When and where was Tsiolkovsky born. Literary and historical notes of a young technician

The dawn of mankind's cosmization, when did it begin? Didn’t its first rays flare up, didn’t it blaze at the moment when the first cosmonaut of the Earth, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin, on April 12, 1961, threw his famous: “Let's go!”? No, rather, it happened much earlier, perhaps in 1926, when the brochure "Investigation of the World Spaces with Reactive Instruments" was published in the quiet provincial Kaluga.

This work then caused heated debate: it was no joke, the author was seriously talking about the desirability and possibility of people living outside the Earth. Moreover, he gave detailed calculations and calculations of his own

projects! And what was most fantastic of all was the content of the last chapter, entitled "Work plan, starting from the near future." Under paragraph number 10 of this plan was: "Extensive settlements are arranged around the Earth."

Kaluga dreamer

Tsiolkovsky (1857-1935), the founder of modern astronautics, was born into a forester's family near Ryazan. At the age of 9, a misfortune happened to the boy: he went sledding in the winter, caught a cold, after scarlet fever he became almost completely deaf, he had to say goodbye to school, all his knowledge in the future, from the age of 14, he received by self-education.

From the age of 16 to 19 he lived in Moscow, studied physical and mathematical sciences in the cycle of secondary and higher education. Deafness was very disturbing, Konstantin Eduardovich recalled: “I didn’t hear the teachers at all or heard only obscure sounds.”

In 1873, believing in his son's abilities, his father sent Konstantin to Moscow to study. For unknown reasons, Tsiolkovsky never entered the school, but decided to continue his education on his own. Living literally on bread and water (his father sent 10-15 rubles a month), he began to work hard.

He later recalled: “Apart from water and black bread, I then had nothing. Every three days I went to the bakery and bought 9 kopecks worth of bread there. Thus, I lived 90 kopecks a month. To save money, Konstantin moved around Moscow only on foot. He spent all his free money on books, instruments and chemicals.

Every day from ten in the morning until three or four in the afternoon, the young man studies science in the only free library in Moscow at that time. In it, he met with the founder of Russian cosmism, Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov, who worked there as an assistant librarian (an employee who was constantly in the hall), but did not recognize the famous thinker in a modest employee.

Tsiolkovsky: “He gave me forbidden books. Then it turned out that he was a well-known ascetic, a friend of Tolstoy and an amazing philosopher and modest. He distributed all his tiny salary to the poor. Now I see that he also wanted to make me his boarder, but he did not succeed: I was too shy.

Work in the library was subject to a clear routine. In the morning, Konstantin was engaged in exact and natural sciences, which required concentration and clarity of mind. Then he switched to simpler material: fiction and journalism. I read Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Turgenev, admired Pisarev's articles.

During the first year of his life in Moscow, Tsiolkovsky studied physics and the principles of mathematics. In 1874 he was already studying differential and integral calculus, higher algebra, analytic and spherical geometry. Then astronomy, mechanics, chemistry. For three years, the young man fully mastered the gymnasium program, as well as a significant part of the university.

In 1876, Konstantin returned home - weakened, emaciated and emaciated. The difficult living conditions in Moscow also led to a deterioration in vision. Started wearing glasses. Having regained his strength, Konstantin began to give private lessons in physics and mathematics. Having shown himself to be a talented teacher, in the future he had no shortage of students.

In the fall of 1879, Tsiolkovsky externally passed the exams for the title of teacher of public schools and soon got a job as a teacher of arithmetic and geometry in the town of Borovsk, Kaluga province, then moved to Kaluga, where he spent his whole future life.

During these years, the first scientific studies of Tsiolkovsky appeared. Not knowing about what had already been done before him, in 1980-1981 he wrote the work "The Theory of Gases". His second work - "The Mechanics of the Animal Organism" received a favorable review from the outstanding Russian physiologist Ivan Mikhailovich Sechenov (1829-1905). Tsiolkovsky was admitted to the Russian Physical and Chemical Society.

Tsiolkovsky is a whole boundless universe. It is very difficult to talk about him, given the outward poverty of the facts of his life. Everyone can, reading the lines of his writings, find their own "constellation", their own personal "galaxy" there.

Here are the dreams of happiness for all mankind. “I want to delight you,” Tsiolkovsky wrote, “from the contemplation of the Universe, from the fate that awaits everyone, from the wonderful history of the past and future of each atom ... My conclusions are more comforting than the promises of the most cheerful religions ...”

Mosfilm consultant

Tsiolkovsky was mainly worried about four big problems: the airship (justification for an all-metal balloon), a streamlined airplane - he built the first wind tunnel in Russia in 1897 - hovercraft trains and rockets for interplanetary travel.

The Tsiolkovsky airship project was not supported: the author was denied a subsidy for the construction of the model. Tsiolkovsky's appeal to the General Staff of the Russian Army was also unsuccessful. And the work on the airplane did not receive recognition from the official representatives of Russian science. For further research, Tsiolkovsky had neither the means nor even moral support.

In 1892, Tsiolkovsky in Kaluga began to teach physics and mathematics at the gymnasium and the diocesan school. The scientist then takes up rocket dynamics.

Thoughts on the use of the rocket principle in space were expressed by Tsiolkovsky as early as 1883, but a rigorous theory of jet propulsion was presented by him in 1896. And only in 1903 did he manage to publish part of the article “Investigation of world spaces with rocket instruments”, in which he substantiated real opportunity their applications for interplanetary communications.

Thoughts about space did not leave Eduard Konstantinovich. And also just dreams, clairvoyance, leading beyond million-year horizons. “A man, at all costs, must overcome the gravity of the earth,” Tsiolkovsky argued, “and have the space of at least the solar system in reserve.”

In the space expanses, Tsiolkovsky's mind felt completely free, he had an absolutely uninhibited thinking: he was interested in linguistics, biology, and things that are wild and alien to the pragmatic, grounded mind, squeezed by the low ceilings of everyday life.

These qualities allowed Tsiolkovsky to become the planet's largest ideologist and theorist of human space exploration, the ultimate goal of which was presented to the Kaluga dreamer and "dreamer" in the form of a complete restructuring of the biochemical nature of the thinking beings generated by the Earth, that is, you and me, reader.

Tsiolkovsky - a bright representative of Russian cosmism, was a member of the Russian Society of Lovers of World Studies. He is the author of science fiction works, a propagandist of the ideas of space exploration.

Tsiolkovsky proposed to populate outer space using orbital stations, put forward the idea space elevator. He believed that the development of life on one of the planets of the Universe (on Earth) would reach such power and perfection that it would make it possible to overcome the forces of gravity and spread life throughout the Universe.

Under Soviet rule, Tsiolkovsky's living and working conditions changed radically. He was elected (1918) among the competing members of the Socialist Academy of Social Sciences (renamed the Communist Academy in 1924).

In 1921, the scientist was granted a lifelong personal pension for services to domestic and world science, and the opportunity for fruitful activity was provided. For special merits in the field of inventions, Tsiolkovsky was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor in 1932.

The pension was paid to Konstantin Eduardovich until September 19, 1935 - on that day he died of stomach cancer in his hometown of Kaluga.

Six days before his death, on September 13, 1935, Tsiolkovsky wrote in a letter to Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin:

“Before the revolution, my dream could not come true. Only October brought recognition to the works of the self-taught: only the Soviet government and the party of Lenin-Stalin provided me with effective assistance. I felt love populace, and this gave me the strength to continue working, already being sick ... I transfer all my work on aviation, rocket navigation and interplanetary communications to the Bolshevik parties and the Soviet government - the true leaders of the progress of human culture. I am sure that they will successfully complete my work.”

Tsiolkovsky lived on Earth as if he were the ambassador of a mysterious power for earthlings - COSMOS. During his life, he changed his mind, re-felt a great many options related to space. He took into account all the nuances, all the smallest details of the possible human habitation in the interstellar worlds accessible to the eye and intellect. And therefore, when in 1933 the Mosfilm film studio took up the shooting of the science fiction film Space Flight, about the flight of earthlings to the moon, the scientist became an ideal consultant for this film.

The artist of the film, Yuri Pavlovich Shvets, recalled: “... Immediately, in the course of getting acquainted with the sketches of the Moon, Konstantin Eduardovich gave a number of instructions about the color of the sky due to the absence of an atmosphere on the Moon, about the bright light of unblinking stars, about the size of the Earth, about its color and brightness , about the movement of shadows and their density, about the position of the Sun and the Earth. Particular attention was paid to the shape of the spacesuits and the conditions for the movement of a person on the surface of the moon in connection with a decrease in gravity ... "

Tsiolkovsky then showed himself to be a real Lunarian, a man who spent many years on the Moon and returned to tell about it in detail and with knowledge of the matter.

Ethereal cities

Have I lived under the power of a secret spell?

Didn't the night wind put me in

Your image and impulses? Is it not the moon

I was beckoned to the icy distances?

Was it not to the stars from the earth that I was attracted? ..

Edgar Allan Poe "Dreams"

In brochures, books ("Life in the Interstellar Environment" and others), Tsiolkovsky described in detail and more than once the principle, structure and design of future space human settlements.

Tsiolkovsky drew the attention of readers to the absurdity of such a situation, when the Earth intercepts only miserable crumbs from an abundant flow of solar energy: 2 10-9 - billionths! - share of the total radiation of the Sun. Earthlings, the scientist believed, should master "all the solar heat and light." But for this, humanity needs to settle in space, where it will find not only energy, but also unlimited material resources and boundless living space.

The mastery of space, Tsiolkovsky believed, would take place in several stages.

“We will first solve the simplest problem: we will arrange an ethereal settlement near the Earth as its satellite,” he wrote, “at a distance of 1-2 thousand kilometers from the surface ...” between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter). People will control the movement of asteroids, like horse riders. People will be supplied with energy by "solar motors" (semiconductor converters of sunlight?)...

The asteroid belt gradually transformed by people will turn into a "chain of ethereal cities". The matter of some minor planets, "disassembled to the bottom", will serve as a raw material for the production,

building materials. Artificial cosmic bodies are molded from it in such a form that is most beneficial to their "sculptors". When these resources of matter are exhausted, the Moon will go into action (Tsiolkovsky puts several centuries into its restructuring), then the turn will reach the Earth, and then the big planets.

According to Tsiolkovsky's estimates, the transformation of the circumsolar space will take hundreds of thousands and even millions of years. And the inhabited space will provide with everything necessary such a number of people, which is millions of millions of times more than now.

Outlining such grandiose plans, Tsiolkovsky did not forget about plants. He gave them a huge role. Here are excerpts from a unique edition, the book "The Purposes of Astronautics" - thin in a greenish-gray notebook binding, published in Kaluga in 1929.

“It is advantageous to make plant dwellings separately, since they do not require a thick atmosphere and strong walls. Thus, in addition to saving material, a special, albeit rarefied, atmosphere gives the greatest harvest ...

In rotating cones (the form of a greenhouse proposed by Tsiolkovsky - Yu.Ch.) Sun rays make not only an eternal day, but also eternal spring with a certain desired temperature, the most favorable for cultivated plants. Their rotation and the artificial gravity born from it keeps the moist soil and plant waste in order. Ripened and separated fruits we find fallen on the soil, and not wandering in the free space of the cone.

The glass in the greenhouse is thin, transparent, as far as possible permeable to all kinds of rays - quartz or something else. The beams are weakened by them and by a dense wall of vegetation. Therefore they

safe for humans.

