Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky Scientific Biography

"The blue distance, the mysterious Heavens, the example of birds and insects flying everywhere, - are always beckoning Humanity to rise into the air." (Tsiolkovsky-The Successes of air baloons in the XIX cent. Kaluga,1901, p.1).

This part of the exposition is devoted to Tsiolkovsky's scientific biography, inlcuding his ideas in different branches of science, philosophy & technique.


- Tsiolkovsky & Space Exploration. Tsiolkovsky was a truly great thinker. His visions about the future of humanity in space were magnificent. He dreamed about space flight since he was very young. Tsiolkovsky was certain that the future of human life will be in free space, so he deceded that we must study the cosmos. Later, he proved mathematically the possibility of space flight, and wrote and published a variety of works about space travel. These included the design and construction of space rockets, engines, multi-stage boosters, life in space, and more.

His works include:



- "Astronomical Drawings" (1879). The earliest manuscript of Tsiolkovsky. He drew the Solar System, the distances between the planets, their satellites, etc.


- "Free Space" (1883). This manuscript of Tsiolkovsky was first published in 1956. In this work, he described the life and ways of motion in free space, zero gravity, all done without the benefit on any mathematical calculations. It was in this paper that Tsiolkovsky drew the primitive design of a true Space Craft, which moved in outer space with the help of reactive forces.


- "Tsiolkovsky Equation". He created his calculations about space flight theory on May 10, 1897. The first publication of the results was in the article "Exploration of the Universe with Reaction Machines", in the monthly magazine "The Science Review" ,# 5 (St.Petersburg, 1903). It was the first publication in the world on this subject and demonstrated that a rocket could fly faster than its exhaust and acheive escape velocity. Here the equation is shown in a circular Earth orbiting space station design that would provide artificial gravity.


- "Space Rocket Model". This is an artist design of the Tsiolkovsky space rocket. This model was made from the main ideas of Tsiolkovsky about rocket building, but he never actually built any rockets, engines, etc., by himself. This three level rocket had a control room with windows, decompression chamber and couches at the top, oxygen tanks and water filled "bathtubs" in the middle (to alleviate the G-loads of launch and re-entry) and pumps and machinery on the third level. Below that were the liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen tanks and steering rudders through the exhaust at the bottom.

Tsiolkovsky wrote of this design in 1903 "...imagine the following configuration: a metal elongated chamber (having forms of least resistance), provided with its own light, oxygen, with absorbers of carbon dioxide, noxious effluvia and other animal excretions, intended not only for the maintenance of various physical devices, but also to provide life support to the men controlling the chamber... The chamber contains a large supply of materials which, when combined, immediately form an explosive mass."

- "Plan of Space Exploration". This was published in 1926. It consists of 16 Points, from the very begining of space conquest, until the far future, including interstellar travel.

1) Creation of rocket airplanes with wings.
2) Progressively incresing the speed and altitude of these airplanes.
3) Production of real rockets-without wings.
4) Ability to land on the surface of the sea.
5) Reaching excape velocity (about 8 Km/second), and the first flight into Earth orbit.
6) Lengthening rocket flight times in space.
7) Experimental use of plants to make an artificial atmosphere in spacships.
8) Using pressurized space suits for activity outside of spaceships.
9) Making orbiting greenhouses for plants.
10) Constructing large orbital habitats around the Earth.
11) Using solar radiation to grow food, to heat space quarters, and for transport throughout the Solar System.
12) Colonization of the asteroid belt.
13) Colonization of the entire Solar System and beyond.
14) Acheivement of individual and social perfection.
15) Overcrowding of the Solar System and the colonization of the Milky Way (the Galaxy).
16) The Sun begins to die and the people remaining in the Solar System's population go to other suns.


- "The Space Rocket Trains". (1929). This publication of Tsiolkovsky was about his original idea of a multi-stage rocket, which consisted of several separate rockets, one on top of another. Tsiolkovsky proved that only such a type of rocket would be able to reach escape velocity and fly to Earth orbit.


- "Album of Space Travels". (1932). The drawings from this manuscript of Tsiolkovsky show us his brilliant ideas about life in space, including zero gravity, air pressure locking, space habitats, rocket guidance, etc.

This drawing shows a space greenhouse (with weightless cosmonauts) for growing food, producing oxygen, and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

 

 

 

 

 

Tsiolkovsky & Air Transport

This part of exposition about Tsiolkovsky'sworks on the design of full-metal dirigibles. He wrote a variety of works on this subject, and built several models of dirigibles. Aviation was another field of his interests. He made various research in this area, using a wind tunnel of his oun construction. He considered aviation research and related activities to be the begining of space research.

- "Tsiolkovsky Dirigible". This model was made by Tsiolkovsky to show the main principals of his dirigible design.


- "Tsiolkovsky Airplane". (1894). Design of an all metal airplane, made by Tsiolkovsky. This idea was published in 1894 in "Airplane or The Bird-Like (aviational) flying machine". It flew in 1915.


- "Air-Dynamic Tube" (model). This wind tunnel, the first in Russia, was built by Tsiolkovsky in 1897, to study the problems of aerodynamics. It was designed and created to study the best air-dynamics shape for his dirigables and airplanes.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

- "The New Airplane". Model. Tsiolkovsky's project of 1929, of a huge, intercontinental, multi engine, all metal airplane. This was conceived as a step in the development from airplanes to space rockets.


- "Stratoplan". Model. Tsiolkovsky's project of 1932, of a high altitude, reactive statoplane, the "father of the rocket", as the step in the development from airplanes to space rockets.



Tsiolkovsky's Cosmic Philosophy.


This was the very begining of Tsiolkovsky's research into space flight problems and was the basis for it. His main work of this subject was "Ethics or the Natural Foundations of Morality" (1902-1918). In 1932 Tsiolkovsky wrote "The Cosmic Philosophy" - the summury of his philosophical ideas. His main idea was to achieve happiness not only for humanity, but also for all the living beings in the Cosmos, for all the Universe. According to Tsiolkovsky's Cosmic Philosophy, "happiness" is the absence of all kind of suffering in all the Universe, for all times, as well as the absence of all of the processes for destroying goodness. How shall we start this evolution to the "Universial Happiness"? The main task is to study the main laws which rule the Universe. To do so, we must study the Universe, and therefore we must learn how to live in outer space. To begin that long period of our evolution, we will have to design large manned space rockets. So, the first space flight will be the beginning of the new era of space exploration, the beginning of Space Culture in human history. It will be the beginning of our history itself.

Also see The Life and Works of Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky section for more information and photographs of Tsiolkovsky and his works.

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