Ouyang Ziyuan (, born 9 October 1935) is a Chinese cosmochemist,

geochemist Geochemistry is the science that uses the tools and principles of chemistry to explain the mechanisms behind major geological systems such as the Earth's crust and its oceans. The realm of geochemistry extends beyond the Earth, encompassing the ...

and space advocate. He is a research professor at the Institute of Geochemistry of the

Chinese Academy of Sciences The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); ), known by Academia Sinica in English until the 1980s, is the national academy of the People's Republic of China for natural sciences. It has historical origins in the Academia Sinica during the Republi ...

. Asteroid 8919 Ouyangziyuan, discovered in 1996, was named in his honor.

Career

Ouyang was born in 1935 in

Ji'an Ji'an () is a prefecture-level city situated in the central region of Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China while bordering Hunan province to the west. It has an area of and as of the 2020 census, had a population of 4,469,176, of ...

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

. He obtained a degree in

geology Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other Astronomical object, astronomical objects, the features or rock (geology), rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology ...

at the Beijing College of Geology and a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in mineral deposits and geochemistry at the

Beijing Institute of Geology The China University of Geosciences (Beijing) (; abbreviated CUGB or 北京地大) is a key national university directly under the administration of the Education Ministry of the People's Republic of China. It is located in Haidian District in ...

. Thereafter, Ouyang spent many years conducting studies in deep mines. He later studied

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies t ...

and worked in a

particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams. Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...

laboratory. He later put forward a hypothesis of the formation of

iron meteorite Iron meteorites, also known as siderites, or ferrous meteorites, are a type of meteorite that consist overwhelmingly of an iron–nickel alloy known as meteoric iron that usually consists of two mineral phases: kamacite and taenite. Most i ...

s, an evolutionary model of the formation of the meteorites which fell at

Jilin Jilin (; Postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kirin or Chilin) is one of the three Provinces of China, provinces of Northeast China. Its capital and largest city is Changchun. Jilin borders North Korea (Rasŏn, North Hamgyong, R ...

in 1976, and a theory of multi-stage

cosmic ray Cosmic rays are high-energy particles or clusters of particles (primarily represented by protons or atomic nuclei) that move through space at nearly the speed of light. They originate from the Sun, from outside of the Solar System in our own ...

radiation history. His works include ''Celestial Chemistry'', and he has published more than 160 scientific treatises. He was elected a Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1991.

Space advocacy

As an expert in geological research on

underground nuclear test Underground nuclear testing is the Nuclear weapons testing, test detonation of nuclear weapons that is performed underground. When the device being tested is buried at sufficient depth, the nuclear explosion may be contained, with no release of ...

s and

extraterrestrial materials Extraterrestrial material refers to natural objects now on Earth that originated in outer space. Such materials include cosmic dust and meteorites, as well as samples brought to Earth by sample return missions from the Moon, asteroids and com ...

, Ouyang was among the first to advocate not only the exploitation of

lunar Lunar most commonly means "of or relating to the Moon". Lunar may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Lunar'' (series), a series of video games * "Lunar" (song), by David Guetta * "Lunar", a song by Priestess from the 2009 album ''Prior t ...

reserves of metals such as

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

, but also the mining of lunar

helium-3 Helium-3 (3He see also helion) is a light, stable isotope of helium with two protons and one neutron (the most common isotope, helium-4, having two protons and two neutrons in contrast). Other than protium (ordinary hydrogen), helium-3 is the ...

, an ideal fuel for

nuclear fusion Nuclear fusion is a reaction in which two or more atomic nuclei are combined to form one or more different atomic nuclei and subatomic particles ( neutrons or protons). The difference in mass between the reactants and products is manife ...

power plant A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electrical grid. Many ...

s. Ouyang is now the chief scientist of the

Chinese Lunar Exploration Program The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (CLEP; ), also known as the Chang'e Project () after the Chinese moon goddess Chang'e, is an ongoing series of robotic Moon missions by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). The program incorpor ...

(CLEP), also known as the Chang'e program. He is the most prominent supporter of the Chinese manned lunar exploration program, and also lobbies for the Chinese exploration of Mars. On November 12, 2008, upon China's publication of a comprehensive lunar surface map, Ouyang encouraged all three Asian nations then involved in lunar exploration (China,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

) to increase co-operation in furthering humanity's understanding of the Moon."Chinese scientist calls for co-op between Asian space powers"
. Xinhua. November 12, 2008. Retrieved March 16, 2013.

References

External links

Chinese Academy of Sciences lunar exploration-related articles
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ouyang, Ziyuan 1935 births Living people Chemists from Jiangxi China University of Geosciences alumni Chinese geochemists Educators from Jiangxi Fudan University faculty Members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing University faculty People's Republic of China politicians from Jiangxi Planetary_scientists Space program of the People's Republic of China Peking University faculty Politicians from Ji'an University of Science and Technology of China faculty Zhejiang University faculty

Career

Space advocacy

See also

References

External links