Plants selected are prolific, herbaceous, small, without thick trunks and parts that do not work in the sun. The more they utilize sunlight, the more fruits they give, the more they absorb solar energy and heat ... In connection with their selection, suitable temperature, atmosphere and nutrition, what wonderful crops and wonderful fruits can we get! And this is without the slightest worries: after all, there is no need to weed, destroy insects, fight droughts and downpours ... "

In connection with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Eduardovich (1957), the USSR Academy of Sciences established the Tsiolkovsky Gold Medal "For outstanding work in the field of interplanetary communications." Monuments to the scientist were erected in Kaluga and Moscow. A memorial house-museum was created in Kaluga. His name is State Museum History of Cosmonautics and Pedagogical Institute in Kaluga, Moscow Aviation Technological Institute (MATI).

A crater on the Moon is named after Tsiolkovsky.

STAR DREAMER

The works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky on rocket dynamics and the theory of interplanetary communications were the first serious research in the world scientific and technical literature. In these studies, mathematical formulas and calculations do not obscure deep and clear ideas formulated in an original and clear way. More than half a century has passed since the publication of the first articles by Tsiolkovsky on the theory of jet propulsion. A strict and merciless judge - time - only reveals and emphasizes the grandeur of ideas, the originality of creativity and the high wisdom of penetrating into the essence of new patterns of natural phenomena that are characteristic of these works of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. His works help to carry out the new aspirations of Soviet science and technology. Our Motherland can be proud of its famous scientist, the initiator of new trends in science and industry.
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky is an outstanding Russian scientist, a researcher of great capacity for work and perseverance, a man of great talent. breadth and wealth creative imagination he combined with logical consistency and mathematical precision of judgments. He was a true innovator in science. The most important and viable studies of Tsiolkovsky relate to the substantiation of the theory of jet propulsion. In the last quarter of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, Konstantin Eduardovich created a new science that determined the laws of rocket motion, and developed the first designs for exploring the boundless world spaces with jet instruments. At that time, many scientists considered jet engines and rocket technology to be unpromising and insignificant in their practical significance, and rockets were suitable only for entertaining fireworks and illuminations.
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was born on September 17, 1857 in the ancient Russian village of Izhevsky, located in the floodplain of the Oka, Spassky district, Ryazan province, in the family of a forester Eduard Ignatievich Tsiolkovsky.
Konstantin's father, Eduard Ignatievich Tsiolkovsky (1820 -1881, full name- Makar-Eduard-Erasmus), was born in the village of Korostyanin (now the Goshchansky district of the Rivne region in northwestern Ukraine). In 1841 he graduated from the Forest and Survey Institute in St. Petersburg, then served as a forester in the Olonetsk and St. Petersburg provinces. In 1843 he was transferred to the Pronskoye forestry of the Spassky district of the Ryazan province. Living in the village of Izhevsk, he met his future wife Maria Ivanovna Yumasheva (1832-1870), mother of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Having Tatar roots, she was brought up in the Russian tradition. The ancestors of Maria Ivanovna under Ivan the Terrible moved to the Pskov province. Her parents, small landed nobles, also owned a cooperage and basket workshop. Maria Ivanovna was an educated woman: she graduated from high school, knew Latin, mathematics and other sciences.

Almost immediately after the wedding in 1849, the Tsiolkovsky couple moved to the village of Izhevskoye in the Spassky district, where they lived until 1860.
About his parents, Tsiolkovsky wrote: “Father was always cold, reserved. Among his acquaintances he was known smart person and speaker. Among the officials - red and intolerant in their ideal honesty ... He had a passion for invention and construction. I was not yet in the world when he invented and arranged a threshing machine. Alas, unsuccessful! The older brothers said that he built models of houses and palaces with them. Any physical work father encouraged us, as well as amateur performance in general. We almost always did everything ourselves ... Mother was of a completely different nature - a sanguine nature, fever, laughter, a mocker and gifted. In the father, character, willpower prevailed, in the mother - talent.
By the time Kostya was born, the family lived in a house on Polnaya Street (now Tsiolkovsky Street), which has survived to this day and is still privately owned.
In Izhevsk, Konstantin had a chance to live for a very short time - the first three years of his life, and he had almost no memories of this period. Eduard Ignatievich began to have troubles in the service - the authorities were dissatisfied with his liberal attitude towards local peasants.
In 1860, Konstantin's father received a transfer to Ryazan as a clerk of the Forest Department, and soon began to teach natural history and taxation in the land surveying and taxation classes of the Ryazan gymnasium and received the rank of titular adviser. The family lived in Ryazan on Voznesenskaya Street for almost eight years. During this time, many events took place that influenced the rest of Konstantin Eduardovich's life.

Kostya Tsiolkovsky in childhood.
Ryazan

Mom was involved in the primary education of Kostya and his brothers. It was she who taught Konstantin to read and write, introduced him to the beginnings of arithmetic. Kostya learned to read from “Tales” by Alexander Afanasyev, and his mother taught him only the alphabet, and Kostya Tsiolkovsky guessed how to put words from letters.
The first years of Konstantin Eduardovich's childhood were happy. He was a lively, intelligent child, enterprising and impressionable. In the summer, the boy built huts with his comrades in the forest, loved to climb fences, roofs and trees. I ran a lot, played ball, rounders, gorodki. He often launched a kite and sent up the “mail” thread - a box with a cockroach. In winter, he enjoyed skating. Tsiolkovsky was about eight years old when his mother gave him a tiny balloon "balloon" (aerostat), blown out of a collodion and filled with hydrogen. The future creator of the theory of an all-metal airship enjoyed this toy. Recalling the years of his childhood, Tsiolkovsky wrote: “I passionately loved to read and read everything that I could get my hands on ... I loved to dream and even paid my younger brother to listen to my nonsense. We were small, and I wanted the houses, people, and animals to be small too. Then I dreamed of physical strength. I mentally jumped high, climbed like a cat, on poles, along ropes.
In the tenth year of his life - at the beginning of winter - Tsiolkovsky, sledding, caught a cold and fell ill with scarlet fever. The disease was severe, and as a result of its complications, the boy almost completely lost his hearing. Deafness prevented her from continuing her studies at school. “Deafness makes my biography of little interest,” Tsiolkovsky later writes, “because it deprives me of communication with people, observation and borrowing. My biography is poor in faces and collisions.” From the age of 11 to 14, Tsiolkovsky's life was “the saddest, darkest time. “I try,” writes K. E. Tsiolkovsky, “to restore it in my memory, but now I can’t remember anything anymore. There is nothing to commemorate this time.”
At this time, Kostya for the first time begins to show interest in craftsmanship. “I liked to make puppet skates, houses, sleds, clocks with weights, etc. All this was made of paper and cardboard and connected with sealing wax,” he would write later.
In 1868, the land surveying and taxation classes were closed, and Eduard Ignatievich again lost his job. The next move was to Vyatka, where there was a large Polish community and two brothers lived with the father of the family, who, probably, helped him get the post of head of the Forest Department.
Tsiolkovsky about life in Vyatka: “Vyatka is unforgettable for me ... My conscious life began there. When our family moved there from Ryazan, I thought that it was a dirty, deaf, gray town, bears walk the streets, but it turned out that this provincial city is no worse, but in some ways, its own library, for example, better than Ryazan.
In Vyatka, the Tsiolkovsky family lived in the house of the merchant Shuravin on Preobrazhenskaya Street.
In 1869, Kostya, together with his younger brother Ignatius, entered the first class of the male Vyatka gymnasium. The study was given with great difficulty, there were many subjects, the teachers were strict. Deafness was very disturbing: “I didn’t hear the teacher at all or heard only obscure sounds.”
Later, in a letter to D. I. Mendeleev on August 30, 1890, Tsiolkovsky wrote: “Once again I ask you, Dmitry Ivanovich, to take my work under your protection. The oppression of circumstances, deafness from the age of ten, the resulting ignorance of life and people, and other unfavorable conditions, I hope, will excuse my weakness in your eyes.
In the same year, 1869, sad news came from St. Petersburg - the elder brother Dmitry, who studied at the Naval School, died. This death shocked the whole family, but especially Maria Ivanovna. In 1870, Kostya's mother, whom he dearly loved, died unexpectedly.
Grief crushed the orphaned boy. Even without that he did not shine with success in his studies, oppressed by the misfortunes that fell on him, Kostya studied worse and worse. Much more acutely did he feel his deafness, which made him more and more isolated. For pranks, he was repeatedly punished, ended up in a punishment cell. In the second grade, Kostya stayed for the second year, and from the third (in 1873) an expulsion followed with the characteristic "... for admission to a technical school." After that, Konstantin Eduardovich never studied anywhere - he studied exclusively on his own.
It was at this time that Konstantin Tsiolkovsky found his true calling and place in life. He educates himself, using his father's small library, which contained books on science and mathematics. At the same time, a passion for invention awakens in him. He builds balloons out of thin, tissue paper, makes a small lathe and designs a stroller that was supposed to move with the help of the wind. The model of the stroller was a great success and moved on the roof along the board even against the wind! “Glimpses of a serious mental consciousness,” writes Tsiolkovsky about this period of his life, “manifested while reading. So, at the age of fourteen, I took it into my head to read arithmetic, and it seemed to me that everything there was completely clear and understandable. Since that time, I realized that books are a simple thing and quite accessible to me. I began to disassemble with curiosity and understanding some of my father's books on natural and mathematical sciences ... I am fascinated by the astrolabe, measuring the distance to inaccessible objects, taking plans, determining heights. And I arrange an astrolabe - a goniometer. With its help, without leaving home, I determine the distance to the fire tower. I find 400 arshins. I go and check. It turns out that's right. From that moment on, I believed in theoretical knowledge!” Outstanding abilities, a penchant for independent work and the undoubted talent of the inventor made the parent of K. E. Tsiolkovsky think about his future profession and further education.
Believing in his son's abilities, in July 1873, Eduard Ignatievich decided to send 16-year-old Konstantin to Moscow to enter the Higher Technical School (now Bauman Moscow State Technical University), providing him with a cover letter to his friend with a request to help him get settled. However, Konstantin lost the letter and remembered only the address: Nemetskaya Street (now Baumanskaya Street). Having reached her, the young man rented a room in the laundress's apartment.
For unknown reasons, Konstantin never entered the school, but decided to continue his education on his own. One of the best connoisseurs of Tsiolkovsky's biography, engineer B. N. Vorobyov, writes about the future scientist: “Like many young men and women who flocked to the capital for education, he was full of the brightest hopes. But no one thought to pay attention to the young provincial, who was striving with all his might for the treasury of knowledge. The difficult financial situation, deafness and practical unsuitability for life least of all contributed to the identification of his talents and abilities.
From home, Tsiolkovsky received 10-15 rubles a month. He ate only black bread, did not even have potatoes and tea. But he bought books, retorts, mercury, sulfuric acid, etc. for various experiments and home-made devices. “I remember very well,” writes Tsiolkovsky in his autobiography, “that, apart from water and black bread, I then had nothing. Every three days I went to the bakery and bought bread there for 9 kopecks. Thus, I lived on 90 kopecks a month ... Nevertheless, I was happy with my ideas, and black bread did not upset me at all.
In addition to experiments in physics and chemistry, Tsiolkovsky read a lot, studying science every day from ten in the morning until three or four in the afternoon in the Chertkovskaya public library - the only free library in Moscow at that time.
In this library, Tsiolkovsky met with the founder of Russian cosmism, Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov, who worked there as an assistant librarian (an employee who was constantly in the hall), but did not recognize the famous thinker in a modest employee. “He gave me forbidden books. Then it turned out that he was a well-known ascetic, a friend of Tolstoy and an amazing philosopher and modest. He distributed all his tiny salary to the poor. Now I see that he wanted to make me his boarder, but he did not succeed: I was too shy, ”Konstantin Eduardovich later wrote in his autobiography. Tsiolkovsky admitted that Fedorov replaced his university professors. However, this influence manifested itself much later, ten years after the death of the Moscow Socrates, and during his residence in Moscow, Konstantin knew nothing about the views of Nikolai Fedorovich, and they never spoke about the Cosmos.
Work in the library was subject to a clear routine. In the morning, Konstantin was engaged in exact and natural sciences, which required concentration and clarity of mind. Then he switched to simpler material: fiction and journalism. Actively studied "thick" magazines, where they were published as review science articles and publicistic ones. He enthusiastically read Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Turgenev, admired the articles of Dmitry Pisarev: “Pisarev made me tremble with joy and happiness. In him I saw then my second "I".
During the first year of his life in Moscow, Tsiolkovsky studied physics and the principles of mathematics. In 1874, the Chertkovo Library moved to the building of the Rumyantsev Museum, and Nikolai Fedorov moved to a new place of work with it. In the new reading room Konstantin studies differential and integral calculus, higher algebra, analytic and spherical geometry. Then astronomy, mechanics, chemistry.
For three years, Konstantin fully mastered the gymnasium program, as well as a significant part of the university program.
Unfortunately, his father was no longer able to pay for his accommodation in Moscow, and besides, he felt unwell and was going to retire. With the knowledge gained, Konstantin could already begin independent work in the provinces, as well as continue their education outside of Moscow. In the autumn of 1876, Eduard Ignatievich called his son back to Vyatka, and Konstantin returned home.
Konstantin returned to Vyatka weakened, emaciated and emaciated. Difficult living conditions in Moscow, hard work also led to a deterioration in vision. After returning home, Tsiolkovsky began to wear glasses. Having regained his strength, Konstantin began to give private lessons in physics and mathematics. I learned my first lesson through my father's connections in a liberal society. Having shown himself to be a talented teacher, in the future he had no shortage of students.
When teaching lessons, Tsiolkovsky used his own original methods, the main of which was a visual demonstration - Konstantin made paper models of polyhedra for geometry lessons, together with his students conducted numerous experiments in physics lessons, which earned him the fame of a teacher who explains the material well and clearly in the classroom with whom always interesting.
To make models and conduct experiments, Tsiolkovsky rented a workshop. All your own free time spent in it or in the library. I read a lot - special literature, fiction, journalism. According to his autobiography, at that time he read the magazines Sovremennik, Delo, Domestic Notes for all the years that they were published. Then he read The Beginnings by Isaac Newton, whose scientific views Tsiolkovsky adhered to for the rest of his life.
At the end of 1876, Konstantin's younger brother Ignatius died. The brothers were very close from childhood, Konstantin trusted Ignatius with his innermost thoughts, and the death of his brother was a heavy blow.
By 1877, Eduard Ignatievich was already very weak and ill, the tragic death of his wife and children affected (except for the sons of Dmitry and Ignatius in these years, the Tsiolkovskys lost the most youngest daughter- Catherine - she died in 1875, during the absence of Konstantin), the head of the family retired. In 1878 the entire Tsiolkovsky family returned to Ryazan.
Upon returning to Ryazan, the family lived on Sadovaya Street. Immediately after his arrival, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky underwent a medical examination and was released from military service due to deafness. The family was supposed to buy a house and live on the income from it, but the unforeseen happened - Konstantin quarreled with his father. As a result, Konstantin rented a separate room from the employee Palkin and was forced to look for other means of subsistence, since his personal savings accumulated from private lessons in Vyatka were coming to an end, and in Ryazan an unknown tutor could not find students without recommendations.
To continue working as a teacher, a certain, documented qualification was required. In the autumn of 1879, at the First Provincial Gymnasium, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky took an external exam for a county mathematics teacher. As a "self-taught", he had to take a "complete" exam - not only the subject itself, but also grammar, catechism, worship and other compulsory disciplines. Tsiolkovsky was never interested in these subjects and did not study them, but he managed to prepare himself in a short time.

