Russian/Soviet Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is renowned as the "father of astronautics" and is one of four people credited with the emergence of rocketry as a science.
Host | Matthew S Williams
On ITSPmagazine 👉 https://itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/matthew-s-williams
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Episode Notes
Russian/Soviet Konstantin Tsiolkovsky is renowned as the "father of astronautics" and is one of four people credited with the emergence of rocketry as a science.
However, his work and influence went far beyond rocketry and included air travel, alleviating poverty, and cosmic philosophy. Above all else, he was a visionary who inspired countless people with his vision of humanity's future in space.
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Resources
Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky - New Mexico Museum of Space History: https://www.nmspacemuseum.org/inductee/konstantin-e-tsiolkovsky/
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For more podcast Stories from Space with Matthew S Williams, visit: https://itspmagazine.com/stories-from-space-podcast
The Cosmic Philosopher: Konstantin Tsiokolvsky | Stories From Space Podcast With Matthew S Williams
The authors acknowledge that this podcast was recorded on the traditional unceded lands of the Lekwungen Peoples.
“Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in the cradle forever.”
These are the words of famed Russian scientist, inventor, and pioneer in rocketry and space research, Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.
Who lived from 1857 to 1935, and who is considered by many to be the father of astronautics
and rocket dynamics. Others acknowledge him as one of the founding fathers of rocketry and aeronautics, a title that he shares with German physicist Hermann Olberth, French aircraft designer and space flight theorist Robert Esnault Pelterie, and American engineer, physicist, and inventor Robert H. Goddard, the namesake of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Regardless, Tsiolkovsky was foundational to the development of spaceflight and rocketry.
During his life, he published over 500 works on subjects of space travel, rockets, spacecraft,
humans living in space aboard space stations, and even published several science fiction
novels.
He was the first scientist to describe the potential of solar power, of rotating space stations that
would simulate gravity, spacesuits designed for extravehicular activity, and And was the first
to describe multistage rockets fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. His other
accomplishments included determining the velocity that one would need to achieve in order to
escape Earth's gravity, otherwise known as escape velocity.
But perhaps his greatest accomplishment was developing the famous rocket equation, which
describes the motion of vehicles that generate thrust by expelling part of their mass in the form
of propellant. This equation remains foundational to rocketry and astronautics to this day. It
was also a major source of inspiration for other leading rocket designers, such as Germany's
Werner von Braun and the Soviet rocket engineers Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko.
Born on September 17, 1857, in the village of Izhevskoye in central Russia, Constantine was the
son of a Polish forester who had moved to Russia and lost his earring at age 10 due to scarlet
fever. In 1871, at the age of 14, he was forced to drop out of school, thus ending his formal
education, but continued to educate himself by reading voraciously.
Two years later, Konstantin moved to Moscow, during which time he maintained his self
education, visiting the main Moscow libraries, and reading extensively about science and
science fiction. At age 17, he was inspired by the novels of Jules Verne, and began dreaming
about the possibility of spaceflight.
The book, From the Earth to the Moon, was particularly inspiring to him, to the point that he
began making his own calculations about whether or not a giant cannon could send a spacecapsule to the moon. Ultimately, he determined that it could not. Nevertheless, this early work
inspired him to begin considering what would be required to actually design a space vehicle,
and what would be required to allow human beings to live permanently in space.
Henceforth, Tsiolkovsky advocated for his belief that humanity needed to become a space
faring civilization in order to survive. Between 1876 and 1879, Tsiolkovsky returned to live with
his father in Ryazan province, just outside of Moscow, and began writing science fiction, which
included tales of interplanetary travel.
It Ryazan that he published his first scientific work, titled Astronomical Drawings. This
contained a schematic depiction of the Solar System, which included the distance between
planets. He also began writing about technical problems, rocket control, and moving in and out
of gravitational fields. By 1879, he secured his first job by becoming a math teacher in the public
school system, but devoted as much time as possible to his research.
In 1880, he moved to Borovsk, west of Moscow, where he divided his time between teaching
and writing about hot air balloons, life in outer space, aerodynamics, and cosmic philosophy. In
1883, his book Free Space was published, which described the possibility of living in outer space
and described the effects of zero gravity.
Like his previous book, free space included schematics and drawings, in this case, of a craft
that could maneuver in space by firing reactive jets. He also described gyroscopic controls and
airlocks that would protect the crew. This was one of the earliest designs of a space vehicle.
Around the same time, Tsiolkovsky was made a member of the Russian Physicochemical
Society out of recognition for his early works.
As of 1884 and after, his work dealt with four major areas, the scientific rationale for airships,
streamlined airplanes and trains, hovercraft, and rockets for interplanetary travel. In 1892, he
moved to Kaluga, southwest of Moscow, where he would spend the majority of his life. While
in Kaluga, he continued to teach, but also became a renowned scientist, writing and publishing
most of his theories of spaceflight and interplanetary travels.
In 1895, after traveling to Paris and witnessing the Eiffel Tower, Constantine was inspired to
produce a paper in which he proposed a massive tower reaching into geosynchronous orbit.
This became the basis of the space elevator concept, although in Konstantin's case, he was
describing a freestanding compression structure rather than a tensile structure held in place
by the rotation of the Earth and a counterweight.
In 1897, he formally created his famed rocket equation, a fundamental principle that is still basic
to all astronautics. Tsiolkovsky called the equation the Formula for Aviation, which established
the relationship between the change in the rocket's speed, otherwise known as delta v, with
the exhaust velocity of the engine, v e, with the initial and final mass of the rocket, denoted by
m zero and m f.He did not publish it until 1903, however, in a treaty titled Exploration of the Universe with
Reaction Machines, which was arguably his most important work. Using his rocket equation,
Tsiolkovsky calculated that the horizontal speed required for a minimal orbit around the Earth
was 8, 000 meters per second, and that this could be achieved by means of a multistage rocket
fueled with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.
This was the first time that such propellants were recommended for rocketry rather than
conventional solid propellants. This treatise was also the first to suggest that a rocket could
perform spaceflight. Like his previous works, Tsiolkovsky also included a design for the rocket
he was proposing, which remains the basis for modern spaceship design.
The rocket was divided into three main sections, with the pilot and co pilot up front, and the
liquid oxygen liquid hydrogen stored in the second and third sections, and the reaction engine
contained at the very rear. In that same treatise, Tsiolkovsky also spoke about how humans
could live in space by means of rotating pinwheel stations.
As he wrote, it is not possible to live in a rocket for long. The reserves of food and oxygen for
respiration must soon exhaust. The products of respiration and digestion pollute the air.
Separate accommodation is required. Safe, well lit, with the desired temperature, renewable
oxygen, continuous flow of food, and convenience for life and work.
He also described how stations like these could be equipped with greenhouses that would help
recycle the air and water inside. As he explained, it would be very simple to impart rotation into
a space station, thus causing centripetal force, which would pull all the people inside
downward as if they were experiencing normal gravity.
As he wrote, The magnitude of artificial gravity will depend upon the angular velocity and the
radius of rotation. It may be approximately 1, 000 times less than the Earth's, although nothing
hinders us to make it 1, 000 times more than that of the Earth. For the rotation of the greenhouse,
conservatory, or the house, no expenditure of forces is necessary at all.
Objects continue to rotate automatically by themselves, by inertia, once they are set in motion.
The motion is eternal, as rotation or revolution of the planet. His detailed account also included
descriptions of living quarters, airlocks, and windows to permit natural sunlight. He also
described how rockets would deliver the necessary building materials to space, which would
then be assembled in orbit.
Those materials, as he wrote, included nickel steel and simple and quartzitic glass. In 1911, he
published the second part of his famous treatise, where he calculated the escape velocity of
Earth, the escape velocity of the solar system, and the amount of time it would take to
accomplish both. At the same time, Tsiolkovsky continued to work on the problems of rigid
airships and airplanes.
In 1914, he displayed models of all metal dirigibles at the Aeronautics Congress in St.
Petersburg, but the reception he received was mixed. Shortly thereafter, World War I began,and Tsiolkovsky gave up on science and aeronautical problems and instead turned his attention
to the problems of alleviating poverty.
With the Russian Revolution in 1917, Tsiolkovsky found himself being recognized and honored
by the new regime, which sought to promote and award his work. In 1919, Tsiolkovsky was
made a member of the Soviet Academy of Science. He received a government pension in 1921
that allowed him to retire from school teaching, whereupon he devoted himself full time to
writing about rocketry and space travel.
