Chen Fangyun
Chen Fangyun (Chinese: 陈芳允; 3 April 1916 – 29 April 2000) was a Chinese electrical engineer. Considered the founder of radio electronics in China,[1] he was pivotal in the development of Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) systems that control China's satellites and missiles.
Biography
Chen was born on 3 April 1916 in Taizhou, Zhejiang, Republic of China.[2] After graduating from high school in 1934, he entered Tsinghua University and graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics four years later. He worked for Tsinghua University's Radio Research Institute and later at the Chengdu Radio Factory during the Second Sino-Japanese War.[2]
After the end of World War II, Chen worked in Britain from 1945 to 1948 and conducted research at a radio factory.[2][3] After returning to China, he was one of the scientists who established the Institute of Electronics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.[2] At the institute, he developed the world's first measuring device for ultrashort pulse, used to ascertain the level of radiation in nuclear explosions.[2] In 1964, he developed China's first anti-jamming radar for aircraft.[2]
In the early 1970s, Chen began researching and developing Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT&C) systems that control satellites tens of thousands of kilometers away from earth. The TT&C system he developed was crucial in the successful launch of China's first geosynchronous communications satellite in April 1984, and he was conferred the Special Prize of the State Science and Technology Progress Award the next year.[2] A network of TT&C systems has since been deployed to control China's satellites and missiles.[1]: 155
In March 1986, Chen and three other prominent scientists—Wang Daheng, Wang Ganchang, and Yang Jiachi—wrote a letter to Deng Xiaoping advocating the development of strategic technologies.[1] Deng accepted their proposal, which gave birth to the influential 863 Program, named after the date of their letter.[1]
The asteroid 10929 Chenfangyun, discovered by the Beijing Schmidt CCD Asteroid Program in 1998, is named after him.[4]
References
- ^ a b c d Feigenbaum, Evan A. (2003). China's Techno-warriors: National Security and Strategic Competition from the Nuclear to the Information Age. Stanford University Press. p. 141. ISBN 978-0-8047-4601-4.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Chen Fangyun, a Man of Great Merit for China's Nuclear Bomb, Missile and Satellite Undertaking". China National Administration of GNSS and Applications. 2019-03-22. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ Sullivan, Lawrence R.; Liu, Nancy Y. (2015). Historical Dictionary of Science and Technology in Modern China. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. pp. 69–70. ISBN 978-0-8108-7855-6.
- ^ "10929 Chenfangyun". NASA. 2009-05-11. Retrieved 2019-04-26.