County teacher's certificate
mathematics obtained by Tsiolkovsky

Having successfully passed the exam, Tsiolkovsky received a referral from the Ministry of Education to Borovsk, located 100 kilometers from Moscow, to his first public position and in January 1880 left Ryazan.
Tsiolkovsky was appointed to the post of teacher of arithmetic and geometry in the Borovsk district school of the Kaluga province.
On the recommendation of the inhabitants of Borovsk, Tsiolkovsky "got to live with a widower with his daughter, who lived on the outskirts of the city" - E. N. Sokolov. Tsiolkovsky "was given two rooms and a table of soup and porridge." Sokolov's daughter, Varya, was the same age as Tsiolkovsky - two months younger than him. Her character, diligence pleased Konstantin Eduardovich, and he soon married her. “We went to get married for 4 miles on foot, we didn’t dress up. Nobody was allowed into the church. They returned - and no one knew anything about our marriage ... I remember that on the wedding day I bought a lathe from a neighbor and cut glass for electric machines. Nevertheless, the musicians somehow got wind of the wedding. They were forced out. Only the crowning priest got drunk. And then it was not I who treated him, but the owner.
In Borovsk, four children were born to the Tsiolkovskys: the eldest daughter Lyubov (1881) and sons Ignatius (1883), Alexander (1885) and Ivan (1888). The Tsiolkovskys lived in poverty, but, according to the scientist himself, "they did not go in patches and never went hungry." Konstantin Eduardovich spent most of his salary on books, physical and chemical devices, tools, and reagents.
During the years of living in Borovsk, the family was forced to change their place of residence several times - in the fall of 1883, they moved to Kaluga Street to the house of Baranov, a sheep farmer. From the spring of 1885 they lived in the house of Kovalev (on the same Kaluga street).
April 23, 1887, on the day Tsiolkovsky returned from Moscow, where he made a report on a metal airship of his own design, a fire broke out in his house, in which manuscripts, models, drawings, a library, as well as all the property of the Tsiolkovskys were lost, with the exception of a sewing machine, which managed to be thrown through the window into the courtyard. It was a hard blow for Konstantin Eduardovich, he expressed his thoughts and feelings in the manuscript " Prayer"(May 15, 1887).
The next move to the house of M. I. Polukhina on Krugloya Street. On April 1, 1889, Protva overflowed, and the Tsiolkovskys' house was flooded. Records and books suffered again.

House Museum of K. E. Tsiolkovsky in Borovsk
(former home of M. I. Pomukhina)

Since the autumn of 1889, the Tsiolkovskys lived in the house of the Molchanov merchants at 4 Molchanovskaya Street.
In the Borovsky district school, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky continued to improve as a teacher: he taught arithmetic and geometry outside the box, came up with exciting problems and set amazing experiments, especially for Borovsky boys. Several times he launched with his students a huge paper balloon with a “gondola”, in which there were burning torches, to heat the air. One day, the balloon flew away, and it almost set the city on fire.

The building of the former Borovsky district school

Sometimes Tsiolkovsky had to replace other teachers and teach drawing, drawing, history, geography, and once even replace the superintendent of the school.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky
(in the second row, second from the left) in
group of teachers of the Kaluga district school.
1895

In his apartment in Borovsk, Tsiolkovsky set up a small laboratory. In his house, electric lightning flashed, thunders rumbled, bells rang, lights lit up, wheels turned and illuminations shone. “I offered those who wished to try with a spoon of invisible jam. Those tempted by the treat received an electric shock.
Visitors admired and marveled at the electric octopus, which grabbed everyone with its paws by the nose or by the fingers, and then the hair of the one that got into its “paws” stood on end and jumped out of any part of the body.
The very first work of Tsiolkovsky was devoted to mechanics in biology. It was an article written in 1880 "Graphic depiction of sensations". In it, Tsiolkovsky developed the pessimistic theory characteristic of him at that time. "disturbed zero", mathematically substantiated the idea of ​​meaninglessness human life. This theory, according to the later recognition of the scientist, was destined to play a fatal role in his life and in the life of his family. Tsiolkovsky sent this article to the Russian Thought magazine, but it was not published there and the manuscript was not returned. Konstantin switched to other topics.
In 1881, the 24-year-old Tsiolkovsky independently developed the foundations of the kinetic theory of gases. He sent the work to the St. Petersburg Physical and Chemical Society, where it received the approval of prominent members of the society, including the brilliant Russian chemist Mendeleev. However, the important discoveries made by Tsiolkovsky in a remote provincial town did not represent news for science: similar discoveries had been made somewhat earlier in Germany. For the second scientific work, named "Mechanics of the Animal Organism", Tsiolkovsky was unanimously elected a member of the physico-chemical society.
Tsiolkovsky remembered this moral support for his first scientific research with gratitude all his life.
In the preface to the second edition of his work "A simple doctrine of an airship and its construction" Konstantin Eduardovich wrote: “The content of these works is somewhat belated, that is, I made discoveries on my own that had already been made earlier by others. Nevertheless, society treated me with more attention than supported my strength. It may have forgotten me, but I have not forgotten Messrs. Borgmann, Mendeleev, Van der Fliet, Pelurushevsky, Bobylev, and especially Sechenov.” In 1883, Konstantin Eduardovich wrote a work in the form of a scientific diary. "Free space", in which he subjected to a systematic study of a number of problems of classical mechanics in space without the action of gravity and resistance forces. In this case, the main characteristics of the movement of bodies are determined only by the forces of interaction between the bodies of a given mechanical system, and the laws of conservation of the main dynamic quantities acquire special significance for quantitative conclusions: momentum, momentum, and kinetic energy. Tsiolkovsky was deeply principled in his creative searches, and his ability to independently work on scientific problems is a great example for all beginners. His first steps in science, made in the most difficult conditions, are the steps of a great master, revolutionary innovation, the initiator of new trends in science and technology.

“I am Russian and I think that Russians will read me first of all.
It is necessary that my writings be understood by the majority. I wish it.
Therefore, I try to avoid foreign words: especially Latin
and Greek, so alien to the Russian ear.