It was during this time that he wrote the majority of his 500 scientific papers, which went on to
influence many Russian engineers and designers. Tsiolkovsky was also fortunate enough to
see some of them begin to make his visionary concepts a reality. This included Korolev and
Blushko, who would go on to become the lead rocket engineer and program manager of the
Soviet space program.
In 1926, he wrote Plan of Space Exploration, in which he shared ideas of how humanity could
pursue space travel until the far distant future. Among the many ideas he shared were the
settlement of the solar system, and humanity achieving interstellar travel, and settling on
exoplanets. In a 1928 essay, The Future of Earth and Mankind, he elaborated on this further,
where he described a space colony, or Noah's Ark.
That would be self sufficient and where crews were kept in waitful conditions until they reached
their destinations thousands of years later. This essay predicted what would come to be known
as a generation ship, a concept for making interstellar voyages that were not dependent upon
exotic propulsion methods.
In 1929, he published The Space Rocket Trains, in which he further elaborated on the concept
of multistage rockets, and why they're necessary for achieving escape velocity and reaching
other planets. Towards the end of his life, Tsiolkovsky wrote several volumes, in which he
shared his views on how all life in the universe was connected, and how humanity's path
towards the stars represented its evolution towards a higher intelligence.
For instance, in 1932, he published two more treaties, titled Album of Space Travels and Cosmic
Philosophy. In the first, he shared his visions of life in space, which once again described the
experience of being in microgravity, Space stations with airlocks, and guidance systems for
rockets. In the latter, Tsiolkovsky offered a summary of his philosophical ideas, which he had
previously shared through published essays, letters, and notes.
In this volume, however, he brought all of these ideas together in a single treatise. His main idea
was that happiness was something that needed to be achieved, not just for humanity, but for all
living beings in the cosmos. He also believed that a human migration to the stars was inevitable,
and would drive further human evolution.
In addition, he expressed his views, which would later come to be known as Cosmism, or Plan
Psychism, that the universe was permeated by intelligence, and that mind was ubiquitous. Healso ventured that there were beings in the universe far older than humanity and that many had
achieved a state of superintelligence that humanity was one day destined for.
In an essay published that same year titled, Is There a God?, he wrote, Millions of milliards of
planets have existed for a long time, and therefore their animals have reached a maturity which
we will reach in millions of years of our future life on Earth. This maturity is manifest by perfect
intelligence, by a deep understanding of nature, and by technical power which makes other
heavenly bodies accessible to the inhabitants of the cosmos.
A year later, he published the essay, The Planets are Occupied by Living Beings, in which he
predicted a proposed resolution to the Fermi Paradox, otherwise known as the Transcension
Hypothesis. In the essay, which was published in the form of a dialogue with himself, he asked
the question, Why has humanity not been visited by any advanced intelligence?
To which he replied, Perhaps they will visit us, but time has not yet come for this. Aboriginal
Australians and Native Americans of past centuries saw Europeans visit them, but many
millenniums passed before they arrived. Similarly, we will see such a visit in some time. The
powerful inhabitants of other planets, perhaps, have been visiting one another for a long time.
He also addressed the possibility that advanced lifeforms had visited Earth in the past, but
humanity was simply not developed enough to recognize them for what they were. As he put it,
Our facilities are too weak to perceive these signs. Our celestial neighbors understand that, at
a certain level of knowledge, people themselves will definitely prove inhabitants of other
planets.
In addition, there is no good of informing, about inhabitants of planets, lower animals from the
Earth, along with the majority of humankind. Because of the low degree of their development.
What if this knowledge does harm? Time must pass until the average level of humankind's
development is sufficient for non earthly dwellers to visit us.
Here too, Tsiolkovsky predicted another proposed resolution for the Fermi Paradox. Often
referred to as the Zoo Hypothesis, the belief that advanced intelligence is following a sort of
prime directive in which they avoid contact for fear of influencing lesser developed societies.
In many ways, these arguments predicted what Soviet scientist Nikolai Kardashev would
address in his seminal essay, Transmission Extraterrestrial Civilizations, published roughly
three decades later.
This essay is where Kardashev proposed his famed Kardashev Scale for classifying highly
advanced civilizations. They would also be popularized in science fiction by such writers as
Arthur C. Clarke. In addition to Rendezvous with Rama, which dealt with the subject of an
extraterrestrial generation ship, Clarke explored the idea of advanced superintelligences in our
universe extensively in his novels Childhood's End and, more popularly, the novel and film 2001
A Space Odyssey.As noted, Tsiolkovsky also wrote multiple science fiction novels in his lifetime, which included
On the Moon and Dreams of the Earth and Sky, both published in 1895, and Beyond the Earth in
1920. In the novel, On the Moon, two men wake up to find themselves in the lunar surface where
they begin traveling and see fantastic things, which include a lunar civilization.
In The Dreams of the Earth and Sky, Tsiolkovsky described human space settlement, asteroid
mining, orbital greenhouses, and other outposts of civilization created by human beings in the
not too distant future. And in Beyond the Earth, he depicts a number of scientists named after
historical scholars and geniuses.
who discuss the possibility of space flight and how human beings could live among the cosmos.
The story then sees the characters witnessing time jumps, where their visions become realized
and illustrated before their very eyes. On September 19th, 1935, Konstantin died in Kaluga at the
age of 78. He was buried with state honors in the Kaluga Cemetery.
Shortly after his death, the USSR Academy of Sciences issued the Golden Tabletop Tsiolkovsky
Medal. This medal was issued to Soviet rocket designer Sergei Korolev, the first man in space
Yuri Gagarin, and other accomplished cosmonauts. The Tsiolkovsky Crater, the most important
crater on the far side of the moon, was also named in his honor the Tsiolkovsky Crater.
The USSR Cosmonautics Federation also issued their own Tsiolkovsky medal for high
achievement, and after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian state owned Roscosmos space
agency issued their own Tsiolkovsky badge. Tsiolkovsky's house in Kaluga, where he spent the
majority of his life, was turned into the Konstantin E.
Tsiolkovsky State Museum of the History of Cosmonautics. In 1964, when the USSR erected the
monument to the conquerors of space in Moscow, a statue of Constantine Sikowski was placed
in the front next to the main obelisk. In 1987, a ruble coin was issued that commemorated the
hundred and 30th anniversary of KO's birth.
And in 2015, the Russian government renamed the town of Ogle GOs in the Russian Far East
Kosky. Throughout his life, Tsiolkovsky made multiple predictions that went on to inspire
generations of scientists, both in Russia and internationally. As the father, or one of the
forefathers, of astronautics, he played a central role in the emergence of rocketry as a science
and the advent of space exploration.
His work on aircraft and dirigibles was also groundbreaking and helped pioneer the aviation
industry. His detailed writings about pinwheel stations and multistage rockets went on to have
a profound influence, not only on the Soviet rocket program, but also on Wernher von Braun,
the German rocket scientist who designed the V2 rocket, and was recruited by NASA under
Operation Paperclip, and went on to design the Mercury Redstone rockets and the Saturn V.
Wernher von Braun also came up with his own designs for a pinwheel station with simulated
gravity, known as the von Braun wheel. And his ideas on cosmic philosophy, of extraterrestrial
beings, and the nature of intelligence in our universe, these too had a profound effect on manygenerations of scholars, scientists, and intellectuals, who similarly tackled the questions about
existence, the emergence of life here on planet Earth and elsewhere in the universe, whether
or not intelligent life is ubiquitous, and if in fact, contact with other intelligent beings lies in
humanity's future.
In summary, there is scarcely any field of aeronautics, astronautics, and space science and
philosophy that Tsiolkovsky didn't predict, inspire, or touch on during the course of his lifetime.
As Tsiolkovsky famously said, All of my life I have dreamed that by my work mankind would at
least be advanced a little.
And while he may not always have been appreciated in his own time, or in his own country of
residence, Tsiolkovsky's legacy has vastly exceeded this humble expectation. Tune in next
time, where we will be speaking with Marshall Eubanks, a former NASA scientist, CTO of the
Lifport Group, CEO of Asteroid Initiatives, LLC, And the current Chief Scientist at Space
Initiatives, Inc.,
where we will be discussing his proposal for swarming Proxima Centauri with light sail
spacecraft, which was recently selected for Phase I development by NASA's Innovative
Advanced Concepts Program.
Thank you for listening. I'm Matt Williams, and this has been Stories from Space.