo Montgomery

Places & Travel, Society & Culture, History

4.8 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 September 2023

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Once again, by popular demand, here's another oft-requested topic. With the recent release of the Oppenheimer film, I thought this story was quite timely. Qian Xuesen is called "The Father of China's Missile and Space Program." What's not as well known is the key role he played in the late 1930s and 40s in the United States rocket and jet propulsion programs. He was there, along with Frank Malina, Weld Arnold, Apollo M.O. Smith, Jack Parsons, and Edward S. Forman, when the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was created. Under the leadership of Theodore von Karman, this team led the effort that launched America's missile and rocket programs. But come 1950 Qian's world will be upended. That's all for Part 2. Iris Chang: Thread of the Silkworm: https://www.amazon.com/Thread-Silkworm-Iris-Chang/dp/0465006787 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Good evening, everyone.
0:01.0	Lozile Montgomery with you again.
0:02.8	Thanks for tuning in to the China History Podcast.
0:06.8	I have another good one today from our modern age.
0:09.8	And like a lot of CHP episodes featured here,
0:12.4	this is a topic that's been suggested more than a few times.
0:16.7	And it was thinking after I saw Oppenheimer
0:19.4	and recalling all the hysteria he got caught up in
0:22.9	during the 1950s following the communist victory
0:25.7	in the Chinese Civil War, I couldn't help but think
0:28.6	back to the whole McCarthy era dog pile on Chinshue Sun
0:32.2	and how we ended up scoring one of the most consequential
0:35.1	own goals in all of modern American history.
0:37.8	And at least since I've been around,
0:39.9	we've scored more than our share.
0:42.0	As an American, this is one of those painful stories
0:45.3	to recollect.
0:46.4	However, for any PRC national, this story is a chance
0:49.7	to sit back, point a finger at Uncle Sam
0:52.4	and enjoy a nice laugh on us.
0:56.0	Anyway, here's Chinshue Sun's story.
0:58.3	He lived a very long life, almost to a hundred,
	...

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