Konstanty Ciołkowski
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Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (; rus, Константин Эдуардович Циолковский, p=kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ɪdʊˈardəvʲɪtɕ tsɨɐlˈkofskʲɪj, a=Ru-Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.oga; – 19 September 1935) was a Russian
rocket scientist A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...
who pioneered
astronautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the practice of sending spacecraft beyond atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science is its overarching field. The term ''astronautics' ...
. Along with
Hermann Oberth Hermann Julius Oberth (; 25 June 1894 – 28 December 1989) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian-born German physicist and rocket pioneer of Transylvanian Saxons, Transylvanian Saxon descent. Oberth supported Nazi Germany's war effort and re ...
and
Robert H. Goddard Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which was successfully lau ...
, he is one of the pioneers of space flight and the founding father of modern rocketry and
astronautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the practice of sending spacecraft beyond atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science is its overarching field. The term ''astronautics' ...
. His works later inspired
Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...
and leading Soviet rocket engineers
Sergei Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...
and
Valentin Glushko Valentin Petrovich Glushko (; ; born 2 September 1908 – 10 January 1989) was a Soviet engineer who was program manager of the Soviet space program from 1974 until 1989. Glushko served as a main designer of rocket engines in the Soviet progra ...
, who contributed to the success of the
Soviet space program The Soviet space program () was the state space program of the Soviet Union, active from 1951 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Contrary to its competitors (NASA in the United States, the European Space Agency in Western Euro ...
.
Tsiolkovsky spent most of his life in a
log house A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term "log cabin" generally refers to a smal ...
on the outskirts of
Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...
, about southwest of Moscow. A
recluse A recluse is a person who lives in voluntary seclusion and solitude. The word is from the Latin , which means 'to open' or 'disclose'. Examples of recluses are Symeon of Trier, who lived within the great Roman gate Porta Nigra with permissio ...
by nature, his unusual habits made him seem bizarre to his fellow townsfolk.


Early life

Tsiolkovsky was born in (now in Spassky District, Ryazan Oblast), in the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, to a middle-class family. His father, Makary Edward Erazm Ciołkowski, was a Polish
forester A forester is a person who practises forest management and forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including ecological restoration and management of protected areas. Fores ...
of
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
faith who relocated to Russia. His
Russian Orthodox The Russian Orthodox Church (ROC; ;), also officially known as the Moscow Patriarchate (), is an autocephaly, autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Church, Eastern Orthodox Christian church. It has 194 dioceses inside Russia. The Primate (bishop), p ...
mother Maria Ivanovna Yumasheva was of mixed Volga Tatar and
Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...
origin. According to family tradition, Tsiolkovsky family is of the
Zaporozhian Cossack The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossac ...
descent, related to Cossack Hetman Nalyvaiko. His father was successively a forester, teacher, and minor government official. At the age of 9, Konstantin caught
scarlet fever Scarlet fever, also known as scarlatina, is an infectious disease caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Group A streptococcus (GAS). It most commonly affects children between five and 15 years of age. The signs and symptoms include a sore ...
and lost his hearing. When he was 13, his mother died. He was not admitted to elementary schools because of his hearing problem, so he was self-taught. As a reclusive home-schooled child, he passed much of his time by reading books and became interested in mathematics and physics. As a teenager, he began to contemplate the possibility of space travel. Tsiolkovsky spent three years attending a Moscow library, where
Russian cosmism Russian cosmism (Russian: Русский космизм), or simply cosmism, is a philosophical and cultural movement that emerged in late 19th- and early 20th-century Russia, integrating science, religion, and metaphysics into a unified worldvie ...
proponent Nikolai Fyodorov worked. He later came to believe that colonizing space would lead to the perfection of the human species, with immortality and a carefree existence.The life of Konstantin Eduardovitch Tsiolkovsky 1857–1935
. Informatics.org (19 September 1935). Retrieved 4 May 2012.
Inspired by the fiction of
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
, Tsiolkovsky theorized many aspects of space travel and
rocket propulsion A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to Acceleration, accelerate without using any surrounding Atmosphere of Earth, air. A rocket engine produces thrust by Reaction (physics), reaction to exhaust ex ...
. He is considered the father of
spaceflight Spaceflight (or space flight) is an application of astronautics to fly objects, usually spacecraft, into or through outer space, either with or without humans on board. Most spaceflight is uncrewed and conducted mainly with spacecraft such ...
and the first person to conceive the
space elevator A space elevator, also referred to as a space bridge, star ladder, and orbital lift, is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system, often depicted in science fiction. The main component would be a cable (also called a tether) an ...
, becoming inspired in 1895 by the newly constructed
Eiffel Tower The Eiffel Tower ( ; ) is a wrought-iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel, whose company designed and built the tower from 1887 to 1889. Locally nicknamed "''La dame de fe ...
in Paris. Despite the youth's growing knowledge of physics, his father was concerned that he would not be able to provide for himself financially as an adult and brought him back home at the age of 19 after learning that he was overworking himself and going hungry. Afterwards, Tsiolkovsky passed the teacher's exam and went to work at a school in
Borovsk Borovsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Borovsky District of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Protva River just south from the oblast's border with Moscow Oblast. Population: 12,000 (1969 ...
near Moscow. He met and married his wife Varvara Sokolova during this time. Despite being stuck in
Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...
, a small town far from major learning centers, Tsiolkovsky managed to make scientific discoveries on his own. The first two decades of the 20th century were marred by personal tragedy. In 1902, Tsiolkovsky's son Ignaty committed suicide. In 1908, many of his accumulated papers were lost in a flood. In 1911, his daughter Lyubov was arrested for engaging in revolutionary activities.


