A number of Jules Verne's amazing prophecies became public knowledge in his unpublished work "Paris in the 20th century", the existence of which became known in the mid-90s. The manuscript of the novel was found by chance by the great-grandson of the writer, and this event became a sensation.

ahead of time

J. Verne takes the readers of the novel, written in 1863, by the power of imagination to Paris in 1960 and describes in detail such things, the invention of which in the first half of the 19th century no one knew: cars move along the streets of the city (although J. Verne has them do not run on gasoline, but on hydrogen to maintain cleanliness environment), criminals are executed using the electric chair, and stacks of documents are transferred by means of a device that is very reminiscent of a modern fax machine.

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

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

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

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

electric motors
Electric heaters
electric lamps
Loudspeakers
Transferring images over a distance
Electrical protection of buildings

Incredible similarities between fictional and real

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

"Striving for space travel put in me by Jules Verne. He awakened the work of the brain in this direction.

Space flight in detail, very close to real, was first described by J. Verne in the works "From the Earth to the Moon" (1865) and "Around the Moon" (1870). This famous dulogy is an outstanding example of "seeing through time". It was created 100 years before manned flight around the moon was put into practice.

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

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

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

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

No matter how fantastic it all sounds, but such was Jules Verne, or rather his predictions.

According to the site iksinfo.ru

Jules Verne was born 110 years ago in the French city of Nantes.

The great romantic of science, the author of wonderful science fiction works, won unfading fame all over the world. In 1863, he released his first science fiction work, Five Days in a Balloon. This novel was a great success. Following this, Jules Verne began to systematically publish novels - travels that amaze the reader with an exciting presentation, rich imagination and a thorough acquaintance of the author with various areas science and technology.

Here is The Adventures of Captain Hatteras, and the reader is transferred to the harsh and romantic atmosphere of the Arctic, as if participating in the expedition of the fearless captain and his companions. Here is "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" - and the reader sees himself on a fantastic submarine, studying the wonderful life in the depths of the ocean. Here the reader follows with trepidation the many adventures of the heroes of the novel Around the World in 80 Days. Here the reader, along with shipwrecked travelers, landed on an unknown land, which the author called "The Mysterious Island". The most amazing countries are visited by the reader, following the masterful exposition of Jules Verne. He flies together with the heroes of the author in a cannon shell to the moon, experiencing extraordinary adventure during this interplanetary journey. He goes to the center of the Earth, and the author reveals to him the wonderful secrets of the underworld...

About sixty novels were written by Jules Verne during the 40 years of his remarkable creative activity in the field of science fiction. Each of these novels introduces the reader to some area of ​​science - geography, geology, physics, chemistry, astronomy, etc.

Jules Verne was a widely educated man. He read a lot, seriously studying the successes of contemporary science and technology. Therefore, he was always at the height of the latest scientific achievements, about which he spoke with breathtaking skill to his readers.

But Jules Verne did not limit himself to a conscientious and entertaining retelling of already known scientific positions. He was a "discoverer", he boldly looked into the future, expanding the horizons of human knowledge. His wonderful genius possessed an invaluable gift of scientific foresight. Much that Jules Verne wrote about did not yet exist in his time. But the brilliant writer was never a groundless dreamer, he always proceeded from the real achievements of science and technology, from the problems that faced his contemporaries - scientists and inventors. Jules Verne perfectly understood where this or that science was developing, and then, on the wings of his mighty imagination, made a bold leap forward into the future. And we know that much of what Jules Verne wrote about and did not yet exist in his time has now come true, has become a reality thanks to the development of science and technology. Jules Verne dreamed of conquering the depths of the water and predicted the appearance of submarines, which are now the most important part of the navies of all states. Jules Verne dreamed of conquering the air element and predicted the appearance of aircraft, which now created a new era in the movement of man and overcoming space. Jules Verne defended the reality of interplanetary travel, an issue he is working on very seriously. modern science. Jules Verne wrote about conquering the North Pole and the snowy expanses of the Arctic - a dream that was realized Soviet hero pilots, Soviet polar explorers and researchers ...

The Académie française awarded Jules Verne with an award for his great contribution to the field of science fiction. This proves the very great importance that the works of the science fiction writer had for the formulation of serious scientific problems. Many of the most prominent inventors and scientists emphasized the strong influence that the works of Jules Verne had on them, giving a powerful impetus to the movement of their creative thought. “The desire for space travel is inherent in me by Jules Verne. He awakened the work of the brain in this direction,” said our great scientist and inventor K. E. Tsiolkovsky. The greatest French scientist Georges Claude speaks of Jules Verne with the same warmth and gratitude. Jules Verne - "the one who is usually considered only an entertainer of youth, but who in reality is the inspiration for many scientific researchers."

Jules Verne combined wide knowledge, the gift of scientific foresight with great literary talent - this is the reason for the charm that he has on his readers. Many writers could envy the high praise that Leo Tolstoy gave to the brilliant science fiction writer: “Jules Verne's novels are excellent. I read them as adults, and yet, I remember, they delighted me. In building an intriguing, exciting plot, he is an amazing master. And you should have listened to how enthusiastically Turgenev speaks of him! I don't remember him admiring anyone else as much as Jules Verne."

Many generations of young people were brought up and are brought up on the novels of Jules Verne. Many people have a grateful feeling for this wonderful writer for the whole life for those unforgettable hours of pleasure that we experience when immersed in the reading of his novels, for the awakening of a joyful desire for creativity, for the struggle with nature, for the achievement of great goals. Jules Verne is especially close to the Soviet youth. We appreciate Jules Verne for his cheerful optimism, for his ardent, unquenchable faith in the power of human knowledge, for his faith in the all-conquering progress of science and technology. Jules Verne is especially close to the Soviet reader because only in our country of socialism is that unprecedented flourishing of science and technology possible, and only in the country of socialism can those wonderful ideas dreamed of by the great romantic of science be fully realized.

The work of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky "Investigation of world spaces with jet devices" begins with a significant recognition of the author: "The desire for space travel was laid in me by the famous dreamer J. Verne. He awakened the work of the brain in this direction. Desires appeared. Behind the desires, the activity of the mind arose." And a few lines below: "The main ideas and love for the eternal aspiration there, to the Sun, to liberation from the chains of gravity, have been laid in me almost since childhood."

The idea of ​​human conquest of outer space did not leave Tsiolkovsky all his life. He dreamed about it in early childhood, "before books." He thought about it in his early youth. A dreamy young man expresses his thoughts to others, but he is stopped as a person "saying indecent things."

Then literature came to the rescue. True, there were not so many of her in Vyatka, and the sixteen-year-old boy went to Moscow in 1873. She goes to study on her own. Difficult, hungry and such happy days dragged on. One could read books from morning until late at night in the library of the Rumyantsev Museum (now the V.I. Lenin Library), and at night engage in chemical and physical experiments. That's right, I was hungry. Konstantin Eduardovich sat on bread and water in the full sense of the word. The meager amount of money that his father could send him, he spent on books and experiments. Only a few kopecks a week were left for food.

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

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

The thought of space did not leave him in Ryazan, where the Tsiolkovsky family moved in 1878: here Tsiolkovsky began to draw up Astronomical Drawings, and in Borovsk, where he wrote an article " Free space"(in Ryazan, K.E. Tsiolkovsky passed an external exam for a teacher's title, and in Borovsk he began his path as a teacher, which lasted 36 years!).

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

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

About his science fiction, the scientist wrote: "At first, thought, fantasy, fairy tale inevitably follow. Scientific calculation marches behind them."

Tsiolkovsky began the scientific calculation of space flight on a rocket in 1896. He seeks to find out the speeds that are necessary for liberation from "earthly gravity."

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

The research went very intensively, and already on May 10, 1897, Tsiolkovsky deduced his famous formula. She established the relationship between the speed of the rocket at any moment, the speed of the outflow of gases from the nozzle, the mass of the rocket and the mass of explosives.

