SOVIET BOOK ON SPACE TRAVEL

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-01043R001900120005-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 151
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: April 25, 2013
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: March 17, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTE!.LIGENCE AGENCY
This materlai contains information affecting the National Defenso of tho IIaited States within the meaning oiti the Espionage Laws, Title
18, II.B.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the trnnsmisslon or revelation of which in nny manner to an unauthorized person !s prohibited by law.
C-O-N-F?-I-D-E~N~T-T--A~L 50X1-HUM
NOFORN
SUBJECT So?~iet Book on Space Travel
NO. PAGES
REQUIREMENT
NO.
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE &
DATE ACQ.
7 March 195$
50X1-HUM
RD
50X1-HUM
SOURCE EVALUATIONS ARE DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS T NTATIVE:~
A Soviet book ~in Er,.glish translation, Travel to Distant Worlds, by Karl Gilzin,
which was
written for students, discusses the progress ma e, sn :a,-_
towards space tr?avei ar_d possibilities for the future in this field. It 50X1-HUM
descz?ibes various missiles and projectiles which have been developed, but it was
evidently written before the Sor3.et launching of a satellite. The English version
of the book was published in Moscow in 1957, and the translation was by Pauline
Rose.
f 265 paged
C -O-N-F-I PD-?E -I~t?~I' -I-A-L
NOFORN
STATE X ARMY - NAVY x AIR
FBI
(Note: Washington distribution indicated by "X"; field distribution by "#".)
AEC
50X1-HUM
?? ? ??? ?? ? ???
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DEDICATED TO THE DtEhfORY
OF TILE FOUNDER OF ASTRONAUTICS,
KONSTANTIN EDUARDOVICH TSIOLICOVSKY
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FOREIGN LANGUAGIiS
PUBLISHING HOUSE
5foscon f 957
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IIYTEIDECTBIIE li j(AJIEI{I11I hl11PA1!
'pRANSLATED FROM TIIE RUSSIAN BY P A U L I N E ]I O S E
ILLUSTRATED BY N, K O L C II I T S K y
DESIGNED BY G. D A U JI A N
Part Four
"CONQUEST" OF THE UNIVERSE
Chapter 13. The First Goal-The Moon ........ , , , , 42g
Chapter 1~i. A Flight to the Planets .... ...... ~ 143
Chapter 15. Cosmic Routes ......... 157
Chapter 16. The Take?Ot[ and the Landing .................178
Chapter 17, Hop, Step, and Jump ............. . , , , , , , 1~J2
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CONTENTS
Page
Author's Nota .. , , 7
'fhe World About Us (Introduction) , , , , , , , , , , , ;;; ; ;; 0
Part Onc
FROIt FANTASY TU SCIENCE
Chapter 1, A Bold Dream . ..... 14
Chapter 2. Prisoners of the Earth . ... , , ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 1S
Chapter 3, Tho Birth of Sciance .......... , , , , 2t,
Part Two
A 1fIRACULOUS EA'GINE
R Chapter 4, The Third Birth .. 31
Chapter 5. The Sound Barrier Is Drol;cn Through! ..... . .. . .. .. 38
r Chap~er G. harnessing Half a Million Horses 51
( Chapter 7, "Dwindling" Projectiles and "Dwindling" Trains ......... G1
~ Chapter S. From the Rocket Plane to fhe Cosmic Ship.......... 67
C
! ~ Part Tkrce
F
TIIE t1TTt1CK ON INTERPLr1NE'1'ARY SPACE
Chapter 0, Tha Armour of tho :ltmosphere 7Y
Chapter 10, At the Threshold of Space ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ' 87
r Chapter 14: Islands at the Terrestrial Shores ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ 9G
` Chapter 12 On an Artificial Satellite ...... ............ . 108
 1'ar! Five
11t1N IN SPACG
Chapter 18. The Uaivarse at the Service o[ ilfan .. .201
Chapter 19, On a Space Sbip .... . '111
Chapter 20. Do Wo Neod Our Weight? ... . 21G
Chapter 21. Fatal Rays and );rrnnt 1[issilcs . ........ , L25
Part Six
A LOOK ]11'TO T11E FU'1'UIII:
Chapter 22. From lfoscow to tha Boon . , , , , , , , , , , 235
Chapter 23. On the lfoon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ;:;; ~5l
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The youth tlu?oughout the world have been manifesting n great interest
in the problem of space travel, 'Phis interest has long since ceased to be n
question o] idle curiosity: "Is space /ravel possiblo?" every pupil now
knows the answer to this question.
The interest of our young people in the problem of space travel has
assumed quite concrete form, 'They want to know what interplanetary Rights
are possible today, at the present level of scientific and technical develop-
ment, they want to know what achievements have been attained in the dr
velopment of remarkable reaction engines, which will be the vital part of
any interplanetary vessel, These young people question the astronomers
about tl~e routes of future cosmic Rights, They question the doctors about
the specific ellects of space travel on the human organism. They are interest-
ed in the posslbility of a collision between a space ship and meteors, in the
possibility of using artificial satellites of the);arth and in many other things
Ina [ew words, our youth are keenly interested in all the problems covered
by the science of space travel. This science has already developed to such an
extent, especially during the past decade, that it is impossible even to attempt
any detailed account of its achievements in any one book.
If this publication succeeds in replying to some of the questions put by
our young readers, if it arouses their greater interest and curiosity, its aim
will have bccu achieved.
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'!'ravel to distant worlds.... What worlds does this book talk about?
'!'here was n time when people considered the Earth the centre of the
Universe. Only individual scientists, such brilliant minds as Giordano
Bruno, were great enough to understand that the Earth is but a speck
in the Universe, and that life exists on countless heavenly bodies, in-
habited by thinking beings, even though they may, perhaps, be unlike
ourselves.
That was not so very long ago, and yet, how far have our conceptions
of the Universe 'advanced since that time! Science is striding ahead, and
man is acquiring more and more power aver nature. The time will come
when people will very likely speak of us with a smile, so strange will
our "secluded life" on Earth, this crowded world in which we;live, seem to
the people of the future. And the day Nill come when people will not only
visit the Earth's "suburbs" in the space about our Sun in their cosmic ships
but will even fly to other suns, penetrating further and further into space.
The heavenly bodies in the Universe are infinite in number.
Rotating on their axes and floating around in space a~ distances so
far from us that tliey defy imagination, are colossalstellarsgstems, "island
universes" or galaxies. Each stellar family consists of many thousands
of millions of stars. The distances between them are so great that it takes
even a ray of light, travelling at 300,000 kilometres a second, tens and
hundreds of thousands of years to travel from one star to another lying
at opposite sides of the same stellar family.
Our Sun, an ordinary star located close to the edge of one of these galaxies,
also floats about in the cosmos. It is in all respects nn average star. There
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are giant stars lnmdreds and even thousands of times larger than our
Sttn in diameter, and midget stars hundreds of times smaller. Our Sun
is colder than countless stars, and. hotter thou countless others. 'There
are stars more dense than the Sun, others less dense, stars that are bright-
er and stars that are less bright, and so on,
What is our Sun like, the source of life on Earth?
TIT,o Suu is a huge, incandescent, gaseous spherical body, the diameter
of which is almost '1'10 times greater than that of the Earth, or approxi-
mately 1,390,000 km, Within this tremendous seething gaseous sphere,
whic]z slowly rotates on its axis, complex processes are incessantly
at work, forming new atoms of helium gas from the simplest hydrogen
atoms. Duo Lo Lhese processes, colossal quantities of energy contained
in the atomic nuclei are released, with the result that a temperature of
about 20 million degrees is maintained in the bowels of the Sun. It is
not surprising, therefore, that every second the Sun radiates tremendous
energy. The Sun's rays penetrate all the space surrounding it; they
bring warmth and light, which are essential far the existence of life.
They are life-giving rays. Tho mysterious processes that go on
in the Sun play a very important part in our life: they influence the
weather, radio communications, the magnetic phenomena, etc. Bence
the importance of scientific study of the "life" of the Sun.
Tho Sun, like countless other stars, is not alone in its travels in space.
It is surrounded by a large family of heavenly bodies which taken togeth-
er form the solar system. till of these bodies are inseparably bound
with the Sun and, judged by cosmic distances, are relatively close
to it.
. The chief members of the solar family are the planets which revolve
around the Sun. They are not hot, but cold, solid, celestial bodies, much
smaller than the Sun in size and much mare mobile.
One of these planets is the );arch. In other words, "the centre of the
Universe" is no more than an ordinary planet, one of the nine planets
of the solar system. It is not surprising that the church waged such a
fierce ~var against Copernicus, Galileo, Bruno, against all those who
denied the exceptional position of the Earth and man iu the Universe,
for this latter assertion forms the basis of religion:
What are the planets of the solar system, those closest "relatives" of
the Earth?,
~ ,
'+'' ~"~~`'"~ .Edge aP tSa~ar /Disc ...:' C,: :`:;.~ - "'''i~j
Neptune
~ s~ e o 0
farlh Venus Mars Pluto Mercury
Relati~?c sizes of planets and tLe Sun.
The planet closest to the Sun is 1~Iercur}~, the smallest of them all;
then, as tive move away from the Sun, come Venus, our Eartl-, liars, Jupiter,
Saturn, Uranus, \Teptune, and Pluto, about which very little is known
sa far
The distances between the planets are so very great when compared
with the dimensions of the planets themselves that the solar system is
]i]~e a vast desert containing a few grains of sand, the planets, which
arc lost in its expanses". The following picture may give one an idea,of
the solar system. If we represent the. Sun as a huge ball a metre in diameter,
the Earth will be ~a minute cherry, less than one centimetre in diameter,
and at a distance of over 100 m. from that ball. Mercury will be the size
of a pea only 3.5 mm. in diameter, situated at a distance of ~i0 m, from
the ball, the Sun, while Venus will be a ~ cherry like the Earth, but at
a distance of about 77 metres from the Sun: Mars, the size of a bead about,
five mm. in diameter, revolves around the ball ~at a distance of over l GO m..
Jupiter, agian~, may be represented as a large orange 10 cm.~ in diameter
and at a distance of over half a kilometre from the ball. Saturn will be
an orange with a diameter of about 8.5 cm. and at a distance of about
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ane km. from the ball. Uranus-a nut with a diameter of 3.5 cm., will
be two km, from the ball, Neptune, a slightly larger nut, will bo a little
over three lcm, from the ball, and, finally, Pluto, also a pea slightly over
~i~i mm, in diameter, morn than Tour km. from the ball, the Sun.
Our knowledge of the planets is by no means insignificant, but what,
indeed, does it amount to compared with what we still have to learn !
Wo know, for instance, that 14ercury is almost completely devoid of
atmosphere and that ono and the same silo. of this planet always faces
the Sun. What we also know about Mercury, as well as about all the
other planets (except Pluto/, is how big it is, what its mass is, and what
laws govern its motion.
Venus has a dense atmosphere, but one that does not resemble that
of the Earth in composition, and, unfortunately, it is so difficult for the
visible solar rays to penetrate it, that as yet wo ]cnon= very little about
the appearance of the surface of our neighbour.