Scientific achievements

Tsiolkovsky stated that he developed the theory of rocketry only as a supplement to philosophical research on the subject. He wrote more than 400 works including approximately 90 published pieces on space travel and related subjects. Among his works are designs for rockets with steering thrusters, multistage boosters,
space station A space station (or orbital station) is a spacecraft which remains orbital spaceflight, in orbit and human spaceflight, hosts humans for extended periods of time. It therefore is an artificial satellite featuring space habitat (facility), habitat ...
s,
airlock An airlock is a room or compartment which permits passage between environments of differing atmospheric pressure or composition, while minimizing the changing of pressure or composition between the differing environments. An airlock consist ...
s for exiting a spaceship into the vacuum of space, and closed-cycle biological systems to provide food and oxygen for space colonies. Tsiolkovsky's first scientific study dates back to 1880–1881. He wrote a paper called "Theory of Gases," in which he outlined the basis of the kinetic theory of gases, but after submitting it to the Russian Physico-Chemical Society (RPCS), he was informed that his discoveries had already been made 25 years earlier. Undaunted, he pressed ahead with his second work, "The Mechanics of the Animal Organism". It received favorable feedback, and Tsiolkovsky was made a member of the Society. Tsiolkovsky's main works after 1884 dealt with four major areas: the scientific rationale for the all-metal balloon (airship), streamlined airplanes and trains, hovercraft, and rockets for interplanetary travel. In 1892, he was transferred to a new teaching post in Kaluga where he continued to experiment. During this period, Tsiolkovsky began working on a problem that would occupy much of his time during the coming years: an attempt to build an all-metal dirigible that could be expanded or shrunk in size. Tsiolkovsky developed the first aerodynamics laboratory in Russia in his apartment. In 1897, he built the first Russian wind tunnel with an open test section and developed a method of experimentation using it. In 1900, with a grant from the Academy of Sciences, he made a survey using models of the simplest shapes and determined the drag coefficients of the sphere, flat plates, cylinders, cones, and other bodies. Tsiolkovsky's work in the field of aerodynamics was a source of ideas for Russian scientist Nikolay Zhukovsky, the father of modern aerodynamics and hydrodynamics. Tsiolkovsky described the airflow around bodies of different geometric shapes. Because the RPCS did not provide any financial support for this project, he was forced to pay for it largely out of his own pocket. Tsiolkovsky studied the mechanics of lighter-than-air powered flying machines. He first proposed the idea of an all-metal dirigible and built a model of it. The first printed work on the airship was "A Controllable Metallic Balloon" (1892), in which he gave the scientific and technical rationale for the design of an airship with a metal sheath. Tsiolkovsky was not supported on the airship project, and the author was refused a grant to build the model. An appeal to the General Aviation Staff of the Russian army also had no success. In 1892, he turned to the new and unexplored field of heavier-than-air aircraft. Tsiolkovsky's idea was to build an airplane with a metal frame. In the article "An Airplane or a Birdlike (Aircraft) Flying Machine" (1894) are descriptions and drawings of a monoplane, which in its appearance and aerodynamics anticipated the design of aircraft that would be constructed 15 to 18 years later. In an Aviation Airplane, the wings have a thick profile with a rounded front edge and the fuselage is faired. Work on the airplane, as well as on the airship, did not receive recognition from the official representatives of Russian science, and Tsiolkovsky's further research had neither monetary nor moral support. In 1914, he displayed his models of all-metal dirigibles at the Aeronautics Congress in St. Petersburg, but was met with a lukewarm response. Disappointed at this, Tsiolkovsky gave up on space and aeronautical problems with the onset of World War I and turned his attention to the problem of alleviating poverty. This occupied his time during the war years until the Russian Revolution in 1917. Starting in 1896, Tsiolkovsky systematically studied the theory of motion of rocket apparatus. Thoughts on the use of the rocket principle in the cosmos were expressed by him as early as 1883, and a rigorous theory of rocket propulsion was developed in 1896. Tsiolkovsky derived the formula, which he called the "formula of aviation", now known as
Tsiolkovsky rocket equation The classical rocket equation, or ideal rocket equation is a mathematical equation that describes the motion of vehicles that follow the basic principle of a rocket: a device that can apply acceleration to itself using thrust by expelling part o ...
, establishing the relationship between: * change in the rocket's speed (\Delta v) *