And already in 1898, he finally completed his work "Investigation of the World Spaces with Reactive Instruments", in which the possibility of achieving cosmic velocities is mathematically substantiated.

The first page of the book by KE Tsiolkovsky "Investigation of world spaces by reactive devices". Kaluga, 1926. On this page, Tsiolkovsky's autograph: "To dear Yuri Kondratyuk from the author"

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

"Research of world spaces by jet devices" is the world's first scientific work, theoretically substantiating the possibility of interplanetary flights with the help of a rocket.

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

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

Already in this work of his, Tsiolkovsky, paving the way for mankind into space, outlines a number of structural elements of the rocket, which have found their application in modern rocket technology. Here he also expressed many other brilliant ideas - about automatic flight control using a gyroscopic device, about the possibility of using the sun's rays to orient a rocket, etc.

The work, as already mentioned, appeared in the "Scientific Review" - a physical and mathematical journal in which the works of such scientists as D. I. Mendeleev, G. Helmholtz, C. Darwin, R. Koch, L. Pasteur were published , V. Bekhterev...

Tsiolkovsky was well aware that his new great work would meet resistance. Later he wrote: "I came up with a dark and modest title for it, 'Investigation of the World's Spaces with Reactive Instruments.' Indeed, the red tape was long. The editor turned to Mendeleev for support. Dmitry Ivanovich said: "... I will give you advice not as a chemist, but as a diplomat. Reduce all your arguments in defense of Tsiolkovsky to pyrotechnics. Prove to them that, since we are talking about rockets, this is very important for solemn holidays in honor of the namesake of the sovereign and "highest persons." Let them then forbid you to print the article!

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

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

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

It's been eight long years. The discoverer of the path to space taught physics in Kaluga, was known among the townspeople as an eccentric, continued research on balloons and airships. And suddenly - a letter from the editorial board of the Bulletin of Aeronautics. Its editor B. N. Vorobyov asked what topic Tsiolkovsky would like to write about? An answer immediately followed from Kaluga: "I have developed some aspects of the issue of lifting into space with the help of a rocket-like device, mathematical conclusions based on scientific data and verified many times, indicate the possibility of using such devices to rise into heavenly space, and maybe - to establish settlements outside the earth's atmosphere ... "

In short, the scientist offered the Vestnik the second part of his work. The proposal was accepted, and starting from the 19th issue of 1911, the Bulletin of Aeronautics began to publish (with a continuation) Tsiolkovsky's work "The Study of World Spaces with Reactive Instruments." True, the editors accompanied the publication with a very cautious preface: “Below we present an interesting work by one of the major theoreticians of aeronautics in Russia, K. E. Tsiolkovsky, devoted to the issue of jet instruments and flight in an atmosphereless environment. not only far from being realized, but not yet embodied even in more or less concrete forms.Mathematical calculations, on which the author bases his further conclusions, give a clear picture of the theoretical feasibility of the idea.But the difficulties that are inevitable and enormous in that unusual and unknown environment, which the author seeks to penetrate in his research, allow us only to mentally follow the reasoning of the author.

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

Thoughts are really bold. At this time, man made only the first hesitant, very timid attempts to break away from the surface of the Earth.

In 1903, W. Wright made his first airplane flight. It lasted only 59 seconds ... Records grew slowly and were measured at first in meters and minutes. In 1906, the Romanian T. Vuja flew 12 meters at a height of one meter, the Dane Elehammer increased the distance to 14 meters. And the famous flight of L. Blerno across the English Channel was perceived by the world as a grandiose victory. The flight of his aircraft continued - at an altitude of 50 meters - thirty-three minutes.

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

The first, the very first person who gave a high appraisal to the "Research of World Spaces with Reactive Devices" was the process engineer V. Ryumin. Already in the thirty-sixth issue of the journal "Nature and People" for 1912, his article "On a rocket into world space" was published. Soon he appeared with another article - "Jet engines (fantasy and reality") - this time in the journal "Electricity" (1913, No. 1). Ryumin wrote about Tsiolkovsky: "He is a genius who opens the way to the stars for future generations. We must shout about him! His ideas must be made available to the widest possible readership."

Ya. I. Perelman also devoted much effort and energy to the promotion of the deep ideas of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, who sought to bring them to the attention of the general population of Russia. He makes presentations, writes articles in newspapers and magazines. With joy and gratitude, K. E. Tsiolkovsky met his article "Is interplanetary travel possible?", Published in the newspaper " modern word"(1913). The scientist then wrote to Perelman:" You raised (with V.V. Ryumin) a question dear to me, and I don’t know how to thank you. As a result, I again took up the rocket and did something new."

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

This essay was the world's first serious and at the same time generally understandable book on interplanetary flights and space rocket. Later, Tsiolkovsky himself wrote that his ideas became known to the general reader “only from the time when Ya.

This book has withstood a great many editions and has had a huge impact on our youth with its aspiration to the future.

The idea of ​​jet propulsion also penetrated abroad. Tsiolkovsky wrote bitterly that "in France there was a prominent and strong man, who stated that he had built the rocket before."

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

The "prominent and strong man" mentioned by Tsiolkovsky was the engineer Esno-Peltri, who published in 1913 his article "Considerations on the results of an unlimited reduction in the weight of motors." It outlined some formulas of rocket dynamics previously obtained by a Russian scientist. But his last name was not even mentioned! And Esno-Peltri could not have been unaware of Tsiolkovsky's discoveries. He visited Russia in 1912 just at the time when Russian newspapers and magazines were publishing a lot of materials about K. E. Tsiolkovsky's "Research of World Spaces with Jet Instruments".

Tsiolkovsky, in order to answer the French engineer, decided to publish his work in full and with additions. But there are no funds; to collect them, he turned to the public. On the covers of brochures published by Tsiolkovsky in 1914-1915, one could read the following announcements: "A complete edition of The Study of World Spaces with Reactive Instruments is expected. The price is 1 ruble. If you wish to have this edition, please notify me in advance." 20-30 people responded ... And Tsiolkovsky, at his own expense, was able to publish in a thin pamphlet only an addition to parts I and II of his work. The brochure came out with the indication: "Author's Edition". Here are some excerpts from the comments of Ryumin, Vorobyov, Perelman, five rocket theorems are formulated and Esno-Peltri's answer is given.

"... Author's Edition". Tragic was the fate of a genius before the revolution, doomed to a miserable vegetative existence in the position of a provincial teacher, forced to develop his ideas in the most difficult conditions, almost in poverty, and at the same time be known as an "eccentric dreamer." He received no help or support from the government. Only under Soviet rule did his works receive recognition and support.

Already on August 26, 1918, the Socialist Academy elected him as its corresponding member. On June 5, 1919, the Russian Society of World Science Lovers elects him an honorary member. His pamphlets began to be published. The magazine "Nature and People" begins to publish the fantastic story "Out of the Earth", and in Kaluga it comes out as a separate book. And, finally, an academic ration was established for Tsiolkovsky, and this was followed by a decree of the Council of People's Commissars signed by V. I. Lenin on the appointment of a lifelong pension to the scientist ... The ordeals are over. You can work with renewed vigor.

The ranks of supporters-enthusiasts of interplanetary communications are growing in the country, all kinds of circles, societies, sections are emerging. In 1925, the Soviet academician D. A. Grave delivered an "Appeal to circles for the exploration and conquest of world space." He wrote: "Reactive instruments or interplanetary vehicles, outlined by the Russian scientist K. E. Tsiolkovsky, have already been fully developed ... and are the real reality of tomorrow." And in the early thirties, the legendary GIRD (jet propulsion study group) arose. The Girdovites adopted the theory of Tsiolkovsky, using his calculations, ideas, formulas, and began to create liquid-fueled research rockets.

There were works on rocket technology and abroad. R. Goddard (USA) published in 1920 the brochure "Method of reaching extreme heights". With his research, he repeated only a small part of what the Russian scientist did - he derived the basic equation of rocket motion, identical to the one that now bears the name of Tsiolkovsky. The American professor began with powder rockets, and only later, having become acquainted with the works of Konstantin Eduardovich, did experiments with liquid rockets.

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

Soon Izvestia published a short note under the heading: "Is it really not a utopia?" Speaking about the work of foreign scientists, the author "forgot" to mention the discoverer of the path to space.

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

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

A fellow countryman of Konstantin Eduardovich, then a young researcher A. L. Chizhevsky wrote on German foreword. Tsiolkovsky himself added a few words to it (in Russian): "The case is flaring up, and I lit this fire." But where to print, how to get paper? Together with Chizhevsky, Tsiolkovsky went to the Gubernia for help.

To the request of the scientist, they answered:

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

And how to get it?

Go to the Kondrov paper factory, read lectures on scientific topics to the workers. They will help.

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

And Tsiolkovsky's book was published under the title "Rocket into Outer Space". It was printed at the end of 1923 on the title page-1924. Its circulation is one thousand copies. So, finally, the work of Tsiolkovsky "Investigation of world spaces with reactive devices" saw the light of day as a separate edition.

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

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

Two years later, finally, the complete edition of "Research of World Spaces by Reactive Instruments" was published. It has a subtitle: "reprint of the works of 1903 and 1911 with some changes and additions." In addition, an excerpt from the book "Dreams of Earth and Sky" is included.

In 1934, "Selected Works of Tsiolkovsky" was published. The second book (edited by F. A. Zander) includes "Investigation of world spaces by reactive devices". After that, the work of the discoverer of the path into space was published in our country many times. A collection of works in five volumes has also been published. The second volume (1954) included works on jet aircraft. In addition, "Investigation of the World Spaces by Reactive Instruments" is included in the "Selected Works" published in the "Classics of Science" series (1962).

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

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

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

It was with the help of a rocket that the first artificial Earth satellite was launched on October 4, 1957 - on this day the space age of mankind began. No less memorable is the second date - April 12, 1961: spaceship"Vostok" with Yuri Gagarin on board. In the years that have passed since that legendary flight, cosmonautics has made great strides forward and won many glorious victories.

Manned spacecraft - single and multi-seat - one after another went to the expanses of the Universe, a man went out into outer space, manned stations were created in orbit, the transition from ship to ship was carried out through open space ... At the same time, the Moon was stormed. First, unmanned reconnaissance machines were sent to it, then a man stepped onto the surface of our natural satellite. The study of more distant targets - planets is systematically conducted solar system: Venus, Mars... Ahead - new flights, new discoveries and accomplishments. But no matter how far humanity goes to the stars, it will always remember the genius who showed the way into space - Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.

Academician S.P. Korolev said: “Time sometimes inexorably erases the appearances of the past, but the ideas and works of Konstantin Eduardovich will attract more and more attention as rocket technology continues to develop. Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky was a man who lived much ahead of his century, as a true and great scientist should live.

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

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

What to read

Tsiolkovsky K. E. Sobr. op. In 5 tons. Jet aircraft. M., 1954, v. 2.

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

Arlazorov M. Tsiolkovsky. M, 1967.

Vorobyov B. Tsiolkovsky. M., 1940.

Ahead of your age. Sat. M., 1970.

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

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

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

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

Ryabchikov E. Star Trek. M., 1976.

"There will be a time when people will not only fly, but also rush to the distant worlds." (H.643)

Since ancient times, looking into the night sky, man has dreamed of flying to the stars. The mysterious Infinity, flickering with billions of distant luminaries, took his thoughts to the boundless distances of the Universe, awakened the imagination, made him think about the secrets of the universe. Legends and myths of all peoples told about the flight to the Moon, the Sun and the stars. Science fiction writers have proposed various means for the implementation of space flight. Scientists have been looking for ways to star worlds. In daring minds, various hypotheses were born, sometimes scientific, sometimes fantastic.

FROM FUNNY FIRES TO ROCKETS

We encourage scientific experiments. When asked-how to relate to the experience with the rocket to the moon? answer-Sincerely. Of course, we know that the testers will not get what they expect, but nevertheless useful observations will occur.<…>We do not hinder even the most difficult experiments.<…>Let at least a cannon be fired at the distant worlds, so long as the thought is directed to such problems. It is not wise to stop the flow of thought.<…>Such efforts must be respected. (H.234)

Initially, rockets in Russia were used as "funny lights".

But already in 1516, the Cossacks used rockets in military affairs. And in 1817, an outstanding Russian scientist, hero Patriotic War In 1812, A. D. Zasyadko manufactured and demonstrated rockets, the flight range of which reached 1670 m. In the second half of the 19th century. in Russia, more than 20 projects of jet aircraft were proposed.

The project of the revolutionary N. I. Kibalchich deserves special attention. Sentenced to death for participating in the assassination attempt on Alexander II and being imprisoned, he drew a diagram of a jet aircraft. Kibalchich developed an aeronautic device based on the rocket-dynamic principle, considered the system for supplying fuel to the combustion chamber and the principle of flight control by changing the tilt of the engine.

The most advanced people dreamed about the Cosmos. In Russia, a whole trend in philosophy was formed - Russian Cosmism. In 1896, A. P. Fedorov’s brochure “A new principle of aeronautics, excluding the atmosphere as a reference medium” appeared, where he described the device of the aeronautical apparatus he proposed, the movement of which is based on reactive principle. Fedorov's works had a great influence on K.E. Tsialkovsky, who laid theoretical basis space flights, gave a philosophical and technical justification for space exploration by Mankind. Constant companion, and sometimes predecessor scientific papers and Tsiolkovsky's inventions were science fiction. “The desire for space travel was laid in me by the famous visionary J. Verne. He awakened the work of the brain in this direction. Desires have come. Behind the desires, the activity of the mind arose,” recalled K.E. Tsiolkovsky.

At the beginning of the 20th century, A. Tolstoy's science fiction book "Aelita" about the flight to Mars of two enthusiasts on makeshift rocket. The prototype of the engineer Los from Aelita was the Soviet engineer F. A. Zander. Mortally ill with an incurable form of tuberculosis, he founded the GIRD scientific and engineering group, laid the foundations for theoretical calculations jet engines, rocket astrodynamics, calculating the duration of space flights, put forward the concept of a spaceplane - a combination of an airplane and a rocket, theoretically substantiated the principle of a gliding descent from near-Earth space and proved the idea of ​​\u200b\u200ba "gravitational sling", which is now used by almost all spacecraft sent to study groups of planets. On the works of Zander almost all subsequent developments in rocket technology were based.

An important role in the development of domestic rocket technology was played by rocket enthusiasts: Yu. V. Kondratyuk, aerodynamicist V. P. Vetichkin, Academician V. P. Glushko, talented engineers S. P. Korolev, M. K. Tikhonravov and others.

In the autumn of 1933, the Jet Research Institute was established in Moscow. I. T. Kleimenov was appointed head of the institute, and S. P. Korolev was appointed deputy for the scientific part.

Striving for the far-off worlds is a natural direction of the human spirit. (AI 135)

The rapid development of rocket technology after the Great Patriotic War led to the development of the Soviet Space Program. The plan for manned space flight was proposed to Stalin back in 1946. However, in the difficult post-war years, the leadership of the military industry was not up to space projects, which were perceived as science fiction, interfering with the main task of creating "long-range missiles." The state plan for the creation of R-7 rockets, the basis of all Soviet cosmonautics, was signed by Stalin and accepted for execution just a few weeks before his death.