K. E. Tsiolkovsky

Works on aeronautics and experimental aerodynamics.
The result of Tsiolkovsky's research work was a voluminous essay "Theory and experience of the balloon". In this essay, a scientific and technical justification was given for the creation of an airship design with a metal shell. Tsiolkovsky developed drawings of general views of the airship and some important structural components.
Tsiolkovsky's airship had the following characteristics. Firstly, it was an airship of variable volume, which made it possible to maintain a constant lifting force at various temperatures ambient air and different flight altitudes. The possibility of changing the volume was structurally achieved using a special tightening system and corrugated sidewalls (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1. a - scheme of the metal airship K. E. Tsiolkovsky;
b - system of block contraction of the shell

Secondly, the gas filling the airship could be heated by passing the exhaust gases of the engines through the coils. The third feature of the design was that the thin metal shell was corrugated to increase strength and stability, and the corrugation waves were located perpendicular to the axis of the airship. Choice geometric shape airship and the calculation of the strength of its thin shell were solved by Tsiolkovsky for the first time.
This project of the Tsiolkovsky Airship did not receive recognition. The official organization of tsarist Russia for aeronautics - the VII Aeronautical Department of the Russian Technical Society - found that the project of an all-metal airship capable of changing its volume cannot be of great practical importance and airships "will forever be a toy of the winds." Therefore, the author was denied even a subsidy for the construction of the model. Tsiolkovsky's appeals to the General Staff of the Army were also unsuccessful. The printed work (1892) of Tsiolkovsky received several sympathetic reviews, and this was the end of the matter.
Tsiolkovsky came up with the progressive idea of ​​building an all-metal airplane.
In an 1894 article "Airplane or bird-like (aviation) flying machine", published in the journal "Science and Life", a description, calculations and drawings of a monoplane with a cantilever, unbraced wing are given. In contrast to foreign inventors and designers who developed devices with flapping wings in those years, Tsiolkovsky pointed out that “imitation of a bird is technically very difficult due to the complexity of the movement of the wings and tail, as well as due to the complexity of the arrangement of these organs.”
Tsiolkovsky's airplane (Fig. 2) has the shape of a "frozen soaring bird, but instead of its head, imagine two propellers rotating in opposite directions ... We will replace the muscles of the animal with explosive neutral engines. They do not require a large supply of fuel (gasoline) and do not need heavy steam engines and large water supplies. ... Instead of a tail, we will arrange a double steering wheel - from a vertical and horizontal plane. ... The double rudder, the double screw and the immobility of the wings were invented by us not for the sake of profit and economy of work, but solely for the sake of the feasibility of the design.

Rice. 2. Schematic representation of the aircraft in 1895,
made by K. E. Tsiolkovsky. The top figure gives
based on the inventor's drawings general idea
about appearance aircraft

In Tsiolkovsky's all-metal airplane, the wings already have a thick profile, and the fuselage is streamlined. It is very interesting that Tsiolkovsky, for the first time in the history of the development of aircraft construction, especially emphasizes the need to improve the streamlining of an airplane in order to obtain high speeds. The constructive outlines of the Tsiolkovsky airplane were incomparably more perfect than the later designs of the Wright brothers, Santos-Dumont, Voisin and other inventors. To justify his calculations, Tsiolkovsky wrote: “When receiving these numbers, I accepted the most favorable, ideal conditions for the resistance of the hull and wings; there are no outstanding parts in my airplane, except for the wings; everything is covered by a common smooth shell, even passengers.
Tsiolkovsky well foresees the importance of gasoline (or oil) internal combustion engines. Here are his words, showing a complete understanding of the aspirations of technological progress: “However, I have theoretical grounds for believing in the possibility of building extremely light and at the same time strong gasoline or oil engines that fully satisfy the task of flying.” Konstantin Eduardovich predicted that over time a small airplane would successfully compete with a car.
The development of an all-metal cantilever monoplane with a thick curved wing is Tsiolkovsky's greatest contribution to aviation. He was the first to explore this most common airplane scheme today. But Tsiolkovsky's idea of ​​building a passenger airplane also did not receive recognition in tsarist Russia. There was no money or even moral support for further research on the airplane.
The scientist wrote bitterly about this period of his life: “During my experiments, I made many, many new conclusions, but new conclusions are received by scientists incredulously. These conclusions may be confirmed by a repetition of my work by some experiment, but when will that be? It is hard to work alone for many years under adverse conditions and not see any light or support from anywhere.
The scientist worked on the development of his ideas about creating an all-metal airship and a well-streamlined monoplane almost all the time from 1885 to 1898. These scientific and technical inventions prompted Tsiolkovsky to a number of important discoveries. In the field of airship building, he put forward a number of completely new provisions. In essence, speaking, he was the initiator of the theory of metal controlled balloons. His technical intuition was far ahead of the level industrial development 90s of the last century.
He substantiated the expediency of his proposals with detailed calculations and diagrams. The implementation of an all-metal airship, like any big and new technical problem, affected a wide range of problems completely undeveloped in science and technology. Of course, it was impossible for one person to solve them. After all, there were questions of aerodynamics, and questions of the stability of corrugated shells, and the problems of strength, gas impermeability, and the problems of hermetic soldering of metal sheets, etc. Now one has to be amazed at how far Tsiolkovsky managed to advance, in addition to the general idea, individual technical and scientific issues.
Konstantin Eduardovich developed a method for the so-called hydrostatic testing of airships. To determine the strength of thin shells, such as the shells of all-metal airships, he recommended filling their experimental models with water. This method is now used all over the world to test the strength and stability of thin-walled vessels and shells. Tsiolkovsky also created a device that allows you to accurately, graphically determine the shape of the section of the airship shell at a given superpressure. However, the incredibly difficult living and working conditions, the absence of a team of students and followers forced the scientist in many cases to limit himself, in essence, to only the formulation of problems.
The work of Konstantin Eduardovich on theoretical and experimental aerodynamics is undoubtedly due to the need to give an aerodynamic calculation of the flight characteristics of an airship and an airplane.
Tsiolkovsky was a real natural scientist. Observations, dreams, calculations and reflections were combined in him with experiments and modeling.
In 1890-1891 he wrote a work. An excerpt from this manuscript, published with the assistance of the famous physicist Professor of Moscow University A. G. Stoletov in the proceedings of the Society of Natural Science Lovers in 1891, was the first published work of Tsiolkovsky. He was full of ideas, very active and energetic, although outwardly he seemed calm and balanced. Above average height, with long black hair and black, slightly sad eyes, he was awkward and shy in society. He had few friends. In Borovsk, Konstantin Eduardovich became close friends with his school colleague E. S. Eremeev, in Kaluga he was helped a lot by V. I. Assonov, P. P. Canning and S. V. Shcherbakov. However, in defending his ideas, he was resolute and persistent, taking little into account the gossip of his colleagues and the townsfolk.
…Winter. The astonished residents of Borovsk see how the teacher of the county school Tsiolkovsky is rushing on skates along the frozen river. He took advantage strong wind and, spreading the umbrella, rolls with the speed of a courier train, drawn by the force of the wind. “I was always up to something. I decided to make a sled with a wheel so that everyone would sit and swing the levers. The sleigh was supposed to race on the ice... Then I replaced this structure with a special sailing chair. Peasants traveled along the river. The horses were frightened by the rushing sail, the passers-by cursed. But, due to my deafness, I didn’t think about it for a long time. Then, seeing the horse, he hastily removed the sail in advance.
Almost all school colleagues and representatives of the local intelligentsia considered Tsiolkovsky an incorrigible dreamer and utopian. More evil people called him an amateur and a handicraftsman. The ideas of Tsiolkovsky seemed incredible to the townsfolk. “He thinks that the iron ball will rise into the air and fly. Here's a freak!" The scientist was always busy, always working. If he did not read or write, then he worked on a lathe, soldered, planed, made many working models for his students. “I made a huge balloon… out of paper. I couldn't get alcohol. Therefore, at the bottom of the ball he adapted a grid of thin wire, on which he laid several burning splinters. The ball, which sometimes had a bizarre shape, rose up as far as the thread tied to it allowed. Once the thread burned out, and my ball rushed off to the city, dropping sparks and a burning torch! Got on the roof of a shoemaker. The shoemaker arrested the ball.
The townsfolk looked at all the experiments of Tsiolkovsky as curiosities and pampering, many, without thinking, considered him an eccentric and "a little touched." Amazing energy and perseverance were needed, the greatest faith in the path of technological progress, in order to work, invent, calculate daily in such an environment and in difficult, almost beggarly conditions, moving forward and forward.
On January 27, 1892, the director of public schools, D.S. Unkovsky, turned to the trustee of the Moscow educational district with a request to transfer "one of the most capable and diligent teachers" to the district school of the city of Kaluga. At this time, Tsiolkovsky continued his work on aerodynamics and the theory of vortices in various media, and was also awaiting the publication of a book. "Metal controlled balloon" in the Moscow printing house. The decision to transfer was made on February 4th. In addition to Tsiolkovsky, teachers moved from Borovsk to Kaluga: S. I. Chertkov, E. S. Eremeev, I. A. Kazansky, doctor V. N. Ergolsky.
From the memoirs of Lyubov Konstantinovna, the daughter of a scientist: “It got dark when we entered Kaluga. After the deserted road it was pleasant to look at the flickering lights and people. The city seemed huge to us ... In Kaluga there were many cobbled streets, tall houses and the ringing of many bells flowed. There were 40 churches with monasteries in Kaluga. There were 50 thousand inhabitants.
Tsiolkovsky lived in Kaluga for the rest of his life. Since 1892 he worked as a teacher of arithmetic and geometry in the Kaluga district school. Since 1899, he taught physics at the diocesan women's school, disbanded after the October Revolution. In Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky wrote his main works on astronautics, jet propulsion theory, space biology and medicine. He also continued work on the theory of a metal airship.
After completing his teaching, in 1921, Tsiolkovsky was granted a personal lifetime pension. From that moment until his death, Tsiolkovsky was engaged exclusively in his research, dissemination of his ideas, and implementation of projects.
In Kaluga, the main philosophical works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky were written, the philosophy of monism was formulated, articles were written about his vision of an ideal society of the future.
In Kaluga, the Tsiolkovskys had a son and two daughters. At the same time, it was here that the Tsiolkovskys had to endure the tragic death of many of their children: of the seven children of K.E. Tsiolkovsky, five died during his lifetime.
In Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky met the scientists A. L. Chizhevsky and Ya. I. Perelman, who became his friends and popularizers of his ideas, and later biographers.
The Tsiolkovsky family arrived in Kaluga on February 4, settled in an apartment in the house of N. I. Timashova on Georgievskaya Street, rented in advance for them by E. S. Eremeev. Konstantin Eduardovich began to teach arithmetic and geometry at the Kaluga district school.
Soon after his arrival, Tsiolkovsky met Vasily Assonov, a tax inspector, an educated, progressive, versatile person, fond of mathematics, mechanics and painting. After reading the first part of Tsiolkovsky's book Controlled Metal Balloon, Assonov used his influence to organize a subscription to the second part of this work. This made it possible to collect the missing funds for its publication.

