Readers of the novel, written in 1863, by the power of imagination are transported by J. Verne to Paris in 1960 and describe in detail such things that no one would have guessed about the invention in the first half of the 19th century: cars move along the city streets (though in J. Verne they do not run on gasoline, but on hydrogen to maintain cleanliness environment), criminals are executed using the electric chair, and piles of documents are transmitted using a device very reminiscent of a modern fax machine.

Probably, these predictions seemed too fantastic to the publisher Etzel, or maybe he considered the novel too gloomy - one way or another, the manuscript was returned to the author and was eventually lost among his papers for a century and a half.

In 1863, the famous French writer Jules Verne published the first novel in the “Extraordinary Journeys” series, “Five Weeks in a Balloon,” in the Journal for Education and Leisure. The success of the novel inspired the writer; he decided to continue to work in this “key,” accompanying the romantic adventures of his heroes with increasingly skillful descriptions of incredible, but nevertheless carefully thought out scientific miracles born of his imagination. The cycle continued with novels:

• "Journeys to the Center of the Earth" (1864)
• "From the Earth to the Moon" (1865)
• "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1869)
• "The Mysterious Island" (1874), etc.

In total, Jules Verne wrote about 70 novels. In them he predicted many scientific discoveries and inventions in a variety of fields, including submarines, scuba gear, television and space flight. Jules Verne foresaw practical applications:

• Electric motors
• Electric heating devices
• Electric lamps
• Loudspeakers
• Transmitting images over a distance
• Electrical protection of buildings

Incredible similarities between fiction and reality

The remarkable works of the French writer had an important cognitive and educational effect for many generations of people. Thus, in one of the phrases expressed by the science fiction writer in the novel “Around the Moon” regarding the fall of a projectile on the lunar surface, there was an idea jet propulsion in emptiness, an idea later developed in the theories of K. E. Tsiolkovsky. It is not surprising that the founder of astronautics repeated more than once:

“The desire for space travel was instilled in me by Jules Verne. He awakened the brain in this direction.”

Space flight in details very close to reality was first described by J. Verne in the essays “From the Earth to the Moon” (1865) and “Around the Moon” (1870). This famous duology is an outstanding example of “seeing through time.” It was created 100 years before manned flight around the Moon was put into practice.

But what is most striking is the amazing similarity between the fictional flight (J. Verne’s flight of the Columbiad projectile) and the real one (meaning the lunar odyssey of the Apollo 8 spacecraft, which in 1968 made the first manned flight around the Moon ).

Both spacecraft - both literary and real - had a crew of three people. Both launched in December from the island of Florida, both entered lunar orbit (Apollo, however, made eight full orbits around the Moon, while its fantastic “predecessor” made only one).

Apollo, having flown around the Moon, using rocket engines returned to the opposite course. The crew of the Columbiana solved this problem in a similar way, using rocket power... signal flares. Thus, both ships, with the help of rocket engines, switched to a return trajectory, so that again in December they would splash down in the same area Pacific Ocean, and the distance between splashdown points is only 4 kilometers! The dimensions and mass of the two spacecraft are also almost the same: the height of the Columbiada projectile is 3.65 m, weight is 5,547 kg; the height of the Apollo capsule is 3.60 m, weight – 5,621 kg.

The great science fiction writer foresaw everything! Even the names of the heroes of the French writer - Barbicane, Nicole and Ardan - are consonant with the names of the American astronauts - Borman, Lovell and Anders...

No matter how fantastic all this sounds, this was Jules Verne, or rather his predictions.

"No matter what I write, no matter what I invent, everything
it will always be below actual capabilities
person. The time will come when science will outstrip imagination."
Jules Verne

Jules Verne is known not only as one of the founders of science fiction, but also as a writer who, like no one else, knew how to predict the future and the direction of technology development. Indeed, there are few authors who would do as much to popularize science and progress as the great Frenchman did. Today, in the 21st century, we can judge how often he was right.

HARNESSER OF "APOLLO"

One of Verne's boldest prophecies is space travel. Of course, the Frenchman was not the first author to send his heroes to celestial spheres. But before him, literary astronauts flew only miraculously. For example, in the middle of the 17th century, the English priest Francis Godwin wrote the utopia “Man on the Moon”, the hero of which went to the satellite with the help of fantastic birds. Except that Cyrano de Bergerac flew to the Moon not only on horseback, but also with the help of a primitive analogue of a rocket. However, writers did not think about the scientific basis for space flight until the 19th century.

The first who seriously undertook to send a man into space without the help of “devilishness” was precisely Jules Verne - he naturally relied on the power of the human mind. However, in the sixties of the last century, people could only dream of space exploration, and science had not yet seriously addressed this issue. The French writer had to fantasize solely at his own peril and risk. Verne decided that the best way to send a man into space would be a giant cannon, the projectile of which would serve as a passenger module. One of the main problems of the “lunar cannon” project is connected with the projectile.

