[tianshuo]

Besides founding JPL, Qian also co-founded the university I graduated from, USTC (University of Science and Technology 中国科学技术大学), one of the most prestigious schools in China. He headed the Department of Modern Mechanics for 20+ years and was so notoriously strict that the university had to extend its graduation track from 4 years to 5, as he refused to let students graduate without a thorough understanding of science.

Legend has his infamous, multi-hour-long finals had only one question:

With no calculators/computers allowed, calculate the trajectory of a rocket launched from Earth that will orbit the Moon.