Shortly before the launch of the First Artificial Earth Satellite, I. A. Efremov wrote a brilliant fantasy work "The Andromeda Nebula" about the people of the Future and flights to the stars. The author could not know about deeply classified works. But he reflected the aspirations of the spirit of people, their dreams and ideas about the beautiful Future. And the fact that this Future is directly connected with the stars was very significant.

On this day, the first Soviet artificial satellite was launched. It had the shape of a ball with a diameter of 0.58 m, and its mass was 83.6 kg. Two satellite radio transmitters made it possible to obtain new information about the atmosphere. A month later, the second was launched Soviet satellite. It weighed much more than the first - 508.3 kg and was launched into a more elongated orbit. On board was the dog Laika.

The first space flight of a living being confirmed the real possibility of man's flight into space. The name of the first dog in space has spread all over the world. Her photographs were printed on the front pages of all the newspapers of the world. And documentary footage with her was shown in all cinemas.

The third Soviet artificial Earth satellite was launched on May 15, 1958. During the flight of this satellite, the corpuscular radiation of the Sun, photons in cosmic rays, micrometeors were recorded, the Earth's magnetic field, heavy nuclei and the intensity of primary cosmic radiation were studied.

The first Soviet artificial satellites The Earth made it possible to work out the main systems and obtain initial information about the parameters of the Earth's upper atmosphere, about the processes occurring in the near-Earth space.

A network of stations for tracking and controlling the flight and processing the information received was created.

It was a time when thousands of people, on clear evenings and nights, leaving their business, peered into the starry sky, trying to make out a small moving star. About the time of its appearance over this or that locality announced in advance. And radio amateurs of all countries persistently twisted the knobs of radio receivers in order to pick up the signals of these satellites.

The next "cosmonauts" to return to Earth alive were dogs - Belka and Strelka. In the spring of 1960, experimental testing of the first unmanned satellite ships began. After all the parts were worked out, Vostok unmanned ships flew. Instead of an astronaut, a mannequin flew in the pilot's seat. Our engineers, who prepared it for flight, jokingly called the mannequin "Uncle Vanya".

FIRST HUMAN FLIGHT IN SPACE

Distant worlds, like an unrealizable concept of human life, fill space. The cosmic concept of Spatial Fire and distant worlds must live for human consciousness as a distant goal. The realization of a dream is accepted into the consciousness of the layman. The realization of a distant goal can bring closer the understanding of the distant worlds. (B.1, 67)

Finally, after numerous terrestrial and space experiments, April 12, 1961 came. That early morning, only the leadership of the country and those who were preparing the orbital flight knew about the launch of the spacecraft. The carrier rocket "Vostok" was installed in a huge shaft on the launch pad. At dawn, a small bus pulled up to the site. Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin stepped out of it, dressed in a spacesuit and a pressure helmet with large letters: "USSR". Gagarin addressed the mourners: “Dear friends, relatives and strangers, compatriots, people of all countries and continents! In a few minutes, a mighty spaceship will take me to the distant expanses of the Universe. What can I tell you in these last minutes before the start? My whole life seems to me now as one beautiful moment. Everything that has been lived, that has been done before, has been lived and done for the sake of this moment. You understand, it is difficult to sort out feelings now, when the hour of trial, for which we have been preparing for a long time and passionately, has come very close. It is hardly worth talking about the feelings that I experienced when I was offered to make this first flight in history. Joy? No, it was not only joy. Pride? No, it was not only pride. I experienced great happiness. To be the first in space, to enter one on one in an unprecedented duel with nature - is it possible to dream of more? But after that, I thought about the colossal responsibility that fell on me. The first to accomplish what generations of people dreamed of, the first to pave the way for all mankind into space. Give me a task that is more difficult than the one that fell to me. This is a responsibility not to one, not to dozens of people, not to a collective. This is a responsibility to the entire Soviet people, to all mankind, to its present and future. And if, nevertheless, I decide on this flight, it is only because I am a communist, because I have behind me examples of the unparalleled heroism of my compatriots - the Soviet people. I know that I will muster all my will to do the best job. Understanding the responsibility of the task, I will do everything in my power to fulfill the task of the Communist Party and the Soviet people. Am I happy going into space? Of course, happy. After all, at all times and epochs it was the highest happiness for people to participate in new discoveries. I would like to dedicate this first space flight to the people of communism, a society into which our Soviet people are already entering and into which, I am sure, all people on Earth will enter. There are only a few minutes left before the start. I tell you, dear friends, goodbye, as people always say to each other, setting off on a long journey. How I would like to hug you all, familiar and unfamiliar, distant and close!

See you soon!".

The elevator lifted Gagarin to the spacecraft, which was located at the very top of the almost 39-meter Vostok launch vehicle. On the platform located at the hatch of the ship, Yuri raised his hand and said goodbye again. Then the cosmonaut went into the cabin and took his place in a special chair, which had everything for an emergency landing. As soon as he reported on the check of the on-board equipment and readiness for launch, the specialists began to batten down the access hatch. (see Attachment)

In the minutes remaining before the launch, the atmosphere in the Mission Control Center reached its maximum tension. Everyone's nerves were on edge, and Sergei Korolev, chief designer of Vostok, was especially excited. How Yuri Gagarin felt at the same time, who was alone on board the spacecraft at that time, can be guessed from the transcript of the cosmonaut's negotiations with the MCC:

Korolev: "Yuri Alekseevich, then I just want to remind you that after a minute of readiness, six minutes will pass before the flight begins, so don't worry." A few minutes later Korolev: There, in the tuba, are lunch, dinner and breakfast.

Gagarin: Clearly.

Queen: Got it?

Gagarin: Got it.

Korolev: Sausage, dragees there and jam for tea.

Gagarin: Yeah.

Queen: Got it?

Gagarin: Got it.

Queen: Here.

Gagarin: Got it.

Korolev: 63 pieces, you will be fat.

Gagarin: Ho-ho.

Korolev: You will arrive today, eat everything right away.

Gagarin: No, the main thing is that there is sausage to eat moonshine.

At 9:07 Moscow time, Senior Lieutenant Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin uttered the phrase that went down in history - "Let's go!"

“I heard a whistle and an ever-increasing rumble, felt how the giant ship trembled with its entire hull and slowly, very slowly pulled away from the launch device,” the astronaut recalled about the first seconds of his flight, “G-forces began to grow. I felt some irresistible force pushing me into the chair more and more. The seconds ticked by like minutes.

During the launch and entry into orbit, the astronaut suffered terrible shaking, noise and strong overloads. But in general, the first stage of the flight went well, and Gagarin did not have to open the secret package, which contained a piece of paper with the number "25" ("25" is the code for turning on the manual control system of the Vostok spacecraft). Since the flight took place in automatic mode, Gagarin did not interfere with the controls. But in the event of a failure of automation, he had to take control. The cipher was not given to Gagarin in advance, since psychologists and doctors at that time believed that a person who saw his native planet from the outside could go crazy and switch to independent control of the ship. In this case, the secret envelope was "insurance against madness."

Taking off, the first cosmonaut of the planet reported to Earth: “He is in excellent health. The overload, vibration grows a little, I endure everything normally. The mood is upbeat. Through the window I see the Earth, I distinguish the folds of the terrain, snow, forest ... ”Finally, the ship went into orbit. Weightlessness has set in. “At first this feeling was unusual,” Gagarin later recalled, “but I soon got used to it, got used to it.” "The feeling of weightlessness is interesting," he told MCC. "Everything floats. (Joyfully.) Everything floats! Beauty. Interesting." From time to time, Yuri hummed a song "about a distant snub-nosed childhood", then whistled "Lilies of the valley" or the motive "The Motherland hears, the Motherland knows ..." It suddenly turned out that the ship entered a much higher orbit than the calculated one. This meant that if the braking system failed during the descent, the ship would deorbit due to aerodynamic braking in the upper atmosphere. In this case, with an orbit with a height of 247 km, Gagarin could return to Earth in 5-7 days. For this period, all stocks on board were calculated.

Fortunately, everything ended well. When, having circled the planet, the cosmonaut reappeared over the territory of his country, a command was given from the Earth to descend. The first manned flight into space lasted 108 minutes.

“The ship began to enter the dense layers of the atmosphere,” Yuri Gagarin later said. - Its outer shell quickly heated up, and through the curtains covering the portholes, I saw an eerie crimson reflection of the flames raging around the ship. But the cabin was only 20 degrees Celsius. It was clear that all systems worked perfectly…”

Due to a valve malfunction in the fuel line, the TDU turned off a second earlier. In addition, the separation of the descent vehicle (DS) and the instrument compartment occurred with a delay of 10 minutes. As a result, the DS and the cosmonaut landed not 110 km south of Stalingrad, as planned, but in the Saratov region near the city of Engels, where no one expected a landing.

The pilot of the ship ejected a few minutes before the landing of the descent vehicle and descended to Earth by parachute. Gagarin was first seen by an elderly peasant woman, Anna Takhtarova, and her granddaughter, Rita. “Seeing me in an orange spacesuit and a white helmet that fell from the sky,” Yuri Gagarin recalled, “the old woman crossed herself and even wanted to run. Granddaughter boldly pulled her to me. I kissed them both..."

Soon, soldiers from a nearby unit arrived at the scene. One group of military men guarded the descent vehicle, while the other group took Gagarin to the location of the unit. From there, the cosmonaut reported by phone to the commander of the air defense division: “Please tell the Air Force Commander-in-Chief: I completed the task, landed in the assigned area, I feel good, there are no bruises or breakdowns. Gagarin. Meanwhile, a Mi-4 helicopter took off from the Engelsky airport, its task was to find and pick up Gagarin. Rescuers found the descent vehicle, but Yuri was not around. Local residents clarified the situation: they said that Gagarin had left by truck for Engels. The helicopter took off and headed for the city. On the way, they saw a truck from which Gagarin waved his arms. The astronaut was taken on board, and the helicopter flew to the base at the Engels airport. At the airfield in Engels, they were already waiting for Gagarin, the entire leadership of the base was at the helicopter ladder. He was handed a congratulatory telegram from the Soviet government, and on Pobeda he was taken to the control room, and then to the headquarters of the base, for communication with Moscow.

By noon, Deputy Commander of the Air Force Lieutenant-General Agaltsov and a group of journalists arrived at the Engels airfield from Baikonur. For three hours, while establishing contact with Moscow, Gagarin gave interviews and photographed. With the advent of communication, he personally reported to N.S. Khrushchev about the flight. After the report, Gagarin flew on an Il-14 plane to Samara (then Kuibyshev). It was decided to sit somewhere away from the city in order to avoid the hype. But while they were turning off the engine and mounting the ladder, the local party leadership drove up. Gagarin was taken to the obkom dacha on the banks of the Volga. There he took a shower and ate well. Three hours later, Korolev and several other people from the State Commission flew to Samara. At 9 pm, a festive table was laid and Gagarin's successful flight into space was celebrated. And at 11 everyone was already asleep: the accumulated fatigue affected.

Initially, no one planned a grandiose meeting of Gagarin in Moscow. Everything was decided at the last moment by Nikita Khrushchev. According to his son, Sergei Khrushchev: “He began by calling the Minister of Defense, Marshal Malinovsky, and saying: “He is your senior lieutenant. He needs to be promoted urgently." Malinovsky said, rather reluctantly, that he would give Gagarin the rank of captain. To which Nikita Sergeevich got angry: “What captain? At least give him a major.” Malinovsky did not agree for a long time, but Khrushchev insisted on his own, and on the same day Gagarin became a major. Then Khrushchev called the Kremlin and demanded that Gagarin be prepared for a decent meeting.

Il-18 flew for Gagarin, and on approaching Moscow, an honorary escort of fighters, consisting of MIGs, joined the aircraft. The plane flew to Vnukovo airport, where Gagarin was expected by a grand reception. A huge crowd of people, the entire top of power, journalists and cameramen. The plane taxied to the central building of the airport, the ladder was lowered, and Gagarin was the first to descend on it. A bright red carpet was stretched from the plane to the government stands, and Yuri Gagarin walked along it to the sounds of an orchestra performing the old aviation march “We were born to make a fairy tale come true.” Approaching the podium, Yuri Gagarin reported to Nikita Khrushchev: - Comrade First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR! I am glad to report to you that the task of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Soviet government has been completed ...

Spontaneous actions were held in maternity hospitals, all babies were called Yurams.

Nikita Khrushchev presented Gagarin on Red Square with the Gold Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union and awarded the new title of Pilot-Cosmonaut of the USSR.

This event left no one indifferent. Many people took to the streets of Moscow to see Gagarin with their own eyes when he travels from the airfield to the Kremlin. And those who did not have such an opportunity followed what was happening on television. Genuine demonstrations sprang up spontaneously. Many schools have canceled classes. The people celebrated the victory of human genius, skill and courage. In the evening, famous writers and poets performed on the squares. All concerts and performances began with congratulations from the audience on successful completion Gagarin's flight.

And in the next two days, planes landed at Moscow airfields, which delivered delegations from various countries of the world to meet with the first cosmonaut. Soon a press conference was organized at which Gagarin and the designers were asked questions by foreign journalists.

The whole world rejoiced! The pioneer of the Universe, the conqueror of space, the Citizen of the Universe, the Messenger of Peace - as soon as they do not call Yuri Gagarin. He became a legend during his lifetime, passing with honor not only the tests of unearthly overloads, but also unprecedented glory.

Yu. B. Levitan at one of the meetings in Saratov to the question: “What events in your announcer's work do you remember especially?” - without hesitation, he answered: “May 9, 1945 - Victory Day and April 12, 1961 - the day of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space.

May 9 - it is clear why: we have been waiting for the end of the Great Patriotic War for a long time. But the flight of a man into space was expected and not expected. It seemed to us that it would be possible in two or three years. And suddenly! .. A few minutes later a car comes for me and delivers me to the studio at a wild speed. There they hand me the text “TASS reports on the flight of a man into space”, I run along a long corridor, quickly grasping the meaning of what was written. Comrades stop me and ask: “What happened? What is the message about?

Man in space!

Gagarin!

The studio door slammed shut. Automatically glanced at his watch: 10:02. Turned on the microphone:

Moscow speaking! All the radio stations of the Soviet Union are working!..”

Yu.B. Levitan confessed: “Reading the text, I tried to be calm, but tears of joy filled my eyes. So it was on May 9, when I read the "Act on the Unconditional Surrender of Hitler's Germany." These programs were broadcast directly to the people, to our compatriots and, of course, to all the people of the Earth…”.

Young cosmonauts

Among subjects let the foundations of astronomy be given, but placing it as a threshold to the far-off worlds. Thus the schools will instill the first thoughts about life in the far-off worlds. Space will come to life, astrochemistry and rays will fill the idea of ​​the greatness of the Universe. Young hearts will feel themselves not as ants on the earth's crust, but as carriers of the spirit and responsible for the planet. (O.110)

After the flight of Yuri Gagarin, many young dreamers, looking into the starry sky, mentally rushed into space. In the early 60s, numerous clubs for young cosmonauts appeared in our country. And the very first in the world "Club of young cosmonauts" them. Yu.A. Gagarin (KUK) was organized in Leningrad in the summer of 1961.

The idea of ​​creating the club belonged to the director of the Leningrad city children's park, Ada Aleksandrovna Kartavchenko. Thanks to Ada Alexandrovna, a high, I would say, not at all childish level of training of young cosmonauts was achieved. One of the leaders of the club for several years was Sergey Pavlovich Kuzin. But the highest governing body was the Club Council, headed by the Chairman. Both the Council and the Chairman were elected by the children themselves and enjoyed great authority.

I was lucky to be in this club. I remember the enthusiasm and serious, responsible attitude of the guys to the classes. For us it was not a game, but a difficult and exciting job. We studied at the Institute of Theoretical Astronomy, where a special course in astrodynamics was organized with the study of celestial mechanics, the theory of motion of rockets and artificial satellites.

With great interest we attended lectures on astronomy in the planetarium, drew a map of the starry sky, solved astronomical problems, observed the stars and the Moon through a telescope. At the University, classes in higher mathematics were held at mathmech. And in the Military Medical Academy, training was carried out on the body's resistance to overloads (ejection, pressure chamber, deaf chamber, centrifuge, etc.). Many tests were carried out under the guidance of Eduard Vasilyevich Bondarev, who at that time was engaged in research on the influence of various factors (overload, pressure, silence, various medications, etc.) on the human body and his psyche.

In the DOSAAF club, we studied the material part of aircraft and engines, radio engineering, learned how to fly an aircraft and parachute jumps (from a 50-meter tower and from an airplane). But, perhaps, the most favorite were classes at the WAU GVF, where they checked and trained the vestibular apparatus on various simulators. Strelets Vladimir Grigoryevich supervised the classes, at that time a candidate biological sciences, developing the theory of professionally applied physical training of pilots.

Much attention was paid to sports. Tourist, skiing and boat trips were remembered for a lifetime, in which, as a rule, difficult conditions were created that required courage, patience, endurance and the ability to survive.

And after a difficult transition - campfire songs about space and stars, dreams and friendship. I remembered the words from our song: "... And seven girls sing about the stars of the distant and mysterious at the campfire ...". (words by I. Boraminskaya) Young cosmonauts met Y. Gagarin and G. Titov. But the trip to Star City in 1964. There was a meeting with G. Titov, A. Nikolaev and V. Bykovsky. The astronauts talked with the guys for about two hours. It was removed at the same time documentary about our club "And then to Mars". At the end of the club, graduates were awarded the title of instructor-cosmonaut for the organization of the KUK and were given a recommendation for admission to universities. Certificates of completion of training at the KUK were handed over by Air Chief Marshal A.A. Novikov.

Despite the fact that none of us became an astronaut, classes at the club left an indelible mark on our lives and, one way or another, influenced the choice life path. Among the graduates of the club there are astronomers, pilots, doctors, candidates and doctors of sciences, engineers, professors, teachers. Andrei Tolubeev became a People's Artist of Russia. And Irina Boraminskaya - a famous choreographer; Alexander Gaidov - Chief Neurosurgeon, Sevastopol; Lev Monosov - Ph.D. geographer. Sciences, honorary builder of Russia; Vitaly Bogdanov - Professor, Ph.D. psychol. sciences; Oleg Viro - Professor, Doctor of Physics and Mathematics. Sciences, one of the world's leading mathematicians; Herman Berson was awarded the Medal of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, II degree, for services to the state and a great personal contribution to the development of science; Mikhail Gorny - Ph.D. Phys.-Math. Sci., Lawyer, Associate Professor of the Department of Applied Political Science at the National Research University Higher School of Economics in St. Petersburg, was a deputy of the Leningrad City Council, an adviser to the Governor of St. Petersburg ...

April 12 has become our holiday forever. On this day, wherever we are, we try to put aside our business and come to our meeting.

IN 50 YEARS

The gaze and expectations of mankind must be turned to the far-off worlds. (Lake 3-V-4)

It has been 50 years since the first manned flight into space. Since then, astronautics has come a long way, unprecedented discoveries have been made. The International Space Stations were launched. The number of cosmonauts exceeded half a thousand. Manned cosmonautics reached a record-breaking duration flight of an astronaut in orbit (Valery Polyakov) - 438 days. And the record holder for the duration of stay in space was cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who made 6 flights with a stay in space of 803 days. Space tourism has emerged. Every day, the sphere of applied use of astronautics is expanding more and more: weather service, navigation, saving people and saving forests, world television, comprehensive communications, the most advanced technologies.

Many changes have taken place in our country since that memorable day. In the 1990s, space programs were suspended, and many areas of Soviet science found themselves in distress, up to complete disappearance. Everyone who cares about the fate of Russia is concerned about the ongoing campaign to distort history. The policy of slanderers against the Soviet Union is aimed at convincing young people that the USSR has always lagged behind or only repeated other people's achievements. Back in the 60s, Western scientists began to put forward space exploration projects, appropriating the authorship of Tsiolkovsky's ideas (“Dyson Sphere”, “O'Neill's Space Settlements” and much more). In the West, the legacy of the great scientist and philosopher is almost erased from history and is practically unknown even to specialists. Many Americans have almost forgotten about Gagarin.

Other facts of neglect of the history of Russian cosmonautics also surprise and outrage. So, the mannequin "Ivan Ivanovich" since 1994 mysteriously "legitimately" moved to America and is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of Art and Space. And the auction timed to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the first manned flight into space, where the Vostok 3KA-2 spacecraft will be put up for auction, looks like a mockery. This device flew into space with a dummy nicknamed "Ivan Ivanovich" and a dog, Zvezdochka, on board. During landing, the dummy was ejected, and the dog returned to Earth safe and sound in the ship itself. The first time it was sold in the early nineties. And until that moment was in a private collection in the United States. As a consolation, one can only hope that through this the American people will learn at least something about Russia's contribution to space exploration.

In fact, there can be no question of any lag between the USSR and the West in the field of space technology. If we take into account that our orbital systems and delivery vehicles turned out to be much better than the American ones, then we can talk about the West lagging behind the USSR.

By the 1990s, the Soviet Union was the leader in the absolute majority (43 out of 50!) of the main scientific and technical areas. According to many independent experts, with the preservation of the USSR, the list of areas in science and technology in which we lag behind the West would have been reduced to zero by the mid-90s. And our space industry has played a significant role in this. The destruction of the Soviet space program left many projects unfulfilled - both purely scientific and industrial. At present, Russian spacecraft launch vehicles are the most reliable in the world. Americans fly to the ISS Russian ships, Europeans and representatives of other countries use Russian launch vehicles to launch their satellites. But almost all Russian rocket and space technology came from Soviet times.

To correct the current situation in Russia, a Development Concept was developed Russian cosmonautics until 2040 and the implementation of its programs began.

The development of the Angara modular launch vehicle, which began back in 1992, continues. At the Baikonur Cosmodrome, together with Kazakhstani partners, work is underway on a project to create a completely new, environmentally "clean" Baiterek space rocket complex, and the construction of a launch complex for this rocket has already begun. The first launch of the Angara from the new cosmodrome is planned for 2014. And from the Russian Plesetsk cosmodrome, its launch will take place two years earlier. There are plans to create the Vostochny cosmodrome in the Amur region.

In conclusion, I would like to quote the words of Helena Ivanovna Roerich: “... science is making such giant strides forward that the next step will soon be realized, namely, the step of cooperation with the Cosmos, and then the cosmic consciousness will cease to frighten even the most unscientific, and will become a common phenomenon, and no a person who has realized his place in the Cosmos will not be able to remain in his birdhouse. Then spiritual unification will come.”

APPENDIX:
Chronicle of historical flight
3:00 AM - Final checks of the spacecraft begin on the launch pad. Sergey Pavlovich Korolyov was present
5:30 - Rise and breakfast of Yuri Gagarin and his understudy German Titov
6:00 - Meeting started State Commission. After the meeting, the flight task for Cosmonaut-1 was finally signed. A few minutes later, a special blue bus was already on its way to the launch pad.
6:50 - After the readiness report to the chairman of the State Commission, Yuri made a statement for the press and radio. This statement fit on several tens of meters of tape. Five hours later, it became a sensation. Being on the iron platform in front of the entrance to the cabin, Gagarin raised both hands in greeting - farewell to those who remained on Earth. Then he fled into the cab.
7:10 - Gagarin's voice appeared on the air.
8:10 am - 50 minute readiness announced. The only problem has been fixed. She was discovered when closing hatch number 1. It was quickly opened and everything was fixed.
8:30 - 30 minutes ready. Titov was told that he could take off his space suit and go to the observation point, where all the experts had already gathered. The surname of the person who will be the first to leave the planet is now finally known - GAGARIN.
8:50 - Ten-minute readiness announced. Checking all major systems and sealing.
9:06 - Minute readiness. Gagarin took his starting position.
9:07 - Ignition is given. The launch of the ship "Vostok", the famous "Let's go! .." is heard on the air.
9:09 - Separation of the first stage. Gagarin must hear how this stage separated and feel that the vibration has sharply decreased. Acceleration increases, as does g-forces. Gagarin's report is awaited at the observation point.
9:11 - Gagarin's contact, reset of the head fairing.
9:22 - Radio signals of the Soviet spacecraft were taken by observers from the American radar station Shamiya, located in the Aleutian Islands. Five minutes later, the encryption went to the Pentagon. The night watchman, having received her, immediately telephoned the home of Dr. Jerome Wisner, Chief Scientific Adviser to President Kennedy. A sleepy Dr. Wisner glanced at his watch. It was 1:30 am Washington time. 23 minutes have passed since the start of Vostok. There was a report to the president - the Russians were ahead of the Americans.
9:57 - Yuri Gagarin reported that he was flying over America. The official announcement of the launch of a man into space, the signing of the order to award Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin the rank of major.
10:13 - Teletypes finished transmitting the first TASS message. Hundreds of correspondents small and big countries stormed the building of the Telegraph Agency. Yuri Gagarin became close to all peoples of the globe. But most of all worried and worried about him, of course, the Motherland.
10:25 - The brake propulsion system is turned on, and the ship began to descend. Landing is the most crucial stage of space flight: an error per meter per second at a speed of 8000 meters per second deviates the landing point by as much as 50 kilometers.
10:35 - Separation of the instrument compartment. Continued descent.
10:46 - Reentry into the dense layers of the atmosphere, loss of communication.
10:55 - A burnt iron ball hit the plowed soil - the field of the Leninsky Put collective farm, southwest of the city of Engels, not far from the village of Smelovka. Yuri Gagarin descended on a parachute nearby.

NOTES
1. Yu.Z. Nikitin. Think and answer. Smolensk. 1999, pp. 139, 278.
2. http://www.infuture.ru/article/506
3. http://progagarina.narod.ru/polet/polet.htm
4. http://vpro24.narod.ru/mix/p12/index.htm
5. Afanasiev I.B. World manned cosmonautics. Story. Technique. People. Moscow. Publisher: RTSoft. 2005
6. http://www.peoples.ru/military/cosmos/gagarin/history4.html
7. http://yurigagarin.ru/
8. V. Rossoshansky. The Gagarin phenomenon. Saratov. Publisher: Chronicle: Publishing Center of the Saratov State Socio-Economic University. 2001
9. Roerich E.I. Letters. 1929-1938 v.2. 01/17/36
10. http://www.gagarinlib.ru/gagarin/flight.php

Half a century has already passed since the moment on April 12, 1961, Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin realized the eternal dream of mankind to escape from the fetters of earth's gravity into outer space. After it, hundreds of representatives of the Earth, real professionals in their field - cosmonauts, astronauts and taikonauts, looked at our planet from orbit. In this area, humanity has reached such heights that tourists are already flying into space. The words of Chief Designer S.P. Korolev are coming true: “The day will come when we will fly into space on trade union tickets.”

And we are already thinking about flights to the Moon, Mars, to other planets ...

Of course, over the past 19th and 20th centuries, mankind has accumulated a huge amount of knowledge in astronomy, astronautics, and rocket technology. And all this experience of our ancestors is set forth in books. And even today, when many draw their knowledge on the Internet, the path of this knowledge to the World Wide Web lies through books.

But what is the history of the achievements of astronautics in literature?

Who does not know today the domestic pioneers of cosmonautics - K. E. Tsiolkovsky and S. P. Korolev, whose 150th and 100th anniversaries we celebrated four years ago! Thanks to their heroic work, in 2007 we celebrated the half-century anniversary of an epoch-making event, when for the first time in the world a material body “thrown” from the surface of the Earth did not fall back. It was our first PS satellite in the world. And four years after this triumph of human thought, a man entered space orbit - Yu. A. Gagarin.

Many outstanding scientists and designers, having achieved success in research, shared their knowledge with other people through books as a universal storehouse of information for centuries.

The beginning of any scientific, design or historical work is, first of all, work with literature, primary sources. That is, the study of all the experience that was accumulated by previous generations and accumulated in books. No wonder the old wisdom says: "Everything new is a well-forgotten old."

The mystical attraction of mankind to space arose long before rockets appeared and man overcame gravity. The ancestors of today's Russians also dreamed about it. So, for example, back in the 12th century, the "Russian Chrysostom" - Cyril of Turovsky - lived in the Kiev principality. He wrote the first treatise on cosmology "On the Heavenly Forces", in which he considered the structure of the Universe (from the word "settlement") and linked it with the microcosm of the human soul. In another book by K. Turovsky - "The Pigeon Book" (that is, deep) - there was already a lot of information about the origin of the world. Since that time in Russia it was believed that there are as many stars in the sky as there are people on Earth. Therefore, even until recently, it was seriously considered: a star falls - a person is dead, rises - a baby is born. In those years, even in Europe, there were no thinkers who were interested in these problems: J. Bruno and N. Copernicus were born much later.

And in enlightened times, especially at the turn of the 19th–20th centuries, Russia gave the world many scientists who, in their thoughts about the “earthly”, rose to the “heights” of space. Among them are such humanitarians as Bakhtin, Gumilyov, Losev, naturalists Vernadsky and Chizhevsky, surgeon Pirogov, philosophers Solovyov, Berdyaev, Bulgakov, Florensky and others. They contributed to the philosophy and formation of the desire of Russian people for freedom, the vast expanses of the Universe and the magic of space and creators artistic word. For example, the poets Nikolai Klyuev and Sergei Yesenin introduced the term "hut space". And the romance "Burn, burn, my star" became the national lyric anthem.

History shows that almost all major scientists and designers of the first half of the 20th century. in the field of cosmonautics and rocket technology have come to their life's work thanks to the impetus received from reading a book. For example, such a book for K. E. Tsiolkovsky was the work of A. P. Fedorov “A new principle of aeronautics, excluding the atmosphere as a reference medium” (St. Petersburg, 1896). She was not a bestseller, but thanks to her we know Tsiolkovsky, what he became, having taken up the study of the issue set forth in this small book. The book seemed unclear to Tsiolkovsky, but the idea contained in it interested him and he proceeded to its rigorous physical and mathematical justification. Subsequently, Tsiolkovsky claimed: “Here is the beginning of my theoretical research on the possibility of using jet instruments for space travel ... it pushed me to serious work, like a fallen apple to the discovery of gravity by Newton.”

Thus, thanks to the book of Fedorov, in 1903, the work of K. E. Tsiolkovsky, “The Study of World Spaces with Reactive Instruments”, amazing in terms of the power of intellect and scientific foresight, was born. And its significance in the fate of many famous scientists and designers of the first wave cannot be assessed at all. Its priority is undeniable. So much has been written and said about this work of Tsiolkovsky that we will limit ourselves to a quote from a letter he received from Germany from one of the pioneers of German cosmonautics, the greatest expert on jet technology Hermann Oberth: “I regret that I did not know about you until 1925. Then, knowing your excellent works (1903), I would go much further and avoid unnecessary losses.