Verne himself understood perfectly well that the astronauts would experience serious overloads at the moment of the shot. This can be seen from the fact that the heroes of the novel “From the Earth to the Moon” tried to protect themselves with the help of soft wall coverings and mattresses. Needless to say, all this in reality would not have saved a person who decided to repeat the feat of the members of the “Cannon Club”.

However, even if the travelers managed to ensure safety, two more practically insoluble problems would remain. Firstly, a gun capable of launching a projectile of such mass into space must be simply fantastic in length. Secondly, even today it is impossible to provide a cannon projectile with a starting speed that allows it to overcome the gravity of the Earth. Finally, the writer did not take into account air resistance - although against the background of other problems with the idea of ​​​​a space gun, this already seems like a trifle.

At the same time, it is impossible to overestimate the influence that Verne’s novels had on the origin and development of astronautics. The French writer predicted not only the journey to the Moon, but also some of its details - for example, the dimensions of the “passenger module”, the number of crew members and the approximate cost of the project. Verne became one of the main inspirations of the space age. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky said about him: “The desire for space travel was instilled in me by the famous dreamer J. Verne. He awakened the brain in this direction.” Ironically, it was Tsiolkovsky at the beginning of the 20th century who finally substantiated the incompatibility of Verne’s idea with manned astronautics.

TRANSPORT OF TOMORROW

In fact, Jules Verne most often anticipated not the emergence of new technologies, but the direction of development of existing ones. This can be most clearly demonstrated by the example of the famous Nautilus.

The first projects and even working prototypes of underwater vessels appeared long before Verne himself was born. Moreover, by the time he began work on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the first mechanical submarine, dubbed the Diver, had already been launched in France, and Verne was collecting information about it before he began writing the novel. But what was the “Diver”? A crew of 12 people could hardly fit on board the ship; it could dive no more than 10 meters and reach a speed of only 4 knots per hour underwater.

Against this background, the characteristics and capabilities of the Nautilus looked absolutely incredible. Comfortable as an ocean liner, and perfectly suited for long expeditions, the submarine had a diving depth of several kilometers and a top speed of 50 knots. Fantastic! And so far. As happened more than once with Verne, he overestimated the capabilities of not only contemporary but also future technologies. Even nuclear submarines of the 21st century are not able to compete in speed with the Nautilus and repeat the maneuvers that it performed playfully. Nor can they go without refueling and replenishing supplies for as long as the Nautilus could. And, of course, today's submarines can never be handled by one person - and Nemo continued to sail on the Nautilus even after he lost his entire crew. On the other hand, the ship did not have an air regeneration system; to replenish its supply, Captain Nemo needed to rise to the surface every five days.

THE SIZES OF A GUN CAPABLE OF LAUNCHING A PROJECTILE INTO SPACE MUST BE SIMPLY FANTASTIC.

Industrial space exploration Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky

Exploration of world spaces with jet instruments (1926)* (fragments)

Exploration of world spaces by jet instruments (1926) *

(fragments)

Preface

The desire for space travel was instilled in me by the famous dreamer J. Verne. He stimulated the brain to work in this direction. Desires appeared. Behind the desires, the activity of the mind arose. Of course, it would not have led to anything if it had not received help from science.

I have never claimed to have a complete solution to this issue. First inevitably come: thought, fantasy, fairy tale. Behind them comes scientific calculation. And in the end, execution crowns thought. My works about space travel belong to the middle phase of creativity. More than anyone else, I understand the abyss that separates an idea from its implementation, since during my life I not only thought and calculated, but also executed, also working with my hands. However, it is impossible not to be an idea: execution is preceded by thought, accurate calculation- fantasy.

This is what I wrote to M. Filippov, editor of Scientific Review, before sending him my notebook (published in 1903): “I have developed some aspects of the question of lifting into space using a jet device similar to a rocket. Mathematical conclusions, based on scientific data and tested many times, indicate the possibility of using such instruments to rise into celestial space and, perhaps, establish settlements outside the earth's atmosphere. Hundreds of years will probably pass before the thoughts I have expressed will find application, and people will use them to spread not only across the face of the earth, but throughout the face of the entire Universe.

Almost all the energy of the Sun is currently lost, useless for humanity, because the Earth receives 2 (more precisely 2.23) billion times less than the Sun emits.

What’s strange about the idea of ​​using this energy! What is strange in the idea of ​​mastering the boundless space surrounding the globe..."

Everyone knows how unimaginably large and limitless the Universe is.

Everyone knows that the entire solar system with hundreds of its planets is a point in the Milky Way. And the Milky Way itself is a point in relation to the ethereal island. The latter is a point in the world.

If people penetrate the solar system, manage it like a mistress in a house: will then the secrets of the universe be revealed? Not at all! Just as examining some pebble or shell will not reveal the secrets of the ocean... Even if humanity had captured another Sun, explored the entire Milky Way, these billions of Suns, these hundreds of billions of planets, then we would have said the same thing. And these billions are a point, and they would not expose all the secrets of the sky.

How long ago was the time when lifting into the air was considered a blasphemous attempt and was punishable by execution, when reasoning about the rotation of the Earth was punishable by burning. Are people now destined to fall into mistakes of the same kind!

Plan for the conquest of interplanetary space

Overall plan

We can achieve the conquest of the solar system with very affordable tactics. Let us first solve the easiest problem: to establish an ethereal settlement near the Earth as its satellite, at a distance of 1–2 thousand km from the surface, outside the atmosphere. At the same time, the relative reserve of explosive material is quite accessible, since it does not exceed 4-10 (compared to the weight of the rocket). If we use the preliminary speed obtained on the earth’s surface itself, then this reserve will turn out to be quite insignificant (more on this later).

Having settled here firmly and socially, having received a reliable and safe base, having become well accustomed to life in the ether (in the material void), we will be able to change our speed in an easier way, move away from the Earth and the Sun, and generally walk around wherever we like. The fact is that in the state of a satellite of the Earth and the Sun, we can use the smallest forces to increase, decrease and any change in our speed, and therefore our cosmic position. There is great abundance of energy all around in the form of the never-quenching, continuous and virgin rays of the Sun. Negative and especially positive (helium atoms) electrons can serve as a fulcrum or supporting material...

Development of the on-air industry in the broadest sense

The first terrestrial animals were born in water...

...To move to land, muscles were needed, and to move from air to emptiness, the development of industry, especially motor industry...<…>

...The emptiness and virgin sunlight kill. The antidote is: well-insulated multi-chamber dwellings, spacesuits and artificial selection of creatures. Oxygen, water, metals and other necessary substances are found in almost all stones. You just need to extract them. The goals of the industry on the air are, in general, the same as on Earth, only much broader, despite the fact that a person will not need clothes, furniture, or much else.

Work plan starting in the near future

Now we will talk about how you can begin the work of conquering space immediately, now. Usually they go from the known to the unknown, from a sewing needle to a sewing machine, from a knife to a meat grinder, from threshing flails to a threshing machine, from a stroller to a car, from a boat to a ship. So we are thinking of moving from an airplane to a jet device - to conquer the solar system. We have already said that a rocket, flying inevitably in the air at first, must have some features of an airplane. But we have already proven that wheels, propellers, a motor, the permeability of the room to gases, and the wings are burdensome are unsuitable. All this prevents him from achieving a speed greater than 200 m/sec, or 720 km/h. The aircraft will not be suitable for air transport purposes, but will gradually become suitable for space travel. Isn’t even now an airplane, flying at an altitude of 12 km, already covering 70–80% of the entire atmosphere and approaching the sphere of pure ether surrounding the Earth! Let's help him achieve more. These are the rough stages of development and transformation of airplane business to achieve higher goals.

1. A rocket plane is built with wings and ordinary controls. But the gasoline engine is replaced by an explosion pipe, into which explosives are pumped with a weak engine. There is no propeller. There is a supply of explosive materials and there remains a room for the pilot, covered with something transparent for protection from the head wind, since the speed of such a device is greater than that of an airplane. Due to the reactive action of the explosion, this device will roll on skids along the lubricated rails (due to the low speed, the wheels may remain). Then it will take off, reach maximum speed, lose all reserve explosives and the lightweight one will begin to glide like an ordinary or non-motorized airplane in order to safely descend to land.

The amount of explosives and the force of explosion must be gradually increased, as well as the maximum speed, range, and most importantly - the flight altitude. Due to the air permeability of the human space in an airplane, the altitude, of course, cannot be higher than the known record altitude. 5 km is enough. The purpose of these experiments is the ability to control an airplane (at a significant speed), an explosive pipe and planning.

2. The wings of subsequent aircraft must be gradually reduced, the engine power and speed increased. We will have to resort to obtaining preliminary, before explosion, speed using the means described earlier.

3. The body of future airplanes should be made impermeable to gases and filled with oxygen, with devices that absorb carbon dioxide, ammonia and other human waste products. The goal is to reach any rarefaction of air. The height can greatly exceed 12 km. Due to the high speed during descent, it can be done on the water for safety. The impenetrability of the hull will prevent the rocket from sinking.

4. The rudders I described are used, which work perfectly in emptiness and in very rarefied air, into which the rocket flies. A wingless airplane, twin or triple, inflated with oxygen, hermetically sealed, and gliding well, is launched. It requires high preliminary speed for lifting into the air and, therefore, improvement of take-off devices. The added speed will give him the opportunity to rise higher and higher. Centrifugal force may already manifest its effect and reduce the work of movement.

5. The speed reaches 8 km/sec, the centrifugal force completely destroys gravity and the rocket goes beyond the atmosphere for the first time. Having flown there as far as there is enough oxygen and food, it spirals back to Earth, braking itself with air and gliding without exploding.

6. After this, you can use a simple, non-double body. Flights beyond the atmosphere are repeated. Jet instruments are moving further and further away from the Earth's air envelope and remain in the ether longer and longer. Still, they return because they have a limited supply of food and oxygen.

7. Attempts are made to get rid of carbon dioxide and other human excretions with the help of selected small-growing plants, giving at the same time nutrients. They work a lot, a lot, and slowly, but still achieve success.

8. Ether spacesuits (clothes) are arranged for safe exit from the rocket into the air.

9. To obtain oxygen, food and purify rocket air, they come up with special rooms for plants. All this, folded, is carried by rockets into the air and there it is unfolded and connected. Man achieves great independence from the Earth, as he obtains his own means of living.

10. Vast settlements are being established around the Earth.

11. They use solar energy not only for food and convenience of life (comfort), but also for movement throughout the solar system.

12. They establish colonies in the asteroid belt and other places in the solar system, wherever small celestial bodies are found.

13. Industry is developing and colonies are multiplying unimaginably.

14. Individual (individual) and social (socialist) perfection is achieved.

15. The population of the solar system is becoming one hundred thousand million times larger than the current population of the earth. A limit is reached, after which settlement throughout the Milky Way is inevitable.

16. The sun begins to fade. The remaining population of the Solar System is moving away from it to other Suns, to their previously departed brothers.

“PANTHERS” WITH INFRARED DEVICES The topic of using infrared night vision devices on “Panther” tanks deserves a separate description. There is still no accurate information about how many tanks in total received such devices, and there is also no reliable data on

17.2.1. Research and description of the properties of DNA/RNA Anyone practical use nanoobjects should be preceded by a thorough study and description of their properties, as well as a study of the dependence of properties on composition, structure, etc. For example, a biomolecular description

16. Study of the radiation characteristics of the torch Burning temperature of the torch: where LРф.к. – length of the torch M; x – moisture content of fuel oil, kg/kg. Obtained when heating furnaces with gasified fuel oil. On furnaces heated with gasified fuel oil, obtained high values

Free space* (fragments) Definition of free space I will call free space a medium within the boundaries of which the forces of gravity either do not act at all on the observed bodies, or act very weakly in comparison with the gravity of the earth at its

Beyond the Earth* (fragments) The heroes of the science fiction story “Outside the Earth” are people of different nationalities. Tsiolkovsky gave them the names of great scientists (Newton, Galileo, Laplace, Helmholtz, Franklin). Their Russian colleague - Tsiolkovsky modestly called him Ivanov - invented a method

Exploration of world spaces with jet instruments (1911)* (fragments) Picture of flight Relative phenomena. Although it’s “oh how far away” from traveling into space, let’s assume that everything is ready: invented, implemented, tested, and we’ve already settled into the rocket and got ready

20. Study of the accuracy of mechanisms In the process of studying mechanisms, the following are analyzed: the causes of errors, the assumed (expected) values ​​of these errors, methods for monitoring errors and checking devices. All these questions belong to metrology, as an integral

2.10. Occupational safety requirements when working with mercury devices Question 193. In what rooms should work with mercury devices be carried out (filling with mercury, emptying vessels, assembly and disassembly, repairs)? Answer. Must be carried out in isolated rooms,

Caring for ignition devices Daily check by external inspection the condition of the breaker-distributor, spark plugs and low and high voltage wires. First and second Maintenance includes: – clean the ignition devices inside from dust and

The work of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky “Exploration of world spaces with jet instruments” begins with a significant confession of the author: “The desire for space travel was implanted in me by the famous dreamer J. Verne. He awakened the work of the brain in this direction. Desires appeared. Behind the desires arose the activity of the mind.” And a few lines below: “The basic ideas and love for the eternal striving there, towards the Sun, for liberation from the chains of gravity, have been embedded in me almost since childhood.”

The thought of man conquering outer space never left Tsiolkovsky all his life. He dreamed about this in early childhood, “even before books.” He thought about this in his early youth. A dreamy young man expresses his thoughts to those around him, but he is stopped as a person “saying indecent things.”

Then literature came to the rescue. In Vyatka, however, there was not so much of it, and the sixteen-year-old boy went to Moscow in 1873. He goes to study on his own. They stretched out heavy, hungry and so happy Days. It was possible from morning until late evening to read books in the library of the Rumyantsev Museum (now the V.I. Lenin Library), and at night to engage in chemical and physical experiments. That's right, I was hungry. Konstantin Eduardovich was living on bread and water in the full sense of the word. He spent the meager amount of money that his father could send him on books and experiments. There were only a few pennies a week left for food.

During the three years spent in Moscow, Tsiolkovsky became acquainted with the basics of many sciences. He quickly mastered physics and the beginnings of mathematics, took up higher algebra and analytical geometry, spherical trigonometry...