Another such neighbour is the enigmatic iVlars, about which, however,
we have learned more than about the other planets. lllars has au atmosphere
similar to that of the Earth, but more rarefied. It also leas water. These
are firmly established scientific facts. In recent years Soviet scientists
have obtained experimental proof of the fact that there is also vegetation
on Mars.
Jupiter is renowned for its dimensions-it is a giant as compared
to the other planets: its diameter is more than 11 times that of the Earth.
A dense, impenetrable la}per of clouds envelops this planet.
Saturn is beautiful with its famous necklace of rings. Like the next
two planets, Uranus and Neptune, opaque clouds envelop it.
We finally come to the outermost planet of the solar system, Pluto.
It very likely has~a frozen ~atmospbore that covers its surface ~vitli a solid
layer; for the temperature on Pluto, from which the Sun appears to be
just a blindingly bright star, probably reaches -220`C~.
Some of ?the planets, namely Mercury, Venus and, possibly, Pluto,
make their endless flight around the Sun in complete solitude, whereas
the others have satellites, smaller in size and which in turn revolve around
the `planets in their own orbits. This? family of planetary satellites
has as many as 30 members, not counting the Earth's well-known
satellite, the Moon.
One Sun, nine planets, and 31~ satellites...., Is that all?
No, that is far from all.
Besides these "inhabitants" of the solar system, we should mention
the tens of thousands of minute planets, the asteroids. They also revolve
around the Sun, but in the most diverse orbits, sometimes coming so close
that they almost touch the Sun, and sometimes moving at tremendous
distances from it.
Then there is a vor}~ large group of heaven/}~ bodies whose origin is
a riddle: the comets-"shaggy stars," usuall}~ adorned with long, beauti-
ful tails. These comets also revolve about the Sun, but they usually move
,along such elongated elliptical orbits that a year on one of these comets
might last tens of thousands of terrestrial years. No wonder that the
comets are sometimes called the vagabonds of the Universe.
h'inally, there is a countless armada of heavenly stones, meteors,
which are fragments of large extinct heavenly bodies. These stones pene-
trate the solar system from all directions.
Well, that seems to be about all.
And yet, should we become acquainted with the solar system at some
time in the future, we ma}~ be able to see artificial heavenly bodies created
by man-interplanetary vessels and artificial satellites of the Earth.
Indeed, the time is not far away when eve will witness the realization
of this greatest of man's dreams.
This book tells you how man is preparing to take a leap into space, about
the extraordinary difficulties he will have to overcome and the wonderful
opportunities space travel promises.
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.lnfGii't U92~
1'I~OI[ l!'A1TTt1S17 TO 5C11~i1TC1~)
't'lic impossible of today will
bedornc tLc possible of tomorrow.
r.. r. Ts~or xovshv
Chaplcr 1
A BOLD DREAl1I
We are living in a remarkable period. Tho features of the communist
society which the Soviet people are building stand out mare clearly with
every passing day. There are times when the wildest imagination, the
boldest dreams of man are surpassed .by reality.
In their striving to promote the cause of peace, Soviet people endeav-
our to make the fullest possrble use of their natural resources. The}~
have been setting remarkable examples of heroic labour and accomplish-
ing wonders.
The Lenin Volga-Don Canal, the age-old dream of the Russian people
has been built. Construction of the Kuibyshev and the Stalingrad power
stations, which are among the largest in the~world, and many other power
stations, canals, irrigation systems and dams, is proceeding at a rapid
Pace. More and more often we find the names of mighty Siberian rivers
mentioned in our newspapers. `their inexhaustible water supply, together
with the waters of the Volga, 'the Dnieper and the Don, will be made
to serve the Soviet people by producing cheap electric power. Deserts
succumb to the efforts of Soviet people, equipped with the most modern
science and technique; age-old virgin soil is up6urned; rivers change their
courses, and the face of the )Jarth is changing incredibly. New giant plants
begin to operate, beautiful cities arise, ~ and fields and gardens blossom
forth. The life of the Soviet people is becoming better and more beautiful.
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Electricity and chemistry, atomic energy and marvellous automatons,
Michurin's biology and the radio, hundreds and thousands of ~yonderful
discoveries by Soviet scientists, inventions of engineers and workers-
everything is being put to?use by the Soviet people in their magnificent.
fight to transform nature.
Can wo doubt that the bold dream of mankind as regards space travel
will be realized?
The dream of flying originated with our distant ancestors.
When primitive man tried to make his way through the heavy growths? of
liana in the impassable jungles, ho could not help envying the birds
which so easily soared in the sky above him. It is quite natural that this
dream found reflection in numerous folk legends.
One legend, which originated over 3,500 years ago, inspired the great
Tajik poet, rirdousi, to make a poem of it. It tells ho~v the Persian sover-
eign, Kail~aus, attempted to fly to the sky. Having conquered all the
world, as he ]cnew it, he decided to subdue thesky and subjugate the "realm
of the clouds." He; ordered a chariot to be built of the lightest wood, and
four young, strong eagles, caught especially far this purpose, to be har-
nessed to it.After getting into this "airplane" of his, with all the necessary
equipment and arms, the monarch gave the command and the eagles
were released. In their attempt to obtain the piece of meat fastened in
front of each of them, the eagles took oft, carrying with them into the
s]cy the chariot and its "pilot." However, these living "engines" grew,
tired of this meaningless game, and the luckless conqueror, disappointed
returned to the Earth.
tend who doesn't ]:no~v the ancient Greek legend of the carefree Icarus,
son of Daedalus, who rose into the air on wings made of feathers which were
stuck together with wax, but who imprudently drew too near the Sun and
perished? The fate of Icarus may befall future space travellers to Mer-
cury if the pilot of their vessel makes the slightest mistake in, navigating.
I'or man}~ thousands of years flying remained but a dream. Man, nature's
sovereign, was not meant to fly. People learned to sail, they built boats
and conquered the water expanses of the Earth, but the world at their
disposal still remained flat-the sky was still inaccessible to them.
People walked along the bottom of the greatest of all oceans-the atmos-
pheric-and could morel}~ dream of floating oft into that ocean, of flying
upwards.
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Brave, courageous Russian people also endeavoured to rise to the skies.
This cherished dream of flying is widely reflected in the tales and legends
of the Russian people. 1~~e need but recall the flights made by Ivan-Tsa-
revich, or the tale of the Hunchbacked Horse. It /vas in RUSSIa that this
cherished dream of flying was at last realized. The first piano to carry
man to rho skies was built by Alexander l~lozhaisky, tlto founder of.modern
airplane designing. That marked the beginning of a new era, the era of
aviation.
Closely bound up with the dream of flying in general was the dream
of flying to the stars. People knew nothing about the structure of the
Universe, nor what the stars were ]fl;e, but their creative imagination
carried them to those distant lights. The mythology of all ages and of
all peoples abounds in legends about (lights to the stars. These legends
sing the courage of brave men, of their creative daring.
As the science of the structure of the Universe and our solar system
developed, dreams of flying to the stars began to acquire new mea-tin~.
And when we dream of interplanetary flight, we speak of it, first of a71,
as of a great scientific achievement.
Indeed, interplanetary flight would be of exceptional scientific sig-
nificance.
During flight and when on the surface of the iVloon or the planets, it
would be possible to make diverse scientific observations such as cannot
lie made on ];arch. There is no doubt whatever, that as a result of such
a flight many secrets of nature would be revealed, science ~rould make
tremendous strides forward, and a new era would begin for a number
of branches of sciences. All fields of the natural sciences such as astronomy,
physics, chemistry, geology and biology would be immeasurably enriched
with new data, and new sciences as yet unknown to us would came into
being.
What a mysteriou4j thrilling, extraordinary world would open up
before those terrestrial beings who first reached the l~Ioou, i1~Iars, 1~enus!
New farms of plant and animal life, unknown to us on-Earth, might bo
discovered on the planets. The ' Mme may come when our terrestrial trav-
ellers tivill even reach such planets, where thinking beings exist, though,
they may be unlike you and me.
But it is not only the possibility of wonderful scientific discoveries
that makes the idea of cosmic, interplanetary travel so attractive. We
study nature not merely for the sake of studying it, but in order to make
it"servo mankind better. And, in this respect, space travel i~~ould. open
up new, truly colossal opportunities.
Tito planets may prove to be inoxhaustiblo storerooms of many useful
minera]s. Science has established the fact. that all these worlds of the
Universe l;nown to it consist of one and the same chemical elements,
which are covered by the periodic law of the elements, discovered by
lllendeleyov. However, the planets may contain ores and minerals rarely
to be found on Earth and which may even be entirely unknown to us.
roc it is a fact that such minerals are found in the celestial stones or
meteorites that fall to the Earth.
Bvoryono ]snows that the basic source of life on Barth is the generous
supply of energy from the Sun. However, the Barth is but a speck in the
space around tlto Sttn, and that speck receives less than one two-billionths
of all I he energy radiated by the Sun. Yet one must not think that this
soar energy received by the Barth is little. Judged by its absolute magni-
tude it is a tremendous amount. But man makes very little use of this
energy. The time will come, however, when this situation will change.
Not only will the wind, water, coal, oil and other forms of energy,
into which the energy of the Sun is transformed, be used, but it will bo
used directly. Bien then, when we take into consideration the increasing
needs of man, it may prove insufficient far the realization of his gigantic
projects. When that time comes, part of the Sun's energy which is now
going to waste in space may, along with the energy of the atomic nucleus,
comp to the aid of man.
It will be most convenient to set up solar power stations of tremendous
capacity on the 1~Ioon and on Mercury, as they have no atmospheres and
are not far from the Sun. The power produced by these stations will best
bo used right Lhere, in particular to supply the chemical plants operating
on "local" raw material and poducing fuel for the rocket'engines of inter-
planetary vessels. Then, perhaps, methods will be found to transmit
this energy to the Barth. It is even possible that stick solar power stations
will be set up not on the planets themselves, .but right in interplanetary,
cosmic space.
? We can go even further and say that a time will come when communi-
ties of people will appear on the Moon, Venus, Mars and, perhaps,,on
other planets and their satellites. Needless to say, at the present time
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theso planets are Ilot adapted for the life of peoplo who are accustomed
to terrestrial conditions. ]3ut by mal;ing use of tho colossal quantities
of energy which will become available in the future, man ~,vill be able
to interfere in the "life" of the solar system and change t11e order of things
that has existed there for thousands of millions of yenrs. Scientific ]a)owl-
edge, for instance, makes it possible, in principle-we shall speak
of this in greater detail later-to change Lhe relative positions of the
planets, for example to move Mercury, which is now dangerously close
to the Sun, farther awa}', so as tonaho the temperature conditions an
R~Iorcury more similar to those on Earth, or, for the very same reason, to
move Mars closer to the Sun. These are but a few of the opportunities
which the realization of interplanetary flight will make possible.
Today it is difficult even to conceive of all the prospects awaiting
mankind when people will be able to visit the most out-of-the-way places
of the solar system, and the solar system will have, at last, acquired a
real, wise, forceful master.
Chap ter 2
PRISO\'ERS Or TIIE EARTII
What prevents us from travelling into space? tiVhere lie t11e chief dif-
ficulties? tlfter all, how does such travel differ from travel on Earth?
Perhaps only in the fact that such travel covers greater distances?
Or in the fact Lhat it will take place in airless space, where vicious
cold dominates?
Or, finally, simpl}=because such a journey llas never as }'et been under-
taken and may be fraught with all sorts of unexpectednesses?
Yes, for these and for many other reasons. There is one circumstance
which makes any sort of interplanetar}= journey, even the shortest, differ-
ent in principle from any journey an Earth, even around-lhe-world
voyage; it is the chief difficulty that prevents us from making such a
journey.
You can guess, of course, what we have in mind: the force of gravity.
The force of gravity (or t1)e force of gravitation, as it is sometimes
called) is the force of the mutual attraction of material particles, one
of the most important forces in nature. Science has not as yet succeeded
in fully explaining the origin or the nature of? this force. ]3ut the character
of this phenomenon and the magnitude of the force of gravity have been
studied at length.
The force of gravity manifests itself everywhere, wherever there are
at least ttvo bodies or two material particles; it 'Influences such particles
all over the Universe. That is an absolutely universal law. That is why
Lhe law of gravitation, discovered by \Iewton, is called the la`v of uni-
versal gravitation. An}' two bodies, any t~vo particles are drawn towards
each other with a force that depends on the masses of these particles and
the distance between them. The larger the mass and the less the distance,
the greater will I)e the attraction.
We come upon the phenomena of the force of gravity all the time.
Our weight is the force with which the Earth attracts us. All objects on
EarUI have wci~ht~An mole torn off a tree does not head for Lhc slcy,
but falls to Lhe )Jarth under the influence of the force of gravity.
Incidentally, Lhis last explanation is not indisputable. If, besides
the apple and the Earth, there were no other bodies in the Universe,
there would be but one path for the apple to take-towards Lhe Earth.
IIowever, as a matter of fact, the apple is attracted not onlyb}'Lhe Earth,
but also by the SUIT, the Aloon and other heavenly bodies. If, despite
Lhis, it falls onl}= to Lhe Earth, that is merely because its attraction
towards the Earth is immeasurabl}= greater than towards any other
heavenly body, for the Earth is much closer. ror just the same reason,
in many other cases we may consider only the two bodies that attract each
other, as the Earth and the apple, disregarding the influence of the
otllcrs.
Incidentally, it became possible to formulate the theory of the move-
ment of heavenly bodies in the solar system only as the solution of a
"problem of two bodies." As regards the "problem of three bodies," to
say nothing of a greater number, iL has not been possible as }=et to find
any general solution because of mathematical difficulties. It is, therefore,
necessary to consider the influence of other bodies as distortions, or so-
called pertilrbations, which these bodies cause in the trajectories of ma-
lion, calculated for two bodies.
One must noL, however, get the idea that tive, here on Earth, ignore the?
attraction of the Sun or the 1~Ioon simply because it is~slight in its absolute
magnitude.~IL is a known fact, that such natural phenomena as high and
low tides, when thousands of millions of tons of oceanic water are brought ;
~` 19
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into motion, are duo to this attraction. Some da}= in the future the ener-
g3' Produced b}= this water will be used to operate most powerful "tidal"
hydropower stations. Even Neptune, ono of the outermost planets of
the solar system, which is at a distance of over ~i,000 million kilometres
from the Earth, exerts a force of 18 million tons upon it.
The force of gravity plays a tremendous and, needless to sa}=, positive
role in nature. If there were no force of gravity, the Universe would not
have such a highly organized appearance as it now has. There would,
of course, bo no solar system, nor would man bo in existence. And even
if we did exist, we would fret be able to stick to the stufaco of the Earth-
one light push would be sufficient to send us viandering in the vast expan-
ses of the Universe, after taping leave of our native places for-
ever.
However, the force of gravity plays quite a different role when we
consider the possibility of space travel. Indeed, when we travel on the
surface of the Earth, we do not notice the effect of the force of gravity
except, perhaps, in high mountain climbing. But an interplanotar}= flight
is quite a different matter. tiVhen making such a flight we must get farther
and farther away from the Earth all the time, which means we must over-
come the force of gravity. Tlto force of attraction towards the Earth, which
protects us from the danger of accidentally fl}=ing ell' it, does not permit
us to part from it even if we wish to. And so this "alliance" with the Earth
may be compared to a form of captivity.
How can we sever those powerful chair: of gravitation which transform
us into "prisoners" of the Earth? IIow coif we overcome this chief obstacle
that stands in the way of space travel?
Those well-known means b}= which people, from times of old, stormed
the sky, overcoming the force,of gravity-the balloon and the airship-
are of no use in interplanetary flights. In order to fly tltcy need air, and
air is not to be found in space.
However, science has found a means. It is speed, the speed that must
be imparted to the interplanetary vessel.
If we want to impart a certain speed to any object; as, for instance,
to an ordinary stone, we must throw it. The greater the force with which
we hurl it, the greater its speed. The strength of a person's muscles is
not great, of course-a world champion can jump over a bar set at a
height slightly over two metres. A stone cast by the strongest arm will
rise from 20 to 30 metres. But hero is where the intellect comes to the
aid of muscle. An arrow released from a taut bow will fly for tens and
even hundreds of metres; a bullet shot from a rifle will travel several
]cilometres; and a shell fired from along-range gun will rise in the air
to a height of ~i0 kilometres.
Ever higher and farther.... Isn't it possible to take such a swing with
~` ~ a stone as to hurl it to .., the Moen? In principle it is, but it would have
` to bo thrown with tremendous force.
The greater the force with which we hurl the stone, the greater its
initial speed, and the greater this speed, the higher the stone will fly.
A stone hurled upwards with a definite initial speed, gradually flies slower
and slower until ft stops completely far an instant, and then it begins
to fall back to the Earth faster and faster. tiVltat slows down the flight
of the stone when it moves upwards, and what increases its speed when
falling? The force of gravity. If the air in which the stone makes its flight
did not offer it any resistance, thus lessening its speed, the stone would,
on striking the Earth, possess the very same speed which was imparted
to it when hurled.
This enables us to determine the speed which must be imparted to the
stone if it is to reach, let us say, the orbits of the Aloon or Mars. A stone
hurled at such a speed will reach the orbit set it, and then it will begin
to fall back to the Earth faster and faster.
Is it possible to impart such a speed to the steno, that it will not return
to the Earth at all, but will continue to move endlessly, farther and far-
Lh~~r away from it, into space? It is possible, at least in theory. This speed
must bo equal to the speed the stone would have when falling to the Earth
"from infinity," as the mathematicians word it.^` Here, by "infinity" we
simply mean "very, very far," so far that even a considerable increase
in the distance no longer changes the speed with which the stone falls
back to the Earth. For instance, if one~stono falls to the Earth from a
height of 10 million km., and another from a height of 20 million km.,
the difference in the speeds of these two stones will be absolutely insig-
nificant.
# As above, Ne are ignoring the resistance of the air, that is, we consider the stone
as falling in a void; moreover, we are considering the problem of ta~o bodies, that is,
tive assume that besides the Earth and the stone there are no other bodies in nature.
We also are not taking into consideration the rotation of the Earth on its axis.
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The speed tl-at must be imparted to a stone (or any other body)
in order to make it fly oIf Lho Larth, never to return to it, but to
continue its flight away from the Lartl-, is usually called tho escape
velocity.
1~Then we impart such speed to a stone, it does not metal, as some ace
inclined to think, that the stone flies so far from tho Larth that the force
of attraction ceases to intluenco it and tho stone no longer is attracted
by tho l;arth. Thero is no such point in spaco where tho forco of gravil}= ?
ceases to fwlction, including the force of attraction to the 1Jarth. 1'he
forco of attraction to tho Larth functions everywhere, only its magnitude
may become insignificantly small if tho stone is far from it. This magni-
tude is invorsely.proportional to the square of the distance from the contro~
of the l;arth: when the distance increases twofold, the force of attraction
is one-fourth; when it increases Lhroefold, the force of attraction
15 O11C-nllltll, CIC.
Iu other words, ]t 1S Jllst t111S Singal1l'It)' of the law of univorsal gravita-
tlo[t that 111akCS interplanetary flight possible. If the force of attraction to
the );arch remained constant irrespective of the altitude and did not
decrease so rapidly, we could not even hope to travel in space, unless,
perhaps, in the very distant future.
We can easily grove the truth of this statemonL. In order to sever the
chains of the )Jarth's attraction, a certain amount of effort is necessary.
IIo~v can wo determine the magnitudo of this offoct? ~%lten n=e lift a load
of any hind, let us sa}= one kilogramme to a height of one metre, wo por-
farm work which, as we know, is equal to one kilogramme-metre. If we
decided to raise this load to a height of 3Sii million metros, that is, if we
decided to throw it to the 1~Ioon, wo would, if the force of gravity were
constant, have to perform 38~i million'times as much work. "
worl~. an engine with a capacity of about 1,500 horse-powerllperfol~ns
in one hour. But, the very 11g11tCSt SpaCC Shl(1 InIISt 1VC1g11 tens, if not
hundreds, of tons. fLlld so L11C required power of the ship's engine and
the fuel expenditure for such a (light would be so mtormous that the so-
lution of this task would be beyond the means of modern techniquc.~l+or-
tunately, this would be the case onl}= if the force of gravity were constant
and did not change as the altitude changed. In roalit}=, however, as we
pointed out above, the force of gravity decreases as the object withdraws
from the )Jarth. The further away (roar the 1Jarth, the casior it is to ovcr-
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come its attraction. Thal is why Lhe work necessary
to throw a kilogramme weight to the Moon is actual/}=
about one-sixtieth, or approximately G.3 mrllton kilo- YOD,
gramme-metres. Such work can bo accomplished by
a crane which raises G30 tons of brit]: to a height of 10
metres. This, too, is a very great
amount of work, but even then, modern
technique is able to solve the problem'of
space travel, as we shall show you later.
That is what the decrease in the f orce
of gravitation, as the altitude increases,
means to us.
oskg:
,~
2k.
~ forceol`grauilyinl`ermsof
its magnitude onthesurlace ofthefarth
10 40 60 80 100 110 14D !60 /80.100
Ilisfance tram the centreof thefarth
in thousands of kilometres
The force of gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from the
centre of the )Jarth.
The escape speed of a stone i the speed necessary to ensure that it will
continue to fly away from the )Jarth without ever returning. If the speed
of the stone is less than is necessary, the stone will, sooner ar later, inevi-
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~~
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his own experience hoa=unpleasant greet acceleration is. One needs onl}?
to rocall one's feelings wheu a tram or automobile in which Ono may be
riding suddenly starts or stops, or makes a sharp curve. Air pilots, in
particular, are familiar with these sensations, when executing intricate
figures !Il t11C all': tllo \Tcstcrov loop, the roll, or when veering. Soule
powerful force citl-cr presses them down to their scats or, ou the contrar}?,
whirls them out of their scats. IlThere does this force came from?
So long as the velocity is constant, no matter how great it is, we do
not feel it at all, and cannot even suspect that we are moving, DOOS anyone
ever stop to dunk that, together with the lsartl-, he Is constantly o=hirl-~
ing arou-ld the Sun in space at a rate of 301;m. per second? Of course not!
But if the velocity of the Larth's motion were sudden/}' to change sharpy=,
becoming either greater or less, the situation would be quite did'erent.
Incidentally, it would be bettcrnot to enumerate all the unpleasantnesses
that the inhabitants of the 1Jartb would experience if the}l ever came to
feel this potiverful force.
Tlus force, which ahvays appears when acceleratiml occurs, is called
the force of inertia.
j~~hon a lift begins to rise, acquiring acceleration, the passengers in
it feel as though some load were pressing them to the floor, as if their
n=eight were being increased. It is the floor of the lift that presses against
the passengers, overcoming their inertia auc! their attempt to preserve
their state of rest. The greater the acceleration of the lift and the quicker
it increases its speed, the greater will be the farce of inertia and this
increased weight of the passengers. TJIe force of inertia is directly pro-
portional to the acceleration, l~~hen the lift stands still, only the force
of attraction presses the passengers to the 11oor of the lift, that is, their
own weight. When a body falls in a void this force causes an acceleration
equal approximately to 10 metres per second for every second of the fall,
more exactly-9,81 metres. This is the so-called acceleration of a free
fall or tho acceleration caused by the );arch's gravity, If the lift begins
to rise at such an acceleration, that is, if its velocity is increased
every second by 10 metres per second, the passengers will be pressed Lo
the Moor of the lift not only b}= their own weight, but also by a similar
force of inertia, and the weight of the passengers will seem to be doubled,
It goes without saying that such an "increase" in weight is bJ= no means
pleasant.
'191o passengers enclosed in tliat unique lift of Jules Verne's, his pro-
ject]le,will feel the effects of tremendous forces of inertia, for the velocity
of the projectilo must increase during its motion in the gun barrel from
;; 0 at Lhe beginning of its motion until it attains a velocity of 16 ]{m, per
second* at the end of its trip. The acceleration of the motion will be tre-
mendous. According to calculations, it will be about G0,000 times the
acceleration of the )Jarth's attraction. But this means that the weight
of the passengers in the projectile will be just so many times their usual
weight-a passenger will tivcigh up to 3,000-Ii,000 tons! This tremen-
douslyincreased weight would crush these wretched travellers, and nothing
would remain of them but a spot mi Lhe bottom of the projectile. As far
?~; as the fate of the passengers is concerned, it would make no difference
where they were at the time the projectile was fired-inside it or right
-~ in front of it.
'", The inertia overloads resulting from accelerations in flight are just as
harmful to the ship itself as Lhey are to the ship's Passengers. There have
been cases when a plane, coming out of a dive, ended tragical/}=. If a
pilot, after malting a precipitous descent, turns his plane upwards too
suddenly, the wings of the plane cannot hold out and break under the
overload caused by the force of inertia. The time has long passed when
people said of a plane that "iL is nob a machine and cannot be calculated."
The science of calculating the reliability of planes has been developed
to a high degree of perfection. \Taturally, this calculation is made
for very definite inertia overloads, and space ships will be calculated
In 11115 way.
So we sec, iL is not suf ficieut to impart a Lremendeus velocity to an
interplanetary ship; this ,velocity must be imparted gradually, evenly,
without great acceleration. We will tell you later just how great these
accelerations ma}= be. The only thing now clear to us is that Jules Verne's
cannon does not meet Lhis demand. Incidentally, an3' other cannon will
suffer from the same ,defect.
It is inexpedient to use guns or an}= form of catapult to send space
ships of>' not only because of the unallowable accelerations which develop
" TLis value for the velocity is given in the romance From the Fartla to the Moon
(1G,5iG m. per sec.); it isgreater than the escape velocity because of the need to over-
come the air resistance of a llyingprojectile, `W=hich decreases its velocity.
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 i
F
~? '
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in such cases. Even if it were possible in some way or other to overcome
this main difficulty; which is very wilikely=, there aro other defects inher-
ent in this method. Ono of these is quite obvious-the projectile
will Ily along aprevious/}= set path, and the possibilities of guiding
its Ilight aro very limited. This fact will ]zardly bo to the liking
of the pilot. Even Jules Verne's projectile did not reach its dostina=
lion, This, by the wa}~, proved to be a saving feature, for how `would
his readers have found out about the adventures of his heroes?
There is a morn important problem: the landing of such a ship on a
planet. ~Ve can hardly conceive of such a landing as the collision between
a projectile and its target,
Finally there is another defect in such a ship, ouo which, although
less obvious, is also ver}= important, that connected with the specific
features of the atmosphere that surrounds our Earth. Wo shall consider
these specific features in greater detail later on, for besides the "armour
of attraction," as Tsiolkovsky worded it, the space ship will have to
break through the "armour of the atmosphere," which separates us from
space. There is, however, one specific feature which is very obvious-
as the altitude above the Earth becomes greater, the density of the atmos-
phere rapidly becomes less.
The densest strata of the atmosphere lie right on the surface of the
Earth. It is through this densest atmosphere that the ship will Ily during
the first tens of kilometres of its distant trip. And here, at the very begin-
ning of its trip, the ship should fly at a low speed, as this will considerably
decrease the loss in the ship's velocity occasioned by the resistance of
the air; in other words, it will decrease the loss of energ}? spend in overcom-
ing the resistance of the atmosphere. Furthermore, it will eliminate
the danger ,of overheating the surface of the ship, which is inevitable
when flying at a great velocity in a dense atmosphere. We shall speak
of the resistance of the air and the overheating of the ship in greater
detail later on; but what is obvious at once is that it is desirable to or-
ganizethe flight of a space ship in such a way, that its velocity will become
cosmic only at a respectable distance from the Earth, in a rarefied
atmosphere.
Thus we see it is not such a simple matter to organize the flight of a
space ship: the required velocity for such a flight must be many times
greater than the maximum velocity ever achieved by man; during the
~;~ launching of the ship the accelerations in the velocity must be very slight,
E; the take-off must bo smooth; at low altitudes, in dense air, the veloc-
.; ity must be relatively low; the ship must be able to guide its flight,
~:= and measures must be taken to ensure a smooth landing at the desti-
nation.
The first person to find the means of solving all these problems, which
~. ~'?at first glance seem unsolvable, he who can rightly bo considered the
. ~ founder of the science of interplanetary communication or astronautics
~~,?, is Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, whose namo will always remain
.:" in the hearts of the people as an example of bold scientific thought, an
~~~~~o example of creative daring. The Soviet people also revere the memory
`;~' of scientists of other lands, such pioneers of astronautics as the Frenchman
,; ; Esnault Peltorio, the American Goddard, the Germans Oberth and Valier
;~;~ and many others.
~~~; Back at the end of the 19th century Tsiolkovsky, a modest provincial
~: ' schoolteacher, became interested in the problem of space travel and
~? succeeded in solving many problems connected with the theory of it.
A scholar, investigator and innovator in science, Tsiolkovsky also proved
=.? to be a bold innovator in technique, a remarkable inventor and engineer.
', He created a wonderful engine without which space travel would be
,~~, inconceivable; he drew up plans for a number of projects of interplanetary
,' ships and found the answers to numerous practical questions connected
;-T with the problem of space travel.
~'~ There wasn't a single important problem concerning cosmic flight,
", which Tsiolkovsky wasn't aware of. There wasn't a single problem con-
corning interplanetary communication, forwhich Tsiolkovsky didn't have
`'~ a bold, original solution.
W In tsarist Russia Tsiolkovsk}='s remarkable works could not find sup-
? port in the bureaucratic, conservative government. In spite of the great
importance attached to his n=ork even then by such universally famous
scientists as D. Mendeleyev, A. Stoletov, M. Rykachov, iV? Zhukovsky
and others, during the more than 40 years of his pre-revolutionary work
as a scientist and inventor, Tsiolkovsky only on one solitary occasion
received financial aid from the Russian Academy of Sciences, and then
it consisted of the magnificent sum of ... 470 rubles!
Living on the insignificantly small salary of a schoolteacher in the
town of Borovsk, later in Kaluga, almost deaf as a result of some childhood
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in such cases. Even if it were possiblo in some way or other to overcome
this main difficulty, `vhich is very wilil;ely, thero aro other dofects inhor-
ent in this method. Ono of these is quite obvious-tho projectile
will fly along a previously set path, and the possibilities of guiding
its flight aro very limited. This fact will hardly bo to tho~ liking
of tho pilot. Even Jules ~~erne's projectile did not reach its destina-
tion. This, by the way, proved to be a saving feature, for how would
his readers have found out about tho adventures of his heroes?
Thero is a more important problem: tho lauding of such ~ a ship on a
planet. ~~e can hardly conceiva of such a landing as the collision between
a projectile and its target.
Finally there is another defect in such a ship, ono which, although
less obvious, is also very important, that connected with the specific
features of the atmosphere that surrounds our Earth. 1Ve shall considor
these specific features in greater detail later on, for besidos tho "armour
of attraction," as Tsiolkovsl;}~ worded it, the spaco ship will havo to
break through the "armour of tho atmosphere," which separates us from
space. There is, however, one specific feature which is very obvious-
as the altitude above the Earth becomes greater, the density of the atmos-
phere rapidly becomes less.
The densest strata of tho atmosphere lie right on the surface of the
Earth. It is through this densest atmosphere that the ship will fly during
the first tens of kilometres of its distant trip. And here, at the very bogin-
ning of its trip, the ship should fly at a low speed, as this will considerably
decreaso tho loss in the ship's velocity occasioned by tho resistance of
the air; in other words, it will decrease the loss of energy spent in overcom-
ing the resistance of the atmosphere. Furthermore, it tivill eliminate
the danger of overheating the sui~faco of the ship, which is inevitable
when flying at a great velocity in a dense atmosphere. We shall speak
of the resistance of tho air and the overheating of tho ship in greater
detail later an, but what is obvious at once is that it is desirable to or-
ganize the flight of a space ship in such a way, that its velocity will becomo
cosmic only at a respectable distance ? from the Earth, in a rarefied
atmosphere.
Thus we see it is not such a simple matter to organize the flight of a
space ship: the required velocity far such a flight must bo many times
greater than the maximum velocity ever achieved by man; during the
launching of tho ship the accelerations in Clio velocity must bo very slight,
the take-off must bo smooth; at low altitudes, in dense air, the veloc-
ity must be relatively low; tho ship must bo' able to guide its flight,
and measures must be taken to ensuro a smooth landing at the desti-
nation.
Tho first person to find t]io moans of solving all theso problems, which
at first glance seem unsolvable, he who can rightly be considered the
founder of the science of interplanetary communication or astronautics
is Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, whose namo will alwa}=s~remain
in the hearts of the peop]o as an examplo 'of bold scientific thought, an
example of creative daring. Tho Soviet peoplo also revere the memory
of scientists of other lands, such pioneers of astronautics as the Frenchman
Esnault Pelterie, the American Goddard, tho Germans Oberth and Valior
and many others.
