Zhang Rongqiao (; born March 1966) is a Chinese physicist and aerospace engineer who is the chief designer of
Tianwen-1
-1 (TW-1; zh, t=, s=, l='Heavenly Questions') is an interplanetary mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) which sent a robotic spacecraft to Mars, consisting of 6 spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, lander, rem ...
, China's first mission to
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
.
Biography
Zhang was born in the town of ,
Qimen County
Qimen County (; alternately romanized as Keemun) is a county in the southeast of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangxi Province to the southwest. It is the westernmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of ...
,
Anhui
Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...
, in March 1966. He secondary studied at Qimen No.1 High School. In 1982, he was accepted to
Xidian University
Xidian University () is a public research university in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, that is administered by the Ministry of Education of China. Xidian focuses on electronics and information education and research, and has programs covering enginee ...
.
In 1991, he graduated from
China Academy of Space Technology
The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST) () is a Chinese space agency and subordinate of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). The agency was founded on 20 February 1968, and is the main spacecraft development and prod ...
.
He received his EMBA degree from
Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management
Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management (abbreviation: Tsinghua SEM; Chinese: 清华大学经济管理学院, ''qīng huá dà xué jīng jì guǎn lǐ xué yuàn ''), is the business school of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China. ...
in 2002.
Zhang joined the Beijing Institute of Satellite Information Engineering.
In 2004, he was transferred to the Lunar Exploration Center of the
, where he serves as the chief designer of
Tianwen-1
-1 (TW-1; zh, t=, s=, l='Heavenly Questions') is an interplanetary mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA) which sent a robotic spacecraft to Mars, consisting of 6 spacecraft: an orbiter, two deployable cameras, lander, rem ...
, China's first
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
probe. On May 30, 2021, he was elected as a member of the Standing Committee of the
China Association for Science and Technology
The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST; ) is a mass organization of Chinese scientists and engineers, which is composed of multiple national professional societies and hundreds of branches at various local and international level ...
.
Zhang was included in a list of ten scientists who had had important roles in scientific developments in 2021 compiled by the scientific journal
''Nature.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zhang, Rongqiao
1966 births
Living people
People from Huangshan
People from Qimen County
Scientists from Anhui
Xidian University alumni
Tsinghua University alumni
Xidian University faculty