K. Tsiolkovsky

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, a natural mathematician, a practical inventor and writer is known in the history of science as the founder of the theory of space travel.

Tsiolkovsky was born on September 17, 1857 in the village of Izhevskoye, near Ryasan in a family of a forester. At the age of 10 he lost his hearing as a result of scarlet fever. The boy couldn’t study at school and he began his education with his mother as a teacher.

When he was 16 he was sent to Moscow where he continued his studies. In three years’ period Tsiolkovsky became a teacher of mathematics and physics. He began his work in Borovsk As an ordinary teacher at school.

As early as 1883 Tsiolkovsky wrote his scientific paper “Free Space” in which he described his spaceship with a jet engine. It was in this work that he first used the word “sputnik”. In 1892 the scientific came to Kaluga where he spent the next 43 years of his life.

In his classical work “The exploration of space by Rocket Engine” published in 1903 Tsiolkovsky outlined the basic theory of rocket flight and worked out the theory of reactive motion.

His life changed with revolution. The Soviet government highly appreciated Tsiolkovsky’s work. The self-taught scientist was elected a member of the USSR Academy of Sciences on the recommendation of a famous Russian physiologist Sechenov.

On his 75^th birthday the soviet government awarded “the father of astronautics” the Order of the Red Banner of Labour.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky died on September 19, 1935 and was buried in Kaluga.