Back at the end of the 19th century Tsiolkovsky, a modest provincial
schoolteacher, became interested in the problem of space travel and
succeeded in solving many problems connected with the theory of it.
A scholar, investigator and innovator in science, Tsiolkovsky also proved
to be a bold innovator in technique, a remarkable inventor and engineer.
He created a wonderful engine without which space travel would be
inconceivable; he drew up plans for a number of projects of interplanetary
ships and found the answers to numerous practical questions connected
with the problem of space travel.
There wasn't a singlo important problem concerning cosmic flight,
which Tsiolkovsky wasn't aware of. There wasn't a single problem con-
cerning interplanetary communication, forwhich Tsiolkovsky didn't have
a bold, original solution.
In tsarist~Russia Tsiolkavslcy's remarkable works could not find sup-
port in the bureaucratic, conservative government.' In spite of the great
importance attached to his a=ork even then by such universally famous
scientists as D. Mendele}=ev, A. Stoletov, M. Rykachov, N. Zhukovsk}=
and others, during the more than. 40 years of his pre-revolutionary work
as a scientist and inventor, Tsiolkovsky only on one solitary occasion '
received financial aid from the Russian Academy of Sciences, and then,
it consisted .of the magnificent sum of ... 470 rubles! '
Living on the insignificantly small salary of a schoolteacher in the
town of Boravsk, later in I{aluga, almost deaf as a result of some childhood
29 .
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illness, Tsiolkovsky spent all his ft'CC fnlld5 011 CXpC]'1melttS Ill 1vh1C11 lie
was interested. I~Ie built models, apparatus, instruments and also the
first aerod}mimic tube in the world. '1'he uninitiated regarded him a
"Ircal;," an idle dreamer.
Onl}r after the people took the reins of government into their own
hands did Tsiolkovsky have an opporttUllty to develop his ability to
the utmost. During the years of Soviet rule he wrote and published over
four times as many boo/s as before rho Revolution-550 out of a total
of G75. Tsioll;ovsky became the ideological inspiration and head of a
whole school of talented Soviet scientists, investigators and engineers,
wlto developed the ideas of their Leacher.
Part T2U0
~ 1II1~~.CULOUS ~\TGI~1T
Chapter 4
THI; TIIIRD BIRTI3
'1'siollcovs];y found tut astonishingly simple solution to the seemingly
unsolvable problem of how to ot'ganize the flight of a cosmic ship so as
to meet the chief requirements, those discussed in the preceding chapter.
It was clear that simply thrusting an interplanetary ship into space
would not do; it had to be tlu'ust there in a special way. Its force tivould
have to be tremendous if the ship was to acquire a colossal velocity. The
process of thrustingitwouldbave to belong-drawn out, so that the launch-
ing of the ship would be smooth and long enough for it to fly through
the dense strata of the atmosphere at a low velocity. But even this is
not enough. The commander of the ship must be able to change its di-
rection and velocity in space as lte sees fit, otherwise the ship will
simpl}= become the plaything of the elements and n=ill nob answer its
pttrpase.
But this means that the push imparted to the ship at the take-off must
not be the only one. Other similar pushes may become necessary, and
it may evcu,be ]uto~vn lteforehand that they will be necessary during rho
flight itself, when the ship's commander must be able to select the moment
for making such pushes, must be able to determine their intensity, dura-
tion and even direction. They will ]rave to be special, directed pushes.
tiVhat is most important is that such additional pushes become neces-
sarywhen the ship is whirling along in space, where there is no air against
which it can push off, where there are no blowing winds, nothing solid
underfoot, as when taking ofI from the )Jarth. Obviously, the only solution
would be in finding the source of those pushes in the space ship itself.
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Such a solution is possible, and it tivas this solution, Clio only possiblo one,
that Tsioll;ovsky found.
Tsiolkovsl;y proposed using the reaction principle for interplanetary
flights. IIo suggested installing in the space ship a reaction engine ~vliich
ho had invented. This remarkable idea of his forms the basis of all modern
astronautics.
Every school child knows what the reaction principle is. Incidentally,
people /;new about it and used it from times of old, although it was for-
mulated as a scientific principle only in the 17th century by Newton.
Let us take a loot; at these pictures. They represent a race in sumo
~trange-looping boats. These boats are set on wheels capable of moving
along a horizontal track. In order to start off on their journey the boats
must be given a push forward, The racers try to reach their destination
by various means.
h'or instance, the passengers in boat No. 1 have decided to push o!f
from land by means of boat-hooks, the way rowers do when stuck in sl-al-
lotiv water. 4~t'hen pushing against the Earth, the passengers apply a certain
force. But ever}~ action has an equal and opposite reaction-that is ono
of the basic laws of the science of motion and mechanics. Tlie 1Jartli pushes
against the passengers and the boat they are ~n with an equal force that
is applied in the opposite direction, or with an equal forco of "reaction."
A push of one and the same force moves the body forward at different
velocities, depending on the mass of the body, The velocit}~ of the Larth's
motion, when it is pushed by the passengers, is insignificant since the
1;arth's mass is tremendous. But the boat, which is light, acquires notice-
able velocity, just as an athlete does when he pushes off from the ground
in order to jump over a bar.
The racers can push off against something else, other than th?Earth.
Taking advantage of the fact that runnin
No. 2 there are long channels filled with w gerathelpassengers of this vs sel
push elf against the water with oars the ~vay rowers do in a rowboat, and
using ascrew-propeller as a motor-boat does. The force~of the push of
the oars and the screw-propeller in this case makes a certain mass of water,
affected by them, move backwards with a certain velocity, The greater
the push, the greater the accelerated mass of water and the velocity of
its motion. The equal and opposite forco of reaction of the re ulse
mass of water makes the boat move forward. p d
14otfon`under the influence of the forces of reaction.
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Boat \0.3 has no ~vatcr to push olf against, hilt its passenger just as
effectively pushes off against the air around him. hor this purpose he has
to use a propellor, ~ti=hich makes a large number of turns ~~=hen rotating,
as it ~~=ould on an ordinary airplane. 'Phis propeller throws the air back,
forcing it to move at a greater velocity; the force of reaction of
the repulsed air shoves the boat ford=ord. Again the force of
reaction!
IIowever, if we so desire, ~ti=e can get along tivithout boat-hooks, without
oars and propellers, ~~=ithout all this "motor" po~~=er, by means of which
the passengers in boats 1, 2 and 3, labouring by the sweat of their bro~~r,
create the push necessary to move their boats, Let us sec what the racer in
boat No.~i has thought of! Ile has erected a long trough beside the railway
and has filled it with iron halls. The racer has taken a ball from the trough
and throws it behind him. The force of reaction of this ball pushes the '
man wholnirlcd it, and his boat moves forward together with him. So long ;
as the boat moves the length of the trough and there are balls in
the groove, the velocity of the hoaCs motion can keep increasing as a ; '
result of the reaction of the hurled halls. Such motion ~slrich results from ~ _
the hurling of a mass and ~~=hich takes place ~~?ithout the aid of any motors `
is usually called reaction motion. It is exactly in this way, as gee shall ~ ,
see later, that the jet plane makes its Might. Only, of cowse, it does not
throe= back iron balls taken from a trough, but the air, ~~=hich it takes , ~ .,
from the surrounding atmosphere. ~~ .,.
The racer in the last boat, 1\O.J, had another idea. Instead of building _.; ;,
a trough, he stacked up a number of such iron Ualls right in his own boat.
Of course, the supply of balls, in this case, cannot he so great as Ghat
in the trough, but then the boat is no longer dependent on the groove,
and the passenger ma}=, at will, get the necessary push for lus boat by
hurling .the ball even ~~=hen in airless space. Isn't this the very thing
a space ship needs?
It is this very idea of reaction motion under the influence of the force
of reaction of the hurled mass, which is stacked up on the moving machiner
that forms the basis for space. travel.
This idea is not a new one. The flight of the simplest dry-fuel rocket
is based on this principle, and people knew how to hurl such roclcets-
long, long ago. However, there is as great a difference between these first.
rockets and the reaction engine of a space ship, invented by Tsiol-
K. l;. 'fsiollcovsl>': studies are the unusually thin
~~. wings of speed planes,* the imu-
~?sual form of these wings, which
.make a modern speed plane look
like a whirling arrow, and many
other specific features of these
macllines.
It became clear, once and far
Profile of title wing of the supersonic airplane
proposed by Ii. );. Tsiolkocsky.
all, that, with the usual piston engine it would be impossible to exceed
the speed of sound, to brea]c through the sound barrier. Aviation, therefore,
turned to reaction technique for help.
This was the one and only logical step to take, for reaction motors are
the most effective for high speed flight. It is easy to convince oneself of
the truth of this statement merely by loo]:ing at the dry-fuel rocket.
Imagine such a roc]~et being tested on the test stand. The motor works,
the pon=der burns; incandescent powder gases escape through the nozzle
of the rocket, but it is all in vain, for the motor is not doing any useful
work while all this is going on. And indeed, work is the action of a force
along a certain path, and in the given case we have a force, the
force of reaction of the stream of escaping gases, but no path-the
rocket is immobile. It is the same as if, let us say, you were ordered to move
a heavy case to one side, about two metres. No matter how hard you la-
boured, trying to move this box, you would not be accomplishing an}= tlse-
ful lvorlc as yet. I3ut, if the box did move from its plane, then work would
actually be accomplished, the work equivalent' to Lhe product of }roar
efforts and the path traversed by the box. $o long as the box remained im-
mobile, the encrg}~ you expended would be lost.
" Characteristic of the wide range of Tsiolkovshy's scientific iuteresls is the wing
profile of the supersonic airplane, proposed by him, the so-called double-edged wedge
(seo figure on Lhis page), which will very likely he widely used in the future, inpanic-
ular Tor the wing of a space ship making a gliding landing in the earth's atmosphere.
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it during flight, but hacl even been subjected to most thorough theo-
~,.'' tResislance chap ~nypro?
porliona!!y /o l~s care
ofliip velocity a/f~ghl
retical investigation.
]3ack in the 19th century
N. 1laicvsky,l'rofessor at 4he
~
Artillery tlcademy,
first point-
ed out the connection between
this unexpected increase in
resistance and the velocity
of sound in the air, that is,
tho velocity with which sound?
waves travel through the air.
In 1902 a brilliant scientific
study was published, the
~P/OC%~!/OIJOUpl1' VPI~C%JyOI /ligh/ - ~~rorl: of Scrgci Chaplygin',
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But there, the rocket has flo~tin~ off and is whirling along at an increasing
velocity. Now the rocket is really performing work, n=hick is equal to the
force of reaction of the stream of gases multiplied by the path traversed
by the rocl~et. '
The greater the flight speed, the greater the useful work. It is easy to
calculate when the energy of the gases w}ll be fully used to perform produc-
tive work, that of moving the rocket ,in its surrounding medium. Appar-
ently at that moment when the flight speed of the racket will be exactly
equal to the jet velocity. Indeed, in this case the gases escaping from the
rocket at a tromeridous speed will be, as far as the air surrounding them is
concerned, absolutely immobile. This .a]so means that the gases have
lost all their ]~inetic energy, which has become transformed into the
useful work of moving the rocket. True, in order for such a moment to be-
come possible, the dry-fuel rocket must fly at a very great speed, about
6,000-7,000 kilometres per hour, but the closer the flight speed approaches
this most useful speed, the more effective becomes the work of the reaG
lion motor.
And so we see that the reaction motor is indeed meant for great veloci-
ties. I+or this very reason reaction motors w}ll probably never be widely
used in transport on land and water-on railways, in automobiles and
boats. At relative/}= low travel velocities, such as are possible in these
cases, the reaction motor is at a disadvantage and yields its place to the
internal-combustion piston engine we have spoken of above. The situation
is altogether different in the air, where tremendous velocities are possible,
in aviation and the artiller}=, In such cases the reaction motor is unri-
valled. This is especially true as regards airless, interplanetar}~ space. Inci-
dentally, the first to draw the conclusion as to the advantage of using reac-
tion motors at great flight speeds was also Tsioll~ovsky.
Sa long as the flight speed of planes was relatively low, aviation could
get along fully well with the piston engine, whereas the use of the reac-
tion motor would be unprofitable. But when the velocity iucroasod great-
ly, the piston engine began to give way and all eyes became focussed on
the reaction motor.
However, the aircraft reaction motor must, apparently,' differ in man}~
respects from the motors'of reaction artillery, first of all because it must
ensure a flight of long duration. The work of the aircraft reaction motor
must now be measured not in seconds, as with the dry-fuel reaction motors,
but in hours. In this case it fs impossible to store all the fuel in the combus-
tion chamber, as in the dry-fuel motor, but it w}ll have to bo delivered
throe in small portions. It, therefore, follows that the fuel for the avia-
tion motor must not bo solid. But that is still not all-such a motor
must expend little fuel, that is, it must bo economical in order that
the usual supply of fuel on the airplane be sufficient for a prolonged
flight.
e .~'? There are motors that satisfy these demands. They are the so-called
~`~ air-reaction motors. They operate not on dry, but on liquid fuel, and use
~. the oxygen in the atmosphere for combustion. As a result of this, the
duration of their work is immeasurably greater than that of dry-fuel
Tlie first designs of air-reaction motors appeared in many countries,
including Russia, back in the nineteenth century. In 1867, N. Teleshav,
a Russian inventor, patented an air-reaction motor with a compressor for
compressing the air. He called this a thermal gas jet motor.
In Nlay 1884 the inventor Yakubinsky submitted to a meeting of the
aeronautical department of the Russian Technical Society the first design
for an air-reaction motor meant especially far flying machines.
Kuzminsky, a talented engineer and inventor, back in~1897, built and
tested on a cutter on the Neva River the first gas-turbine engine ever
produced; its construction `vas very much like that of motors in modern
jet aircraft.
Interesting projects for air-reaction motors were developed at the begin-
ning of the twentieth century by inventors Karavodin, Antonovich, Go-
rokhov and Nilcolsky.
In 1924 designer Bazarov received an author's certificate for'tho design
of a so-called turbo-propeller motor for aircraft, in which the thrust is
effected by means of a propeller operated by the turbine, and by the reac-
tion of the stream of escaping gases. The motors in modern jet planes
borrow many of their chief features from this project. '
Tsioll:ovsky, who had also worked on the problem of using reaction mo-
tors for aviation, in 1932 proposed the so-called double-contour turbo-
reaction motor. The design of such a motor was developed in 1937 by en-
gineer Lyulka. ?
In Russia, too, the principles governing .the theory and calculation of
jet motors were formulated. At the end of the nineteenth century Nikolai
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7.hukovsl:y, in his famous works on Tkc l~orcc o/ neactio~~ o/ a~a Out/locv-
i~ag and In~lowir~g Liquid (1352 and 1SSG), supplied tho formula far tho
determination of the thrust, which formula is used Loday all over the
world. Academician B. Stechlciu, ~vho had studied ?ttdor'/.hukovsky, was
the first to formulate a theory for air-reaction motors, published by him
in '1929.
11~hereas the dr}'-fuel reaction motor astonishes one because of its sim-
plicity and the fact that it does not have a single mobile part, the turbo-
7
Air
Conpr~ or ~ amuF~r n Turbine
r
r.
?,~ this, the .turbine rotates, developing the power necessary Lo set the compres-
~, sor into operation. It is for this purposo that the turbine is in the motor,
~, .? and it is, therefore, connected to the compressor b}= a strong steel shaft.
~~_ Tliis shaft must indeed Ue strong, for in the most modern turbo-reaction
:;' motors tho power of tho turbino and the power of the compressor, which
~.is practically equal to it, at times already exceeds 50,000 horse-power.
"~`? The gases that escapo from the motor through the reaction nozzle have
'" ''a considerable velocity, much greater than the flight speed. It is this differ-
' ~' ence in velocities that causes the force of reaction or the reaction thrust
. ~ of the motor. The force of reaction of the stream of gases escaping from
.the motor is the force which makes the jet plane fly at a great
.~~speed.
The turbo-reaction motors used in army planes no~v develop a thrust
~: of four-five tons and mare. It is easy to calculate what power a motor of
":~~ such thrust develops during flight. For instance, the power of a motor hav-
~`:~ ing a thrust of ~i,000 kilogrammes at a flight speed of 300 metres per sec-
ond, which is the same as 1,050 kilometres per hour, is equivalent to
~~~ 1G,000 horse-power.
And this, at a time when the most powerful piston aircraft motors de-
~~~~~ velop a power which is one-fourth of this, to say the least. But that is
~~ not all: about a,faurth of all the power developed by the piston motor is
"' lost by the propeller so that when the power of the motor is 4,000 horse-
po`ver, the useful power is about 3,000 horse-power. At the same time=
such a motor is larger in size and weight than a Lurbo-reaction motor, that
;~ is from five to six times more powerful. Therein lies the secret of the suc-
.~y ~ cess of reaction motors in aviation.
And phis success, we may say, is indeed extraordinary. During the few
years that have elapsed since the end of the war, all high-speed aircraft
~throughouL the world has become jet aircraft. ?re can unhesitatingly
Gases
Schemes of turbo-reaction motors: above-witL
trifugal compressor; below-~ti~ith axial.
reaction motor of tl~e,
modern jet t~irplano
is a rather intricate
machino. however,
both of these mo?
tors have one and tho
same aim: to develop a
reaction thrust, which
is created by gases es-
caping f rom the motor.
'1']ie air, when com-
ing into the turbo-re-
action motor through
the air-inlet funnels,
is compressed in it
to a pressure of sever-
alatmospheres. There
is a special machine, the compressor, which is used especial/}~ for t]iis
purpose. It may be a centrifugal compressor, which is a winged apparatus
of large diameter, making a large number of revolutions, or it may be an a~i-
al compressor. The latter derives its name from the fact that the air, when
compressed in it, flows parallel to the axis and not along a radius from the
centre to the periphery, as is the case in tho centrifugal compressor.
The axial compressor is a series of wheels Iwith blades on Lhe Telly, the
wheels rotating between rows of immovable blades.
The fuel, most frequently ordinary ]cerosene, is injected into tlio com-
pressedair inthe combustion chamber of the motor. Tlie productsof combus-
tion of the fuel-the heated gases-enter Lhe gas turbine and expand in
it, transmitting part of their energy Lo the turbine blades. As a result of
speak of Lhe technical revolution in aviation as a result of the application
of reaction motors.
1~rhile on this subject we cannot help but recall, with justified pride,
Tsiollcovsky's prophetic words, pronounced at a time when the mere idea
of constructing reaction aircraft was regarded as wild fantas}=: "An era
of reaction airplanes must follow the era of propeller airplanes." These
prophetic words, expressed a quarter of a century ago, have now come, true:
We are living in a period when reaction aircraft is in its bloom.
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Todayjet-propelled passenger airplanes already fly at a velocity approx.;
Emoting the velocit}~ of sound, and soon passengers will spend more time
on a trip from town to tho aerodrome than, wo may say, on a flight from
~Yloscow to Leningrad.
E'4'hat is more, many planes already [ly with the speed higher thou
chat of sound. The sound bar'iiee has been overeomei ?
But these achievements on tho part of air-reaction motors in aviation
are only the first steps. There is an even morn brilliant futuro awaiting..
them, even greater flight
~~ ? speeds: 3,000-~i,000-5,000?
~.~..
~' kilometres an hour.And whatis'
-74 most interesting, at such great
~'` ~, ~~~~~ ~ Might speeds tho motor will
~~:' ~' ~l ' ~ ' ;~ ~' not only not become more intri-
~?~' ") ~;~ cato, but, on the contrary, ~vill~
~~?~`'~' be simplified tothcutmost.
?.?~~ Thcintricac}r of a turbo?reac-
Tj ~?~~ lion motor is connected chiefly
~.,
with its mobile, rotating parts,
Turbo-jet motor n?ith centrifugal compressor the compressor and turbine.
RD-~00. On tho one hand, they lessen
tho reliability of the motor;
on the other-they limit the possibility of further increasing the thrust,
which also means-the possibility of further increasing tho flight speed.?
Unfortunately, however, eve cannot get along without tho compressor and,
it follows, without the turbine; in order for tho motor to operate, develop-
ing great thrust and upending little fuel, the air must bo compressed
and its pressure in the combustion chamber must be increased. ~Vhen flying
at a speed two or three times greater than the speed of sound, the compres- '
sor becomes superIluous: we can obtain the necessary high ,air pressure
in the motor without its aid.
The secret here is simple, Why is it, when leaning out of a car windo~v
of a fast moving train, when coming down a steep hill on skis, ar when
making a swallow dive from aspring-board, ono feels that the air becomes .
resilienfr? What is it that takes our breath away in' such cases? What
f orce hits us in the chest and f ace so powerfully? Why does an ordinary wind
become so.terrible when, with the farce of a hurricane, It attacks the trees,
instead of four turbo-reaction motors of the modern jet bomber, no less than 24 super-
pon~erful piston motors could have to be instal]ed.
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fuel injector
Airinlalre
J 'this force originates when
-- tlro impetuously ~vlrirling air
-. is stopped ,by sumo unexpect-
hireclion of /ligh-- J --'
Scheme of unillow nir-reaction motor.
~~~~~ un Houses aucl overturns
od obstacle, when it sudden-
ly, sharply comes to a stand-
still,interrupting its mad run.
All the power, all the kinetic
ener
' of th
g}
e air, in these
cases, is spent on its compression, on increasing its pressure, creating
the so-called speed pressure, It is this that throws people off their
feet and uproots trees.
I~hat happens when a jet plane whirls through the air at a tremen-
dous speed, quicker than that of any hurricane? '1'ho air, which rushes in-
to the motor at this speed, almost comes to a standstill in it. It is easy
to imagine holy great the speed pressure of the air will be under these
circumstances. And yet, even at the velocities at which modern jet
planes (ly, this speed pressure is still unable to create the necessary pres-
sure in the motor; it simply helps the compressor.
13ut when the flight speed begins considerably to exceed the speed of
sound, then, by merely using this speed pressure, the pressure in the motor
can be ra;sarl +n ,~,~.... _,__ ,
--''"'~"? ??u even ~o tens of atmospheres.
When that 11aDner,s rhnnn ..,.,, ,._ _ _
lows that there will be no need for a turbino,oand the to ?bo~rcrrctilmoi moo?
for will h~ 1.r:,nefnr,,,,,,, :__, _
a flying funnel with no mobile parts wh
r
l
t
b
p
ateve
nd
t
in spite of al
th s
sim~
plicity, such a uniilow air-reaction moto
r, at thesegreat flightspoeds, of the
same dimension's and bf much smaller weight than that of the modern turbo-
reaction motor. ~V;tr ~~,,,,~,,... _ .,
expend much less fuel.* It is
theref
~
~
n
r
,
ore, not surln?isi ~
tha
so much
lion is now ha;na ,ice?n. ~., . _ . ,.
attel+
l
at these motors
maY be widely used i
th
n
n
e supersonic aircraft of tomnr~
~~~ .~ ~~~a~,b uoes not develop Wirust when the plane isstand;
ing still and therefore, cannot ensure its take=oft? some other supplementary motor
must be installed in the plane for t.hic ~,~,.,.,.~.. '
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Jparfplug buildings, peoplo, tears the
Gor outlet
1 ~ railway cars?
?~ Tho development of aviation reaction technique has already led to the
'~ ~croation of air reaction motors that are powerful, ecariomical, light, and
~,~ablo to work for hundreds of hours at a stretch. They would be wonderful
': eration (for the burning of the fuel), and this is the very thing that is not
-..=~,to be found in space.
'? It follows, that a space ship needs a reaction motor combining the abil-
' _;,iity of a dry-fuel motor (able to operate without air) and that of an air-
:, .reaction motor (able to operatefor a long time). It was this kind of a motor
'? that `Tsiolkovsky invented.*
Chapter G
HARNESSING HALF A MILLION HORSES
Tsiolkovsky became interested in the problem of space travel and reac-
tion motion, which was connected with it, back at the end of the past cen-
tury. An article written by him in 1883 but not published, entitled "Free
Space," has been found among his papers. The article discusses the prin-
ciples governing reaction flight in space. ,
In 189G Tsiolkovsky began a narrative called Beyond tyre .earth, in
which he describes a rocket which serves as an interplanetary ship.
Tsiolkovslcy's first
printedwor]{ onrockets as
a means of effecting space
travel appeared in '1903.
It was an article called
"Exploration of Space
with Reaction Instru-
ments," published +n the
journal 1Varicluroye Oboz-
rertiye (Scientific Reuie~~),
Pumps
of Ii. 1;. Tsiolkovsky's interplanetary
a~itb liquid-fuel rocket motor,
No. 5, 1903. The appear-
' ante of this article marked the official birth of a new science,
the science of rocket astronautics. tlfter numerous reprints of this
* It should be mentioned that Tsiolkovsky invented this motor before the first
air-reaction motors were built.
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article it was renamed, beginning with the year 192, "The Rocket is
Cosmic Space."
Besides formulating the theory of space travel, Tsiolkovsky, in this `a'r?
tide, outlined a design for a space ship with a new type of reaction motor
which ho had invented. It is this very motor that will decide the problem
of cosmic travel, for it alone happily combines all tl~o contradictory
requirements that are demanded of a motor for interplanetary ships. It ie
the so-called liquid-fuel rocket motor.
The latter, like the dry-fuel rocket motor, does not require air for
its operation and, consequently, can function also in airless space aad
even better than in the atmosphere. Furthermore, it can operate for a much
longer period than the dry-fuel motor, for, as itsnamo suggests, it operate
on liquid fuel, not on dry, and this liquid fuel can be gradually supplied
to the combustion chamber from tanks. It is this idea of using liquid fuel
fn the rocket motor that makes this invention of 1'siolkovsky's so remark-
able. This idea fs being widely used not only inliquid-fuel rocket motors,
but also in the air-reaction motors, about which wo told you in the preced=
ing chapter.
However, the fuel for liquid-fuel racket motors does not consist of one
liquid, as gasoline for piston motors, or kerosene for turbo-reaction motors,
but usually consists of two different liquids. ];ach of these liquids is pre-
served in especial tank or compartment of the ship, as shown in'1'siolkov-
sky~'s scheme, and only the t`vo combined form the fuel.
One of these liquids is the so-called combustible. As you see, in the
given case combustible and luel are not one and the same thing: the combus-
~ible is only part of the fuel.
The role of the combustible in this case is the usual one; when burning
qt must give oIf heat, which fs necessary for the operation of the liquid-
fuel rocket motor. The usual oil combustibles, such as gasoline and kero-
sene, also alcohol, aniline and other substances are used as the combusti-
bles (in Tsiolkovsky's ,scheme of Lhe ship combustible compartment is
marked "hydrocarbon").
It is easy to guess what liquid is logo into the other tank on the rocket
with aliquid-fuel rocket motor. For the combustible to burn, os}~gen is nec-
essary,Where is it to be obtained if it cannot bo taken from the surrounding
atK Obvious/}~ the other tank must contain a lfquid which has a suf-
noient quantrty of oxygen or a so-called oxidizer. Such liquids as strong
52
;;.nitric acid, h}~drogen peroxide of high concentration and others are used
~='as oxidizers. Pure oxygen, suggested by Tsiolkovsky, is also widely used,
~`~not, of course, in its gaseous form (the tan/; could contain very little, be-
sides `vhich, it would have to be very durable), but in liquid form. In or-
"~~der to be liquefied the oxygen must bo cooled to a temperature of 183?C
~~'~~below zero.
~.. Both parts of the fuel, the combustible and the oxidizer, are delivered
~.to the combustion chamber of the motor under high pressure. This pres-
~~ sure, which reaches tens of atmospheres, can be created, for instance, liy
, some gas flowing into the fuel tank from the high-pressure tank in which
.:it is contained. Fuel delivery maybe effected also with the aid of special
' _ __ __ ._.7:.,..x,..1 .., m-. n11.n..nLv~~ en~mm~
,~~:~ The component parts of the fuel meet in the combustion chamller ono
~chere the chemical reaction of combustion takes place. A tremendous quan-
tity of heat is given off during this process, so that the temperature in the
combustion chamber becomes very high. It fs the highest temperature
ever obtained in motors, in some cases exceeding 3,000?C. The heated
gases, the products of this combustion, escape from the motor via the noz-
zle at a Lremendous velocity which reaches 2.5 kilometres per second and
even more.
It is natural that the force of reaction of the stream of escaping gases,
which is the reaction thrust of the motor, is very great, for this force is
directly proportional to the jet velocity of the motor. It is the reaction
thrust that must impart to the space ship the required high ve-
locity.
During Lhe half a century that has elapsed since Tsiolkovsky invented
the liquid-fuel rocket motor, it has traversed a great path of development.
The first decades were marled chiefly by the persistent labour of individual
inventors, enthusiasts, and their modest attempts to build aliquid-fuel
racket motor for use in rocket flight. Today the already have many tested,
reliable designs of such motors. They are installed in various aircraft and
rockets, and are used for the most diverse purposes. Scientific research
institutes and groups of designers are at work on this problem. Anew branch
of industry f or the production of liquid-fuel rocket motors and flying ma-
chines with such motors is growing up.
As in the case of other branches of reaction technique, Russia has done
much Lo further the development of liquid-fuel roc/cet motors.
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~ ~ 1 ~ ~~ ~9~-a-f~i~ ~~--
~~ P, '1'sauder's liquidduel rocket motor on test slaud (1933).
" In 1930 Tsander built his
' . _: first liquid-fuol rockot motor,
'+, which operated on gasoline
? ;~ and oxygen from the air. This
_ ~~,: motor was essentially only a
`,~y~~ model of another, larger mo-
~' ~ for that operated on gasoline
~'. ~ and liquid oxygen, built by
" ~ Tsander in 1932. It was tried
out only after Tsander's pre-
,,, mature death in 1933. This
. ~~~~ ~r'. was ono of the first liquid-
" ~~~~~~ ~ fuol rocket motors in the
,_wt.,,p
:_::~ world. But even before then,
in 1930, aliquid-fuol rocket
- ~"' engine was built by another
_ Russian designer, Valentin
:~~ Glushko. That was tho first
-,?"=~ engine of its kind in the So-
'. viet Union. It operated on
fuel consisting of nitrogen
.,.'tiF tetroxide and toluene. Tsander
'~"'; also advanced the idea of
."=. ~.
of 115. K. Tiklionravov's rocket
liquid-fuel motor (1933).
'~.~~~~ using certain metals as com-
`"'~?=~~= bustibles for liquid-fuel rocket motors (Kondratyuk also suggested
'~~~ `~`''' this idea independently of Tsander). This would make it possible
,,'..r;
to burn those parts of the space ship itself, which became unnecessary dur-
~'~~:r=; ing the flight, as empty tanks, etc. Tsander,also developed a method for
,'~"~~ calculating liquid-fuel rocket motors.
,.,~i,
=.~ On August 17, 1933, the first flight of a rocket invented by Alikhail
' ~~ ~,
-,r Tikhonravov, using aliquid-fuel roc/;et motor, was made. Many other
1 ~::~~," flights were made after this.
=~~ The year 1940 was marl;ed by an outstanding achievement in the devel-
'.`~~~~ opment of liquid-fuel rocket motors. That year a flight ivas made for the
:~:~;:
~~?~~~ first time by man in an airplane with aliquid-fuel rocket motor. On I+'eb-
:~,A.:~.
' ruary 28, 1940, a plane towing a glider plane with, aliquid-fuel iacket
~~' motor took off from one of rho aerodromes in the suburbs of 11~Ioscow. Flier
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Somowhat later tlrau Tsiollcovshy and quito indepondently of him, the
tulentod investigator and self-taught inventor, Y. ICondrutyuk, began
working on tiro problem of spaco travel and, in this connection. in rho
field of rouction technique. In addition to rho theory of interplanetur)'
flight, which ho discussed in his works, Kondratyuk came out ~vitl- a rium~
hor of original iileas regarding rho perfection of ligriid-fuel rockot motors.
In particular, ho, indopendently of Tsiolhovsky, who first suggested this
icloa, proposed using ozone instead of oxygen as the oxidirer, an idea which
today holds forth great promise.
l:, Tsander, who supported and followed up '1'siolkovsky's ideas, also
contributed greatly to the development of liquid-fuel rocket motors. Ile
was rho first engineer in theSoviet Union to devote himself to spaco trav-
el and rocket technique. IIo is the nulhor of a number of ideas contribut-
ing to rho successful solution of the problem of space trawl. Ile also
rondo a study of many q?ostions concerning the development and perfec=
lion of motors for interplanetary ships.
Bacl; in 1920, tivlron tlrc Soviet Union was just emerging Iron rho Civ-
il l~lar and was faced with the difficult tasks of restoring its ruined econ-
omy, Tsander made a report at the illoscotiv Conference of Inventors on
his design for an interplanetary ship and a motor for it. Vladimir Ilyich
Lenin then promised the im~entar support in his further work.
