Russian Soviet scientist and inventor in the field of aerodynamics, rocket dynamics, airplane and airship theory, founder of modern cosmonautics Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was born on September 17 (September 5, old style) 1857 in the village of Izhevskoye, Ryazan province, in the family of a forester.

Since 1868, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky lived with his parents in Vyatka (now Kirov), where he studied at the gymnasium.

After suffering from scarlet fever in childhood, he almost completely lost his hearing. Deafness did not allow him to continue his studies at the gymnasium, and from the age of 14 Tsiolkovsky studied independently.

From 1873 to 1876 he lived in Moscow and studied in the library of the Rumyantsev Museum (now the Russian State Library), studying chemistry and physical and mathematical sciences.

In 1876 he returned to Vyatka and.

In the fall of 1879, Tsiolkovsky passed exams as an external student at the Ryazan gymnasium for the title of teacher of district schools.

In 1880, he was appointed teacher of arithmetic and geometry at the Borovsk district school in the Kaluga province. For 12 years, Tsiolkovsky lived and worked in Borovsk. In 1892, he was transferred to service in Kaluga, where he taught physics and mathematics at the gymnasium and diocesan school.

Tsiolkovsky, almost from the very beginning of his career, combined teaching with scientific work. In 1880-1881, not knowing about the discoveries already made, he wrote his first scientific work, “The Theory of Gases.” His second work, published in the same years, “Mechanics of the Animal Organism,” received positive reviews from major scientists and was published. After its publication, Tsiolkovsky was accepted into the Russian Physical and Chemical Society.

In 1883, he wrote the work "Free Space", where he first formulated the principle of operation of a jet engine.

Since 1884, Tsiolkovsky worked on the problems of creating an airship and a “streamlined” airplane, and since 1886 - on the scientific substantiation of rockets for interplanetary flights. He systematically developed the theory of motion of jet vehicles and proposed several of their schemes.

In 1892, his work “Controllable Metal Balloon” (about an airship) was published. In 1897, Tsiolkovsky designed the first wind tunnel in Russia with an open working part.

He developed an experimental technique in it and in 1900, with a subsidy from the Academy of Sciences, he made purging of the simplest models and determined the drag coefficient of a ball, flat plate, cylinder, cone and other bodies.

In 1903, Tsiolkovsky’s first article on rocket technology, “Exploration of world spaces using jet instruments,” appeared in the journal “Scientific Review,” which substantiated the real possibility of using jet instruments for interplanetary communications.

It went unnoticed by the wider scientific community. The second part of the article, published in the journal "Bulletin of Aeronautics" in 1911-1912, caused a great resonance. In 1914, Tsiolkovsky published a separate brochure, “Addition to the Study of World Spaces with Reactive Instruments.”

After 1917, his scientific activities received state support. In 1918, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was elected a member of the Socialist Academy of Social Sciences (since 1924 - the Communist Academy).

In 1921, the scientist left his teaching job. During these years, he worked on creating a theory of jet flight and invented his own gas turbine engine design.

In 1926-1929, Tsiolkovsky developed the theory of multi-stage rocket science, solved important problems related to the movement of rockets in a non-uniform gravitational field, landing a spacecraft on the surface of planets without an atmosphere, considered the influence of the atmosphere on the flight of a rocket, put forward ideas about creating a rocket - artificial satellite Earth and near-Earth orbital stations.

In 1932, he developed the theory of jet aircraft flight in the stratosphere and the design of aircraft with hypersonic speeds.
Tsiolkovsky is the founder of the theory of interplanetary communications. His research was the first to show the possibility of achieving cosmic speeds, the feasibility of interplanetary flights and human exploration of outer space. He was the first to consider questions about medical and biological problems arising during long-term space flights. In addition, the scientist put forward a number of ideas that have found application in rocket science. They proposed gas rudders to control the flight of a rocket, the use of propellant components to cool the outer shell of a spacecraft, and much more.

Rus. scientist and inventor who made a number of major discoveries in aerodynamics, rocketry and the theory of interplanetary communications.

Genus. in the village Izhevsk, Ryazan province, in the family of a forester. After suffering a serious illness (scarlet fever) in childhood, Ts. almost completely lost his hearing and was deprived of the opportunity to study at school and actively communicate with people. I studied independently; from 16 to 19 years old he lived in Moscow, studying physics and mathematics. sciences in the cycle of secondary and higher education. In 1879, Ts. passed the exams for the title of teacher as an external student and in 1880 was appointed teacher of arithmetic, geometry and physics at the Borovsk district school of Kaluga province. The first dates back to this time Scientific research Ts. On his own, not knowing about the discoveries already made, in 1881 he developed the foundations of kinetics. theory of gases. His second work, “Mechanics of the Animal Organism,” received a favorable review from the famous physiologist I.M. Sechenov, and Ts. was accepted as a member. Rus. physico-chemical about-va.

Ts.'s main works, carried out after 1884, were closely related to three major problems: the scientific justification of all-metal. aerostat (airship), a well-streamlined airplane and a rocket for interplanetary travel. Most scientific research on all-metal. The airship was completed in 1885-92. The description and calculations of the airplane were published. in 1894. Since 1896, Ts. systematically studied the theory of motion of jet vehicles and proposed a number of designs for long-range rockets and rockets for interplanetary travel. After the Great Oct. socialist Revolution, he worked a lot and fruitfully to create a theory of jet flight.

The result of Ts.'s research work on the airship was op. "Theory and experience of a balloon" (1887), in which scientific and technical information is given. justification for the design of an airship with metallic shell. Drawings explaining the design details were attached to the work. The Ts airship differed favorably from its predecessor designs in a number of features. Firstly, it was an airship of variable volume, which made it possible to maintain a constant lift force at different temperatures ambient air and different flight altitudes. The ability to change the volume was structurally achieved using a special tightening system and a corrugated shell. Secondly, the gas filling the airship could be heated by the heat of the exhaust gases passed through the coils. The third design feature was the use of thin corrugated metal to increase the strength. shell, and the corrugation waves were located perpendicular to the axis of the airship. Selection of geometric airship shapes and calculation of its strength thin shell were first performed by C.

However, progressive for its time, the Ts airship project was not supported; the author was even denied a subsidy for the construction of the model. Ts.'s appeal to the general Russian headquarters The army was also unsuccessful. Ts.'s printed work, "Controllable Metal Balloon" (1892), received a certain number of sympathetic reviews, and that was all.

In 1892, Ts. moved to Kaluga, where he taught physics and mathematics at the gymnasium and diocesan school. In his scientific activities, he turned to a new and little-studied area aircraft heavier than air.

Ts. had the wonderful idea of ​​​​building an airplane with metal. frame. The article “Airplane or bird-like (aviation) flying machine” (1894) gives a description and drawings of a monoplane, which in its own way appearance and aerodynamic. the layout anticipated the designs of aircraft that appeared 15-18 years later. In an airplane, the wings have a thick profile with a rounded leading edge, and the fuselage has a streamlined shape. Ts. built the first aerodynamic machine in Russia in 1897. pipe, developed an experimental technique in it, and later (1900), with a subsidy from the Academy of Sciences, carried out purging of the simplest models and determined the resistance coefficients of a ball, flat plate, cylinder, cone, and other bodies. But the work on the airplane also did not receive recognition from representatives of the official Russian Federation. Sciences. Ts had neither the funds nor even moral support for further research in this area.

The most important scientific results were obtained by Ts. in the theory of rocket motion. Thoughts about using the principle of jet propulsion for flight purposes were expressed by Ts. as early as 1883, but his creation of a mathematically rigorous theory of jet propulsion dates back to the very end of the 19th century. In 1903, in the article “Exploration of World Spaces by Jet Instruments,” based on general theorems of mechanics, Ts. gave a theory of rocket flight, taking into account the change in its mass during movement, and also substantiated the possibility of using jet vehicles for interplanetary communications. Rigorous mathematical proof of the possibility of using a rocket to solve scientific problems, use rocket engines for creating the movement of grandiose interplanetary ships belongs entirely to Ts. In this article and in its subsequent continuations, he for the first time in the world gave the foundations of the theory of a liquid jet engine, as well as the elements of its design.

In 1929, Ts. developed a very fruitful theory of the movement of composite rockets or rocket trains; he proposed two types of composite missiles for implementation. One type is a sequential composite rocket, consisting of several rockets connected one after the other. During takeoff, the last (bottom) rocket is the pusher. After using up her fuel, she becomes separated from the train and falls to the ground. Next, the engine of the rocket, which turned out to be the last, begins to operate. For the remaining ones, this rocket is a pusher until its fuel is completely used up, and then it is also separated from the train. Only the lead missile reaches the flight target, reaching a much higher speed than a single missile, since it is accelerated by the missiles thrown away during the movement.

The second type of composite missile (parallel connection of a number of missiles) was called a squadron missile. In this case, according to Ts., all rockets operate simultaneously until half of their fuel is used up. Then the outermost rockets drain the remaining fuel supply into the half-empty tanks of the remaining rockets and are separated from the rocket train. The process of fuel transfer is repeated until only one lead missile remains from the train, which has gained a very high speed.

Creating a reasonable design for a composite rocket is one of the most pressing problems that scientists and engineers are working on.

Ts. was the first to solve the problem of the movement of a rocket in a uniform gravitational field and calculated the necessary fuel reserves to overcome the force of gravity of the Earth. He roughly examined the influence of the atmosphere on the flight of a rocket and calculated the necessary fuel reserves to overcome the resistance forces of the Earth's air shell.

Ts. is the founder of the theory of interplanetary communications. The question of interplanetary travel interested Ts. from the very beginning of his scientific research. His research was the first to strictly scientifically demonstrate the possibility of a space flight. speeds, despite high technical requirements. practical difficulties implementation of these flights. He was the first to study the issue of a rocket - an artificial Earth satellite, and expressed the idea of ​​​​creating extraterrestrial stations as intermediate bases for interplanetary communications, and examined in detail the living and working conditions of people on an artificial Earth satellite and interplanetary stations. Ts. put forward the idea of ​​gas rudders to control the flight of a rocket in airless space; he suggested gyroscopic. stabilization of the rocket in free flight in space where there are no gravity or resistance forces. Ts. understood the need to cool the walls of the combustion chamber of a jet engine, and his proposal to cool the chamber walls with fuel components is widely used in modern times. jet engine designs.

So that the rocket does not burn up like a meteorite when returning from space. space to the Earth, Ts. proposed special rocket planning trajectories to reduce speed when approaching the Earth, as well as methods for cooling the rocket walls with a liquid oxidizer. He explored big number various oxidizers and combustibles and for liquid jet engines recommended the following fuel pairs: liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen; alcohol and liquid oxygen; hydrocarbons and liquid oxygen or ozone.

Under Sov. authorities, the living and working conditions of Ts. changed radically. The government provided all possible assistance to his research, and there was great interest in it from public and scientific organizations. Ts. was assigned a personal pension and provided the opportunity for fruitful work.

Ts. also owns a number of studies in other fields of knowledge: aerodynamics, philosophy, linguistics, works on the social structure of people’s lives in artificial islands floating around the Sun between the orbits of Earth and Mars. Some of these studies are controversial, some repeat the results obtained by other scientists. Ts. himself knew this well, but in the conditions of pre-revolutionary Kaluga he could not systematically follow world scientific literature. In 1928 he wrote: “I discovered a lot that had already been discovered before me. I recognize the significance of such work only for myself, since they gave me confidence in my abilities.” Ts.'s research on rocket technology and the theory of interplanetary travel serves as guiding material for modern science. designers and scientists involved in the creation of jet vehicles. C.'s ideas are being successfully implemented.

Works: Collected Works, vol. 1-2, M., 1951-54; Selected works, book. 1-2, L., 1934; Proceedings on rocket technology, M., 1947.

Lit.: Yuriev B. N., Life and work of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, in the book: Proceedings on the history of technology, vol. 1, M., 1952; Kosmodemyansky A. A., K. E. Tsiolkovsky - the founder of modern rocket dynamics, ibid.; him, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, in the book: People of Russian Science, with a preface. and entry article by academician S. I. Vavilova, vol. 2, M.-L., 1948 (there is a list of works by Ts. and lit. about hem); Arlazorov M. S., Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. His life and work, 2nd ed., M., 1957

Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich

(17.IX.1857-19.IX.1935) - Russian scientist and inventor, founder of modern cosmonautics and rocket technology. Genus. in the family of a forester in the village. Izhevsk (formerly Ryazan province). As a result of complications from scarlet fever in childhood, he lost his hearing and was deprived of the opportunity to enter an educational institution. He studied physics and mathematics on his own. In 1879, he passed the exam for the title of teacher as an external student, and the following year he was appointed a mathematics teacher at the district school of the mountains. Borowska. Since 1898, he taught mathematics and physics at a women's school in Kaluga.

Tsiolkovsky's first scientific research began in the 80s. In 1885-1892. he conducted much of his research into justifying the feasibility of building an all-metal airship. Since 1896, he began to systematically develop the theory of motion of jet vehicles. They proposed designs for long-range rockets and rockets for interplanetary travel. In 1903, in the article “Exploration of world spaces using jet instruments,” he applied the general laws of mechanics to the theory of flight of a variable-mass rocket and substantiated the possibility of interplanetary communications. Before the Great October Socialist Revolution, Tsiolkovsky's ideas were not appreciated. After the revolution, the Soviet government provided extensive assistance to Tsiolkovsky's research. He was assigned a personal pension and given the opportunity to work. In 1929, he developed the theory of motion of composite multistage rockets, which is used with great success in modern astronautics. He was the first to develop the idea of ​​a rocket - an artificial Earth satellite and studied the living and working conditions of its crew. He believed that extraterrestrial stations should be intermediate bases for further human expansion into space. Tsiolkovsky is also the author of works on aerodynamics and philosophy; he developed social projects for the future of human society.

Currently, Tsiolkovsky's works have received worldwide recognition. His research and ideas, confirmed by all the practice of modern astronautics, are widely used in the development of various space projects.

He was an honorary member of the Russian Society of World Studies Lovers, an honorary professor at the Academy Air Fleet them. N. E. Zhukovsky. In the USSR, the complete collection of Tsiolkovsky's works was published in four volumes, and a gold medal was established in his name for outstanding work in the field of interplanetary communications.

Lit.: Arlazorov M. Tsiolkovsky. - M., "Young Guard", 1962. - Tsiolkovsky K. E. Collected Works. T. 1-4. - M., 1951-1964. - Yuriev B. N. Life and work of K. E. Tsiolkovsky. - In the book: Works on the history of technology, vol. 1. - M., 1952.

Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich

Outstanding scientist, one of the founders of astronautics, thinker. Genus. in the village Izhevskoe, now Ryazan region; from the family of a forester, a Russified Pole. As a child, I almost completely lost my hearing, and from the age of 14 I studied independently. From 16 to 19 years old he lived in Moscow, studied physics and mathematics. science according to secondary and higher school programs. While visiting the Rumyantsev Library, he met N.F. Fedorov, who, according to Ts. himself, replaced his university professors. In 1879, Ts. passed the exam as an external student for the title of teacher of arithmetic and geometry. In 1880 he received a teacher's diploma, and until 1920 he worked in schools in Borovsk, then Kaluga. He is also engaged in scientific research there. activities. At the center of his scientific interests were the problems of overcoming human death, the problem of the meaning of life, the problem of space, the place of man in space, the possibilities of infinite humanity. existence. He considered the most important means of solving these problems to be the invention of rockets and the settlement of humanity (due to the finiteness of the Earth) in other worlds. Reprinted in 1924. his articles on the rocket assert his world priority in this area. At the end of the 20s. gains worldwide fame as the head of a new scientific. directions - rocket dynamics. A rocket propulsion study group is being formed, headed by F.A. Tsander; S.P. Korolev came out of this group. Ts. died in Kaluga.

A.P. Alekseev

Cosmic Ts. defined philosophy as knowledge based only on authority " exact science", in connection with which it is often attributed to the natural scientific direction of cosmism. But in fact, cosmic philosophy is a worldview system, it contains a detailed metaphysics and ethics. Including certain fragments of the scientific picture of the world, a worldview concept C. goes far beyond the boundaries of the foundations of scientific knowledge. A prominent place in it is given to faith, including religion. Developing the idea of ​​​​the “first cause” or “reason” of the Universe, C. attributed to it properties usually considered as attributes of God. Implicit Thus, cosmic philosophy was strongly influenced by theosophy and the occult. Characteristic space Philosopher lies in the fact that it synthesizes various currents of Western history. (Plato, Leucippus, Democritus, Leibniz, Buchner, etc.) and Eastern, mainly esoteric philosophy. thoughts. This is due to its deep antinomy. The starting principle is cosmic. Philosopher C. stands for the principle atomistic panpsychism. According to Ts., “the indivisible basis or essence of the world” is made up of “atoms-spirits” (“ideal atoms”, “primitive spirits”). This is the metaphysical element. substances different from modern elementary particles. physics. “Spirit atoms” are the simplest “creatures” that have “sensitivity.” In its space ethics Ts. actually denied the personal basis of man. "I". For him, "I" -. this is the sensation of an “atom-spirit” located in living matter. It is “spirit atoms” that are the true citizens of the Universe, while man, like every animal, is a “union” of such atoms living in harmony with each other (Ethics or natural foundations morality // Archives of the Russian Academy of Sciences. F. 555. Op. 1. D. 372). The principle of monism is expressed in cosmic terms. Philosopher unity: a) the substantial basis of the world; b) material and spirit. the beginnings of the Universe; c) living and inanimate matter (“everything is alive and only temporarily exists in non-existence, in the form of unorganized dead matter” (Scientific Ethics // Essays on the Universe. M., 1992. P. 119); d) the unity of man and the Universe. Among the main belong to space Philosopher also principles infinity,evolution And anthropic principle. The universe, according to cosmic philos., is an integral living organism, which is “like the kindest and most intelligent animal” (The Will of the Universe. Unknown intelligent forces // Essays on the Universe. P.43). With this understanding of the cosmos, which dates back to the Platonic tradition, Ts. clearly contrasted the image of the Universe with class. natural sciences. Many cosmoses can exist in infinite time, just as they exist in infinite space. Speaking against the recognition of the principle of increasing entropy, Ts. spoke of the “eternal emerging youth” of the Universe. He considered all processes to be periodic and reversible. This is what cosmic evolutionism consists of. philosophy, which also includes the idea of ​​​​infinite increase in the power of non-cosmic mind. Ts. saw the “meaning” of the Universe in the desire of matter for self-organization, the inevitability of the emergence of highly developed cosmic systems. civilizations. The idea of ​​the unity of man and the cosmos found expression in Ts. in the form of two additional principles of cosmism in their content: 1) the principle, which Ts. himself formulated as follows: “The fate of a being depends on the fate of the Universe” (firstly, “cause” and The "will" of the cosmos almost fatalistically determines human activity and behavior; secondly, the metaphysics of human fate receives an original interpretation in cosmic philosophy: there is no death); in the rhythms of the cosmos. evolution, death merges with a “new perfect birth”, this ensures for each creature a subjective feeling of “never ending happiness”; 2) a principle that can be formulated as follows: “The fate of the Universe depends on the cosmic mind, i.e. humanity and other cosmic civilizations, their transformative activities.” Both of these principles coexist in Ts. He believed that for space exploration it was necessary to intervene in the evolution of the species "Homo sapiens", to improve biol. human nature by nature. and arts, selection. Highly developed cosmic civilizations, visiting worlds on which “imperfect, unreasonable and painful life” develops, have the right to destroy it, replacing it with “its own perfect breed” (Cosmic philosophy // Essays on the Universe. P. 230). In the distant future, cosmic. the mind will consider it good for itself to turn into radiant energy.

V.V.Kazyutinsky

Op.: Dreams of Earth and Sky. Kaluga, 1895 ;Nirvana. Kaluga, 1914 ;Grief and genius. Kaluga, 1916 ;The wealth of the Universe. Kaluga, 1920 ;Living Universe, 1923 ;Monism of the Universe. Kaluga, 1925 ;The future of the Earth and humanity. Kaluga, 1928 ; Public organization humanity. Kaluga, 1928 ;The will of the Universe. Unknown intelligent forces. Kaluga, 1928 ;Intelligence and passion. Kaluga, 1928 ;Engines of progress. Kaluga, 1928 ;Self love,or True self-love. Kaluga, 1928 ;Past of the Earth. Kaluga, 1928 ;Goals of astronautics. Kaluga, 1929 ;Plant of the future. Animal of space. Spontaneous generation. Kaluga, 1929 ;Scientific ethics. Kaluga,1930. Selected works. Book 1,2. L., 1934 ;Collection op. T.1-4. M., 1951-1964 ;Thoughts about the future. Statements by K.E. Tsiolkovsky. Kaluga, 1958 ;Handwritten materials by K.E. Tsiolkovsky. Cm.:Proceedings of the Archive of the USSR Academy of Sciences. M.,1966. Issue 22;Monism of the Universe // Russian Cosmism. M., 1993 ;

Space philosophy // Ibid.

A.P. Alekseev

Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich

Outstanding Russian Founding scientist of astronautics, original thinker and science fiction writer. Genus. in the village of Izhevsk (Spasskogo district, Ryazan province), lost his hearing as a child and from the age of 14 he was engaged in self-education, in 1879 he passed the exam for the title of teacher as an external student and throughout his life he taught physics and mathematics in schools in Borovsk and Kaluga. While studying at the Rumyantsev Library in Moscow, I met a philosopher and bibliographer N. Fedorov, which “replaced... university professors”; Not without the influence of Fedorov’s “Philosophy of the Common Cause,” their own philosophies matured. Ts.'s views are a bizarre eclectic mixture of daring scientific. projects facing the future (C. can be considered a pioneer of domestic futurology), borrowed elements mysticism and occultism, a kind of religion. utopianism; everything together belongs to the Russian tradition. "cosmism" (see Religion, Philosophy, Utopia). At the end of 19 - beginning. 20th century published (often at his own expense) basic. scientific works that laid the foundation for modern times. astronautics (see Space flights); scientific Ts.'s merits were on the floor. least recognized only after Oct. revolution, the scientist was assigned a personal pension, and all his basic works reed. and became the property of scientists. message

NF TV Ts. is inseparable from its scientific. activities, on the one hand, and his philosophy. views - with others; The scientist considered this literature as one of the means of popularizing science. knowledge, therefore it would be more correct to call all his novels “SF essays.” Book hero "On the moon" (1893 ) moves to Moon in a dream, although fundamental scientific. work by C. "Free space" was written four years earlier; but already on the trail. op. - "Change in Relative Gravity on Earth" (1894 ) - a grand "tour" of solar system with thoughts regarding extraterrestrial life and prospects astroengineering; followed "Dreams of Earth and Sky and the Effects of Universal Gravity" (1895 ; etc. - "The heaviness has disappeared") represent thought experiment; the "lit." the story remains "Out of Earth"(directed 1896; phragm. 1918 ; 1920 ), the mysterious and never explained prologue to the cut suggests interesting, but unfulfilled lit. plans of Ts. All his SF productions. ed. under one cover in Sat. "The path to the stars" (1960 ).

These works, like the “fiction-philosopher.” (many were not published until very recently), they unite several. fundamental ideas that form the basis philosophy Ts. Kosmich. He thought of space not as an empty “container”, but as a stage on which many various forms extraterrestrial life- from the most primitive to the immortal and almost omnipotent (see. Immortality, Gods and Demons, Religion, Supermind). For humanity itself, in full agreement with N. Fedorov, C. assumed an inevitable “fight with death”, in the process of which a person would gradually improve his body, turning it into a kind of autotrophic creature that feeds on radiant energy and practically independent of the environment (see. Biology, Superman). In this perspective space flight- not an end in itself, but only the first step towards the transformation of the earthly reason into the all-knowing and all-powerful ruler of space and time. In general, the influence of Ts.’s ideas on the process of “cosmization” of public consciousness in the 20th century, and, as a consequence, on cosmic. SF is hard to overestimate.

Vl. G., R. Shch.

N.A. Rynin "K.E. Tsiolkovsky, his life, works and rockets" (1931).

B.N. Vorobyov "Tsiolkovsky" (1940).

D. Dar "Good Hour" (1948), D.Dar“The Ballad of a Man and His Wings” (1956), M.S. Arlazorov “Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, his life and work (1857-1938)” (1952; additional 1957).

M.S.Arlazorov "Tsiolkovsky" (1962).

A.A. Kosmodemyansky "Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky" (1976).

Tsiolkovsky, Konstantin Eduardovich

Russian scientist and inventor in the field of aeronautics, aviation and rocketry, founder of modern cosmonautics. Author of numerous scientific works. Developed a project for an all-metal airship. He was the first to put forward the idea of ​​​​building an airplane with a metal frame. In 1897 he built a wind tunnel and developed an experimental technique in it. He developed the theory of flight of rocket aircraft in the stratosphere and aircraft designs for flights at hypersonic speeds. In 1954, the USSR Academy of Sciences established a gold medal named after. K. E. Tsiolkovsky "For outstanding work in the field of interplanetary communications." The Moscow Aviation Technological Institute, State University bear his name. Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, crater on the Moon.

Tsiolk O Vsky, Konstantin Eduardovich

Genus. 1857, d. 1935. Scientist, inventor, founder of modern astronautics. Specialist in the field of aerodynamics and rocket dynamics, aircraft and airship theory.

Large biographical encyclopedia. 2009 .

Origin. Tsiolkovsky family

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky came from the Polish noble family of the Tsiolkovskys (Polish: Ciołkowski) of the Yastrzembets coat of arms. The first mention of the Tsiolkovskys belonging to the noble class dates back to 1697.

Coat of arms of Yastrzebiec

According to family legend, the Tsiolkovsky family traced its genealogy to the Cossack Severin Nalivaiko, the leader of the anti-feudal peasant-Cossack uprising in Ukraine in the 16th century. Answering the question of how the Cossack family became noble, Sergei Samoilovich, a researcher of Tsiolkovsky’s work and biography, suggests that Nalivaiko’s descendants were exiled to the Plotsk Voivodeship, where they became related to a noble family and adopted their surname - Tsiolkovsky; this surname supposedly came from the name of the village of Tselkovo (that is, Telyatnikovo, Polish Ciołkowo).

However, modern research does not confirm this legend. The genealogy of the Tsiolkovskys was restored approximately to the middle of the 17th century; their relationship with Nalivaiko has not been established and is only in the nature of a family legend. Obviously, this legend appealed to Konstantin Eduardovich himself - in fact, it is known only from himself (from autobiographical notes). In addition, in the copy that belonged to the scientist, “ Encyclopedic Dictionary Brockhaus and Efron”, the article “Nalivaiko, Severin” is marked out with a charcoal pencil - this is how Tsiolkovsky marked the most interesting places in his books.

It is documented that the founder of the family was a certain Maciey (Polish Maciey, in modern spelling Polish Maciej), who had three sons: Stanislav, Jacob (Yakub, Polish Jakub) and Valerian, who after the death of their father became the owners of the villages of Velikoye Tselkovo, Maloe Tselkovo and Snegovo. The surviving record says that the landowners of the Płock Voivodeship, the Tsiolkovsky brothers, took part in the election of the Polish king Augustus the Strong in 1697. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is a descendant of Yakov.

By the end of the 18th century, the Tsiolkovsky family became greatly impoverished. In conditions of deep crisis and collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Polish nobility also experienced difficult times. In 1777, 5 years after the first partition of Poland, K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s great-grandfather Tomas (Foma) sold the Velikoye Tselkovo estate and moved to the Berdichev district of the Kiev voivodeship in Right Bank Ukraine, and then to the Zhitomir district of the Volyn province. Many subsequent representatives of the family held minor positions in the judiciary. Not having any significant privileges from their nobility, they forgot about it and their coat of arms for a long time.

On May 28, 1834, K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s grandfather, Ignatius Fomich, received certificates of “noble dignity” so that his sons, according to the laws of that time, would have the opportunity to continue their education. Thus, starting with father K. E. Tsiolkovsky, the family regained its noble title.

Parents of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Konstantin's father, Eduard Ignatievich Tsiolkovsky (1820-1881, full name- Makar-Edward-Erasm, Makary Edward Erazm). Born in the village of Korostyanin (now Goshchansky district, Rivne region in northwestern Ukraine). In 1841 he graduated from the Forestry and Land Surveying Institute in St. Petersburg, then served as a forester in the Olonets and St. Petersburg provinces. In 1843 he was transferred to the Pronsky forestry of the Spassky district of the Ryazan province.

Father, Eduard Ignatievich Tsiolkovsky

Living in the village of Izhevsk, I met my future wife Maria Ivanovna Yumasheva (1832-1870), mother of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Having Tatar roots, she was raised in the Russian tradition. The ancestors of Maria Ivanovna moved to the Pskov province under Ivan the Terrible. Her parents, small landed nobles, also owned a cooperage and basketry workshop. Maria Ivanovna was an educated woman: she graduated from high school, knew Latin, mathematics and other sciences.

Almost immediately after the wedding in 1849, the Tsiolkovsky couple moved to the village of Izhevskoye, Spassky district, where they lived until 1860.

Mother, Maria Ivanovna Yumasheva

Childhood. Izhevskoe. Ryazan (1857-1868)

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was born on September 5 (17), 1857 in the village of Izhevsk near Ryazan. He was baptized in St. Nicholas Church. The name Konstantin was completely new in the Tsiolkovsky family; it was given by the name of the priest who baptized the baby.

Kostya Tsiolkovsky, Ryazan, 1863 or 1864

At the age of nine, Kostya, while sledding at the beginning of winter, caught a cold and fell ill with scarlet fever. As a result of complications after serious illness I partially lost my hearing. There came what Konstantin Eduardovich later called “the saddest, darkest time of my life.” Hearing loss deprived the boy of many childhood fun and experiences familiar to his healthy peers.

At this time, Kostya first begins to show interest in craftsmanship. “I liked making doll skates, houses, sleds, clocks with weights, etc. All this was made of paper and cardboard and joined with sealing wax,” he would write later.

In 1868, the surveying and taxation classes were closed, and Eduard Ignatievich again lost his job. The next move was to Vyatka, where there was a large Polish community and the father of the family had two brothers, who probably helped him get the position of head of the Forestry Department.

Vyatka. Training at the gymnasium. Death of mother (1869-1873)

During their life in Vyatka, the Tsiolkovsky family changed several apartments. For the last 5 years (from 1873 to 1878) they lived in the wing of the Shuravin merchants' estate on Preobrazhenskaya Street.

In 1869, Kostya, together with his younger brother Ignatius, entered the first class of the Vyatka men's gymnasium. Studying was very difficult, there were a lot of subjects, the teachers were strict. Deafness was a big hindrance: “I couldn’t hear the teachers at all or heard only vague sounds.”

“Once again I ask you, Dmitry Ivanovich, to take my work under your protection. The oppression of circumstances, deafness from the age of ten, the resulting ignorance of life and people and other unfavorable conditions, I hope, will excuse my weakness in your eyes.”

In the same year, sad news came from St. Petersburg - the elder brother Dmitry, who studied at the Naval School, died. This death shocked the whole family, but especially Maria Ivanovna. In 1870, Kostya’s mother, whom he loved dearly, died unexpectedly.

Grief crushed the orphaned boy. Already not shining with success in his studies, oppressed by the misfortunes that befell him, Kostya studied worse and worse. He became much more acutely aware of his deafness, which hampered his studies at school and made him more and more isolated. For pranks, he was repeatedly punished and ended up in a punishment cell. In the second grade, Kostya stayed for the second year, and from the third (in 1873) he was expelled with the characteristic “... for admission to a technical school.” After that, Konstantin never studied anywhere - he studied exclusively on his own; During these classes, he used his father's small library (which contained books on science and mathematics). Unlike gymnasium teachers, books generously endowed him with knowledge and never made the slightest reproach.

At the same time, Kostya became involved in technical and scientific creativity. He independently made an astrolabe (the first distance it measured was to a fire tower), a home lathe, self-propelled carriages and locomotives. The devices were driven by spiral springs, which Konstantin extracted from old crinolines bought at the market. He was fond of magic tricks and made various boxes in which objects appeared and disappeared. Experiments with a paper model of a hydrogen-filled balloon ended in failure, but Konstantin does not despair, continues to work on the model, and is thinking about a project for a car with wings.

Moscow. Self-education. Meeting with Nikolai Fedorov (1873-1876)

Believing in his son’s abilities, in July 1873, Eduard Ignatievich decided to send Konstantin to Moscow to enter the Higher Technical School (now Bauman Moscow State Technical University), providing him with a covering letter to his friend asking him to help him get settled. However, Konstantin lost the letter and only remembered the address: Nemetskaya Street (now Baumanskaya Street). Having reached it, the young man rented a room in the laundress’s apartment.

For unknown reasons, Konstantin never entered the school, but decided to continue his education on his own. Living literally on bread and water (my father sent me 10-15 rubles a month), I began to study hard. “I had nothing then except water and black bread. Every three days I went to the bakery and bought 9 kopecks worth of bread there. Thus, I lived on 90 kopecks a month.” To save money, Konstantin moved around Moscow only on foot. He spent all his free money on books, instruments and chemicals.

Every day from ten in the morning until three or four in the afternoon, the young man studied science in the Chertkovo Public Library - the only free library in Moscow at that time.

In this library, Tsiolkovsky met with the founder of Russian cosmism, Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov, who worked there as an assistant librarian (an employee who was constantly in the hall), but never recognized the famous thinker in the humble employee. “He gave me forbidden books. Then it turned out that he was a famous ascetic, a friend of Tolstoy and an amazing philosopher and modest man. He gave away all his tiny salary to the poor. Now I see that he wanted to make me his boarder, but he failed: I was too shy,” Konstantin Eduardovich later wrote in his autobiography. Tsiolkovsky admitted that Fedorov replaced university professors for him. However, this influence manifested itself much later, ten years after the death of Moscow Socrates, and during his stay in Moscow, Konstantin knew nothing about the views of Nikolai Fedorovich, and they never spoke about Cosmos.

Work in the library was subject to a clear routine. In the morning, Konstantin was busy with precise and natural sciences, requiring concentration and clarity of mind. Then he switched to simpler material: fiction and journalism. He actively studied “thick” magazines, where both review scientific articles and journalistic articles were published. He enthusiastically read Shakespeare, Leo Tolstoy, Turgenev, and admired the articles of Dmitry Pisarev: “Pisarev made me tremble with joy and happiness. In him I then saw my second “I.”

During the first year of his life in Moscow, Tsiolkovsky studied physics and the beginnings of mathematics. In 1874, the Chertkovsky Library moved to the building of the Rumyantsev Museum, and Nikolai Fedorov moved to a new place of work with it. In the new reading room, Konstantin studies differential and integral calculus, higher algebra, analytical and spherical geometry. Then astronomy, mechanics, chemistry.

In three years, Konstantin completely mastered the gymnasium curriculum, as well as a significant part of the university curriculum.

Unfortunately, his father could no longer pay for his stay in Moscow and, moreover, was not feeling well and was preparing to retire. With the knowledge he gained, Konstantin could easily begin independent work in the provinces, as well as continue his education outside of Moscow. In the fall of 1876, Eduard Ignatievich called his son back to Vyatka, and Konstantin returned home.

Return to Vyatka. Tutoring (1876-1878)

Konstantin returned to Vyatka weak, emaciated and emaciated. Difficult living conditions in Moscow and intense work also led to deterioration of vision. After returning home, Tsiolkovsky began wearing glasses. Having regained his strength, Konstantin began giving private lessons in physics and mathematics. I learned my first lesson thanks to my father’s connections in liberal society. Having proven himself to be a talented teacher, he subsequently had no shortage of students.

When teaching lessons, Tsiolkovsky used his own original methods, the main of which was a visual demonstration - Konstantin made paper models of polyhedra for geometry lessons, together with his students he conducted numerous experiments in physics lessons, which earned him the reputation of a teacher who well and clearly explains the material in his classes. always interesting. To make models and conduct experiments, Tsiolkovsky rented a workshop. Everything is yours free time spent in it or in the library. I read a lot - specialized literature, fiction, journalism. According to his autobiography, at this time I read the magazines Sovremennik, Delo, and Otechestvennye zapiski for all the years that they were published. At the same time, I read Isaac Newton’s “Principia,” whose scientific views Tsiolkovsky adhered to for the rest of his life.

At the end of 1876, Konstantin's younger brother Ignatius died. The brothers were very close from childhood, Konstantin trusted Ignatius with his most intimate thoughts, and his brother’s death was a heavy blow.

By 1877, Eduard Ignatievich was already very weak and ill, the tragic death of his wife and children affected (except for the sons Dmitry and Ignatius, during these years the Tsiolkovskys lost their youngest daughter, Ekaterina - she died in 1875, during the absence of Konstantin), the head of the family left resign. In 1878, the entire Tsiolkovsky family returned to Ryazan.

Return to Ryazan. Examinations for the title of teacher (1878-1880)

Upon returning to Ryazan, the family lived on Sadovaya Street. Immediately after his arrival, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky passed a medical examination and was released from military service due to deafness. The family intended to buy a house and live on the income from it, but the unexpected happened - Konstantin quarreled with his father. As a result, Konstantin rented a separate room from the employee Palkin and was forced to look for other means of livelihood, since his personal savings accumulated from private lessons in Vyatka were coming to an end, and in Ryazan an unknown tutor without recommendations could not find students.

Certificate of a district mathematics teacher received by Tsiolkovsky

To continue working as a teacher, a certain, documented qualification was required. In the fall of 1879, at the First Provincial Gymnasium, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky took an external examination to become a district mathematics teacher. As a “self-taught” student, he had to pass a “full” exam - not only the subject itself, but also grammar, catechism, liturgy and other compulsory disciplines. Tsiolkovsky was never interested in or studied these subjects, but managed to prepare in a short time.

Having successfully passed the exam, Tsiolkovsky received a referral from the Ministry of Education to the position of teacher of arithmetic and geometry at the Borovsk district school in the Kaluga province (Borovsk was located 100 km from Moscow) and in January 1880 he left Ryazan.

Borovsk. Creating a family. Work at school. First scientific works and publications (1880-1892)

In Borovsk, the unofficial capital of the Old Believers, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky lived and taught for 12 years, started a family, made several friends, and wrote his first scientific works. At this time, his contacts with the Russian scientific community began, and his first publications were published.

“Morals in Borovsk were wild; fist violence and the rule of the strong often reigned on the streets. There were three chapels in the city of different faiths. Often members of the same family belonged to different sects and ate from different dishes.

At holidays, during weddings, the rich rode dashingly on trotters, paraded around the city with some bride's dowry, right down to feather beds, buffets, geese and roosters, and wild drinking and parties were held. The schismatics fought with other sects.

From the memoirs of Lyubov Konstantinovna, the daughter of a scientist"

Arrival in Borovsk and marriage

Upon arrival, Tsiolkovsky stopped at hotel rooms on the central square of the city. After a long search for more convenient housing, Tsiolkovsky, on the recommendation of the residents of Borovsk, “ended up living with a widower and his daughter who lived on the outskirts of the city” - E. E. Sokolov, a widower, a priest of the United Faith Church. He was given two rooms and a table of soup and porridge. Sokolov's daughter Varya was only two months younger than Tsiolkovsky; Her character and hard work pleased him, and soon Tsiolkovsky married her; they got married on August 20, 1880 in the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin. Tsiolkovsky did not take any dowry for the bride, there was no wedding, the wedding was not advertised.

In January of the following year, K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s father died in Ryazan.

Work at school

The building of the former Borovsky district school. In the foreground is a memorial cross on the site of the ruined grave of noblewoman Morozova. 2007

At the Borovsky district school, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky continued to improve as a teacher: he taught arithmetic and geometry in a non-standard way, came up with exciting problems and set up amazing experiments, especially for the Borovsky boys. Several times he and his students launched a huge paper balloon with a “gondola” containing burning splinters to heat the air.

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

First scientific works. Russian Physical and Chemical Society

After classes at the school and on weekends, Tsiolkovsky continued his research at home: he worked on manuscripts, made drawings, and performed experiments. In his house, electric lightning flashes, thunder rumbles, bells ring, paper dolls dance.

Tsiolkovsky's very first work was devoted to the application of mechanics in biology. It was the article “Graphic representation of sensations” written in 1880; In this work, Tsiolkovsky developed the pessimistic theory of “turbulent zero”, characteristic of him at that time, and mathematically substantiated the idea of ​​meaninglessness human life(this theory, as the scientist later admitted, was destined to play a fatal role in his life and in the life of his family). Tsiolkovsky sent this article to the magazine “Russian Thought”, but it was not published there and the manuscript was not returned, and Konstantin switched to other topics.

In 1881, Tsiolkovsky wrote his first truly scientific work, “The Theory of Gases” (the manuscript of which has not been found). One day he was visited by student Vasily Lavrov, who offered his help, since he was heading to St. Petersburg and could submit the manuscript for consideration to the Russian Physicochemical Society (RFCS), a very authoritative scientific community in Russia at that time (Lavrov later transferred two following works by Tsiolkovsky). “The Theory of Gases” was written by Tsiolkovsky based on the books he had. Tsiolkovsky independently developed the foundations of the kinetic theory of gases. The article was reviewed, and Professor P. P. Fan der Fleet expressed his opinion about the study:

Although the article itself does not represent anything new and the conclusions in it are not entirely accurate, nevertheless it reveals great abilities and hard work in the author, since the author was not brought up in an educational institution and owes his knowledge exclusively to himself... In view of this, it is desirable to promote further author's self-education...

The society decided to petition... for the transfer of Mr. Tsiolkovsky... to a city in which he could do scientific research.

Soon Tsiolkovsky received an answer from Mendeleev: the kinetic theory of gases was discovered 25 years ago. This fact became an unpleasant discovery for Konstantin; the reasons for his ignorance were isolation from the scientific community and lack of access to modern scientific literature. Despite the failure, Tsiolkovsky continued his research. The second scientific work transferred to the Russian Federal Chemical Society was the 1882 article “Mechanics like a variable organism.” Professor Anatoly Bogdanov called studying the “mechanics of the animal body” “madness.” Ivan Sechenov’s review was generally approving, but the work was not allowed to be published:

Tsiolkovsky's work undoubtedly proves his talent. The author agrees with French mechanistic biologists. It's a pity that it is not finished and not ready for printing...

The third work written in Borovsk and presented to the scientific community was the article “Duration of Radiation of the Sun” (1883), in which Tsiolkovsky described the mechanism of action of the star. He considered the Sun as an ideal gas ball, tried to determine the temperature and pressure at its center, and the lifetime of the Sun. Tsiolkovsky in his calculations used only the basic laws of mechanics (law of universal gravitation) and gas dynamics (Boyle-Mariotte law). The article was reviewed by Professor Ivan Borgman. According to Tsiolkovsky, he liked it, but since its original version contained practically no calculations, it “aroused mistrust.” Nevertheless, it was Borgman who proposed to publish the works presented by the teacher from Borovsk, which, however, was not done.

Members of the Russian Physicochemical Society unanimously voted to accept Tsiolkovsky into their ranks, as reported in a letter. However, Konstantin did not answer: “Naive savagery and inexperience,” he later lamented.

Tsiolkovsky’s next work, “Free Space,” 1883, was written in the form of a diary. This is a kind of thought experiment, the narrative is told on behalf of an observer located in free airless space and not experiencing the forces of attraction and resistance. Tsiolkovsky describes the sensations of such an observer, his capabilities and limitations in movement and manipulation of various objects. He analyzes the behavior of gases and liquids in “free space”, the functioning of various devices, and the physiology of living organisms - plants and animals. The main result of this work can be considered the principle first formulated by Tsiolkovsky about the only possible method of movement in “free space” - jet propulsion:

...In general, uniform motion along a curve or rectilinear uneven motion is associated in free space with a continuous loss of matter (support). Also, broken movement is associated with periodic loss of matter...

Metal airship theory. Society of Natural History Lovers. Russian Technical Society

One of the main problems that occupied Tsiolkovsky almost from the time he arrived in Borovsk was the theory of balloons. Soon he realized that this was the task that deserved the most attention:

In 1885, at the age of 28, I firmly decided to devote myself to aeronautics and theoretically develop a metal controllable balloon.

Tsiolkovsky developed a balloon of his own design, which resulted in the voluminous work “Theory and experience of a balloon having an elongated shape in the horizontal direction” (1885-1886). It provided scientific and technical justification for the creation of a completely new and original airship design with a thin metal shell. Tsiolkovsky provided drawings common types balloon and some important components of its design. The main features of the airship developed by Tsiolkovsky:

• The volume of the shell was variable, which made it possible to maintain a constant lift force at different flight altitudes and temperatures atmospheric air surrounding the airship. This possibility was achieved due to corrugated sidewalls and a special tightening system.
• Tsiolkovsky avoided the use of explosive hydrogen; his airship was filled with hot air. The lifting height of the airship could be adjusted using a separately developed heating system. The air was heated by passing engine exhaust gases through coils.
• The thin metal shell was also corrugated, which increased its strength and stability. The corrugation waves were located perpendicular to the axis of the airship.

While working on this manuscript, Tsiolkovsky was visited by P. M. Golubitsky, already a well-known inventor in the field of telephony by that time. He invited Tsiolkovsky to go with him to Moscow and introduce himself to the famous Sofia Kovalevskaya, who had arrived briefly from Stockholm. However, Tsiolkovsky, by his own admission, did not dare to accept the offer: “My squalor and the resulting savagery prevented me from doing this. I didn't go. Maybe it's for the best."

Having refused a trip to Golubitsky, Tsiolkovsky took advantage of his other offer - he wrote a letter to Moscow, professor of Moscow University A.G. Stoletov, in which he spoke about his airship. Soon a reply letter arrived with an offer to speak at the Moscow Polytechnic Museum at a meeting of the Physics Department of the Society of Natural History Lovers.

In April 1887, Tsiolkovsky arrived in Moscow and, after a lengthy search, found the museum building. His report was entitled “On the possibility of building a metal balloon capable of changing its volume and even folding into a plane.” I didn’t have to read the report itself, just explain the main points. The listeners reacted favorably to the speaker, there were no fundamental objections, and several simple questions were asked. After the report was completed, an offer was made to help Tsiolkovsky settle in Moscow, but no real help was forthcoming. On the advice of Stoletov, Konstantin Eduardovich handed over the manuscript of the report to N. E. Zhukovsky.

In his memoirs, Tsiolkovsky also mentions his acquaintance during this trip with the famous teacher A.F. Malinin, the author of textbooks on mathematics: “I considered his textbooks excellent and am very indebted to him.” They talked about aeronautics, but Tsiolkovsky failed to convince Malinin of the reality of creating a controlled airship. After returning from Moscow, there was a long break in his work on the airship, associated with illness, travel, restoration of the economy and scientific materials lost in the fire and flood.

Model of a balloon shell made of corrugated metal (house-museum of K. E. Tsiolkovsky in Borovsk, 2007)

In 1889, Tsiolkovsky continued work on his airship. Assessing the failure in the Society of Natural History Lovers as a consequence of insufficient elaboration of his first manuscript about the balloon, Tsiolkovsky writes new article“On the possibility of building a metal balloon” (1890) and, together with a paper model of his airship, sends it to D.I. Mendeleev in St. Petersburg. Mendeleev, at the request of Tsiolkovsky, transferred all the materials to the Imperial Russian Technical Society (IRTO), V. I. Sreznevsky. Tsiolkovsky asked scientists to “help morally and morally as much as possible,” and also to allocate funds for the creation of a metal model of the balloon - 300 rubles. On October 23, 1890, at a meeting of the VII Department of the IRTS, Tsiolkovsky’s request was considered. The conclusion was given by military engineer E. S. Fedorov, a staunch supporter of heavier-than-air aircraft. The second opponent, the head of the first “personnel team of military aeronauts” A. M. Kovanko, like most of the other listeners, also denied the feasibility of devices like the one proposed. At this meeting, the IRTS decided:

1. It is very likely that the balloons will be metal.
2. Tsiolkovsky may, over time, provide significant services to aeronautics.
3. Still, it is still very difficult to arrange metal balloons. A balloon is a toy of the wind, and metal material is useless and inapplicable...

Provide moral support to Mr. Tsiolkovsky by informing him of the Department's opinion on his project. Reject the request for assistance for conducting experiments.

Despite the refusal of support, Tsiolkovsky sent thank you letter in IRTS. A small consolation was the message in Kaluga Provincial Gazette, and then in some other newspapers: News of the Day, Petersburg Newspaper, Russian Invalid about Tsiolkovsky’s report. These articles paid tribute to the originality of the idea and design of the balloon, and also confirmed the correctness of the calculations made. Tsiolkovsky uses his own funds to make small models of balloon shells (30x50 cm) from corrugated metal and wire models of the frame (30x15 cm) to prove, including to himself, the possibility of using metal.

In 1891, Tsiolkovsky made one last attempt to protect his airship in the eyes of the scientific community. He wrote a large work, “Controllable Metal Balloon,” in which he took into account Zhukovsky’s comments and wishes, and on October 16 he sent it, this time to Moscow, to A. G. Stoletova. There was no result again.

Then Konstantin Eduardovich turned to his friends for help and, using the funds raised, ordered the publication of a book at the Moscow printing house of M. G. Volchaninov. One of the donors was Konstantin Eduardovich’s school friend, the famous archaeologist A. A. Spitsyn, who was visiting the Tsiolkovskys at that time and conducting research on ancient human sites in the area of ​​​​the St. Pafnutiev Borovsky Monastery and at the mouth of the Isterma River. The publication of the book was carried out by Tsiolkovsky’s friend, teacher at the Borovsky School S.E. Chertkov. The book was published after Tsiolkovsky's transfer to Kaluga in two editions: the first - in 1892; the second - in 1893.

Other jobs. The first science fiction work. First publications

In 1887, Tsiolkovsky wrote a short story “On the Moon” - his first science fiction work. The story in many ways continues the traditions of “Free Space”, but is presented in a more artistic form and has a complete, albeit very conventional, plot. Two nameless heroes - the author and his physicist friend - unexpectedly end up on the moon. The main and only task of the work is to describe the impressions of the observer located on its surface. Tsiolkovsky’s story is distinguished by its persuasiveness, the presence of numerous details, and rich literary language:

Gloomy picture! Even the mountains are naked, shamelessly stripped, since we do not see a light veil on them - a transparent bluish haze that the air casts over the earth’s mountains and distant objects... Strict, amazingly distinct landscapes! And the shadows! Oh, how dark! And what sharp transitions from darkness to light! There are no those soft shimmers to which we are so accustomed and which only the atmosphere can give. Even the Sahara would seem like paradise in comparison with what we saw here.

K. E. Tsiolkovsky. On the moon. Chapter 1.

In addition to the lunar landscape, Tsiolkovsky describes the view of the sky and luminaries (including the Earth) observed from the surface of the Moon. He analyzed in detail the consequences of low gravity, the absence of an atmosphere, and other features of the Moon (speed of rotation around the Earth and the Sun, constant orientation relative to the Earth).

“...we watched an eclipse...” Rice. A. Hoffman

Tsiolkovsky “observes” a solar eclipse (the disk of the Sun is completely hidden by the Earth):

On the Moon it is a frequent and grandiose phenomenon... The shadow covers either the entire Moon, or in most cases a significant part of its surface, so that complete darkness lasts for whole hours...

The sickle has become even narrower and, along with the Sun, is barely noticeable...

The sickle became completely invisible...

It was as if someone on one side of the star had flattened its luminous mass with an invisible giant finger.

Only half of the Sun is already visible.

Finally, the last particle of him disappeared, and everything was plunged into darkness. A huge shadow came running and covered us.

But blindness quickly disappears: we see the moon and many stars.

The moon has the shape of a dark circle, engulfed in a magnificent crimson glow, especially bright, although pale on the side where the rest of the Sun has disappeared.

I see the colors of dawn that we once admired from Earth.

And the surroundings are filled with crimson, as if with blood.

K. E. Tsiolkovsky. On the moon. Chapter 4.

The story also talks about the expected behavior of gases and liquids and measuring instruments. The features of physical phenomena are described: heating and cooling of surfaces, evaporation and boiling of liquids, combustion and explosions. Tsiolkovsky makes a number of deliberate assumptions in order to demonstrate lunar realities. So, the heroes, finding themselves on the Moon, do without air; the absence of air does not affect them in any way. atmospheric pressure- they do not experience any particular inconvenience while on the surface of the Moon. The denouement is as conventional as the rest of the plot - the author wakes up on Earth and finds out that he was sick and in a lethargic sleep, which he informs his physicist friend about, surprising him with the details of his fantastic dream.

Over the last two years of living in Borovsk (1890-1891), Tsiolkovsky wrote several articles on various issues. Thus, during the period October 6, 1890 - May 18, 1891, based on experiments on air resistance, he wrote a large work “On the question of flying with wings.” The manuscript was handed over to A.G. Tsiolkovsky. Stoletov, he gave it to N.E. Zhukovsky for review, who wrote a restrained but quite favorable review:

The work of Mr. Tsiolkovsky makes a pleasant impression, since the author, using small means of analysis and cheap experiments, came to mostly correct results... The original research method, reasoning and witty experiments of the author are not without interest and, in any case, characterize him as a talented researcher... The author's reasoning in relation to the flight of birds and insects is correct and completely coincides with modern views on this subject.

Tsiolkovsky was asked to select a fragment from this manuscript and rework it for publication. This is how the article “The pressure of a liquid on a plane uniformly moving in it” appeared, in which Tsiolkovsky studied the movement of a round plate in an air flow, using his own theoretical model, an alternative to Newton’s, and also proposed the design of the simplest experimental setup - a “turntable”. In the second half of May, Tsiolkovsky wrote a short essay - “How to protect fragile and delicate things from shocks and blows.” These two works were sent to Stoletov and in the second half of 1891 they were published in the “Proceedings of the Department of Physical Sciences of the Society of Lovers of Natural History” (vol. IV), becoming the first publication of the works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky.

Family

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

In Borovsk, the Tsiolkovskys had four children: the eldest daughter Lyubov (1881) and sons Ignatius (1883), Alexander (1885) and Ivan (1888). The Tsiolkovskys lived poorly, but, according to the scientist himself, “they didn’t wear patches and never went hungry.” Konstantin Eduardovich spent most of his salary on books, physical and chemical instruments, tools, and reagents.

Over the years of living in Borovsk, the family was forced to change their place of residence several times - in the fall of 1883, they moved to Kaluzhskaya Street to the house of the sheep farmer Baranov. Since the spring of 1885 they lived in Kovalev’s house (on the same Kaluzhskaya street).

On April 23, 1887, the day Tsiolkovsky returned from Moscow, where he gave a report on a metal airship of his own design, a fire broke out in his house, in which manuscripts, models, drawings, a library, as well as all the Tsiolkovsky property, with the exception of a sewing machine, were lost. which they managed to throw through the window into the yard. This was the hardest blow for Konstantin Eduardovich; he expressed his thoughts and feelings in the manuscript “Prayer” (May 15, 1887).

Another move to the house of M.I. Polukhina on Kruglaya Street. On April 1, 1889, the Protva flooded, and the Tsiolkovskys’ house was flooded. Records and books were again damaged.

Since the autumn of 1889, the Tsiolkovskys lived in the house of the Molchanov merchants at 4 Molchanovskaya Street.

Relations with Borovsk residents

Tsiolkovsky developed friendly and even friendly relations with some residents of the city. His first senior friend after arriving in Borovsk was the school caretaker, Alexander Stepanovich Tolmachev, who unfortunately died in January 1881, a little later than Konstantin Eduardovich’s father. Among others are history and geography teacher Evgeny Sergeevich Eremeev and his wife’s brother Ivan Sokolov. Tsiolkovsky also maintained friendly relations with the merchant N.P. Glukharev, investigator N.K. Fetter, in whose house there was a home library, in the organization of which Tsiolkovsky also took part. Together with I.V. Shokin, Konstantin Eduardovich was interested in photography, making and flying kites from a cliff above the Tekizhensky ravine.

However, for most of his colleagues and residents of the city, Tsiolkovsky was an eccentric. At the school, he never took “tribute” from careless students, did not give paid additional lessons, had his own opinion on all issues, did not take part in feasts and parties and never celebrated anything himself, kept himself apart, was unsociable and unsociable. For all these “oddities,” his colleagues nicknamed him Zhelyabka and “suspected him of something that didn’t happen.” Tsiolkovsky interfered with them, irritated them. Colleagues, for the most part, dreamed of getting rid of him and twice reported Konstantin to the Director of public schools of the Kaluga province D. S. Unkovsky for his careless statements regarding religion. After the first denunciation, a request came about Tsiolkovsky’s trustworthiness, Evgraf Yegorovich (then Tsiolkovsky’s future father-in-law) and the school superintendent A.S. Tolmachev vouched for him. The second denunciation arrived after Tolmachev’s death, under his successor E.F. Filippov, a man unscrupulous in business and behavior, who had an extremely negative attitude towards Tsiolkovsky. The denunciation almost cost Tsiolkovsky his job; he had to go to Kaluga to give explanations, spending most of his monthly salary on the trip.

Residents of Borovsk also did not understand Tsiolkovsky and shunned him, laughed at him, some even feared him, calling him a “crazy inventor.” Tsiolkovsky’s eccentricities and his way of life, which was radically different from the way of life of the inhabitants of Borovsk, often caused bewilderment and irritation.

So, one day, with the help of a pantograph, Tsiolkovsky made a large paper hawk - a copy of a folding Japanese toy enlarged several times - painted it and launched it in the city, and residents mistook it for a real bird.

In winter, Tsiolkovsky loved to ski and skate. I came up with the idea of ​​driving on a frozen river with the help of a “sail” umbrella. Soon I made a sleigh with a sail using the same principle:

Peasants traveled along the river. The horses were frightened by the rushing sail, the passers-by swore in obscene voices. But due to my deafness, I didn’t realize this for a long time.

From the autobiography of K. E. Tsiolkovsky

Tsiolkovsky, being a nobleman, was a member of the Noble Assembly of Borovsk, gave private lessons to the children of the Leader of the local nobility, Actual State Councilor D. Ya. Kurnosov, which protected him from further attacks by the caretaker Filippov. Thanks to this acquaintance, as well as success in teaching, Tsiolkovsky received the rank of provincial secretary (August 31, 1884), then collegiate secretary (November 8, 1885), and titular councilor (December 23, 1886). On January 10, 1889, Tsiolkovsky received the rank of collegiate assessor.

Transfer to Kaluga

On January 27, 1892, the director of public schools D.S. Unkovsky turned to the trustee of the Moscow educational district with a request to transfer “one of the most capable and diligent teachers” to the district school of the city of Kaluga. At this time, Tsiolkovsky continued his work on aerodynamics and the theory of vortices in various media, and also awaited the publication of the book “Controllable Metal Balloon” in the Moscow printing house. The decision to transfer was made on February 4. In addition to Tsiolkovsky, teachers moved from Borovsk to Kaluga: S. I. Chertkov, E. S. Eremeev, I. A. Kazansky, Doctor V. N. Ergolsky.

Kaluga (1892-1935)

It got dark when we entered Kaluga. After the deserted road, it was nice to look at the flashing lights and people. The city seemed huge to us... In Kaluga there were many cobbled streets, tall buildings and the ringing of many bells flowed. In Kaluga there were 40 churches with monasteries. There were 50 thousand inhabitants.

(From the memoirs of Lyubov Konstantinovna, the scientist’s daughter)

Tsiolkovsky lived in Kaluga for the rest of his life. Since 1892 he worked as a teacher of arithmetic and geometry at the Kaluga district school. Since 1899, he taught physics classes at the diocesan girls' school, which was disbanded after October revolution. In Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky wrote his main works on cosmonautics, the theory of jet propulsion, space biology and medicine. He also continued work on the theory of a metal airship.

After completing teaching in 1921, Tsiolkovsky was assigned a personal lifetime pension. From that moment until his death, Tsiolkovsky was exclusively engaged in his research, dissemination of his ideas, and implementation of projects.

In Kaluga, the main philosophical works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky were written, the philosophy of monism was formulated, and articles were written about his vision ideal society future.

In Kaluga, the Tsiolkovskys had a son and two daughters. At the same time, it was here that the Tsiolkovskys had to endure the tragic death of many of their children: out of K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s seven children, five died during his lifetime.

In Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky met scientists A. L. Chizhevsky and Ya. I. Perelman, who became his friends and popularizers of his ideas, and later biographers.

The first years of life in Kaluga (1892-1902)

The Tsiolkovsky family arrived in Kaluga on February 4, settled in an apartment in the house of N.I. Timashova on Georgievskaya Street, rented in advance for them by E.S. Eremeev. Konstantin Eduardovich began teaching arithmetic and geometry at the Kaluga Diocesan School (in 1918-1921 - at the Kaluga Labor School).

Soon after his arrival, Tsiolkovsky met Vasily Assonov, a tax inspector, an educated, progressive, versatile man, fond of mathematics, mechanics and painting. Having read the first part of Tsiolkovsky’s book “Controllable Metal Balloon,” Assonov used his influence to organize a subscription to the second part of this work. This made it possible to collect the missing funds for its publication.

On August 8, 1892, the Tsiolkovskys had a son, Leonty, who died of whooping cough exactly a year later, on his first birthday. At this time there were holidays at the school and Tsiolkovsky spent the whole summer on the Sokolniki estate in Maloyaroslavets district with his old acquaintance D. Ya. Kurnosov (leader of the Borovsky nobility), where he gave lessons to his children. After the death of the child, Varvara Evgrafovna decided to change her apartment, and when Konstantin Eduardovich returned, the family moved to the Speransky house, located opposite, on the same street.

Assonov introduced Tsiolkovsky to the chairman of the Nizhny Novgorod circle of physics and astronomy lovers S.V. Shcherbakov. In the 6th issue of the circle’s collection, Tsiolkovsky’s article “Gravity as main source world energy" (1893), developing the ideas of the early work "Duration of Radiation of the Sun" (1883). The work of the circle was regularly published in the newly created journal “Science and Life”, and in the same year the text of this report was published in it, as well as a short article by Tsiolkovsky “Is a metal balloon possible”. On December 13, 1893, Konstantin Eduardovich was elected an honorary member of the circle.

Around the same time, Tsiolkovsky became friends with the Goncharov family. Kaluga Bank appraiser Alexander Nikolaevich Goncharov, nephew of the famous writer I. A. Goncharov, was a comprehensively educated person, knew several languages, corresponded with many prominent writers and public figures, he himself regularly published his works of art, devoted mainly to the theme of the decline and degeneration of the Russian nobility. Goncharov decided to support the publication of Tsiolkovsky’s new book - a collection of essays “Dreams of Earth and Heaven” (1894), his second work of art, while Goncharov’s wife, Elizaveta Aleksandrovna, translated the article “An iron controlled balloon for 200 people, the length of a large sea steamer” into French and German and sent them to foreign magazines. However, when Konstantin Eduardovich wanted to thank Goncharov and, without his knowledge, placed on the cover of the book the inscription Publication by A. N. Goncharov, this led to a scandal and a break in relations between the Tsiolkovskys and the Goncharovs.

In Kaluga, Tsiolkovsky also did not forget about science, astronautics and aeronautics. He built a special installation that made it possible to measure some aerodynamic parameters of aircraft. Since the Physicochemical Society did not allocate a penny for his experiments, the scientist had to use family funds to conduct research. By the way, Tsiolkovsky built more than 100 experimental models at his own expense and tested them. After some time, society finally paid attention to the Kaluga genius and provided him with financial support - 470 rubles, with which Tsiolkovsky built a new, improved installation - a “blower”.

The study of the aerodynamic properties of bodies of various shapes and possible designs of aircraft gradually led Tsiolkovsky to think about options for flight in airless space and the conquest of space. In 1895, his book “Dreams of Earth and Sky” was published, and a year later an article was published about other worlds, intelligent beings from other planets and about the communication of earthlings with them. In the same year, 1896, Tsiolkovsky began writing his main work, “The Study of World Spaces with Reactive Instruments,” published in 1903. This book touched on the problems of using rockets in space.

In 1896-1898, the scientist took part in the Kaluzhsky Vestnik newspaper, which published both materials from Tsiolkovsky himself and articles about him.

Early 20th century (1902-1918)

The first fifteen years of the 20th century were the most difficult in the life of a scientist. In 1902, his son Ignatius committed suicide. In 1908, during the Oka flood, his house was flooded, many cars and exhibits were disabled, and numerous unique calculations were lost. On June 5, 1919, the Council of the Russian Society of Lovers of World Studies accepted K. E. Tsiolkovsky as a member and he, as a member of the scientific society, was awarded a pension. This saved him from starvation during the years of devastation, since on June 30, 1919, the Socialist Academy did not elect him as a member and thereby left him without a livelihood. The Physicochemical Society also did not appreciate the significance and revolutionary nature of the models presented by Tsiolkovsky. In 1923, his second son, Alexander, also committed suicide.

Arrest and Lubyanka

On November 17, 1919, five people raided the Tsiolkovskys’ house. After searching the house, they took the head of the family and brought him to Moscow, where he was imprisoned in Lubyanka. There he was interrogated for several weeks. According to some reports, a certain high-ranking official interceded on Tsiolkovsky’s behalf, as a result of which the scientist was released.

In 1918, Tsiolkovsky was elected one of the competing members of the Socialist Academy of Social Sciences (renamed the Communist Academy in 1924), and on November 9, 1921, the scientist was awarded a lifetime pension for services to domestic and world science. This pension was paid until September 19, 1935 - on that day Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky died of stomach cancer in his hometown of Kaluga.

Six days before his death, September 13, 1935, K. E. Tsiolkovsky wrote in a letter to I. V. Stalin:

Before the revolution, my dream could not come true. Only October brought recognition to the works of a self-taught man: only the Soviet government and the Lenin-Stalin party provided me with effective help. I felt the love of the people, 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 the progress of human culture. I am confident that they will successfully complete my work.

The letter from the outstanding scientist soon received an answer: “To the famous scientist, Comrade K. E. Tsiolkovsky. Please accept my gratitude for a letter full of confidence in the Bolshevik Party and Soviet power. I wish you health and further fruitful work for the benefit of the working people. I shake your hand. I. Stalin."

The next day, a decree of the Soviet government was published on measures to perpetuate the memory of the great Russian scientist and on the transfer of his works to the Main Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet. Subsequently, by decision of the government, they were transferred to the USSR Academy of Sciences, where a special commission was created to develop the works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky. The commission distributed the scientist’s scientific works into sections. The first volume contained all the works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky on aerodynamics; the second volume - works on jet aircraft; the third volume - works on all-metal airships, on increasing the energy of heat engines and various issues of applied mechanics, on the issues of watering deserts and cooling human habitations in them, the use of tides and waves and various inventions; the fourth volume included Tsiolkovsky’s works on astronomy, geophysics, biology, the structure of matter and other problems; finally, the fifth volume contains biographical materials and correspondence of the scientist.

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

Correspondence between Tsiolkovsky and Zabolotsky (since 1932)

In 1932, correspondence between Konstantin Eduardovich was established with one of the most talented “poets of Thought” of his time, seeking the harmony of the universe - Nikolai Alekseevich Zabolotsky. The latter, in particular, wrote to Tsiolkovsky: “...Your thoughts about the future of the Earth, humanity, animals and plants deeply concern me, and they are very close to me. In my unpublished poems and poems, I resolved them as best I could.” Zabolotsky told him about the hardships of his own searches aimed at the benefit of humanity: “It is one thing to know, and another to feel. The conservative feeling, nurtured in us for centuries, clings to our consciousness and prevents it from moving forward.” Tsiolkovsky’s natural philosophical research left an extremely significant imprint on the work of this author.

Scientific achievements

K. E. Tsiolkovsky claimed that he developed the theory of rocket science only as an application to his philosophical research. He wrote more than 400 works, most of which are little known to the general reader.

Tsiolkovsky's first scientific research dates back to 1880-1881. Not knowing about the discoveries already made, he wrote the work “Theory of Gases,” in which he outlined the foundations of the kinetic theory of gases. His second work, “Mechanics of the Animal Organism,” received a favorable review from I.M. Sechenov, and Tsiolkovsky was accepted into the Russian Physical and Chemical Society. Tsiolkovsky's main works after 1884 were associated with four major problems: the scientific basis for the all-metal balloon (airship), the streamlined airplane, the hovercraft, and the rocket for interplanetary travel.

·

“Tsiolkovsky’s contribution to astronautics,” wrote the founder of domestic rocket engine production V.P. Glushko is immeasurably great. We can safely say: almost everything that we are doing now in this area was foreseen by a modest provincial teacher from the turn of the century.”

And here is how S.P. noted the role of Konstantin Eduardovich. Korolev: “The most remarkable, courageous and original creation of Tsiolkovsky’s creative mind is his ideas and work in the field of rocket technology. Here he has no predecessors and is far ahead of scientists from all countries and his contemporary era.”

Origin. Tsiolkovsky family

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky came from the Polish noble family of the Tsiolkovskys (Polish. Ciołkowski) coat of arms of Yastrzembets.

The first mention of the Tsiolkovskys belonging to the noble class dates back to 1697.

According to family legend, the Tsiolkovsky family traced its genealogy to the Cossack Severin Nalivaiko, the leader of the anti-feudal peasant-Cossack uprising in Ukraine in the 16th century.

Severin Nalivaiko

Answering the question of how the Cossack family became noble, Sergei Samoilovich, a researcher of Tsiolkovsky’s work and biography, suggests that Nalivaiko’s descendants were exiled to the Plotsk Voivodeship, where they became related to a noble family and adopted their surname - Tsiolkovsky; This surname allegedly came from the name of the village of Tselkovo (that is, Telyatnikovo, Polish. Ciołkowo).

It is documented that the founder of the family was a certain Maciej (Polish. Maciey, in modern Polish spelling. Maciej), who had three sons: Stanislav, Yakov (Yakub, Polish. Jakub) and Valerian, who after the death of their father became the owners of the villages of Velikoye Tselkovo, Maloe Tselkovo and Snegovo. The surviving record says that the landowners of the Płock Voivodeship, the Tsiolkovsky brothers, took part in the election of the Polish king Augustus the Strong in 1697. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is a descendant of Yakov.

By the end of the 18th century, the Tsiolkovsky family became greatly impoverished. In conditions of deep crisis and collapse of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Polish nobility also experienced difficult times. In 1777, 5 years after the first partition of Poland, K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s great-grandfather Tomas (Foma) sold the Velikoye Tselkovo estate and moved to the Berdichev district of the Kiev voivodeship in Right Bank Ukraine, and then to the Zhitomir district of the Volyn province. Many subsequent representatives of the family held minor positions in the judiciary. Not having any significant privileges from their nobility, they forgot about it and their coat of arms for a long time.

On May 28, 1834, K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s grandfather, Ignatius Fomich, received certificates of “noble dignity” so that his sons, according to the laws of that time, would have the opportunity to continue their education. Thus, starting with father K. E. Tsiolkovsky, the family regained its noble title.

Parents of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

Konstantin's father, Eduard Ignatievich Tsiolkovsky (1820-1881, full name - Makar-Eduard-Erasm, Makary Edward Erazm). Born in the village of Korostyanin (now Goshchansky district, Rivne region in northwestern Ukraine). In 1841 he graduated from the Forestry and Land Surveying Institute in St. Petersburg, then served as a forester in the Olonets and St. Petersburg provinces. In 1843 he was transferred to the Pronsky forestry of the Spassky district of the Ryazan province. While living in the village of Izhevsk, he met his future wife Maria Ivanovna Yumasheva (1832-1870), mother of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. Having Tatar roots, she was raised in the Russian tradition. The ancestors of Maria Ivanovna moved to the Pskov province under Ivan the Terrible. Her parents, small landed nobles, also owned a cooperage and basketry workshop. Maria Ivanovna was an educated woman: she graduated from high school, knew Latin, mathematics and other sciences. Almost immediately after the wedding in 1849, the Tsiolkovsky couple moved to the village of Izhevskoye, Spassky district, where they lived until 1860.

K.E. was born. Tsiolkovsky September 17, 1857 in the village of Izhevsky, Spassky district, Ryazan province, in the family of a forester.

He had a difficult childhood. At the age of nine, after complications from scarlet fever, he became deaf. A year later my mother died. The boy stayed with his father. Naturally very shy, after the death of his mother he became even more withdrawn into himself. The loneliness no longer left him. Deafness interfered with my studies. Therefore, after the second grade of the Vyatka gymnasium, he had to leave.

gymnasium in Vyatka

In 1873, the father, noticing technical abilities in his son, sent the 16-year-old boy to Moscow to study. However, he failed to enroll somewhere, and he continued his self-education.

Getting acquainted with this difficult period of the Moscow life of young Tsiolkovsky, you never cease to be amazed at his thoroughness, systematic thinking, and amazing determination. Confirmation of this is the recognition of Tsiolkovsky himself. “I took a thorough and systematic course in elementary mathematics and physics for the first year. In the second year I took up higher mathematics. I read courses in higher algebra, differential and integral calculus, analytical geometry, spherical trigonometry, etc.” And this is at 16-17 years old! With a half-starved existence. After all, the guy ate bread and potatoes. And the money that my father sent monthly was spent on books.

He lived in Moscow for three difficult years. It was necessary to decide what to do next. At his father’s request he returned to Vyatka. And again - self-education, experiments, minor inventions. In 1879, Tsiolkovsky passed the exams to become a teacher. primary school. And soon he became a mathematics teacher at a district school in the city of Borovsk.

house-museum of K.E. Tsiolkovsky in Borovsk

office-workshop K.E. Tsiolkovsky in Borovsk

August 20 - Konstantin Tsiolkovsky marries Varvara Evgrafovna Sokolova. The young couple begins to live separately and the young scientist continues his physical experiments and technical creativity. In Tsiolkovsky's house, electric lightning flashes, thunder rumbles, bells ring, paper dolls dance. Visitors were also amazed at the “electric octopus,” which grabbed everyone’s nose or fingers with its legs, and then the hair of those caught in its “paws” stood on end and sparks jumped out from any part of the body. A rubber bag was inflated with hydrogen and carefully balanced using a paper boat with sand. As if alive, he wandered from room to room, following the air currents, rising and falling.

K.Ya. Tsiolkovsky with his family

And after 12 years of living in Borovsk, he moved to Kaluga.

In this city he lived the rest of his life, where he wrote his main works and made his greatest discoveries.

house-museum of K.E. Tsiolkovsky in Kaluga

Also in teenage years he has a thought: is it possible for a person to rise into the stratosphere? He is thinking about an aircraft for such a flight and for several years has been creating a controllable all-metal airship.

Model of a balloon shell made of corrugated metal(house-museum of K.E. Tsiolkovsky in Borovsk)

Tsiolkovsky published his theoretical justifications and calculations in the book “Controllable Metal Balloon,” which was published in 1892. This work contained many valuable thoughts.

First of all, it was valuable for one important discovery: the scientist was the first to develop a device and a regulator for the stable direction of the axis, that is, the prototype of a modern autopilot.

Konstantin Eduardovich was and for a long time remained a staunch supporter of the all-metal balloon. Mistaken about the advantageous prospects of airships over heavier-than-air vehicles, he nevertheless studied the theory of the airplane. In 1894, he wrote the article “Airplane, or Bird-like (aviation) flying machine.” He is interested in everything connected with the airplane: what is the role of speed for it and what engines can give it speed; what should be the flight control rudders and the most advantageous shapes of the aircraft. “We need to give the apparatus,” he wrote, “the sharpest and smoothest possible shape (like birds and fish) and not give the wings too much large sizes so as not to excessively increase friction and resistance of the medium.”

Since 1896, he has been seriously studying the theory of jet propulsion. “For a long time,” the scientist recalled, “I looked at the rocket like everyone else: from the point of view of entertainment and small applications. I don’t remember well how it occurred to me to make calculations related to the rocket. It seems to me that the first seeds - thoughts - were conceived by the famous dreamer Jules Verne, he awakened the work of my brain.”
So, a rocket. Why did the scientist take up this issue? Yes, because, according to Tsiolkovsky, she is destined to overcome the gravity of the Earth and escape into space. After all, neither an airship nor artillery shell, nor an airplane. Only a rocket can provide the speed necessary to break Earth's gravity. It also solves another problem: rocket fuel. Powder? No. Too much of it would be required to travel into interplanetary space. And how would this negatively affect the weight of the spacecraft. What if gunpowder is replaced with liquid fuel?

After painstaking calculations, formulas, the conclusion: for space flights, liquid fuel engines are needed... He outlined all this in his work “Exploration of World Spaces with Jet Instruments,” published in 1903. By the way, the scientist not only outlined theoretical basis rocket, not only substantiated the possibility of its use for interplanetary communications, but also described this rocket ship: “Let’s imagine such a projectile: a metal oblong chamber (the form of least resistance), equipped with light, oxygen, an absorber of carbon dioxide, miasma and other animal secretions, designed not only for storing various physical devices, but also for the camera manager intelligent being. The chamber has a large supply of substances, which, when mixed, immediately form an explosive mass. These substances, exploding correctly and fairly evenly in a specific place, flow in the form of hot gases through pipes that expand towards the end, like a horn or a wind musical instrument.” The fuel was hydrogen, and the oxidizing agent was liquid oxygen. The rocket was controlled by gas graphite rudders.

Years later, he returns again and again to his work “Exploration of world spaces using jet instruments.” Publishes its second and third parts. In them, he further develops his theoretical views on the use of rockets for interplanetary flights and rethinks what he had written earlier. The scientist reaffirms: only a rocket is suitable for space flight. Moreover, the spaceship-rocket must be placed on another rocket, an earthly one, or embedded in it. The terrestrial rocket, without leaving the surface, gives it the desired takeoff. In other words, Tsiolkovsky put forward the idea of ​​space rocket trains.

Composite rockets were proposed before Tsiolkovsky. He was the first to mathematically accurately and in detail study the problem of achieving high cosmic velocities using rockets, and substantiated the reality of its solution given the existing level of technology. This idea is today implemented in multi-stage space launch vehicles.

Tsiolkovsky’s bold, daring flight of thoughts was mistaken by many around him for the delirium of an unbalanced mind. Of course, he had friends N.E. Zhukovsky, D.I. Mendeleev, A.G. Stoletov and others. They passionately supported the scientist's ideas. But these were only individual voices that were drowning in a sea of ​​mistrust, hostility and mocking attitude of official representatives of the scientific community of that time. The smartest man, Konstantin Eduardovich, deeply experienced this attitude towards him.

The theory of jet propulsion was also developed by Tsiolkovsky’s contemporaries, foreign scientists - the Frenchman Esnault-Peltry, the German Gobert and others. They published their works in 1913-1923, that is, much later than Konstantin Eduardovich.

In the 1920s, reports appeared in European publications about the works of Hermann Oberth. In them, he came to similar conclusions as Tsiolkovsky, but much later. Nevertheless, his articles did not even mention the name of the Russian scientist.

Robert Albert Charles Esnault-Peltry Hermann Julius Oberth

Chairman of the Association of Naturalists Professor A.P. Modestov spoke in print in defense of Tsiolkovsky's priority. He named the works of Konstantin Eduardovich, published earlier than the works of foreign colleagues, and cited reviews of famous domestic scientists on the works of Tsiolkovsky. “By printing these certificates, the Presidium of the All-Russian Association of Naturalists has the goal of restoring Tsiolkovsky’s priority in developing the issue of a jet device (rocket) for extra-atmospheric and interplanetary spaces.” And when Tsiolkovsky’s new book “Rocket in Outer Space” was published the following year, Oberth, having read it, wrote to him: “You lit a fire, and we will not let it go out, but we will make every effort to make the great dream of mankind come true.”

The priority of the Russian scientist was also recognized by the German Society for Interplanetary Communications. On the day of Konstantin Eduardovich’s 75th birthday, the Germans addressed him with greetings. “From the day of its foundation, the Society for Interplanetary Communications has always considered you one of its spiritual leaders and has never missed an opportunity to point out, verbally and in print, your high merits and your undeniable priority in the scientific development of our great idea.”

family of K.E. Tsiolkovsky in Kaluga

Of course, Tsiolkovsky’s contribution to space science is colossal. But Konstantin Eduardovich’s letters, his support, approval, and attention were very important for young scientists, designers, engineers. Among those aspiring designers supported by the great scientist was the young S.P. Korolev. He visited Tsiolkovsky, talked with him for a long time, listened to his advice. It was the meeting with Tsiolkovsky, according to Korolev, that played a decisive role in the direction of his activities.

Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky and Sergei Pavlovich Korolev

On September 19, 1935, Tsiolkovsky passed away. They called him a dreamer. Yes, he was a dreamer in the highest sense of the word. Many of his dreams have already come true, many will certainly become reality in the future.

When talking about Tsiolkovsky’s contribution to space science, we regularly use the word first. He was the first to substantiate the possibility of providing a rocket with escape velocity, and the first to solve the problem of landing a spacecraft on the surface of atmosphereless planets. He was the first scientist to put forward the idea of ​​an artificial Earth satellite.

Tsiolkovsky left more than 450 manuscripts of scientific, popular science and educational works, thousands of letters to his colleagues and like-minded people, some of which he hoped to publish. His legacy is invaluable. Not everything from Konstantin Eduardovich’s archive has been published to this day. According to experts, only one third of the archive has been studied.

Model of a rocket developed by Tsiolkovsky. State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics

monument in Moscow

in Dolgoprudny

monument to K.E. Tsiolkovsky in Borovsk

K.E. Tsiolkovsky in Kaluga

medal K.E. Tsiolkovsky

spaceship “K.E. Tsiolkovsky “

A.V. Kostin

Report at the Seventh Scientific Readings dedicated to the development of the scientific heritage and the development of the ideas of K.E. Tsiolkovsky (Kaluga, September 14 - 18, 1972).

Publication: A.V. Kostin. New information about K.E.'s family Tsiolkovsky // Proceedings of the Seventh Readings dedicated to the development of the scientific heritage and the development of the ideas of K.E. Tsiolkovsky (Kaluga, September 14 - 18, 1972). Section “Research of scientific creativity of K.E. Tsiolkovsky. – M.: IIET, 1973. – P. 59 – 68.

The relationship between K. E. Tsiolkovsky and his family had a certain significance in the life and creative process of the scientist, and he attached great importance to these relationships.

In recent years, the author of this article has paid a lot of attention to studying materials about the lives of two daughters of K. E. Tsiolkovsky: Maria Konstantinovna Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina and Anna Konstantinovna Tsiolkovskaya-Kiselyova. The life path of the scientist’s three sons was studied: Ignatius Konstantinovich, Alexander Konstantinovich and Ivan Konstantinovich. In addition, the author was interested in the life and activities of the scientist’s son-in-law, Efim Aleksandrovich Kiselev, one of the oldest members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

It is quite natural that the role of K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s relatives listed above is difficult to even compare with the importance in his life and work of his wife Varvara Evgrafovna and daughter Lyubov Konstantinovna. They were his first and faithful assistants. It is no coincidence that a special report was dedicated to the scientist’s eldest daughter at the Quadruple Readings dedicated to the development of the scientific heritage of K. E. Tsiolkovsky (1).

However, a number of new documents, memoirs and epistolary materials studied by the author give the right to speak about these family members with well-deserved respect, since they played a certain role in the life of the scientist, provided him with support and assistance.

The scientist’s eldest daughter, L.K. Tsiolkovskaya, wrote: “my father’s criticism of everything around us pushed our thoughts; We were especially interested in “damned questions” - about the beginning and cause of everything, about the purpose of life for humanity and man, etc.” (2, p. 181).

In her memoirs, Lyubov Konstantinovna continues the thought: “My brothers grew up and began to reason; Brother Ignatius was especially irreconcilable to everything around him. He endlessly ridiculed both the orders and the bearers of these orders” (3, p. 50).

Many are interested in the fate of Ignatius Konstantinovich Tsiolkovsky, because often in literary and biographical works, due to his early death, he is surrounded by a veil of mystery.

Ignatius was born on August 2, 1883 in Borovsk. He was the second child of the Tsiolkovskys. An exceptionally smart and capable boy studied well at the Borovsky district school and at the Kaluga gymnasium, for which his schoolmates nicknamed him Archimedes. Konstantin Eduardovich, according to his eldest daughter, assumed that after graduating from university his son would be deeply involved in the problems of physics and mathematics.

In the rough drafts of her memoirs, L.K. Tsiolkovskaya touchingly talks about this extraordinary man, about how, as a high school student, he tried to alleviate the difficult financial situation of his family. “Ignatius began earning money at the age of 16,” we read in the memoirs of his older sister, “and learned all the bitterness of a mercenary... So one of the military ladies wanted to turn him almost into a lackey for her over-aged son. Ignatius, usually reserved, burst into tears when he came home. To make his father’s life easier, he entered a boarding house with government support. But the drill there, life on call among alien children of rich parents added mental hardships” (3, pp. 80-81).

Working almost every summer as a tutor, Ignatius saved money to study at a higher educational institution. Having graduated with honors from the Kaluga Men's Gymnasium, in the summer of 1902 the 19-year-old young man left for Moscow to enter the university. At first he liked student life. He wrote to his sister Lyubov, who was working as a rural teacher at that time, that he went to theaters and listened to Chaliapin with delight. Then he announced that he was going to transfer from the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics to Medicine.

On December 3, 1902, the Tsiolkovskys received a telegram about the tragic death of Ignatius. Konstantin Eduardovich, who went to Moscow for the funeral, learned from his son’s comrades that in recent days Ignatius had not attended university and was sad and thoughtful. K. E. Tsiolkovsky was given a note from his son and almost the entire amount of money brought from Kaluga. Konstantin Eduardovich gave this money to his daughter Lyubov so that she could continue her studies at higher courses for women.

Several years ago, the Leningrad researcher of the life and work of K. E. Tsiolkovsky G. T. Chernenko discovered interesting documents about last period the life of I.K. Tsiolkovsky, including a report from a police officer about the death of a student, his autographed photograph and an application for admission to the university, dated July 2, 1902 (4). Ignatius Konstantinovich was poisoned with potassium cyanide. Death came instantly.

Great was the grief of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, who lost his son. With his characteristic self-criticism, he accused himself of not saving his son, because of his busy scientific and pedagogical work, he did not attach sufficient importance to his son’s passion for decadent philosophy, and did not direct him towards his passion for science for the benefit of humanity.

Perhaps Tsiolkovsky was right in blaming himself, but he did not attach importance to another fact. At that time, in connection with the revolutionary ferment of students, a cruel punishment of tsarist violence and tyranny fell upon them, which can be considered one of the reasons for the death of Tsiolkovsky’s eldest son Ignatius.

The second son of the scientist, Alexander Konstantinovich Tsiolkovsky, was two years younger than Ignatius. Biographical information about him is even more sparse. He was born in the city of Borovsk on November 21, 1885. L.K. Tsiolkovskaya gives him the following description: “Brother Sasha was very nervous, he was very worried about all the suffering of people” (3, p. 82). According to her, after graduating from high school, the same as her brother, “... Sasha also tried to enter the university at the Faculty of Law, but due to lack of funds... he became a teacher” (3, p. 48).

From a letter from K. E. Tsiolkovsky to his daughter Maria we learn that in 1910-14. Alexander worked as a teacher in the village of Klimov Zavod, Yukhnovsky district, Kaluga province: “Be sure to write to Sasha, explain why you couldn’t come to Klimov earlier...” (5, office 314).

In 1913, already working as a rural teacher, Alexander Konstantinovich married Kaluga teacher Yulia Andreevna Zhabina. Together they worked in Yukhnovsky district, and then moved to the village. Bold, Romnensky district, Poltava province.

The memories of A.K. Tsiolkovsky’s wife’s sister Anna Andreevna Solovyova, several postcards donated to the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, give us the opportunity to establish in what years and where the middle son of Konstantin Eduardovich worked as a teacher. According to the memoirs of A. A. Solovyova, Alexander Konstantinovich moved to Ukraine in 1918, and in the fall of 1923 he committed suicide (5, 6).

Ivan Konstantinovich Tsiolkovsky was also born in Borovsk on August 1, 1888. He was a sickly child from childhood. In the rough drafts of her memoirs, L.K. Tsiolkovskaya writes: “The third brother Vanya had the ability to invent, but they were drowned out by the lack of opportunity to work in a cramped room, with his father’s nervous state” (3, p. 11).

Due to poor health, Ivan Konstantinovich was only able to graduate from the city school and later an accounting course. But he couldn’t do counting work: he was inattentive and confused the numbers. But he helped Varvara Evgrafovna a lot with household chores, showing a rationalizing streak on occasion. So, he mechanized water delivery using his father’s bicycle. He willingly and conscientiously carried out one-time assignments from his father: he copied his manuscripts thoroughly, went to the post office and printing house, corrected proofs together with Konstantin Eduardovich, helped the scientist conduct experiments on aerodynamics and test models of airships.

In the difficult and hungry year of 1919, I.K. Tsiolkovsky died of intestinal volvulus, poisoned by spoiled sauerkraut. Konstantin Eduardovich experienced the tragic death of his son for a long time. He placed Ivan's photograph on his desk. She stood before the scientist’s eyes until his death.

A year after Ivan’s death in 1920, through the concerns of a cooperative of students in Kaluga, K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s brochure “The Wealth of the Universe” (Chapter from the essay: “Thoughts about a better social order”) was published (7). The main text was preceded by an epigraph from Konstantin Eduardovich: “When publishing this article, I consider it my duty to remember my son Ivan, my conscientious and dear assistant, who copied all my works since 1918 and in general throughout his short life was an active and meek collaborator of my family. He died on October 5, 1919, in great agony, due to malnutrition and intense labor, at the age of 32” (7, p. 4).

Maria Konstantinovna Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina. The following message was published in the Pravda newspaper on December 17, 1964: “Kaluga, 16. (By telephone). Here, after a long serious illness, the daughter and faithful assistant of the great Russian scientist K. E. Tsiolkovsky, Maria Konstantinovna Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina, died.

Two months ago, the public celebrated the 70th anniversary of her birth with great warmth and cordiality. Dozens of congratulations were then delivered to Maria Konstantinovna by mail and telegraph.

Maria Konstantinovna contributed a lot to the propaganda of her father's works. As a member of the academic council of the House-Museum of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, she helped to recreate the scientist’s memorial room-office in the museum” (8).

These warm words on the pages of the central printed organ of our party refer to the last years of the life of M.K. Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina, the middle daughter of a scientist. She was an inconspicuous but modest assistant to her father for many years.

Maria Konstantinovna was born in October 1894 in Kaluga in a house on Georgievskaya Street. Tsiolkovsky lived in this house for about ten years and wrote many of his fundamental works on cosmonautics and rocket dynamics, aviation and aeronautics; calculated and built a wind tunnel for research in artificial air flow of aircraft models and geometric bodies of various configurations.

Maria Konstantinovna, like her older sister, studied at a state-owned girls' gymnasium. We learn about her first childhood years from her memoirs about her father, published in the newspaper “Commune” on the first anniversary of the death of K. E. Tsiolkovsky (10) and in the collection “Tsiolkovsky in the Memoirs of Contemporaries” (9, pp. 227-235 ).

In the fall of 1913, after graduating from the 8th teacher class at the gymnasium, Maria Konstantinovna went to a remote Smolensk village to teach children to read and write.

It is very characteristic that Tsiolkovsky, being an excellent teacher, encouraged in his children the desire to bring education to the masses. Lyubov, Alexander and Maria began their careers as rural teachers. Their father often gave them practical advice, drawing on his rich teaching experience. In turn, he was very interested in the working conditions of teachers in the village, the economy and life of peasant farms.

There was regular correspondence between Maria Konstantinovna and her family. Several letters from Konstantin Eduardovich, Varvara Evgrafovna and Anna Konstantinovna to a young rural teacher have survived (5, 11).

The letters from Anna's younger sister to Maria Konstantinovna are sometimes cheerful, sometimes sad, but all witty and tender. These letters reveal new facts about the father and the family’s way of life.

In 1915, Maria Konstantinovna married Veniamin Yakovlevich Kostin, a student at Moscow University. Between father-in-law and son-in-law they immediately establish a good relationship built on mutual trust and respect. The surviving letter from Konstantin Eduardovich to V. Ya. Kostin is imbued with love. Tsiolkovsky writes confidentially to his son-in-law about his scientific affairs and family life (5, office 315). In the memoirs of M.V. Samburova (16) and others, stored in the collections of the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics, some attention is paid to this friendship.

A number of materials discovered in Lately, says that even during the difficult years of the civil war, during which Maria Konstantinovna lived in the village, she tried to support her father, mother and sister who lived in Kaluga with food. More than once she invited Konstantin Eduardovich to “feed” in the village, to which he replied that he could not leave his scientific work. In the correspondence of the parents with their daughter Maria, in the letters of Anna Tsiolkovskaya to her sister, this invisible, but very necessary at that time, material assistance to the scientist from the daughter and son-in-law is very clearly visible (5, 11).

In 1929, Maria Konstantinovna’s family moved from the village to Kaluga to her father’s house. Unnoticed, tactfully, without offending her mother, M.K. Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina takes on household chores. She goes to get rations for her father, to the market, washes, cleans, and raises six children. In 1932, on the days of the scientist’s 75th birthday, he helped him receive numerous visitors.

In 1933, Konstantin Eduardovich moved with his family to new house, presented to him by the Kaluga City Council. Maria Konstantinovna is engaged in numerous household chores, takes care of maintaining the house in exemplary order, and creates the most favorable conditions for her father for work and rest.

Responsive and kind by nature, M.K. Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina receives her father’s visitors: rocket scientists, airship pilots, writers, press and film workers, representatives of local party and Soviet organizations. The secretary of the Kaluga district party committee B.E. Treivas, engineers L.K. Korneev and Ya.A. Rapoport spoke warmly about Maria Konstantinovna. She was familiar with I. T. Kleimenov, M. K. Tikhonravov, A. E. Fersman, V. M. Molokov, writers L. Kassil and N. Bobrov.

On September 18, 1936, speaking in the city theater at a funeral meeting dedicated to the first anniversary of the death of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, Maria Konstantinovna said:

“Our family expresses deep gratitude to the Bolshevik Party... for the fact that it, and only it, appreciated the dreams and works of our father, husband and grandfather. He died with the firm confidence that his business was in the strong hands of Soviet power and the Communist Party... We are especially touched that the party and government do not forget his family” (15).

After the end of the Great Patriotic War with the growing interest of workers in the works of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, in his life and work, the flow of letters to Kaluga increased, and Maria Konstantinovna, together with her older sister, answers numerous letters and requests, meets with representatives of scientific institutions, writers, journalists, artists, film workers . Correspondence especially expanded and meetings became more frequent after the launch of the first Soviet artificial Earth satellite and the flight of Yu. A. Gagarin. The most numerous correspondents of M.K. Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina were children - the creators of corners and museums of K.E. Tsiolkovsky.

In the last years of M.K.’s life. Tsiolkovskaya, already seriously ill with polyarthritis, willingly responded to the request of the scientist’s House Museum to draw up a plan for the everyday interiors of the Tsiolkovsky house. She consulted and gave a positive assessment to the thematic and exhibition plan for the re-exposition of the K. E. Tsiolkovsky House Museum. She has significantly improved her memories of her father. We can rightfully say that throughout her adult life M.K. Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina was a devoted assistant to her great father.

Anna Konstantinovna Tsiolkovskaya-Kiseleva. Efim Alexandrovich Kiselev. It is impossible not to say about youngest daughter scientist Anna Konstantinovna and her husband Efim Aleksandrovich Kiselev, whom K.E. loved very much. Tsiolkovsky.

Anna was born in 1897 in Kaluga. Since childhood, she was a weak and sickly child and lived only 24 years. She did not study at the state gymnasium, like her sisters Lyubov and Maria, but at the private gymnasium of M. Shalaeva. This gymnasium provided very solid knowledge, and the attitude towards students there was humane.

The scientist’s youngest daughter loved to draw and sing, was witty and sociable. From the first to the last days of her life she was very friendly with her sister Maria. This is confirmed by several surviving letters from the younger sister to the middle one.

Here are lines from one letter written by Anna in the spring of 1914: “Dear Marusechka! Since the morning without end it's raining… Everything is melting. Water knocks on the roof. There is silence in our house, as always after dinner. Dad is sleeping in the dining room. Mom is embroidering on a hoop in the middle room by the window... The river has risen, dirty, small ice is flowing along it. Must be from Yachenka...” (11, l. 1).

Another excerpt from letters to the village, dated 1915: “Dad is reading, mom is standing by the bed in the middle (room) and talking to me, there are open textbooks on the table around me, we have just had dinner...” (11, l. 3) .

The Great October Socialist Revolution found Anna Konstantinovna having already graduated from high school with the title of “home teacher.” Tsiolkovsky’s relatives keep two interesting documents: a birth certificate and a certificate of education for the scientist’s youngest daughter.

An enthusiastic girl, inspired by the revolution, begins to serve the Soviet government. Works first in the food department, then in the social security department. Then she is transferred to work as an employee of the provincial newspaper "Commune". Together with her older sister, Lyubov Konstantinovna, who returned from Petrograd, Anna works in orphanages as a primary school teacher.

Since 1918, A.K. Tsiolkovskaya has been a member of the Communist Party (12).

Meeting E. A. Kiselev, a party member since 1904, a participant in the December armed uprising in Moscow in 1905, a deputy of the Moscow Council of Workers' Deputies, a delegate to the 5th London Congress of the RSDLP from Moscow workers, a participant in the formation of Soviet power in the Kaluga province , had a positive impact on the formation of Anna Konstantinovna’s Marxist worldview.

IN difficult years Civil War Kiselev and his wife Anna (they got married in January 1920) tried to help their father with food, firewood, kerosene, and paper for work, although life was not easy for them themselves. Anna was often sick.

After the birth of her child, Anna Konstantinovna developed tuberculosis. E. A. Kiselev wrote in his memoirs: “In 1921, after giving birth, Anya fell ill with pulmonary tuberculosis; it was impossible to send her to the south for treatment in a sanatorium in those difficult years.” Efim Aleksandrovich tried to achieve a transfer to the south, but to no avail (9, p. 238).

In a letter to her sister Maria, Anna wrote: “It’s partly good that Efim will not be released to the south. And then when will we see each other... But still, spring will come, maybe it won’t be long to wait. You, too, are waiting for her with the same impatience” (11, l. 7).

Without allowing Kiselev to go south, the provincial party committee allowed him to move to work in the village and instructed him to organize a small production enterprise. Efim Aleksandrovich hoped that his wife would feel better and that conditions would be more favorable for the newly born child.

This farm was located near Kaluga in the Przemysl district, in the former Buttercup Monastery. Tsiolkovsky came there on a bicycle, rejoicing that his daughter’s health seemed to be improving. In fact, she was getting worse and worse.

Here is an excerpt from Anna’s last, dying letter to Maria: “I don’t go out into the air at all. Even in good weather, I tried to go out (it was very warm) and fell asleep for a week and a half. I feel good mentally. I pulled myself together completely. I don’t think about anything bad at all...” (11, l. 12).

From the letter of the collective farmer of the collective farm “May 1” A.G. Kuznetsova to the museum of K.E. Tsiolkovsky it follows that “Tsiolkovsky’s daughter, aka Kiseleva, a communist, is buried in Korekozevo, and not in the cemetery, but behind the vegetable gardens, close to the houses, where four pines grew" (14).

Efim Aleksandrovich Kiselev died in Moscow several years ago. He was a personal pensioner, one of the oldest members of the CPSU.
The death of adult children always had a hard impact on Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, but he bravely endured the blows of fate, drawing strength from hard work in the name of a bright future for humanity.

The search and some systematization of new data about the family of Konstantin Eduardovich complements the image of the great scientist and provides a certain background against which the life of the founder of astronautics took place.

Sources and literature

1. A. V. Kostin. Lyubov Konstantinovna Tsiolkovskaya is her father’s faithful assistant. Proceedings of the Fourth Readings, dedicated to the development of the scientific heritage and the development of the ideas of K. E. Tsiolkovsky. Section "Research of the scientific creativity of K. E. Tsiolkovsky." M., 1970, pp. 56-66.
2. Lyubov Tsiolkovskaya. His life. In: K. E. Tsiolkovsky. M., 1939, pp. 179-186.
3. L. K. Tsiolkovskaya. Continuation of “My Memories”, part 1. Archive of the author of the article.
4. G. Chernenko. Everything for the high. Gas. “Soviet Youth” (Riga), June 8, 1969, No. 3, p. 6.
5. Letters from K. E. Tsiolkovsky to M. K. Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina and V. Ya. Kostin. Archive of the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky, office. Nos. 165, 313, 314, 315.
6. A. A. Solovyova. Memories. Archive of the State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics (SMIC) named after K. E. Tsiolkovsky, office. No. 153.
7. K. E. Tsiolkovsky. The wealth of the Universe. Kaluga, 1920
8. In memory of M.K. Tsiolkovskaya-Kostina. Pravda, December 17 1964, No. 352, p. 4
9. Tsiolkovsky in the memoirs of his contemporaries. Collection. Tula. 1971. Exceptional energy, kindness and responsiveness. (From the memoirs of K. E. Tsiolkovsky’s daughter, Maria Konstantinovna Tsiolkovskaya). Newspaper "Commune" (Kaluga), September 19, 1936, No. 215, p. 3.
10. Letters from A.K. Tsiolkovskaya to M.K. Tsiolkovskaya. Article author's archive
11. Party archive of the Kaluga regional committee of the CPSU, f. 1093, op. 1, d. 78-a, l. 19.
12. L. K. Tsiolkovskaya. My memories of my father. Archive of the author of the article.
13. Letter from A. G. Kuznetsova (copy) dated February 6, 1969 to the K. E. Tsiolkovsky Museum. Archive of the author of the article.
14. In memory of K. E. Tsiolkovsky. Funeral meeting in the theater. Gas. “Commune” (Kaluga), 1936, September 21, 1936, No. 216.
15. M. V. Samburova. Memories. GMIC Archive, inventory of memories, No. 44a, l. 5.