exhaust velocity Specific impulse (usually abbreviated ) is a measure of how efficiently a reaction mass engine, such as a rocket using propellant or a jet engine using fuel, generates thrust. In general, this is a ratio of the '' impulse'', i.e. change in moment ...
of the engine (v_e) * initial (m_0) and final (m_f) mass of the rocket :\Delta v = v_e \ln \frac After writing out this equation, Tsiolkovsky recorded the date: 10 May 1897. In the same year, the formula for the motion of a body of variable mass was published in the thesis of the Russian mathematician I. V. Meshchersky ("Dynamics of a Point of Variable Mass," I. V. Meshchersky, St. Petersburg, 1897). His most important work, published in May 1903, was ''Exploration of Outer Space by Means of Rocket Devices'' (). Tsiolkovsky calculated, using the Tsiolkovsky equation, that the horizontal speed required for a minimal
orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...
around the Earth is 8,000 m/s (5 miles per second) and that this could be achieved by means of a
multistage rocket A multistage rocket or step rocket is a launch vehicle that uses two or more rocket ''stages'', each of which contains its own engines and propellant. A ''tandem'' or ''serial'' stage is mounted on top of another stage; a ''parallel'' stage is ...
fueled by
liquid oxygen Liquid oxygen, sometimes abbreviated as LOX or LOXygen, is a clear cyan liquid form of dioxygen . It was used as the oxidizer in the first liquid-fueled rocket invented in 1926 by Robert H. Goddard, an application which is ongoing. Physical ...
and
liquid hydrogen Liquid hydrogen () is the liquid state of the element hydrogen. Hydrogen is found naturally in the molecule, molecular H2 form. To exist as a liquid, H2 must be cooled below its critical point (thermodynamics), critical point of 33 Kelvins, ...
. In the article "Exploration of Outer Space by Means of Rocket Devices", it was suggested for the first time that a rocket could perform space flight. In this article and its sequels (1911 and 1914), he developed some ideas of missiles and considered the use of liquid rocket engines. The outward appearance of Tsiolkovsky's spacecraft design, published in 1903, was a basis for modern spaceship design. The design had a hull divided into three main sections. The pilot and copilot would occupy the first section, while the second and third sections held the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen needed to fuel the spacecraft. The result of the first publication was not what Tsiolkovsky expected. No foreign scientists appreciated his research, which today is a major scientific discipline. In 1911, he published the second part of the work "Exploration of Outer Space by Means of Rocket Devices". Here Tsiolkovsky evaluated the work needed to overcome the force of gravity, determined the speed needed to propel the device into the
Solar System The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
("escape velocity"), and examined calculation of flight time. The publication of this article made a splash in the scientific world, and Tsiolkovsky found many friends among his fellow scientists. In 1926–1929, Tsiolkovsky solved the practical problem regarding the role played by rocket fuel in getting to escape velocity and leaving the Earth. He showed that the final speed of the rocket depends on the rate of gas flowing from it and on how the weight of the fuel relates to the weight of the empty rocket. Tsiolkovsky conceived a number of ideas that have been later used in rockets. They include: gas rudders (graphite) for controlling a rocket's flight and changing the trajectory of its center of mass, the use of components of the fuel to cool the outer shell of the spacecraft (during re-entry to Earth) and the walls of the combustion chamber and nozzle, a pump system for feeding the fuel components, the optimal descent trajectory of the spacecraft while returning from space, etc. In the field of rocket propellants, Tsiolkovsky studied a large number of different oxidizers and combustible fuels and recommended specific pairings: liquid oxygen and hydrogen, and oxygen with hydrocarbons. Tsiolkovsky did much fruitful work on the creation of the theory of jet aircraft, and invented his chart Gas Turbine Engine. In 1927, he published the theory and design of a train on an air cushion. He first proposed a "bottom of the retractable body" chassis. Space flight and the airship were the main problems to which he devoted his life. Tsiolkovsky had been developing the idea of the
hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...
since 1921, publishing a fundamental paper on it in 1927, entitled "Air Resistance and the Express Train" (). In 1929, Tsiolkovsky proposed the construction of multistage rockets in his book ''Space Rocket Trains'' (). Tsiolkovsky championed the idea of the diversity of life in the universe and was the first theorist and advocate of
human spaceflight Human spaceflight (also referred to as manned spaceflight or crewed spaceflight) is spaceflight with a crew or passengers aboard a spacecraft, often with the spacecraft being operated directly by the onboard human crew. Spacecraft can also be ...
. Hearing problems did not prevent the scientist from having a good understanding of music, as outlined in his work "The Origin of Music and Its Essence."


Later life

After the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
, the
Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...
jailed him in the Lubyanka prison for several weeks. Still, Tsiolkovsky supported the Bolshevik revolution, and eager to promote science and technology, the new Soviet government elected him a member of the Socialist Academy in 1918. He worked as a high school mathematics teacher until retiring in 1920 at the age of 63. In 1921, he received a lifetime pension. In his late lifetime, from the mid-1920s onwards, Tsiolkovsky was honored for his pioneering work, and the Soviet state provided financial backing for his research. He was initially popularized in Soviet Russia in 1931–1932 mainly by two writers: Yakov Perelman and Nikolai Rynin. Tsiolkovsky died in Kaluga on 19 September 1935 after undergoing an operation for
stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...
. He bequeathed his life's work to the Soviet state.


Legacy

Tsiolkovsky influenced later rocket scientists throughout Europe, including
Wernher von Braun Wernher Magnus Maximilian Freiherr von Braun ( ; ; 23 March 191216 June 1977) was a German–American aerospace engineer and space architect. He was a member of the Nazi Party and '' Allgemeine SS'', the leading figure in the development of ...
. Soviet search teams at
Peenemünde Peenemünde (, ) is a municipality on the Baltic Sea island of Usedom in the Vorpommern-Greifswald district in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern in north-eastern Germany. It is part of the ''Amt (country subdivision), Amt'' (collective municipality) of Used ...
found a German translation of a book by Tsiolkovsky of which "almost every page...was embellished by von Braun's comments and notes." Leading Soviet rocket-engine designer
Valentin Glushko Valentin Petrovich Glushko (; ; born 2 September 1908 – 10 January 1989) was a Soviet engineer who was program manager of the Soviet space program from 1974 until 1989. Glushko served as a main designer of rocket engines in the Soviet progra ...
and rocket designer
Sergey Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...
studied Tsiolkovsky's works as youths, and both sought to turn Tsiolkovsky's theories into reality. In particular, Korolev saw traveling to Mars as the more important priority, until in 1964 he decided to compete with the American
Project Apollo The Apollo program, also known as Project Apollo, was the United States human spaceflight program led by NASA, which Moon landing, landed the first humans on the Moon in 1969. Apollo followed Project Mercury that put the first Americans in sp ...
for the Moon. In 1989, Tsiolkovsky was inducted into the
International Air & Space Hall of Fame The International Air & Space Hall of Fame is an honor roll of people, groups, organizations, or things that have contributed significantly to the advancement of aerospace flight and technology, sponsored by the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Sin ...
at the
San Diego Air & Space Museum The San Diego Air & Space Museum (SDASM) is an aviation and space exploration museum in San Diego, California. It is located in Balboa Park (San Diego), Balboa Park and is housed in the former Ford Building (San Diego), Ford Building, which is li ...
.


Philosophical work

In 1928, Tsiolkovsky wrote a book called ''The Will of the Universe: The Unknown Intelligence'', in which he propounded a philosophy of
panpsychism In philosophy of mind, panpsychism () is the view that the mind or a mind-like aspect is a fundamental and ubiquitous feature of reality. It is also described as a theory that "the mind is a fundamental feature of the world which exists throug ...
. He believed humans would eventually colonize the Milky Way galaxy. His thought preceded the
Space Age The Space Age is a period encompassing the activities related to the space race, space exploration, space technology, and the cultural developments influenced by these events, beginning with the launch of Sputnik 1 on October 4, 1957, and co ...
by several decades, and some of what he foresaw in his imagination has come into being since his death. Tsiolkovsky did not believe in traditional religious cosmology, but instead, and to the chagrin of the Soviet authorities, he believed in a cosmic being that governed humans as "marionettes, mechanical puppets, machines, movie characters". He adhered to a mechanical view of the universe, which he believed would be controlled in the millennia to come through the power of human science and industry. In a short article in 1933, he explicitly formulated what was later to be known as the
Fermi paradox The Fermi paradox is the discrepancy between the lack of conclusive evidence of advanced extraterrestrial life and the apparently high likelihood of its existence. Those affirming the paradox generally conclude that if the conditions required ...
. He wrote a few works on ethics, espousing
negative utilitarianism Negative utilitarianism is a form of negative consequentialism that can be described as the view that people should minimize the total amount of aggregate suffering, or that they should minimize suffering and then, secondarily, maximize the tot ...
.


Tributes

* In 1964, The Monument to the Conquerors of Space was erected to celebrate the achievements of the Soviet people in space exploration. Located in Moscow, the monument is 107 meters (350 feet) tall and covered with titanium cladding. The main part of the monument is a giant obelisk topped by a rocket and resembling in shape the exhaust plume of the rocket. A statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the precursor of astronautics, is located in front of the obelisk. * The State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics in
Kaluga Kaluga (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kaluga Oblast, Russia. It stands on the Oka River southwest of Moscow. Its population was 337,058 at the 2021 census. Kaluga's most famous residen ...
now bears his name. His residence during the final months of his life (also in Kaluga) was converted into a memorial museum a year after his death. * The town Uglegorsk in
Amur Oblast Amur Oblast () is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast), located on the banks of the Amur and Zeya rivers in the Russian Far East. The oblast borders Heilongjiang province of the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the south. The administrati ...
was renamed '' Tsiolkovsky'' by
President of Russia The president of Russia, officially the president of the Russian Federation (), is the executive head of state of Russia. The president is the chair of the State Council (Russia), Federal State Council and the President of Russia#Commander-in-ch ...
Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...
in 2015. * The crater Tsiolkovskiy, the most prominent crater on the far side of the
Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
, was named after him.
Asteroid An asteroid is a minor planet—an object larger than a meteoroid that is neither a planet nor an identified comet—that orbits within the Solar System#Inner Solar System, inner Solar System or is co-orbital with Jupiter (Trojan asteroids). As ...
1590 Tsiolkovskaja was named after his wife. The Soviet Union obtained naming rights by operating
Luna 3 Luna 3, or E-2A No.1 (), was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme. It was the first mission to photograph the far side of the Moon and the third Soviet space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of the Moon. The hi ...
, the first space device to successfully transmit images of the side of the Moon not seen from Earth. * The Tsiolkovsky Memorial Apartment. A museum created in
Borovsk Borovsk () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Borovsky District of Kaluga Oblast, Russia, located on the Protva River just south from the oblast's border with Moscow Oblast. Population: 12,000 (1969 ...
where he lived and had started his career as a teacher.. * There is a statue of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky directly outside the Sir Thomas Brisbane Planetarium in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, Queensland, Australia. * There is a
Google Doodle Google Doodle is a special, temporary alteration of the logo on Google's homepages intended to commemorate holidays, events, achievements, and historical figures. The first Google Doodle honored the 1998 edition of the long-running annual Bu ...
honoring the famous pioneer. * There is a Tsiolkovsky exhibit on display at the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, California. *There is a 1 ruble 1987 coin commemorating the 130th anniversary of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's birth.


Awards and decorations dedicated to Tsiolkovsky

*The USSR Academy of Sciences issued the golden table-top Tsiolkovsky Medal "For outstanding work in the field of interplanetary communications". It was awarded to
Sergey Korolev Sergei Pavlovich Korolev (14 January 1966) was the lead Soviet Aerospace engineering, rocket engineer and spacecraft designer during the Space Race between the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1950s and 1960s. He invented the R-7 Sem ...
, V.P. Glushko, N.A. Pilyugin, M.V. Keldysh, K.D. Bushuev,
Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...
, German Titov, A.G. Nikolaev and many other cosmonauts. *The USSR Cosmonautics Federation issued its own Tsiolkovsky Medal *The Russian Federal Space Agency («Федеральное космическое агентство») instituted the *After the Federal Space Agency was reformed into the
Roscosmos The State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", commonly known simply as Roscosmos (), is a State corporation (Russia), state corporation of the Russian Federation responsible for space science, space flights, List of space agencies, c ...
State Corporation for Space Activities, it replaced the Tsiolkovsky badge with the


In popular culture

* Tsiolkovsky was consulted for the script to the 1936 Soviet science-fiction film, '' Kosmicheskiy reys''. * Science-fiction writer
Alexander Belyaev Alexander Romanovich Belyaev (, ; – 6 January 1942) was a Soviet Russian writer of science fiction. His works from the 1920s and 1930s made him a highly regarded figure in Russian science fiction, often referred to as "Russia's Jules Verne". ...
's novel ' features a city and space station named with Tsiolkovsky's initials. * The
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
-based
space elevator A space elevator, also referred to as a space bridge, star ladder, and orbital lift, is a proposed type of planet-to-space transportation system, often depicted in science fiction. The main component would be a cable (also called a tether) an ...
s in the Horus Heresy novel ''Mechanicum'' by Graham McNeill, set in the '' Warhammer 40k'' universe, are called "Tsiolkovsky Towers". Location of "Tsiolkovsky towers" noted in a story-related map, with several mentions in the book's body matter, including pp. 218, 368, 370, and others. * Episode eight of '' Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko'' is called "Tsiolkovsky's Prayer". * "Tsiolkovski" is the name given to an underground facility in a huge Farside crater on the Moon in Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter’s science-fiction ''Sunstorm: A Time Odyssey'' (2005). In the same book the Russian astrophysicist Mikhail Martynov, says: “we Russians have always been drawn to the sun. Tsiolkovski himself, our great space visionary, drew on sun worship in some of his thinking, so it’s said.” Martynov refers to him as „father of Russian astronautics“, and at one time speculates „ No wonder that Tsiolkovski’s vision of humanity’s future in space had been full of sunlight; indeed, he had dreamed that ultimately humankind in space would evolve into a closed, photosynthesizing metabolic unit, needing nothing but sunlight to live. Some philosophers even regarded the whole of the Russian space program as nothing but a modern version of a solar-worshiping ritual.“ (Chap. 42, pp.293-4.) * In a 2015 episode of ''
Murdoch Mysteries ''Murdoch Mysteries'' is a Canadian television drama series that premiered on Citytv on January 20, 2008, and currently airs on CBC. The series is based on characters from the ''Detective Murdoch'' novels by Maureen Jennings and stars Yannick ...
'', set in about 1905, James Pendrick works with Tsiolkovsky's daughter to build a suborbital rocket based on his ideas and be the first man in space; a second rocket built to the same design is adapted as a ballistic missile for purposes of extortion.


Works

* Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Citizens of the Universe” (1933)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Creatures of Higher Levels of Development than Humans” (1933)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Beings of Different Evolutionary Stages of the Universe” (1902)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Is There a God?” (1932)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Are There Spirits?” (1932)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Planets are Inhabited by Living Creatures” (1933)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“The Cosmic Philosophy” (1935)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Conditional Truth” (1933)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Evaluation of People” (1934)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Non-Resistance or Struggle” (1935)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“Living Beings in the Cosmos” (1895)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“The Animal of Space” (1929)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“The Will of the Universe” (1928)
(PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“On the Moon (На Луне)” (1893)
* Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices (Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами)” (1903)
(PDF), Russian. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices (Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами)” (1914)
(PDF), Russian. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices (Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами)” (1926)
(PDF), Russian. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“The Path to the Stars (Путь к звездам)” (1966)
Collection of Science Fiction Works, (PDF), English. * Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin E.
“The Call of the Cosmos (Зов Космоса)” (1960)
The monograph was first published by the U.S.S.R. Academy of Science Publishing House in 1954 in the second volume of Tsiolkovsky`s Collected Works, (PDF), English.


See also

*
Cosmonauts Alley Cosmonauts Alley () is a wide avenue in northern Moscow leading to the Russian Memorial Museum of Cosmonautics and the Monument to the Conquerors of Space. The pedestrian-only avenue connects the museum and monument to the VDNKh subway station.< ...
, a Russian monument park where Tsiolkovsky is honored *
History of the internal combustion engine Internal combustion engines date back to between the 10th and 13th centuries, when the first rocket engines were invented in China. Following the first commercial steam engine (a type of external combustion engine) by Thomas Savery in 1698, var ...
*
Robert Esnault-Pelterie Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Pelterie (8 November 1881 – 6 December 1957) was a French aircraft designer and spaceflight theorist. He is referred to as being one of the founders of modern rocketry and astronautics, along with the Russian K ...
, a Frenchman who independently arrived at Tsiolkovsky's rocket equation *
Russian cosmism Russian cosmism (Russian: Русский космизм), or simply cosmism, is a philosophical and cultural movement that emerged in late 19th- and early 20th-century Russia, integrating science, religion, and metaphysics into a unified worldvie ...
*
Russian philosophy Russian philosophy is a collective name for the philosophical heritage of Russian thinkers. Historiography In historiography, there is no consensus regarding the origins of Russian philosophy, its periodization and its cultural significance. Th ...
*
Soviet space program The Soviet space program () was the state space program of the Soviet Union, active from 1951 until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. Contrary to its competitors (NASA in the United States, the European Space Agency in Western Euro ...
*
Timeline of hydrogen technologies This is a timeline of the history of hydrogen technology. Timeline 16th century * c. 1520 – First recorded observation of hydrogen by Paracelsus through dissolution of metals (iron, zinc, and tin) in sulfuric acid. 17th century * 1625 – F ...


Citations


General and cited sources

*


Further reading

*
Review
* Georgiy Stepanovich Vetrov (1994). ''S. P. Korolyov and Space: First steps''. M. Nauka. . *


External links


Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. The collection of philosophical works. Biography, books, audiobooks, articles, photographs, video. Russian, English.

“The Theory of Cosmic Eras”
The text is an interview between Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky and Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, English.
Tsiolkovsky's house
The house museum of Tsiolkovsky

Historic images * ttp://www.russianspaceweb.com/tsiolkovsky.html Tsiolkovskyfrom Russianspaceweb.com * Excerpts from "The Aims of Astronautics", ''The Call of the Cosmos'' * , by Vladimir V. Lytkin, Tsiolkovskiy Museum, Kaluga.
Tsiolkovski: The Cosmic Scientist and His Cosmic Philosophy
by Daniel H. Shubin.
The Path to the Stars: Collection of Science Fiction Works

The Call of the Cosmos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin 1857 births 1935 deaths Cosmists Early rocketry Early spaceflight scientists People from Spassky District, Ryazan Oblast People from Spassky Uyezd (Ryazan Governorate) Philosophers of technology Recipients of the Order of Saint Stanislaus (Russian), 3rd class Recipients of the Order of St. Anna, 3rd class Rocket science pioneers Rocket scientists Russian aerospace engineers Russian atheists Russian inventors Russian people of Polish descent Russian people of Tatar descent People of Zaporozhian Cossack descent Russian science fiction writers Soviet aerospace engineers Scientists with disabilities Soviet people with disabilities Russian people with disabilities Russian scientists