Vasily Ivanovich Assonov

On August 8, 1892, the Tsiolkovskys had a son, Leonty, who died of whooping cough exactly one year later, on the first day of his birth. At this time, there were holidays at the school, and Tsiolkovsky spent the whole summer in the Sokolniki estate of the Maloyaroslavets district with his old friend D. Ya. Kurnosov (leader of the Borovsk nobility), where he gave lessons to his children. After the death of the child, Varvara Evgrafovna decided to change her apartment, and by the time Konstantin Eduardovich returned, the family moved to the Speransky house, located opposite, on the same street.
Assonov introduced Tsiolkovsky to the chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod circle of lovers of physics and astronomy, S. V. Shcherbakov. In the 6th edition of the collection of the circle, an article by Tsiolkovsky was published "Gravity like main source world energy"(1893), developing the ideas of early work "Duration radiation from the sun"(1883). The work of the circle was regularly published in the recently created journal "Science and Life", and in the same year the text of this report was placed in it, as well as a small article by Tsiolkovsky "Is a metal balloon possible". December 13, 1893 Konstantin Eduardovich was elected an honorary member of the circle.
In February 1894, Tsiolkovsky wrote a work "Airplane or bird-like (aviation) machine", continuing the topic started in the article "On the Question of Flying with Wings"(1891). In it, among other things, Tsiolkovsky gave a diagram of the aerodynamic balances he designed. The current model of the "turntable" was demonstrated by N. E. Zhukovsky in Moscow, at the Mechanical Exhibition held in January of this year.
Around the same time, Tsiolkovsky became friends with the Goncharov family. Alexander Nikolaevich Goncharov, the appraiser of the Kaluga Bank, the nephew of the famous writer I. A. Goncharov, was a comprehensively educated person, knew several languages, corresponded with many prominent writers and public figures, he himself regularly published his works of art, devoted mainly to the theme of the decline and degeneration of the Russian nobility. Goncharov decided to support the publication of a new book by Tsiolkovsky - a collection of essays "Dreams of Earth and Sky"(1894), his second work of fiction, while Goncharov's wife, Elizaveta Aleksandrovna, translated the article "An iron controlled balloon for 200 people, as long as a large sea steamer" into French and German and sent them to foreign journals. However, when Konstantin Eduardovich wanted to thank Goncharov and, without his knowledge, placed the inscription on the cover of the book Edition by A. N. Goncharov, this led to a scandal and a break in relations between the Tsiolkovskys and the Goncharovs.
On September 30, 1894, the Tsiolkovskys had a daughter, Maria.
In Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky also did not forget about science, about astronautics and aeronautics. He built a special installation, which made it possible to measure some of the aerodynamic parameters of aircraft. Since the Physico-Chemical Society did not allocate a penny for his experiments, the scientist had to use family funds to conduct research. By the way, Tsiolkovsky built more than 100 experimental models at his own expense and tested them. After some time, the society nevertheless drew attention to the Kaluga genius and allocated him financial support - 470 rubles, for which Tsiolkovsky built a new, improved installation - the "blower".
The study of the aerodynamic properties of bodies various shapes and possible schemes of airborne vehicles gradually led Tsiolkovsky to think about options for flight in vacuum and the conquest of space. In 1895 his book was published "Dreams of Earth and Sky", and a year later an article was published about other worlds, intelligent beings from other planets and about the communication of earthlings with them. In the same year, 1896, Tsiolkovsky began writing his main work, published in 1903. This book touched upon the problems of using rockets in space.
In 1896-1898, the scientist took part in the newspaper "Kaluga Vestnik", which published both the materials of Tsiolokovsky himself and articles about him.

In this house K. E. Tsiolkovsky lived
almost 30 years (from 1903 to 1933).
On the first anniversary of death
K. E. Tsiolkovsky in it was discovered
scientific memorial museum

The first fifteen years of the 20th century were the most difficult in the life of a scientist. In 1902 his son Ignatius committed suicide. In 1908, during the flood of the Oka, his house was flooded, many cars, exhibits were disabled, and numerous unique calculations were lost. On June 5, 1919, the Council of the Russian Society of World Studies Lovers accepted K. E. Tsiolkovsky as a member and he, as a member scientific society was given a pension. This saved him from starvation during the years of devastation, since on June 30, 1919, the Socialist Academy did not elect him as a member and thus left him without a livelihood. The Physicochemical Society also did not appreciate the significance and revolutionary nature of the models presented by Tsiolkovsky. In 1923, his second son, Alexander, took his own life.
On November 17, 1919, five people raided the Tsiolkovskys' house. After searching the house, they took the head of the family and brought him to Moscow, where they put him in a prison on Lubyanka. There he was interrogated for several weeks. According to some reports, a certain high-ranking person interceded for Tsiolkovsky, as a result of which the scientist was released.

Tsiolkovsky in the office
on the bookshelf

Only in 1923, after the publication of the German physicist Hermann Oberth about space flights and rocket engines, did the Soviet authorities remember the scientist. After that, the living and working conditions of Tsiolkovsky changed radically. The party leadership of the country drew attention to him. He was assigned a personal pension and provided the opportunity for fruitful activity. The developments of Tsiolkovsky became of interest to some ideologists of the new government.
In 1918, Tsiolkovsky was elected to the number of competing members of the Socialist Academy of Social Sciences (in 1924 it was renamed the Communist Academy), and on November 9, 1921, the scientist was awarded a life pension for services to domestic and world science. This pension was paid until September 19, 1935 - on that day Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky died in his hometown of Kaluga.
In 1932, a correspondence between Konstantin Eduardovich and one of the most talented "poets of Thought" of his time, who was looking for the harmony of the universe, was established - Nikolai Alekseevich Zabolotsky. The latter, in particular, wrote to Tsiolkovsky: “...Your thoughts about the future of the Earth, humanity, animals and plants deeply excite me, and they are very close to me. In my unpublished poems and poems, I did my best to resolve them. Zabolotsky told him about the hardships of his own search for the benefit of mankind: “It is one thing to know, and another to feel. A conservative feeling, brought up in us over the centuries, clings to our consciousness and prevents it from moving forward. The natural-philosophical research of Tsiolkovsky left an extremely significant imprint on the work of this author.
Among the great technical and scientific achievements of the 20th century, one of the first places undoubtedly belongs to rockets and the theory of jet propulsion. The years of the Second World War (1941-1945) led to an unusually rapid improvement in the design of jet vehicles. Gunpowder rockets reappeared on the battlefields, but already on more high-calorie smokeless TNT - pyroxylin gunpowder ("Katyusha"). Aircraft with air-jet engines, unmanned aircraft with pulsed air-jet engines (FA-1) and ballistic missiles with a range of up to 300 km (FAU -2).
Rocket technology is now becoming a very important and rapidly growing branch of industry. The development of the theory of flight of jet vehicles is one of the pressing problems of modern scientific and technological development.
K. E. Tsiolkovsky did a lot to understand the fundamentals of the theory of rocket motion. He was the first in the history of science to formulate and investigate the problem of studying rectilinear motions of rockets based on the laws of theoretical mechanics.

Rice. 3. The simplest scheme of liquid
jet engine

The simplest liquid-fueled jet engine (Fig. 3) is a pot-shaped chamber in which rural people store milk. Through nozzles located on the bottom of this pot, liquid fuel and oxidizer are supplied to the combustion chamber. The supply of fuel components is calculated in such a way as to ensure complete combustion. The fuel is ignited in the combustion chamber (Fig. 3), and the combustion products - hot gases - are ejected at high speed through a specially profiled nozzle. The oxidizer and fuel are placed in special tanks located on a rocket or aircraft. To supply the oxidizer and fuel to the combustion chamber, turbopumps are used or they are squeezed out by a compressed neutral gas (for example, nitrogen). On fig. 4 shows a photograph of the jet engine of the German V-2 rocket.

Rice. 4. Liquid-propellant rocket engine of the German V-2 rocket,
mounted in the tail of the rocket:
1 - air steering wheel; 2- combustion chamber; 3 - pipeline for
fuel supply (alcohol); 4- turbopump unit;
5- tank for oxidizer; 6-exit section of the nozzle;
7 - gas rudders

A jet of hot gases ejected from the nozzle of a jet engine creates a reactive force acting on the rocket in the direction opposite to the speed of the particles of the jet. The magnitude of the reactive force is equal to the product of the mass of gases thrown off in one second by the relative speed. If the speed is measured in meters per second, and the mass per second flow through the weight of particles in kilograms divided by the acceleration of gravity, then the reactive force will be obtained in kilograms.
In some cases, in order to burn fuel in the chamber of a jet engine, it is necessary to take air from the atmosphere. Then, during the movement of the jet apparatus, air particles are attached and heated gases are ejected. We get the so-called air-jet engine. The simplest example of a jet engine would be an ordinary tube, open at both ends, inside which a fan is placed. If you make the fan work, it will suck in air from one end of the tube and throw it out through the other end. If gasoline is injected into the tube, into the space behind the fan, and set on fire, the velocity of the hot gases leaving the tube will be much greater than the incoming ones, and the tube will receive thrust in the direction opposite to the jet of gases ejected from it. By making the cross-section of the tube (the radius of the tube) variable, it is possible, by appropriate selection of these sections along the length of the tube, to achieve very high outflow velocities of the ejected gases. In order not to carry an engine with you to rotate the fan, you can make a jet of gases flowing through the tube rotate it with the desired number of revolutions. Some difficulties will arise only when starting such an engine. The simplest scheme of an air-jet engine was proposed back in 1887 by the Russian engineer Geshwend. The idea of ​​using an air-jet engine for modern types of aircraft was independently developed by K. E. Tsiolkovsky with great care. He gave the world's first calculations for an aircraft with an air-jet engine and a turbo-compressor propeller engine. On fig. 5 shows a diagram of a ramjet engine, in which the movement of air particles along the axis of the pipe is created due to initial speed received by the rocket from some other engine, and further movement is supported by the reactive force due to the increased speed of the ejection of particles compared to the speed of the incoming particles.

Rice. 5. Scheme of direct-flow air-
jet engine

The energy of movement of an air jet engine is obtained by burning fuel, just like in a simple rocket. Thus, the source of motion of any jet apparatus is the energy stored in this apparatus, which can be converted into mechanical motion of particles of matter ejected from the apparatus at high speed. As soon as the ejection of such particles from the apparatus is created, it receives a movement in the direction opposite to the jet of erupting particles.
An appropriately directed jet of ejected particles is the main thing in the designs of all jet vehicles. Methods for obtaining powerful streams of erupting particles are very diverse. The problem of obtaining flows of ejected particles in the simplest and most economical way, the development of methods for regulating such flows is an important task for inventors and designers.
If we consider the movement of the simplest rocket, it is easy to understand that its weight changes, as part of the mass of the rocket burns out and is discarded over time. The rocket is a body of variable mass. The theory of motion of bodies of variable mass was created at the end of the 19th century in Russia by I. V. Meshchersky and K. E. Tsiolkovsky.
The wonderful works of Meshchersky and Tsiolkovsky perfectly complement each other. The study of rectilinear motions of rockets, carried out by Tsiolkovsky, significantly enriched the theory of the motion of bodies of variable mass, thanks to the formulation of completely new problems. Unfortunately, Meshchersky's work was not known to Tsiolkovsky, and in a number of cases he repeated Meshchersky's earlier results in his work.
The study of the movement of jet vehicles presents great difficulties, since during the movement the weight of any jet vehicle changes significantly. Already now there are rockets, in which the weight decreases by 8-10 times during the operation of the engine. The change in the weight of the rocket in the process of movement does not allow using directly those formulas and conclusions that are obtained in classical mechanics, which is the theoretical basis for calculating the movement of bodies whose weight is constant during movement.
It is also known that in those tasks of technology where it was necessary to deal with the movement of bodies of variable weight (for example, in aircraft with large reserves of fuel), it was always assumed that the trajectory of movement can be divided into sections and the weight of the moving body can be considered constant in each individual section. In this way, the difficult problem of studying the motion of a body of variable mass was replaced by a simpler and already studied problem of the motion of a body of constant mass. The study of the motion of rockets as bodies of variable mass was put on firm scientific ground by K. E. Tsiolkovsky. We now call the theory of rocket flight rocket dynamics. Tsiolkovsky is the founder of modern rocket dynamics. The published works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky on rocket dynamics make it possible to establish the consistent development of his ideas in this new field of human knowledge. What are the basic laws governing the movement of bodies of variable mass? How to calculate the flight speed of a jet? How to find the altitude of a rocket fired vertically? How to get out of the atmosphere on a jet device - to break through the "shell" of the atmosphere? How to overcome the gravity of the earth - to break through the "shell" of gravity? Here are some of the issues considered and resolved by Tsiolkovsky.
From our point of view, the most precious idea of ​​Tsiolkovsky in the theory of rockets is the addition to Newton's classical mechanics of a new section - the mechanics of bodies of variable mass. To make a new large group of phenomena subject to the human mind, to explain what many saw but did not understand, to give humanity a powerful new tool for technical transformation - these are the tasks that the brilliant Tsiolkovsky set himself. All the talent of the researcher, all the originality, creative originality and extraordinary flight of fantasy with particular force and productivity were revealed in his work on jet propulsion. He predicted the development of jet vehicles for decades to come. He considered the changes that an ordinary firework rocket had to undergo in order to become a powerful tool for technological progress in a new field of human knowledge.
In one of his works (1911), Tsiolkovsky expressed a deep thought about the simplest applications of rockets, which were known to people for a very long time: “We usually observe such miserable jet phenomena on earth. That is why they could not encourage anyone to dream and explore. Only reason and science could indicate the transformation of these phenomena into grandiose, almost incomprehensible feelings.

