Konstantin Tsiolkovsky - Scientific Achievements

Scientific Achievements

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Tsiolkovsky stated that he developed the theory of rocketry only as a supplement to philosophical research on the subject. He wrote more than 400 works, most of which are little known to the general reader because of their questionable value.

During his lifetime he published approximately 90 works on space travel and related subjects. Among his works are designs for rockets with steering thrusters, multi-stage boosters, space stations, airlocks for exiting a spaceship into the vacuum of space, and closed cycle biological systems to provide food and oxygen for space colonies.

The first scientific study of Tsiolkovsky dates to the year 1880–1881. He wrote a paper called "Theory of Gases," in which he outlined the basis of the kinetic theory of gases, but after submitting it to the Russian Physico-Chemical Society, he was informed that his discoveries had already been made 25 years earlier. Undaunted, he pressed ahead with his second work – "The mechanics of the animal organism", which received favorable feedback and Tsiolkovsky was inducted into the Society. The main works of Tsiolkovsky after 1884 dealt with four major areas: the scientific rationale for the all-metal balloon (Airship), the streamlined airplane, trains, hovercraft, and rockets for interplanetary travel.

In 1892, he was transferred to a new teaching post in Kaluga where he continued to experiment. During this period, Tsiolkovsky began working on a problem that would occupy much of his time during the coming years - an attempt to build an all-metal dirigible that could be expanded or shrunk in size.

Tsiolkovsky developed the first aerodynamic laboratory in Russia in his apartment. In 1897, he built the first Russian wind tunnel with an open test section, developed a method of experiment in it and 1900, with a grant from the Academy of Sciences, made a purge of the simplest models and determined the drag coefficient of the ball, flat plates, cylinders, cones and other bodies. Tsiolkovsky's work in the field of aerodynamics was a source of ideas for Zhukovsky. Tsiolkovsky described the airflow of bodies of different geometric shapes. Because the RPCS did not provide any financial support for the project, he was forced to pay for it largely out of his own pocket.

Tsiolkovsky studied the mechanics of powered flight, which were designated "dirigibles" (the word "airship" had not yet been invented). Tsiolkovsky first proposed the idea of an all-metal dirigible, and built its model. The first printed work on the airship was "Managed Metallic Balloon" (1892), in which was given the scientific and technical rationale for the design of an airship with a metal sheath. Progressive for his time, Tsiolkovsky was not supported on the airship project: the author was refused a grant to build the model. An appeal to the General Aviation Staff of the Russian army also had no success. In 1892, he turned to the new and unexplored field of aircraft heavier than air. Tsiolkovsky's idea was to build an airplane with a metal frame. In the article "An airplane or a birdlike (aircraft) flying machine" (1894) are the descriptions and drawings of a monoplane, which by its appearance and aerodynamics was the design of an anticipated construction aircraft that would emerge over 15–18 years. In an Aviation Airplane, the wings have a thick profile with a rounded front edge and the fuselage is faired. But work on the airplane, as well as on the airship, did not receive recognition from the official representatives of Russian science. Tsiolkovsky's further research had neither monetary nor moral support. In 1914, he displayed his models of all-metal dirigibles at the Aeronautics Congress in St. Petersburg but met with a lukewarm response.

Disappointed at this, Tsiolkovsky gave up on space and aeronautical problems with the onset of World War I and instead turned his attention to the problem of alleviating poverty. This occupied his time during the war years until the Russian Revolution in 1917.

Since 1896 Tsiolkovsky systematically studied the theory of motion of jet apparatus. Thoughts on the use of the rocket principle in the cosmos were expressed as early as 1883 by Tsiolkovsky. But a rigorous theory of jet propulsion described them in 1896. Tsiolkovsky derived the formula (it was called "Formula of Aviation"), establishing the relationship between:

• speed of a rocket at any moment
• specific impulse fuel
• mass of the rocket in the initial and final time

When finished recording math, Tsiolkovsky automatically set the date: 10 May 1897. In the same year the formula for the motion of the body of variable mass was published in the thesis of the Russian mathematician I. V. Meshchersky ("Dynamics of a point of variable mass," IV Meshchersky, St. Petersburg., 1897).

His most important work, published in 1903, was The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices (Russian: Исследование мировых пространств реактивными приборами). Tsiolkovsky calculated, with the Tsiolkovsky equation, that the horizontal speed required for a minimal orbit around the Earth is 8,000 m/s (5 miles per second) and that this could be achieved by means of a multistage rocket fueled by liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen.

In 1903 he published an article "Investigation of outer space rocket appliances", in which for the first time it was proved that a rocket could perform space flight. In this article, and its subsequent sequels (1911 and 1914), he developed some ideas of missiles and the use of liquid rocket engine.

Result of the first publication was not the one expected by Tsiolkovsky. No foreign scientists appreciated the research, which today is a major science. He was simply ahead of his time. In 1911 he published the second part of the work "The study of outer space rocket appliances." Tsiolkovsky evaluates work to overcome the force of gravity, determines the speed needed to exit the device into the solar system ("escape velocity") and flight time. This time, Tsiolkovsky's article made a splash in the scientific world. Tsiolkovsky found many friends in the world of science.

In 1926—1929 Tsiolkovsky solved the practical problem of how to get fuel into the rocket to get the separation speed and leave the Earth. It turned out that the finite speed of the rocket depends on the rate of gas flowing from it and from how many times the weight of the fuel exceeds the empty weight of the rocket.

Tsiolkovsky conceived a number of ideas that have been used in rockets. They included: gas rudders (graphite) for the rocket flight control and change the trajectory of its center of mass, use of components of the fuel to cool the outer shell of the spacecraft (during re-entry to Earth), the walls of the combustion chamber and nozzle, pump system feeding the fuel components, the optimal descent trajectory of the spacecraft while returning from space, etc. In the field of rocket propellants Tsiolkovsky studied a large number of different oxidizing and combustible fuel and recommended pairings: liquid oxygen and hydrogen and oxygen with hydrocarbons. Tsiolkovsky did much fruitful work on the creation of the theory of jet aircraft, and invented his chart Gas Turbine Engine. In 1927 he published the theory and design of a train on an air cushion. He first proposed a "bottom of the retractable body" chassis. Space flight and the airship were the main problems to which he devoted his life. Tsiolkovsky had been developing the idea of the hovercraft since 1921, publishing a fundamental paper on it in 1927, entitled "Air Resistance and the Express Train" (Russian: Сопротивление воздуха и скорый поезд). In 1929 Tsiolkovsky proposed the construction of multistage rockets in his book Space Rocket Trains (Russian: Космические ракетные поезда).

Tsiolkovsky championed the idea of the diversity of life in the universe, and was the first theorist and advocate of human space exploration.

Hearing problems did not prevent the scientist from having a good understanding of music as outlined in his work "The Origin of music and its essence."

Tsiolkovsky never built a rocket; he apparently did not expect many of his theories to ever be implemented. Only late in his lifetime was Tsiolkovsky honored for his pioneering work. He supported the Bolshevik Revolution, and the new Soviet government eagerly promoted science and technology. In 1918 he was elected as a member of the Socialist Academy, and in 1921 received a lifetime pension.