Yes, there are other ways to avoid a math problem

I read with interest a letter to AW&ST titled “Avoiding a math problem” by George Epstein, Lost Angeles, California. The letter is copied as follows:

A Nine Story Building with 1900 Windows

Source: ChinaNews

Every Scientist&Engineer@universe Should Have A Facebook Page

Keith Cowing thinks that “Everyone@NASA Should Have A Facebook Page” which I agree. In fact, I think what he is thinking is similar to what I have said: “Engineers, please write blog or diary“.

Father of Chinese Space Program Qian Xuesen Died

Qian Xuesen (钱学森)

The news that Qian Xuesen died on October 31 created a shock wave in China, but the wave didn’t seem to reach the other end of the Pacific ocean. If one search Google news on Qian Xuesen, there are only 228 results (as of Nov 2, 2009). But if one search 钱学森, there are 5,389 results. One of them was from LA Time: “Qian Xuesen dies at 98; rocket scientist helped establish Jet Propulsion Laboratory. NASA didn’t say a word. Cal Tech had few. I asked a few space engineers. None of them know about the news. One CFD expert said to me that he never saw Qian’s photo.

Best wishes to NASA on Ares I-X test flight

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Source: NASA Image of the Day Gallery

According to NASA website, Ares I-X, the first flight test for Ares I Liftoff is set for tomorrow (Tuesday) Morning. I just want to say “Best Wishes!”

The English Chinese Dictionaries I use

After I posted “Dictionary Day“, I was asked which Chinese-English dictioary and English-Chinese dictionary I use.

Well, it is the digital time, I’ve been using online dictionaries. For Chinese-English dictioary, I use iCiba. For English-Chinese dictionary, I use Dict.cn.

Dictionary Day (October 16)

There is a Dictionary Day, but it is unclear the exact date of the day. When Fremont Libraries posted an article “Happy Dictionary Day!” on April 14, 2009, I pointed out that

Story of Wan Hu — The first astronaut in the world

paviavio

Source: NASA: Wan Hoo and His Space Vehicle

The story about Wan Hu (Wan Hoo, 万虎) was a legend first described by American author Herbert S. Zim in his book “Rockets and Jets” in 1945. Since then, Wan has been considered as the world’s first recorded “astronaut”. But there has not been any Chinese source that confirmed the legend. Recently, I found a story about Tsien Hsue-shen (Qian Xuesen, 钱学森) from a Chinese literature in which Tsien told a story to young scientists that he learned from his Chinese advisor Wang Shizhuo: “The Story of Wan Hu”. It has a lot of details about the first astronaut in history. It even claims that Chinese invented two stage rocket earlier than anyone else It happened in the year of 1465. Believe it or not. Here I translated the story to English:

CAST surveys among 1980s generation

Paviavio

There is an interesting 1980s generation survey (about 2100 of them) conducted by China Academy of Space Technology (CAST). Part of the results is shown below:

What do you think is the criteria of achievement in your career?
Answers (from left to right): be a manager, gain high income, become expert, be respected

The possible capacity of Long March 5

Long March rocket (长征) is a family of expendable launch systems operated by China. Development and design falls under the auspices of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology. In English, the rockets are abbreviated as LM- for export and CZ- within China. The rockets are named after the Long March of Chinese communist history.