Tsiolkovsky at work

When a rocket is flying at relatively low altitudes, three main forces will act on it: gravity (Newtonian gravity), aerodynamic force due to the presence of the atmosphere (usually this force is decomposed into two: lifting and drag), and reactive force due to the process of rejection particles from the nozzle of a jet engine. If we take into account all these forces, then the task of studying the motion of a rocket turns out to be quite complicated. It is therefore natural to begin the theory of rocket flight from the simplest cases, when some of the forces can be neglected. Tsiolkovsky in his work of 1903, first of all, explored what possibilities the reactive principle of creating mechanical movement, not taking into account the effects of aerodynamic force and gravity. Such a case of rocket movement can be during interstellar flights, when the forces of attraction of the planets of the solar system and stars can be neglected (the rocket is far enough from both the solar system and the stars - in "free space" in Tsiolkovsky's terminology). This problem is now called the first Tsiolkovsky problem. The movement of the rocket in this case is due only to the reactive force. In the mathematical formulation of the problem, Tsiolkovsky introduces the assumption that the relative ejection velocity of particles is constant. When flying in a vacuum, this assumption means that the jet engine operates in a steady state and the velocity of outflowing particles in the exit section of the nozzle does not depend on the law of rocket motion.
Here is how Konstantin Eduardovich substantiates this hypothesis in his work "The study of world spaces by jet devices": “In order for the projectile to receive the highest speed, it is necessary that each particle of combustion products or other waste receive the highest relative speed. It is also constant for certain waste substances. …Energy saving should not take place here: it is impossible and unprofitable. In other words: the basis of the rocket theory must be the constant relative velocity of the debris particles.
Tsiolkovsky composes and studies in detail the equation of motion of a rocket at a constant speed of debris particles and obtains a very important mathematical result, now known as the Tsiolkovsky formula.
From the Tsiolkovsky formula for maximum speed it follows that:
a). The speed of the rocket at the end of the engine operation (at the end of the active phase of the flight) will be the greater, the greater the relative velocity of the ejected particles. If the relative velocity of the outflow doubles, then the velocity of the rocket also doubles.
b). The speed of the rocket at the end of the active section increases if the ratio of the initial mass (weight) of the rocket to the mass (weight) of the rocket at the end of combustion increases. However, here the dependence is more complicated, it is given by the following Tsiolkovsky theorem:
"When the mass of the rocket plus the mass explosives, available in the reactive device, increases in geometric progression, then the speed of the rocket increases in an arithmetic progression. This law can be expressed in two series of numbers.
“Suppose, for example,” writes Tsiolkovsky, “that the mass of the rocket and explosives is 8 units. I drop four units and get the speed, which we will take as one. Then I discard two units of explosive material and gain another unit of speed; finally, I discard the last unit of mass of explosives and get another unit of speed; only 3 units of speed. From the theorem and Tsiolkovsky's explanations it can be seen that "the speed of a rocket is far from being proportional to the mass of the explosive material: it grows very slowly, but without limit."
A very important practical result follows from the Tsiolkovsky formula: in order to obtain the highest possible rocket velocities at the end of engine operation, it is necessary to increase the relative velocities of the ejected particles and increase the relative fuel supply.
It should be noted that an increase in the relative velocities of the outflow of particles requires the improvement of a jet engine and a reasonable choice of constituent parts (components) of the fuels used. The second way, associated with an increase in the relative fuel supply, requires a significant improvement (lightening) of the design of the rocket body, auxiliary mechanisms and flight control devices.
A rigorous mathematical analysis carried out by Tsiolkovsky revealed the basic patterns of rocket movement and made it possible to quantify the perfection of real rocket designs.
A simple Tsiolkovsky formula allows us to establish the feasibility of one or another task by elementary calculations.
The Tsiolkovsky formula can be used for approximate estimates of the rocket speed in cases where the aerodynamic force and gravity are relatively small in relation to the reactive force. Problems of this kind arise for powder rockets with short burning times and high flow rates per second. The reactive force of such powder rockets exceeds the force of gravity by 40-120 times and the drag force by 20-60 times. Max speed such a powder rocket, calculated according to the Tsiolkovsky formula, will differ from the true one by 1-4%; such accuracy in determining flight characteristics at the initial stages of design is quite sufficient.
The Tsiolkovsky formula made it possible to quantify the maximum possibilities of the reactive method of communicating movement. After the work of Tsiolkovsky in 1903, a new era in the development of rocket technology began. This era is marked by flight characteristics rockets can be determined in advance by calculations, therefore, the creation of the scientific design of rockets begins with the work of Tsiolkovsky. The foresight of K. I. Konstantinov, the designer of powder rockets of the 19th century, about the possibility of creating new science- rocket ballistics (or rocket dynamics) - received real implementation in the works of Tsiolkovsky.
At the end of the 19th century, Tsiolkovsky revived scientific and technical research on rocket technology in Russia and subsequently proposed a large number of original rocket design schemes. A significantly new step in the development of rocket technology was the missile schemes developed by Tsiolkovsky. long range and rockets for interplanetary travel with liquid fuel jet engines. Before the work of Tsiolkovsky, rockets with powder jet engines were investigated and proposed for solving various problems.
The use of liquid fuel (fuel and oxidizer) makes it possible to give a very rational design of a liquid-propellant jet engine with thin walls cooled by fuel (or oxidizer), easy and reliable in operation. For large missiles, this solution was the only acceptable one.
Rocket 1903. The first type of long-range missile was described by Tsiolkovsky in his work "The study of world spaces by jet devices" published in 1903. The rocket is an elongated metal chamber, very similar in shape to an airship or a large spindle. “Let's imagine,” writes Tsiolkovsky, “such a shell: an oblong metal chamber (of the least resistance form), supplied with light, oxygen, absorbers of carbon dioxide, miasma and other animal secretions, designed not only to store various physical devices, but also for humans, controlling the chamber ... The chamber has a large supply of substances, which, when mixed, immediately form an explosive mass. These substances, exploding correctly and evenly in a certain place, flow in the form of hot gases through pipes expanding towards the end like a horn or a wind musical instrument ... At one narrow end of the pipe, explosives are mixed: here condensed and fiery gases are obtained. At its other extended end, they, having become very rarefied and cooled from this, break out through the funnels with an enormous relative speed.
On fig. 6 shows the volumes occupied by liquid hydrogen (fuel) and liquid oxygen (oxidizer). The place of their mixing (combustion chamber) is indicated in fig. 6 with the letter A. The walls of the nozzle are surrounded by a casing with a cooling liquid rapidly circulating in it (one of the fuel components).

Rice. 6. Rocket by K. E. Tsiolkovsky - project of 1903
(with straight nozzle). Drawing by K. E. Tsiolkovsky

To control the flight of a rocket in the upper rarefied layers of the atmosphere, Tsiolkovsky recommended two methods: graphite rudders placed in a jet of gases near the exit of the jet engine nozzle, or turning the end of the bell (turning the engine nozzle). Both techniques make it possible to deflect the direction of the jet of hot gases from the axis of the rocket and create a force perpendicular to the direction of flight (control force). It should be noted that these proposals of Tsiolkovsky found wide application and development in modern rocket technology. All liquid-propellant jet engines known to us from the foreign press are designed with forced cooling of the chamber walls and nozzle by one of the propellant components. Such cooling makes it possible to make the walls sufficiently thin and withstand high temperatures (up to 3500-4000°C) for several minutes. Without cooling, such chambers burn out in 2-3 seconds.
The gas rudders proposed by Tsiolkovsky are used to control the flight of missiles of various classes abroad. If the reactive force developed by the engine exceeds the rocket's gravity by 1.5-3 times, then in the first seconds of the flight, when the rocket's speed is low, the air rudders will be ineffective even in dense layers of the atmosphere and the correct flight of the rocket is ensured with the help of gas rudders. Usually, four graphite rudders are placed in the jet of a jet engine, located in two mutually perpendicular planes. The deviation of one pair allows you to change the direction of flight in the vertical plane, and the deviation of the second pair changes the direction of flight in the horizontal plane. Consequently, the action of gas rudders is similar to the action of the elevators and rudders of an airplane or glider, changing the pitch and heading angle during flight. To prevent the rocket from rotating around its own axis, one pair of gas rudders can deviate in different sides; in this case, their action is similar to the action of the ailerons of an aircraft.
Gas rudders placed in a jet of hot gases reduce the reactive force, therefore, with a relatively long time of operation of the jet engine (more than 2-3 minutes), it sometimes turns out to be more profitable either to turn the entire engine automatically, or to put additional (smaller size) turning engines on the rocket , which serve to control the flight of the rocket.
Rocket 1914. The external outlines of the rocket of 1914 are close to the outlines of the rocket of 1903, but the device of the explosive tube (i.e. nozzle) of the jet engine is complicated. Tsiolkovsky recommends using hydrocarbons as a fuel (for example, kerosene, gasoline). Here is how the device of this rocket is described (Fig. 7): “The left rear aft part of the rocket consists of two chambers separated by a partition not indicated on the drawing. The first chamber contains liquid, freely evaporating oxygen. It has a very low temperature and surrounds part of the blast tube and other parts subject to high temperature. The other compartment contains liquid hydrocarbons. The two black dots at the bottom (almost in the middle) indicate the cross section of the pipes that deliver explosive materials to the blast pipe. From the mouth of the explosive pipe (see circle of two points) two branches with rapidly rushing gases depart, which entrain and push the liquid elements of the explosion into the mouth, like a Giffard injector or a steam jet pump. “... The explosive tube makes several turns along the rocket parallel to its longitudinal axis and then several turns perpendicular to this axis. The goal is to reduce the rocket's agility or make it easier to control."