Tsiolkovsky admitted that he studied little systematically, and read only what could help him solve issues that he “considered important.” One of them is whether it is possible to use centrifugal force to rise beyond the atmosphere. All his life later, Tsiolkovsky saw in a dream the device he had invented then; he “climbed on it with the greatest charm.”

The thought of space did not leave him in Ryazan, where the Tsiolkovsky family moved in 1878: here Tsiolkovsky began to compile “Astronomical Drawings”, and in Borovsk, where he wrote the article “Free Space” (in Ryazan K. E. Tsiolkovsky passed as an external student exam for the teaching title, and in Borovsk he began his journey as a teacher, which lasted 36 years!).

"Free Space" (1883) is written in the form of a diary. The article has the author's note: "Youth work." In it, the young researcher came to the conclusion that “the only possible way movement in outer space is a method based on the action of the reaction of gaseous particles of a substance thrown away from a given body."

And along the way - between teaching and scientific research- he gives free rein to his imagination and creates fantastic works: “On the Moon” and “Dreams of the Earth and Sky and the Effects of Universal Gravity.” In "Dreams..." there are prophetic words that an artificial Earth satellite should be created for scientific purposes.

The scientist wrote about his fiction: “Inevitably, thought, fantasy, and fairy tale come first. Scientific calculation follows them.”

Tsiolkovsky began the scientific calculation of a flight into space on a rocket in 1896. He strives to find out the speeds that are necessary to free himself from “earthly gravity.”

An external impetus for in-depth calculations was provided by Tsiolkovsky’s brochure by the St. Petersburg inventor A.P. Fedorov " New principle flight, excluding the atmosphere as a supporting medium." The brochure, which has only 16 pages, contains, in particular, lines about a device based on the mechanical principle of reaction. Konstantin Eduardovich read it with great attention... Fedorov did not support his correct thought with any mathematical calculations Therefore, Tsiolkovsky wrote: “It (that is, the thought) seemed unclear to me (since no calculations were given). And in such cases, I start doing the calculations on my own - from the beginning... The brochure didn’t give me anything, but it still pushed me towards serious work.”

The research proceeded very intensively, and already on May 10, 1897, Tsiolkovsky derived his famous formula. It established the relationship between the speed of the rocket at any moment, the speed of gas flow from the nozzle, the mass of the rocket and the mass of explosives.

And already in 1898, he finally formalized his work “Exploration of World Spaces with Jet Instruments,” in which the possibility of achieving cosmic speeds was mathematically substantiated.

The first page of the book by K. E. Tsiolkovsky "Exploration of world spaces using reactive instruments." Kaluga, 1926. On this page is Tsiolkovsky’s autograph: “To dear Yuri Kondratyuk from the author”

The work of the Russian scientist (the first part) was published in the fifth issue of the journal “Scientific Review” for 1903. Twenty years have passed since the “youthful work” - “Free Space”!

“Exploration of world spaces using jet instruments” is the world’s first scientific work that theoretically substantiated the possibility of interplanetary flights using a rocket.

The earliest foreign publication on this topic appeared in France 10 years later, in 1913, in Germany - 20 years later...

Tsiolkovsky was the first to create the theory of jet propulsion, he deduced laws of fundamental importance, he created a harmonious system for the gradual conquest of space. The Russian scientist already then, in 1903, proposed using not a primitive powder rocket for space flight, but a liquid jet engine. This is how the inventor described it: “Let’s imagine such a projectile: a metal oblong chamber... The chamber has a large supply of substances that, when mixed, immediately form an explosive mass. These substances, exploding correctly and fairly evenly in a certain place, flow into in the form of hot gases through pipes expanding towards the end, such as a horn or wind musical instrument... At one narrow end of the pipe, explosives are mixed: condensed and flaming gases are obtained here. At its other extended end, they, having been greatly discharged and cooled from this, burst out through the bells with enormous relative speed. It is clear that such a projectile, like a rocket, will rise in height under certain conditions."

Already in this work, Tsiolkovsky, paving the way for humanity into space, outlines a series of structural elements rockets that have found their application in modern rocketry. Here he expressed many other brilliant ideas - about automatic control flight using a gyroscopic device, the possibility of using Sun rays for missile orientation, etc.

The work, as already mentioned, appeared in the Scientific Review, a physics and mathematics journal that published the works of such scientists as D. I. Mendeleev, G. Helmholtz, C. Darwin, R. Koch, L. Pasteur , V. Bekhterev...

Tsiolkovsky understood perfectly well that his new great work would meet with resistance. Later he wrote: “I came up with a dark and modest title for it: “Exploration of world spaces using jet instruments.” Despite this, editor M. Filippov complained to me that the article was allowed with great difficulty and after much red tape.” Indeed, the red tape was long. The editor turned to Mendeleev for support. Dmitry Ivanovich said: “...I will give you advice not as a chemist, but as a diplomat. Reduce all your arguments in defense of Tsiolkovsky to pyrotechnics. Prove to them that, since we are talking about rockets, this is very important for the ceremonial holidays in honor of his name day Sovereign and “highest persons.” Let them then prohibit you from publishing the article!”

The editor took the advice and permission was granted. The article was published. But it must be said that in the Scientific Review the work was published with errors and distortions. Tsiolkovsky wrote an inscription on one of the copies: “The manuscript was not returned. It was published terribly. There was no proofreading. The formulas and numbers were distorted and lost their meaning. But still, I am grateful to Filippov, for he alone decided to publish my work.” In the same copy, Konstantin Eduardovich corrected errors and typos, and also made a number of changes to the text...

At the end of his article (its size is two printed pages), the author gave a summary outline of what will be proposed in the next issue of Scientific Review. However, the next one did not follow. On June 12, 1903, the editor died tragically. The police seized all the documents, all the manuscripts that remained after his death; The second part of Tsiolkovsky’s work also disappeared without a trace.

There were no responses either at home or abroad to this outstanding creation. No...

Eight long years have passed. The discoverer of the path to space taught physics in Kaluga, was known as an eccentric among the townspeople, and continued research on balloons and airships. And suddenly - a letter from the editors of "Bulletin of Aeronautics". His editor B.N. Vorobyov asked what topic Tsiolkovsky would like to write for the magazine? There was an immediate response from Kaluga: “I have developed some aspects of the question of lifting into space using a jet device similar to a rocket, mathematical conclusions based on scientific data and tested many times indicate the possibility of lifting into heavenly space with the help of such devices, and maybe - to establish settlements outside the earth's atmosphere..."

In short, the scientist offered the Vestnik the second part of his work. The proposal was accepted, and starting from the 19th issue of 1911, Tsiolkovsky’s work “Investigation of World Spaces by Jet Instruments” began to be published (with a continuation) in the “Bulletin of Aeronautics”. True, the editors accompanied the publication with a very cautious preface: “Below we present interesting work one of the major aeronautics theorists in Russia, K. E. Tsiolkovsky, devoted to the issue of jet instruments and flight in an atmosphereless environment. The author himself below points out the grandeur of the idea he is developing, which is not only far from being realized, but has not yet been embodied even in more or less concrete forms. The mathematical calculations on which the author bases his further conclusions provide a clear picture of the theoretical feasibility of the idea. But the difficulties, which are inevitable and enormous in the unusual and unknown environment into which the author seeks to penetrate in his research, allow us only to mentally follow the author’s reasoning.”

The article was noticed. She stirred the imagination. She called “to stand on the soil of an asteroid, lift a stone from the Moon, set up moving stations in ethereal space, form living rings around the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, observe Mars at a distance of several tens of miles, go down to its satellites or even to its very surface! "

The thoughts are truly daring. At this time, man made only the first uncertain, very timid attempts to break away from the surface of the Earth.

In 1903, W. Wright made his first airplane flight. It lasted only 59 seconds... Records grew slowly and were measured in meters and minutes at first. In 1906, the Romanian T. Vuya flew 12 meters at a height of a meter, the Dane Elehammer increased the distance to 14 meters. And how the world perceived L. Blerno’s famous flight across the English Channel as a grandiose victory. The flight of his plane continued - at an altitude of 50 meters - for thirty-three minutes.

And Tsiolkovsky invited us to take a walk on the Moon, fly around Mars... And not in a fantasy story, but in a strictly scientific work.

The first, the very first person who highly appreciated the “Exploration of world spaces using reactive instruments” was industrial engineer V. Ryumin. Already in the thirty-sixth issue of the magazine “Nature and People” for 1912, his article “On a rocket to world space” was published. Soon he appeared with another article - “Jet engines (fantasy and reality”) - this time in the magazine “Electricity” (1913, No. 1). Ryumin wrote about Tsiolkovsky: “This is a genius who opens the path to the stars for future generations. We must shout about him! His ideas must be made available to the widest possible readership.”

Ya. I. Perelman also devoted a lot of effort and energy to promoting the deep ideas of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, who sought to bring them to the attention of broad sections of the Russian population. He gives presentations and writes articles in newspapers and magazines. K. E. Tsiolkovsky greeted with joy and gratitude his article “Are interplanetary travel possible?”, published in the newspaper " Modern word"(1913). The scientist then wrote to Perelman: “You raised (with V.V. Ryumin) a question dear to me, and I don’t know how to thank you. As a result, I took up the rocket again and did something new."

But the most important thing in the propaganda of Tsiolkovsky’s ideas was, perhaps, Ya. I. Perelman’s book “Interplanetary Travel,” published in 1915. Every line of this popular work is imbued with faith in the power of the human mind, conviction in the correctness of the discovery of our great scientist. Already in the preface we read: “There was a time when it was recognized as impossible to cross the ocean. The current universal belief in the inaccessibility of the celestial bodies is justified, in essence, no better than the belief of our ancestors in the inaccessibility of the antipodes. The correct path to solving the problem of atmospheric flight and interplanetary travel is already planned - to the honor of Russian science! - by the works of our scientist, the practical solution of this grandiose task can be realized in the near future."

This work was the world's first serious and at the same time generally understandable book about interplanetary flights and space rockets. Later, Tsiolkovsky himself wrote that his ideas became known to the general reader “only from the time when Ya. I. Perelman, who published his popular book “Interplanetary Travel” in 1915, took up their propaganda.

This book went through a great many editions and had a huge influence on our youth with its focus on the future.

The idea of ​​jet propulsion also spread abroad. Tsiolkovsky wrote with bitterness that “in France a prominent and strong man, who stated that he had created a rocket before."

All his life, Konstantin Eduardovich worked selflessly, he strove to do something useful for people, although personally it “did not give him bread or strength,” but he hoped that his work “may be soon, or maybe in the distant future, They will give the society mountains of bread and an abyss of power." Tsiolkovsky is unselfish, but he does not want to give up his primacy, his priority to anyone.

The “prominent and strong man” mentioned by Tsiolkovsky was the engineer Esnault-Peltry, who published in 1913 his article “Considerations on the results of limitless reduction in the weight of engines.” It outlined some formulas of rocket dynamics obtained earlier by a Russian scientist. But his last name was not even mentioned! And Esnault-Peltry could not have been unaware of Tsiolkovsky’s discoveries. He visited Russia in 1912 just at a time when Russian newspapers and magazines were publishing a lot of material about K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s “Explorations of World Spaces with Jet Instruments.”

Tsiolkovsky, in order to answer the French engineer, decided to publish his work in full and with additions. But there are no funds; to collect them, he turned to the public. On the covers of brochures published by Tsiolkovsky in 1914-1915, one could read the following announcements: “A complete edition of “Exploration of World Spaces by Reactive Instruments” is expected. Price 1 ruble. Those wishing to have this publication, please notify me in advance.” 20-30 people responded... And Tsiolkovsky, at his own expense, was able to publish in a thin brochure only an addition to parts I and II of his work. The brochure came out with the indication: "Published by the author." Here are several excerpts from the reviews of Ryumin, Vorobyov, Perelman, five rocket theorems are formulated and Esnault-Peltry's answer is given.

"...Published by the author." Before the revolution, the fate of a genius was tragic, doomed to a miserable existence in the position of a provincial teacher, forced to develop his ideas in the most difficult conditions, almost in poverty, and at the same time be known as an “eccentric dreamer.” He received no help or support from the government. Only when Soviet power his works received recognition and support.

Already on August 26, 1918, the Socialist Academy elected him as its corresponding member. On June 5, 1919, the Russian Society of Lovers of World Studies elects him as an honorary member. His brochures began to be published. The magazine "Nature and People" begins to publish fantastic story“Outside the Earth”, and in Kaluga it is published as a separate book. And finally, Tsiolkovsky was given an academic ration, and this was followed by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars, signed by V.I. Lenin, awarding the scientist a lifelong pension... The ordeal was over. May with new strength work.

The ranks of enthusiastic supporters of interplanetary communications are growing in the country, all kinds of circles, societies, and sections are emerging. Soviet academician D. A. Grave spoke in 1925 with an “Address to circles for the exploration and conquest of world space.” He wrote: “The jet devices or interplanetary vehicles planned by the Russian scientist K. E. Tsiolkovsky have already been fully developed... and are a reality of tomorrow.” And in the early thirties, the legendary GIRD (Jet Propulsion Study Group) arose. The Girdovites adopted Tsiolkovsky’s theory, using his calculations, ideas, and formulas, and began creating research rockets using liquid fuel.

Work on rocket technology also appeared abroad. R. Goddard (USA) published in 1920 the brochure “The Method of Achieving Extreme Heights.” With his research, he repeated only a small part of what the Russian scientist had done - he derived the basic equation of rocket motion, identical to the one that now bears the name of Tsiolkovsky. Began American professor from powder rockets and only later, having become acquainted with the works of Konstantin Eduardovich, he conducted experiments with liquid rockets.

In 1923, the German scientist G. Oberth published his book “Rocket to the Planets,” dedicated to the theory and design of rockets...

Soon, Izvestia published a small article under the heading: “Is it really not a utopia?” Speaking about the works of foreign scientists, the author “forgot” to mention the discoverer of the path to space.

To remind of his priority, K. E. Tsiolkovsky decided to release as a separate brochure, without changes, the first part of his work, published 20 years ago.

It was very, very difficult to publish a brochure in 1923. But she still came out. How this happened was discovered relatively recently by the author of the biography of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, M. S. Arlazorov, who discovered many new facts about the biography of the remarkable scientist.

Countryman of Konstantin Eduardovich, then a young researcher A.L. Chizhevsky wrote on German preface. Tsiolkovsky himself added a few words to it (in Russian): “The matter is heating up, and I lit this fire.” But where to print, how to get paper? Together with Chizhevsky, Tsiolkovsky went to the provincial government for help.

The scientist responded to the request:

We can publish it! But there is nothing to print on. Get out the paper!

How to get it?

Go to the Kondrovo paper mill and give lectures on scientific topics to the workers. They will help.

But an old, sick scientist cannot travel forty kilometers in a sleigh in the cold. And then Chizhevsky went to Kondrovo. The workers listened to his lectures. And they helped. When Chizhevsky returned to Kaluga, precious paper lay in the sledges.

And Tsiolkovsky’s book was published under the title “Rocket into Outer Space.” It was printed at the end of 1923 on the title page of 1924. Its circulation is one thousand copies. So, finally, Tsiolkovsky’s work “Investigation of World Spaces with Reactive Instruments” saw the light of day as a separate publication.

Chizhevsky took most of the circulation to Moscow, from where the book was sent to approximately 400 institutions dealing with problems of aviation and aerodynamics.

Tsiolkovsky sent ten copies each to Goddard and Oberth. Oberth, in a personal letter to Tsiolkovsky (the letter was written in Russian on a typewriter), recognized the undoubted primacy of Konstantin Eduardovich.

Two years later, the full edition of “Exploration of World Spaces by Reactive Instruments” was finally published. It has the subtitle: "reissue of works of 1903 and 1911 with some changes and additions." Also included is an excerpt from Dreams of Earth and Sky.

In 1934, “Selected Works of Tsiolkovsky” was published. The second book (edited by F.A. Zander) includes “Exploration of world spaces using jet instruments.” After this, the work of the pioneer of the path to space was published in our country many times. A collection of works has also been published in five volumes. The second volume (1954) included works on jet aircraft. In addition, “The Study of World Spaces with Reactive Instruments” is included in the “Selected Works” published in the “Classics of Science” series (1962).

According to the All-Union Book Chamber of Labor, the scientist was published 87 times during the years of Soviet power with a circulation of 1.2 million copies. They have been translated into many languages ​​around the world.

Shortly before his death, K. E. Tsiolkovsky wrote that his dream could only come true after the revolution. “I felt the love of the masses,” he noted, “and this gave me the strength to continue my work, already being sick... I pass on all my works on aviation, rocket navigation and interplanetary communications to the Bolshevik Party and the Soviet government - the true leaders of human culture. I am sure that that they will successfully complete my labors."

The ideas of the great scientist came to life. Tsiolkovsky himself lived to see the day when the first rockets rushed into the sky in our country. Since then, the assault on space with rockets began, and the scientist’s dream began to come true. It was Tsiolkovsky who was the first in the world to substantiate the possibility of space flights using a jet aircraft - a rocket.

It was with the help of a rocket that the first artificial Earth satellite was launched on October 4, 1957 - on this day the space age of mankind began. The second date is no less memorable - April 12, 1961: the Vostok spaceship rushed into space with Yuri Gagarin on board. In the years since that legendary flight, astronautics has stepped far forward and won many glorious victories.

Manned spaceships - single and multi-seat - one after another were sent into the vastness of the Universe, man went into outer space, manned stations were created in orbit, a transition was made from ship to ship through outer space... At the same time, the assault on the Moon was underway. At first, unmanned reconnaissance machines - automatic machines - were sent to it, and then a person stepped onto the surface of our natural satellite. More distant targets are being systematically studied - the planets of the solar system: Venus, Mars... There are new flights, new discoveries and achievements ahead. But no matter how far humanity goes to the stars, it will always remember the genius who showed the way into space - Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.

Academician S.P. Korolev said: “Time sometimes inexorably erases the images of the past, but the ideas and works of Konstantin Eduardovich will increasingly attract attention with the further development of rocket technology. Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was a man who lived far ahead of his century, as a true and great scientist should live."

With optimism and great faith in the future, Tsiolkovsky asserted: “Humanity will not remain on Earth forever, but in pursuit of light and space, it will first timidly penetrate beyond the atmosphere, and then conquer the entire circumsolar space.”

The conquest of space is progressing by leaps and bounds, and it began with a small article of two printed pages...

What to read

Tsiolkovsky K. E. Collection. op. In 5 volumes. Jet aircraft. M., 1954, vol. 2.

Tsiolkovsky K. E. Selected. tr. M., 1962.

Arlazorov M. Tsiolkovsky. M, 1967.

Vorobyov B. Tsiolkovsky. M., 1940.

Ahead of its century. Sat. M., 1970.

Zotov V. At the origins of the space era. Kaluga, 1962.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky - his life and work on rocketry. M., 1960.

Kosmodemyansky A. Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (1857-1975). M., 1976.

Nagaev G. Pioneers of the Universe. M., 1973.

Ryabchikov E. Star Trek. M., 1976.