3.3 Four Founders of Modern Rocketry and Astronautics
109
air balloon building, life in free space, aerodynamics and philosophy and building
the centrifuge to investigate the influence of gravity, he married a local preacher’s
daughter, and they had seven children. Tenaciously teaching himself in a closed environment for a long time, he was used to independently think problems and question
everything. Due to the lack of more and updated references and of understanding the
situation of the latest scientific and technological development, he often acquired new
knowledge through his creative experiments. In 1880, Tsiolkovsky presented a paper
on the kinetic properties of gases to the Society of Physics and Chemistry in Saint
Petersburg. Scientists of the Society were surprised when they reviewed the paper:
his studying methods, mathematical derivation and calculation results were almost
perfect, and he claimed that the problem was resolved after working on it for a long
time. In fact, someone else had already published similar findings as early as 25 years
ago. The scientists guessed that the young man might have few books for reference
and the lack of contacting with the outside world, and would not know the research
work done by predecessors. Therefore, a carefully worded reply was written by the
Russian famous chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (Dm´itpii Iv´ anoviq Mendel´ eev,
1834−1907) to Tsiolkovsky, in which Mendeleev expressed his appreciation for
Tsiolkovsky’s research work and achievements, explained that the problem had been
resolved and encouraged him to make further research results. On the basis of the
experiments with gases, Tsiolkovsky wrote a manuscript titled “Free Space” in 1883,
but it had not been published until 1956. The manuscript contained a sketch considered to one of his earliest depiction of a spaceship. A simple drowning shows what
space-suited travelers in weightlessness look like; a cannon-like machine propels the
spaceship through vacuum; a primitive gyroscope controls the orientation of the ship
in space. He made the first attempt in his decades-long effort to expound the meaning
of the cosmos for humanity and the effects that vacuum and weightlessness would
have on future space travelers.
In 1892, as a result of promotion, Tsiolkovsky moved to the provincial capital of
Kaluga, where he worked as a mathematics teacher at a high school until retiring in
1920. He would remain in Kaluga until his death in 1935, and it was there that he
created the monumental body of work, making him become the most fruitful space
scientist and a godfather of rocketry and space exploration. Tsiolkovsky started with
the studies on aircraft and science fiction writing and published two science fictions,
On the Moon and Dream of the Earth and Sky respectively in 1893 and 1895, in which
his thoughts about space flight were developed and shown further. Since around 1896,
Tsiolkovsky studied extensively the theory of jet propulsion. By systematically and
intensively studying the theory of space flight, he derived in detail the rocket motion
equation, the famous Tsiolkovsky Formula named after him, which provides the
mathematical relationship between the changing mass of a rocket as it burns through
fuel, the velocity of the exhaust gases, and the final speed of the rocket. It is considered
a foundation of astronautics.
In 1898, Tsiolkovsky completed a manuscript of the classic space treatise, titled
“The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices”, which was
not published in the magazine Scientific Review until 1903. It is arguably the first
academic treatise on the rocketry. He calculated that the speed required to orbit the
109
air balloon building, life in free space, aerodynamics and philosophy and building
the centrifuge to investigate the influence of gravity, he married a local preacher’s
daughter, and they had seven children. Tenaciously teaching himself in a closed environment for a long time, he was used to independently think problems and question
everything. Due to the lack of more and updated references and of understanding the
situation of the latest scientific and technological development, he often acquired new
knowledge through his creative experiments. In 1880, Tsiolkovsky presented a paper
on the kinetic properties of gases to the Society of Physics and Chemistry in Saint
Petersburg. Scientists of the Society were surprised when they reviewed the paper:
his studying methods, mathematical derivation and calculation results were almost
perfect, and he claimed that the problem was resolved after working on it for a long
time. In fact, someone else had already published similar findings as early as 25 years
ago. The scientists guessed that the young man might have few books for reference
and the lack of contacting with the outside world, and would not know the research
work done by predecessors. Therefore, a carefully worded reply was written by the
Russian famous chemist Dmitri Mendeleev (Dm´itpii Iv´ anoviq Mendel´ eev,
1834−1907) to Tsiolkovsky, in which Mendeleev expressed his appreciation for
Tsiolkovsky’s research work and achievements, explained that the problem had been
resolved and encouraged him to make further research results. On the basis of the
experiments with gases, Tsiolkovsky wrote a manuscript titled “Free Space” in 1883,
but it had not been published until 1956. The manuscript contained a sketch considered to one of his earliest depiction of a spaceship. A simple drowning shows what
space-suited travelers in weightlessness look like; a cannon-like machine propels the
spaceship through vacuum; a primitive gyroscope controls the orientation of the ship
in space. He made the first attempt in his decades-long effort to expound the meaning
of the cosmos for humanity and the effects that vacuum and weightlessness would
have on future space travelers.
In 1892, as a result of promotion, Tsiolkovsky moved to the provincial capital of
Kaluga, where he worked as a mathematics teacher at a high school until retiring in
1920. He would remain in Kaluga until his death in 1935, and it was there that he
created the monumental body of work, making him become the most fruitful space
scientist and a godfather of rocketry and space exploration. Tsiolkovsky started with
the studies on aircraft and science fiction writing and published two science fictions,
On the Moon and Dream of the Earth and Sky respectively in 1893 and 1895, in which
his thoughts about space flight were developed and shown further. Since around 1896,
Tsiolkovsky studied extensively the theory of jet propulsion. By systematically and
intensively studying the theory of space flight, he derived in detail the rocket motion
equation, the famous Tsiolkovsky Formula named after him, which provides the
mathematical relationship between the changing mass of a rocket as it burns through
fuel, the velocity of the exhaust gases, and the final speed of the rocket. It is considered
a foundation of astronautics.
In 1898, Tsiolkovsky completed a manuscript of the classic space treatise, titled
“The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices”, which was
not published in the magazine Scientific Review until 1903. It is arguably the first
academic treatise on the rocketry. He calculated that the speed required to orbit the