Rice. 7. Rocket by K. E. Tsiolkovsky - project of 1914
(with curved nozzle). Drawing by K. E. Tsiolkovsky

In this rocket scheme, the outer shell of the body can be cooled with liquid oxygen. Tsiolkovsky well understood the difficulty of returning a rocket from outer space to earth, meaning that at high flight speeds in dense layers of the atmosphere, a rocket could burn out or collapse like a meteorite.
In the nose of the rocket, Tsiolkovsky has: a supply of gases necessary for breathing and maintaining the normal life of passengers; devices for saving living beings from large overloads that occur during accelerated (or slow) rocket movement; flight control devices; food and water supplies; substances that absorb carbon dioxide, miasms and, in general, all harmful products of breathing.
Very interesting is Tsiolkovsky's idea of ​​protecting living beings and humans from large overloads ("increased gravity" - in Tsiolkovsky's terminology) by immersing them in a liquid of equal density. For the first time this idea is found in the work of Tsiolkovsky in 1891. Here short description a simple experiment that convinces us of the correctness of Tsiolkovsky's proposal for homogeneous bodies (bodies of the same density). Take a delicate wax figure that can barely support its own weight. Let us pour a liquid of the same density as the wax into a strong vessel, and immerse the figure in this liquid. Now, by means of a centrifugal machine, we will cause overloads that exceed the force of gravity many times over. The vessel, if not strong enough, may collapse, but the wax figure in the liquid will remain intact. “Nature has long used this technique,” ​​writes Tsiolkovsky, “by immersing the embryo of animals, their brains and other weak parts in a liquid. So it protects them from any damage. Man has so far made little use of this idea.
It should be noted that for bodies whose density is different (heterogeneous bodies), the effect of overload will still manifest itself when the body is immersed in a liquid. So, if lead pellets are embedded in a wax figure, then with large overloads, all of them will crawl out of the wax figure into the liquid. But, apparently, there is no doubt that in a liquid a person will be able to withstand greater overloads than, for example, in a special chair.
Rocket 1915. Perelman's book "Interplanetary Travel", published in 1915 in Petrograd, contains a drawing and description of the rocket, made by Tsiolkovsky.
“Pipe A and chamber B made of strong refractory metal are coated inside with an even more refractory material, such as tungsten. C and D - pumps pumping liquid oxygen and hydrogen into the blasting chamber. The rocket also has a second refractory outer shell. Between both shells there is a gap into which evaporating liquid oxygen rushes in the form of a very cold gas, it prevents excessive heating of both shells from friction during the rapid movement of the rocket in the atmosphere. Liquid oxygen and the same hydrogen are separated from each other by an impenetrable shell (not shown in Fig. 8). E - a pipe that discharges evaporated cold oxygen into the gap between the two shells, it flows out through hole K. At the pipe hole there is (not shown in Fig. 8) a steering wheel of two mutually perpendicular planes for controlling the rocket. The escaping rarefied and cooled gases, thanks to these rudders, change the direction of their movement and, thus, turn the rocket.

Rice. 8. Rocket by K. E. Tsiolkovsky - project of 1915.
Drawing by K. E. Tsiolkovsky

Composite rockets. In the works of Tsiolkovsky, devoted to composite rockets, or rocket trains, there are no drawings with general types of structures, but according to the descriptions given in the works, it can be argued that Tsiolkovsky proposed two types of rocket trains for implementation. The first type of train is similar to a railway one, when the locomotive pushes the train from behind. Imagine four rockets linked in series with one another (Fig. 9). Such a train is pushed first by the lower - tail rocket (the first stage engine is running). After using up its fuel reserves, the rocket unhooks and falls to the ground. Then the engine of the second rocket starts to work, which is the tail pusher for the train of the remaining three rockets. After the fuel of the second rocket is completely used up, it also unhooks, and so on. The last, fourth, rocket begins to use its fuel supply, already having a sufficiently high speed obtained from the operation of the engines of the first three stages.

Rice. 9. Scheme of a four-stage
rockets (trains) by K. E. Tsiolkovsky

Tsiolkovsky proved by calculations the most advantageous distribution of the weights of the individual rockets included in the train.
The second type of composite rocket, proposed by Tsiolkovsky in 1935, he called the missile squadron. Imagine that 8 rockets set off in a flight, fastened in parallel, as the logs of a raft are fastened on a river. At launch, all eight jet engines start working simultaneously. When each of the eight missiles has used up half of its fuel supply, then 4 missiles (for example, two on the right and two on the left) will pour their unused fuel supply into the half-empty tanks of the remaining 4 missiles and separate from the squadron. Further flight is continued by 4 missiles with fully filled tanks. When the remaining 4 missiles have each used up half of the available fuel supply, then 2 missiles (one on the right and one on the left) will pour their fuel into the remaining two missiles and separate from the squadron. The flight will continue 2 missiles. Having used up half of its fuel, one of the squadron's rockets will pour the remaining half into a rocket designed to reach the destination of the journey. The advantage of a squadron is that all missiles are the same. The transfusion of fuel components in flight is, although difficult, but quite technically solvable.
Creating a reasonable design of a rocket train is one of the most pressing problems at the present time.

Tsiolkovsky at work in the garden.
Kaluga, 1932

AT last years of his life, K. E. Tsiolkovsky worked hard on the creation of a theory of the flight of jet aircraft in his article "Jet Airplane"(1930) details the advantages and disadvantages of a jet aircraft compared to an aircraft equipped with a propeller. Pointing to the high fuel consumption per second in jet engines as one of the most significant shortcomings, Tsiolkovsky writes: “... Our jet airplane is five times more unprofitable than usual. But here it flies twice as fast where the density of the atmosphere is 4 times less. Here it will be unprofitable only 2.5 times. Even higher, where the air is 25 times rarer, it flies five times faster and already uses energy as successfully as a propeller-driven aircraft. At an altitude where the environment is 100 times rarer, its speed is 10 times greater and it will be 2 times more profitable than an ordinary airplane.

Tsiolkovsky at dinner with his family.
Kaluga, 1932

Tsiolkovsky ends this article with wonderful words showing a deep understanding of the laws of technology. "The era of propeller-driven airplanes must be followed by the era of jet airplanes, or airplanes of the stratosphere." It should be noted that these lines were written 10 years before the first jet aircraft built in the Soviet Union took off.
Articles "Rocketplane" and "Semi-jet stratoplane" Tsiolkovsky gives a theory of the motion of an aircraft with a liquid-propellant jet engine and develops in detail the idea of ​​a turbocompressor propeller jet aircraft.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky with his grandchildren

Tsiolkovsky died on September 19, 1935. The scientist was buried in one of his favorite places of rest - the city park. On November 24, 1936, an obelisk was opened over the burial place (authors - architect B.N. Dmitriev, sculptors I.M. Biryukov and M.A. Muratov).

Monument to K. E. Tsiolkovsky, near the obelisk
"Conquerors of Space" in Moscow

Monument to K. E. Tsiolkovsky in Borovsk
(sculptor S. Bychkov)

In 1966, 31 years after the death of the scientist, the Orthodox priest Alexander Men performed a funeral ceremony over the grave of Tsiolkovsky.

K. E. Tsiolkovsky

Literature:

1. K. E. Tsiolkovsky and problems of the development of science and technology [Text] / ed.
2. Kiselev, A. N. Conquerors of space [Text] / A. N. Kiselev, M. F. Rebrov. - M.: Military publishing house of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, 1971. - 366, p.: ill.
3. Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky [Electronic resource] - Access mode: http://ru.wikipedia.org
4. Cosmonautics [Text]: encyclopedia / ch. ed. V. P. Glushko. - M., 1985.
5. Cosmonautics of the USSR [Text]: Sat. / comp. L. N. Gilberg, A. A. Eremenko; ch. ed. Yu.A. Mozzhorin. - M., 1986.
6. Space. Stars and planets. Space flights. Jet planes. Television [Text]: encyclopedia of a young scientist. - M.: ROSMEN, 2000. - 133 p.: ill.
7. Mussky, S. A. 100 great wonders of technology [Text] / S. A. Mussky. - M.: Veche, 2005. - 432 p. - (100 great).
8. Pioneers of rocket technology: Kibalchich, Tsiolkovsky, Zander, Kondratyuk [Text]: scientific works. - M., 1959.
9. Ryzhov, K. V. 100 great inventions [Text] / K. V. Ryzhov. - M.: Veche, 2001. - 528 p. - (100 great).
10. Samin, D. K. 100 great scientific discoveries [Text] / D. K. Samin. - M.: Veche, 2005. - 480 p. - (100 great).
11. Samin, D.K. 100 great scientists [Text] / D.K. Samin. - M.: Veche, 2000. - 592 p. - (100 great).
12. Tsiolkovsky, K. E. The path to the stars [Text]: Sat. science fiction works / K. E. Tsiolkovsky. - M.: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 1961. - 351, p.: ill.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is a self-taught scientist who became the founder of modern astronautics. Neither poverty, nor deafness, nor isolation from the domestic scientific community prevented his desire for the stars.

Childhood in Izhevsk

About his birth, the scientist wrote: “A new citizen of the universe has appeared, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky”. It happened on September 17, 1857 in the village of Izhevskoye, Ryazan province. Tsiolkovsky grew up as a fidget: he climbed on the roofs of houses and trees, jumped from a great height. His parents called him "bird" and "blessed". The latter concerned an important trait of the boy's character - daydreaming. Konstantin liked to dream aloud and "paid his younger brother" to listen to his "nonsense".

In the winter of 1868, Tsiolkovsky fell ill with scarlet fever and, due to complications, became almost completely deaf. He was cut off from the world, constantly received ridicule, and considered his life a "biography of a cripple."

After an illness, the boy became isolated and began to tinker: he drew drawings of cars with wings and even created a unit that moved due to the power of steam. At this time, the family was already living in Vyatka. Konstantin tried to study at a regular school, but did not succeed: “I didn’t hear the teachers at all or heard only obscure sounds”, but they didn’t make concessions to the “deaf”. Three years later, Tsiolkovsky was expelled for academic failure. In any educational institution he no longer studied and remained self-taught.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Photo: tvkultura.ru

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in childhood. Photo: wikimedia.org

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Photo: cosmizm.ru

Study in Moscow

When Tsiolkovsky was 14, his father looked into his studio. In it, he discovered self-propelled carriages, windmills, a homemade astrolabe, and many other amazing mechanisms. The father gave his son money and sent him to enter Moscow, at the Higher Technical School (now Bauman Moscow State Technical University). Konstantin reached Moscow, but did not enter the school. Instead, he enrolled in the city's only free library - Chertkovskaya - and delved into independent study of the sciences.

Tsiolkovsky's poverty in Moscow was monstrous. He did not work, received 10-15 rubles a month from his parents and could eat only black bread: “Every three days I went to the bakery and bought there for 9 kopecks. of bread. Thus, I lived 90 kopecks. per month" he recalled. With all the remaining money, the scientist bought "books, pipes, mercury, sulfuric acid" - and other materials for experiments. Tsiolkovsky walked around in rags. It happened that on the street the boys teased him: “What is it, mice, or what, ate your trousers?”

In 1876, Tsiolkovsky's father called him home. Returning to Kirov, Konstantin began to give private lessons. The teacher from the deaf Tsiolkovsky came out brilliant. He made polyhedra out of paper in order to explain geometry to his students, and in general he often explained the subject in experiments. The fame of a talented eccentric teacher went about Tsiolkovsky.

In 1878 the Tsiolkovskys returned to Ryazan. Konstantin rented a room and sat down again for books: he studied physical and mathematical sciences in the cycle of secondary and higher education. A year later, he passed the exams externally at the First Gymnasium and went to teach arithmetic and geometry in the city of Borovsk in the Kaluga province.

In Borovsk, Tsiolkovsky got married. “It was time to get married, and I married her without love, hoping that such a wife would not turn me around, would work and would not prevent me from doing the same. This hope was fully justified.”, - so he wrote about his wife. She was Varvara Sokolova, the daughter of a priest, in whose house the scientist rented a room.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Photo: ruspekh.ru

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Photo: biography-life.ru

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Photo: tvc.ru

First steps in science

Tsiolkovsky devoted all his strength to science and spent almost all of his teacher's salary of 27 rubles on scientific experiments. He sent his first scientific works "Theory of gases", "Mechanics of the animal organism" and "Duration of solar radiation" to the capital. The learned world of that time (first of all, Ivan Sechenov and Alexander Stoletov) reacted kindly to the self-taught. He was even offered to join the Russian Physical and Chemical Society. Tsiolkovsky did not respond to the invitation: he had nothing to pay membership dues.

Tsiolkovsky's relationship with the academic scientific community was not easy. In 1887, he turned down an invitation to meet the famous mathematics professor Sofya Kovalevskaya. Then he spent a lot of time and effort to come to the kinetic theory of gases. Dmitri Mendeleev, having studied his work, answered in bewilderment: "The kinetic theory of gases was discovered 25 years ago".

Tsiolkovsky was a real eccentric and dreamer. “I was always up to something. There was a river nearby. I thought of making a sleigh with a wheel. Everyone sat and shook the levers. The sleigh was supposed to race on the ice... Then I replaced this structure with a special sailing chair. Peasants traveled along the river. The horses were frightened by the rushing sail, the visitors cursed with obscene voices. But due to deafness, I didn’t know about it for a long time. ” he recalled.

The main project of Tsiolkovsky at that time was the airship. The scientist decided to get away from the use of explosive oxygen, replacing it with hot air. And the tightening system developed by him allowed the “ship” to maintain a constant lifting force at different flight altitudes. Tsiolkovsky asked scientists to donate 300 rubles to him for the construction of a large metal model of an airship, but no one provided him with material assistance.

Tsiolkovsky's interest in flights over the earth faded - he became interested in the stars. In 1887, he wrote a short story "On the Moon", where he described the sensations of a person who fell on an earthly satellite. A significant part of the assumptions made by him in the work later turned out to be correct.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky at work. Photo: kp.ru

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky at work. Photo: wikimedia.org

Space exploration

Since 1892, Tsiolkovsky worked as a physics teacher at the diocesan women's school. To cope with his illness, the scientist made a "special auditory tube", which he pressed to his ear when the students answered him the subject.

In 1903, Tsiolkovsky finally switched to work related to space exploration. In the article "Investigation of the World Spaces with Reactive Devices", he first substantiated that a rocket could become an apparatus for successful space flights. The scientist also developed the concept of a liquid rocket engine. In particular, he determined the speed necessary for the apparatus to exit to solar system("second cosmic velocity"). Tsiolkovsky dealt with many of the practical issues of space, which later formed the basis for Soviet rocket science. He proposed options for rocket control, cooling systems, nozzle designs, and fuel delivery systems.

Since 1932, a personal doctor was assigned to Tsiolkovsky - it was he who revealed an incurable disease in the scientist. But Tsiolkovsky continued to work. He said: to finish what you started, you need another 15 years. But he didn't have that time. "Citizen of the Universe" died on September 19, 1935 at the age of 78.

Date of birth: September 17, 1857
Date of death: September 19, 1935
Place of birth: the village of Izhevskoe, Ryazan Province.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky- Scientist and inventor. Tsiolkovsky Konstantin Eduardovich(Konstanty Ciołkowski) – pioneer in the field of space exploration, scientist. He is the "father" of modern astronautics. The first Russian scientist who became famous in the field of aeronautics and aeronautics. He believed in the possibility of founding human settlements in space.

Konstantin first saw the light on September 17, 1857 in a little-known village, which was located not far from Ryazan. Tsiolkovsky's father, served in forestry. Mother, Maria Yumasheva, was from small estate nobles, and in accordance with the customs of that time, she was engaged in housework.

At the beginning of 1868, she moved from the village to a larger city, Vyatka. Kostya began to study at the gymnasium. The boy found it difficult to study because he was deaf from scarlet fever. In 1873, the teenager stopped his studies due to expulsion. The lack of schooling did not prevent him from doing the exact sciences all his life.

As a 16-year-old teenager, Konstantin goes to the capital. There he puts several years on the altar of natural sciences and mechanics. To be a full member of society, he uses a hearing aid. Studying, renting housing and eating in Moscow were too much for young man in terms of money. And in 1876, a young, well-educated scientist decides to return to the province, to his father.

In order to support himself, the young man moonlights with algebra and geometry lessons in private. The talented teacher did not experience a lack of students, because. performed excellently.

This experience was not in vain, because soon the scientist and his relatives moved to Ryazan. Here he finally receives a diploma, which allows him to start teaching in Borovsk.

The district school where Tsiolkovsky taught was far from St. Petersburg and Moscow, the centers of science. Despite this, Konstantin begins scientific work in the field of aerodynamics. He is the creator of the kinetic theory. The figures obtained as a result of the experiments, he sends to the Russian Phys.-Chem. society. The response letter from Mendeleev shocks him - it turns out that this discovery was already made a quarter of a century ago. But Konstantin's calculations were appreciated in St. Petersburg.

At the beginning of the 19th century, a promising scientist went to live in Kaluga. He teaches, continues to work in aero- and astronautics. It was here that he built a tunnel in which it was possible to test the aerodynamic features of the constructed vehicles. All this costs money, with a request for funding, Konstantin turns to the Phys-Chemical Society. Gets rejected and spends family savings on his job. The money was spent on the construction of about a hundred prototypes. Having learned about this, the Society allocates almost 500 rubles to the researcher. The scientist invested all this money in improving the properties of the tunnel.

Space irresistibly attracts Tsiolkovsky, he writes a lot. Starts fundamental work on "Exploration of outer space with the help of a jet engine".
The early 1900s brought a lot of trouble. In 1902, the scientist's son, Ignat, committed suicide. After 5 years, the Oka burst its banks, flooding the unique machines and calculations of the scientist that are in a single instance. The Physical Chemical Society remained indifferent to the works and problems of Konstantin Eduardovich, and did not allocate a penny for the continuation of the work.

After the advent of Soviet power, Tsiolkovsky received a financial allowance from the Russian Society of Lovers of World Studies. It came as a surprise to everyone that two years after the revolution, the scientist was arrested. By a lucky chance, someone from the top of the party stood up for him and the scientist was released.

In 1921, the space explorer finally receives the well-deserved recognition of the new authorities. He is given a life sentence.

In September 1935, Konstantin Eduardovich died of a malignant disease.

Achievements of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky:

More than 400 papers on the theory of rocket construction.
Seriously engaged in the study of real interstellar travel.
A balloon that can be controlled, an airship made of solid metal - the development of Tsiolkovsky.
Proved that only rockets are capable of comic travel.
Developed a rocket launch from an inclined level. This development was used in artillery mounts of the Katyusha type.
Proposed a new project of the engine with gas turbine thrust.

Dates of the biography of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky:

September 17, 1857 - was born in the Ryazan province.
In 1880 he married V. Sokolova in a church marriage.
In the period from 1880 to 1883 he published scientific works "The duration of the radiation of the Sun", "Mechanics like a changing organism", "Free space". He began teaching at the county school.
1896 began to investigate the dynamics of rockets.
In the period from 1909 to 1911, he received official patents related to the construction of airships in the countries of the Old and New Worlds and Russia.
1918 becomes a member of the Socialist Academy of Social Sciences. Continues teaching at the Kaluga Unified Labor Soviet School.
1919 the commission does not accept the project of an airship for armament Soviet army. He wrote his autobiography "Fatum, fate, fate." He spent several weeks in prison, in the Lubyanka.
1929 met with a colleague in rocket science with Sergei Korolev.
On September 19, 1935, he died of a malignant disease.

Interesting facts of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky:

Inspired by the ideas of the great inventor, A. Belyaev wrote a novel in the science fiction genre called "Star of the CEC".
As a 14-year-old teenager, he made a lathe. A year later I made a balloon.
The only thing that survived the fire in Tsiolkovsky's house was a sewing machine.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky is an outstanding Russian scientist, inventor, naturalist, and philosopher. In 1883, he wrote the book "Free Space", in which he described the processes taking place in space, its properties. It was in this book that Konstantin Eduardovich first proposed the rocket principle of movement in a vacuum. But was the space surrounding Konstantin Eduardovich himself free for creativity and scientific research? Unfortunately no. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was born in 1857, and at the age of 9 he almost completely lost his hearing after suffering from scarlet fever. When he entered the Vyatka gymnasium, there were problems with learning - the gymnasium student Tsiolkovsky could not meet the requirements educational institution, to fully assimilate the material, to pass exams. Children in every possible way treated a talented fellow student, subjected him to sophisticated bullying and ridicule. Konstantin Eduardovich later called this period "the saddest, darkest time of my life."

Konstantin was expelled from the gymnasium in the third year of study. Since that time, mistrust and bitterness have settled in his soul. But natural curiosity and craving for the natural sciences did not allow him to give up. Konstantin took up self-education, studied textbooks and monographs, conducted physical and chemical experiments at home. He had golden hands, and even in early childhood he himself made toys, watches, skates. When the need arose for experimental research, he managed to make a lathe, an astrolabe. Demonstrating remarkable design talent, Konstantin built a variety of self-propelled mechanisms, the springs for which he extracted from old ladies' crinolines.

For three years, first in Vyatka, then in the Chertkovskaya public library in Moscow, he mastered not only the program of the gymnasium, but a significant part of the university. Circumstances forced him to look for a livelihood, and Konstantin Eduardovich took up tutoring, and later teaching. This fact causes natural surprise: how did a person who is practically deaf, manage to succeed in teaching? The fact is that Tsiolkovsky widely used visual methods - he conducted experiments with his students, made models of geometric shapes and various aircraft.

However, the free space around the scientist continued to shrink. A fire and two floods destroyed the devices, devices, scientific notes, and calculations created by him. Konstantin Eduardovich, unable to communicate with other researchers and not being aware scientific works leading in the world, was doomed to "reinvent the wheel". Many of his discoveries have already been made by other scientists.

The articles sent by Tsiolkovsky to scientific publications were not published, the works were not published. Konstantin Eduardovich stopped hoping for recognition, but, nevertheless, continued his scientific activity. He was engaged in biomechanics, the theory of aeronautics, and even eugenics. He was ignored as a scientist, but appreciated as an educator. In 1892, Tsiolkovsky was transferred to Kaluga as a teacher at a district school.

The beginning of the 20th century was especially difficult for the scientist: the death of his sons, the lack of support from the scientific community, poverty, and arrest. Nevertheless, Konstantin Eduardovich did not leave research activities, wrote books, improved the model of a balloon with a metal shell. He used all his money to buy materials. But his most important works were devoted to astronautics and the theory of rocket propulsion.

Only after 1923 did the space surrounding the great scientist become more or less free. The Soviet authorities became interested in his work, publications and followers appeared. Many of Tsiolkovsky's ideas formed the basis of modern theories of space flight.

The famous Soviet writer A. Belyaev wrote fantasy novel about a space station called the CEC Star. Have you already guessed what this abbreviation means? Quite right. These are the initial letters of the name Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky!