Nan Rendong, the popular astronomer in China and researcher at Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has died from illness Friday night at the age of 72 in Beijing. He was the leading engineer of China’s Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Telescope (FAST).

中国著名天文学家兼中国科学院(CAS)的研究员南仁东，于周五晚上在北京逝世，享年72岁。他是中国500米口径球面射电望远镜(FAST)的首席工程师。

"Mr. Nan Rendong lived a simple life, with little desire for reputation," said an obituary published on CAS website. "He made an extraordinary contribution to China’s astronomy research," CAS added.

CAS网站上发表的一篇讣告中说：“南仁东先生生活简朴，淡泊名利。” 中科院补充:“他对中国的天文学研究做出了非凡的贡献。”

As mentioned in Nan’s will, his funeral will be simple with no event held. People on social media lit up virtual candles to show their grief. "The FAST needs a name in Chinese. I suggest calling it after Nan," a person nicknamed "Sturman" commented, who got nearly a hundred comments.

正如南仁东遗嘱中提到那样，他的葬礼很简单，没有任何活动。各大社交网络上的网友们点燃了虚拟蜡烛来表达他们的悲伤。一个收到近百条评论的绰号为“斯特曼”的人评论道: FAST要有个中文名才行，我建议把它叫做“南”。

Nan is the founder and major contributor to FAST, the world’s largest telescope located in southwestern China’s Guizhou Province. The telescope, launched about a year ago, is as large as 30 soccer fields and capable of detecting intelligent extraterrestrial life in remote galaxies.

位于中国西南部贵州省的FAST是世界上最大的望远镜，南仁东就是FAST的建设者和主要贡献者。这台望远镜是大约一年前启用的，大小相当于30个足球场，能够探测遥远星系中有智慧的外星生命。

As the leading engineer, he drafted the plan, monitored the building process and overcame many technical troubles for the telescope. "He owns the giant machine," said his assistant Jiang Peng.

作为一名主要的工程师，他起草了整个计划，监控了整个建筑过程，克服了建造望远镜的许多技术难题。他的助理姜鹏说:“整台望远镜都是他的。”

"Usually, one person can only master one thing. But Nan knows almost everything about the telescope," Jiang added. "He even knows visual art. He designed the logo for FAST."

姜鹏补充道:“通常，一个人只能做好一件事，但他几乎对望远镜的一切都很了解。他甚至知道视觉艺术，还设计了FAST这个商标。”

FAST is currently under calibration and expected to go into a trial run later this year.

目前，FAST正处于校准阶段，预计将于今年晚些时候投入试运行。