The popularizing role of books, practically the only source of knowledge until the 20th century, when popular science magazines and cinematographs appeared, is not worth talking about. Those who laid the foundations of theoretical and practical astronautics read fantastic books by Jules Verne, HG Wells and other science fiction writers as children. Here is how K. E. Tsiolkovsky begins the final issue of his work “Investigations of world spaces with jet devices” (1925): “The desire for space travel was laid in me by the famous dreamer Jules Verne. He awakened the work of the brain in this direction. Desires have come. Behind the desires came the activity of the mind. Of course, it would have led nowhere if it had not met with the help of science.

The formation of the worldview of our grandfathers and fathers largely took place on such wonderful books as "Interplanetary Travel" (11 editions were published), "Entertaining Astronomy" (26 editions) by the famous popularizer of science and technology Ya. I. Perelman. For example, the USSR pilot-cosmonaut, Hero of the Soviet Union, Dr. technical sciences, Professor K. P. Feoktistov, at the age of 8 (in 1934), decided that in 30 years he would build a spacecraft on which he would fly into space. What he told his friend after reading Perelman's book "Interplanetary Travel", which he received from his older brother Boris. And his dream came true with amazing calendar accuracy on October 12, 1964, when he, together with cosmonauts V. M. Komarov and B. B. Egorov, flew on the Voskhod spacecraft, in the design of which (and many others) Konstantin Petrovich himself Feoktistov was directly involved.

The creation by Perelman of a new style of revealing the idea of ​​a book was a kind of revolution in popular science literature. Using the manner of presentation discovered by him, he wrote a whole library of "entertaining" literature, published in a huge circulation for that time - more than 250 thousand copies!

The space biography of another USSR pilot-cosmonaut, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences G. M. Grechko began with Perelman’s amazing book “Interplanetary Journeys”. “And although it was said that a person would leave the Earth in a hundred years, I had a dream ...” - recalls Georgy Mikhailovich.

This and other similar books have become a starting point in the biographies of many famous and not so famous famous people. For some, these were fantastic stories and novels that appeared in abundance in late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, during the rapid progress of science, technology and industry, which opened up a wide path for fantasy. So, the same G. M. Grechko said that he was “... as early as in childhood he was fascinated by science fiction -“ Argonauts of the Universe ”,“ Aelita ”“.

Our other worldwide famous pioneer cosmonautics - Alexander Ignatievich Shargei, better known as Yuri Vasilyevich Kondratyuk, his first scientific work and called it - "To those who will read in order to build" (1919). It became the basis of his classic work on the theory of astronautics, The Conquest of Interplanetary Spaces (Novosibirsk, 1929). After reading this book, the Americans used the "lunar track" scheme he developed to fly their Apollo spacecraft to the Moon and back to Earth. So, thanks to the book, the thought of one person became the property of all mankind.

Today, for us, such words and neologisms as “cosmonautics”, “cosmonaut”, “cosmodrome”, “space flight”, “ spacecraft”, “spaceship”, “overload”, “space suit”, “first space velocity”, etc. These expressions naturally entered our lives with the first Sputnik and the flight of Yu. A. Gagarin. And who was the first to introduce these concepts into our everyday life? Many have not even thought about it, and today few people probably know this. And these terms appeared in our language for the first time in the book by A. A. Sternfeld "Introduction to Cosmonautics" (M.-L.: ONTI NKTP), the first edition of which was published in 1937. Ari Abramovich worked on this book since 1925. For the first time he presented his work to the scientific community on December 6, 1933 in Warsaw, in Astronomical Observatory Warsaw University. But, unfortunately, then she did not find support from his compatriots. In May 1934, Sternfeld repeated his report on the book at the Sorbonne (Paris), in the presence of the world-famous French pioneers of astronautics R. Esno Peltri, A. Louis-Hirsch and others. For his work, A. A. Sternfeld in the same year was awarded the International Astronautical Incentive Prize of the Astronautical Committee of the French Astronomical Society. In a letter from A. Louis-Hirsch to the author, a wish was expressed that the author found a publisher to publish his work in French - "Initiation a la cosmonautique". However, this wish could be realized only after 3 years in the Soviet Union.

On June 14, 1935, the scientist and his wife arrived in our country, which became their second home. He joined the Reactive Research Institute (RNII) as a senior engineer, and in parallel with his design activities continued his theoretical research on rocket technology. These studies were published in the Proceedings of the Institute and were included in the domestic version of the manuscript "Introduction to Cosmonautics", which was translated into Russian by Georgy Erichovich Langemak. He not only accurately conveyed the thoughts of the author, but also considered it necessary to preserve the original terminology. The very word "cosmonautics" was then unusual. For example, the recognized popularizer of science Yakov Isidorovich Perelman, despite the high appreciation of Sternfeld's work, nevertheless reproached Langemak for accepting this neologism.

The fact that a Soviet scientist was the first to use the term "cosmonautics" was hushed up in the West and even disputed. Thus, the French mechanical scientist, Director General (1942–1962) of the National Aviation and Space Research Authority (ONERA) Maurice Roy in the preface to the English edition (1959) of the book “ rocket engines"M. Barrera, A. Jomotte, B. F. Webek and J. Vandenkerkhov, first published in Belgium in French (1956), directly writes: "... astronautics (the term I proposed) is replacing aeronautics, expanding, and even ahead of it.

Thus, during the formation of astronautics in scientific circles, everything was not as simple as it seems now. Later, A. A. Sternfeld introduced such words as “cosmonaut” and “cosmodrome” into our speech.

Nevertheless, France, under the sign of close cooperation with which 2010 passed ("Russia - France"), did not remain aloof from the formation of a cosmic worldview. For example, Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), a well-known French popularizer of astronomy, played a major role in promoting the idea of ​​space travel and developing a new worldview, which was later called “cosmism”, along with domestic figures at an early stage of awakening interest in conquering the infinite Universe. Most of his books have been translated into many languages, including Russian. At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, these were handbooks for astronomy lovers and everyone who was interested in science. His fantastic and popular science works introduced readers to the basics of astronomy and aroused the desire for knowledge of the Universe and other worlds. Despite the fact that they completely lacked technical foresight, they played a certain role in promoting the idea of ​​interplanetary travel and had a great influence on the older generation of future workers in aviation and rocket technology. We are no longer talking about the influence of Flammarion on the formation of Russian cosmism (A. V. Sukhovo-Kobylin, N. F. Fedorov) and, above all, on the worldview of K. E. Tsiolkovsky. This influence is undeniable.

It was not without the influence of Flammarion's books that arose in Russia: the Nizhny Novgorod circle of lovers of physics and astronomy, the Russian Astronomical Society, the Society of Lovers of the World, etc., whose members subsequently also wrote many books, and these organizations themselves took an active role in book publishing aimed at popularization of knowledge on astronomy and space research.

"Cosmos" (which in Greek means "order", "arrangement", "world order", "peace" and ... "beauty") in the mythological and mythologized early philosophical tradition is understood as a holistic, orderly, organized in accordance with a certain law Universe. The exit of mankind into space, the determination to explore it, which were anticipated and largely shaped by our compatriot K. E. Tsiolkovsky, still contribute to the expansion of individual human consciousness to cosmic scales. According to V. I. Vernadsky, “artistic creativity reveals to us the cosmos passing through the consciousness of a living being.” The cosmos is the personification of the soul in its inexhaustibility, immortality and beauty. Reading the books of the classics of astronautics and science fiction, you understand that "space" and "beauty" are identical concepts, the unity of "physics" and "lyrics". The aesthetics of the starry sky is so grandiose that the philosopher Immanuel Kant likened starry sky moral "tablets" of the human heart. Thanks to the writings of ancient astronomers and astrologers, and then philosophers and science fiction writers, people increasingly thought about the sky and its conquest.

May the current generations, behind the pragmatism of modern material culture, not lose the romance of learning new things and striving for new heights!

Vitaly Lebedev, Chairman of the Aviation and Cosmonautics History Section of the St. Petersburg Branch of the National Committee for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences