Qian Xuesen (1911-2009) [1] was born in Hangzhou, China. In 1935, at the age of 24, Xuesen left China for the United States to study at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) earning a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering. One year later, he enrolled at the California Institute of Technology under the tutelage of Professor Theodore Von Karman [2]. His doctoral thesis in 1938 was: Problems in Motion of Compressible Fluids and Reaction Propulsion. Qian Xuesen became the Robert H. Goddard Professor in 1949 and was a member of the team that founded The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) [3]. He was the founder of engineering cybernetics. Suspected by U.S. intelligence of engaging in communist activities, Xuesen found himself placed under house arrest in 1950 for five years [4]. Granted permission to leave the U.S. in 1955, after his unjust treatment by the government, he returned to China vowing to never again return to America.

Time, Among Other Things is an analogous tribute to Qian Xuesen historic unexpected life's journey. Connected in a strong sense both spiritually and philosophically, Time, Among Other Things addresses some of the universal aspects of space and time and the human experience. It is a poetic site-specific, interdisciplinary, artwork created with the thought in mind for integration into a future Chinese satellite or spacecraft. The first choice being a spacecraft intended for a Moon or Mars landing.

Time, Among Other Things consists of two elements:

The first element is a silver Chinese Market Export [4] pocket watch (Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4) made in Switzerland by Bovet Fleurier, circa 1830, with a most beautifully engraved and gold-washed skeletonized movement (Figs. 5, 6). It is hand wound with a key (circa 1830).

This watch was given to me many years ago by my maternal grandmother, who lived in Stockton, California [5], it was a very special gift; one that is dear to my heart and something I have treasured as long as it has been in my possession. Previous to her ownership of this watch, it belonged to my great-grandfather, also from Stockton, California. The watch, pictured here, pre-dates the California Goldrush according to an employee of Bovet Fleurier in Switzerland. Stockton, California was one of the three gateways cities to the Mother Lode during the 1849 California Goldrush and had a large Chinese population.

Bovet Fleurier Switzerland, manufactured Chinese Export Market pocket watches from 1830 to 1860 [6]. They are mechanical measurements of time, and the hidden beauty of the interior of the watch, makes it fascinating to observe the watches movement in action. This watch took a mysterious journey from Switzerland to China, and then to Stockton, California. Next, it will go back to China, and finally at some point, a future destination somewhere in space.  

The second element is a fragment of the Allende Meteorite [7] (1969) (Fig. 7), a Carbonaceous Chondrite that contains elements not found on Earth. The Allende Meteorite is one of the most widely studied meteorites; its age is pre-solar dating two million years before our solar system. This remnant of a super nova  contains a radio-active isotope, Aluminum 26,[8] that serves as an atomic clock in measuring the age of our solar system.