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~. Fyadorov, who piloted the glider, than flew it in the air independent/}~,
turning on the motor. A now pogo in the development of reaction~technique
was begun. Slightly over two years later, on 1~Iay 15, 192, Captain
G. Bakhchivanji made the first flight in a plane with aliquid-fue}
rocket motor designed by ~~. Bolkhovitinov.
Liquid-fuel rocket motors aro now used in aviation for various purposes.'
In many cases they aro employed to facilitate the launching of hear}~ air-
craft. Sometimes these motors are installed in planes to supple-
ment the main motor which is of another type as, for instance, the
turbo-reaction motor, for the purpose of increasing the flight speed
at some necessary moment, as when gaining altitude, during an air
battle, etc.
Liquid-fuel rocket motors are also installed in airplanes as the main
and only motor. Planes tivith such motors are usually designed for pur-
poses of exploration-to study the specific features of flight at very high,
supersonic speeds. They make it possible to achieve the greatest flight.
speeds as yet attainable. There are also militar}~ planes with such motors,
the so-called defence or intercepter fighter planes, whose task it is to com-
bat enemy bombers.
However, planes with liquid-fuel rocket motors have a very serious de-
fect as compared with other planes-they can remain in alight far a much
smaller period. This is due to the fact shat liquid-fuel rocket motors
are exceptionally "greedy"-they use up from 75 to 20 times mare fuel
than turbo-reaction motors of the same thrust. For this reason, if the liq-
uid-fuel rocket motor works uninterruptedly, at full power, the fuel
supply on an intercepter fighter plane is sufficient for only3-5 minutes.
By alternatingly running the plane with the motor operating and them
coasting, with the motor turned off, the pilot of such a plane can increase
the total duration of the flight to. 20-30 minutes. This is barely sufficient
f or him to take off,~engage the enemy in battle in the region of his aerodrome,
and then land with empty tanks. That is why liquid-fuel rocket motors
areas }yet used only in this one type of military plane, the intercepter
fighter plane.
Liquid-fuel rocket motors today are to be found chiefly not in aviation,
but in various kinds of rockets. These aretheheav}~rraiaatiles~;,~?~:;_
craft defence, rocket aviation-bombs,long-range projectiles and stratosphere
rackets.
L'xploratory supersonic airplane with liquid=fuel
rocket motor.
The use of heavy rockets with liquid-fuel rocket motors is becoming ever
greater, and some of these rockets aro already beginning to look very much
like small space ships, as they are usually pictured in books.
Hero is one of these rockets, used during the past war as a heavy, long-
range reaction projectile (see page 58). The ~var-head of this projectile con-
tained', of a ton of explosives, and the projectile flew a distance of about
300 kilometres. Of course, not a single heavy, long-range gun ever fired
such heavy projectiles over such a distance. A powerful liquid-fuel rocket
motor was installed in this projectile.
The racket was about 1~i metres long; its diameter was 1.7 metres, which
at its tail was as;much as 3.G metres. One cannot help but be impressed
b}~ the dimensions of this rocket, when comparing them with the figures
of the people standing beside it. The weight of this rocket, tea, is most
impressive-about 13 tons, so that the weight of the "pay-load"-the
explosives-constitutes but a small part, a slight percentage, of the to-
tal weight ,of the rocket.
Tho motor is installed in the "stern" of the rocket, as it probably will
be in a space ship. This motor operates on fuel consisting of two liquids.
That is why t~vo gigantic tan]cs have been put up in the middle part of the
rocket.
The foremost tank contains the combustible which, in the given case,
is ethyl alcohol (not less than 75? in strength). The rear tank contains the
oxidizer-pure, liquid oxygen; as proposed by Tsiollcovsky in his day.
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Oxygen lank
'rhe fuel supply on Llie rocket is
about 9 tons. This is what con-
stitutes the groator part of the
total weight of the rocket, about
?, of it. Of lhesc 9 tolls about
1, tons are alcohol, the rest-
liquid oxygen.
To be shot off, that is, to be
launched, this rocket is set up
in a vertical position, in which it
is supported by means of a spe-
cial light cradlo. Almost like au ~.~
interplanetary ship that is get-
ting ready to tape a leap into
space. ?~hen in this position
the gigantic tanks of the rocket
are filled with fuel. Powerful
automatic fuellers are used far
this purpose, but they look like
toys alongside the rocket, which
stretches up to tl~e slcy.
Finally the fuelling is over
and the rocket can be launched.
of heavy long-range projectile-rocket
The fuel taps are opened, the
h
n
with liquid-iael rocket motor, nto
the
c ombustiong1ch tuber
~? ?11~ iuv~ur. mere the fuel i
is ignited and the heated
ases
l
g
resu
ting from the combustion begin
to escape through the motor nozzle into the atmosphere at a-tremendous
speed. The force of reaction of the stream of gases escaping from the motor
fs directed upwards; it tries to raise the rocket, to force it olf the ground.
True, that is no easy matter, for the rocket wei hs 23 tons! _
it seems that when working normally the rocket motor can develop a
thrust of twice the weight of the rocket-a thrust of 25-2G tons. This is the
thrust of modern potiverful locomotives that haul heavy trains. And it
is with such a tremendous force that the gases escaping from the rocket
below, push it upwards. It takes several seconds after being launched far
~lacily
20 40 60 80 100 170 140 160' i80 ?fib 210 240
Ilisfance of flight in kilometres
Trajectory and velocity of rocket flight.
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the motor to develop this full thrust (in the beginning there is a so-called
preliminary thrust of S tons). Increasing rapidly, the thrust becomes
equal to the weight of the racket and then begins to exceed that weight-
the rocket trembles, then slowly, as if against its wish, tears away from
the );arch and shoots upward, more and more quickly, S=erysaon vanishing
from the a}=es of the' onlookers.
Tho entire further flight of this rocket is automatic. It is steered by in-
struments which are on the rocket itself, in a special instrument compart-
ment in back of tho war-]lead. It is impossible to influence the flight of
the rocket after it has taken off. The rocket takes off and then, obedient
to the orders of its instruments, hies towards its goal, which is 300 kilo-
metres from its starting place.
For the first 10-11 seconds after the start the racket flies straight up-
wards into the sky. Theu the rocket's steering gear deflects its elevators,
which arc located in the rear. As a result of this the rocket stops ris-
ing vertically and begins to fly along a complex curved trajectory, which,
by the way, approximates the arc of a circle. Flying in this fashion the
rocket attains a very great altitude, about 40 kilometres. At this altitude
the racket motor is turned off and stops operating. By this time it has suc-
b~
f~~~9 s/ flleS ~IkPPr~FCJj~P
A~ouf 95?
40~ A Reaction mo%ris shutoff
20 ~ /~-powered fliyhJ
- ~(--~,Inilial rise along the rerliea!
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~0 20 3o ao so ~~~ ruese~ w~~~ ny or now uigu i~ wui rise, ~rsioibovsxy came up against ~'s.
Tho study of cor-mic radiation will be organized on quite a new basis.
Physicists, chemists, biologists, physiologists, doctors and others will be
able to make very valuable investigations on the Boon.
The Moon itself, including its mysterious "other" side, will, of course, be
subjected to a most detailed study. And it will finally become possible to
ansv;er numerous questions which have been bothering scientists engaged
in a study of the Moon. An'important contribution will be made to the study
of the planets. This will become possible because lunar telescopes will
have much greater magnifying,power and will be capable of giving incom-
parably better images than those obtainable in the best terrestrial observ-
atories. It will thus be pow~ible to obtain ideal photographs of the planets.
Furthermore, a visit to 'the Boon will enable the astronomer to make, a
more critical analysis of manymethods of observation and the study of the
planets, now used in astronomy (both by checking up on the correctness
of terrestrial observations of the Boon and by lunar observations of the
Earth). The chemical composition of the substances that go to form
the lunar surfaco will at last bo fathomed. So far, despite the proximity
of the 1loon, -scientists know absolutely nothing about this, whereas
tbo composition ?vell kno vn, thanks to tt out' ght thesemstla~s themselves
farther away, is
radiate.
Observations of the Earth will provide much valuable material for ge-
ographers and meteorologists. Avisit to the Moon will tell geologists a
groat deal about the processes of the formation of the Earth, the in[luenco
of atmospheric phenomena on the Earth's surfaco, etc. P'or instance, the
deep pits on the ivloon would malco it possible to judge of the structure of
the deep strata of the Earth's crust, for, according to ahypothesis formulat- ,
ed by Academician 0. Schmidt, the processes of the formation of the
Earth and the Moon were similar. To be able to malco such conclusions on
Earth it would be necessary to dig pits from 10 to 15 times deeper, which
is hardly possible.
Briefly, the Moon will, in the future, become a most extepsivolnvaluable
ry, and this lunar branch of the Academy of Sciences will su pl} '
scientific information.
Tho possibilities of using the Moon for industrial purposes are most
f ascinating. Mines may be sunk on the il4oon to procure many valuable min-
erals and motals,'k chemical plants may be put up to produce various
chemicals, including certain rocket fuels (as hydroborons), and other
enterprises may be built. Tremendous solar power plants may be erected,
to supply the energy required by all this lunar industry. This would be
possible because of the absence of a lunar atmosphere.~`~' It will also be
convenient, later, to build powerful atomic electric and thermal stations
on the 114oon. The absence of an a~ ke such stations,? f properly locgted,
curvature of the lunar surface may
safe oven without any powerful protective screening, which is necessary on
Earth for protection against the harmful radioactive radiation of atomic
* According to certain hypotheses, the heavy metals which are contained. in meteo-
ices may bo discovered right on the surface of the /loon.
' ** 'Pheoretically it wiCleb~SPGhousand li lowatts of encr~gy. Iio~e zero solarestations
(2.5 acres) of lunar surfs
will be able to operateu la aering of such scat onselocated at erelt~ distances from each
fore, be necessary to b
other, so as to ensure an uninterrupted supply of energy obtainable from the Sun.
205
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react9rs when ~aperating, These stations ?~ll have to be controlled, of
!course, telemachani_cally, from a distance,
Tile output,of lunar plants will not only be used to satisfy Zunar needs,
but will ,also lio .deli~r~ered ~to the Earth. The ,escape velocity=from ~Ghe hfoon
is only2~ akilometres~er second, that is, iv order to .escape, the ship will
require a bitless~than of'J.Q,of t~hel:inetic energynecessaryon Earth.Thus, a
1?elati~~eln= a~el~ysmall expendi~tvre .of fuel will ~be needed to ,transfer goods
in Nbisavan=. ~N,eedless to son=, this fuel~should be produced,on the>VZ~oon itself.
"1'lle ~passibilat2es ,of ;using the ?~f~oon ~ironautically, of ,eon~-erting it
into ;a sort,of '"~avindow into the cosmos,"pare ~eacepti~onally great. The ?ISoon
~ri97 not only be the fi1~.tgoal f or space travel, but it v=i11 hen training cen-
tl~e ~of ~Gremzndous importance when getting ready for distant space flights,
for training astronauts, ,testing ships, apparatus, etc. There will probable
be a permanently functi~oni~ng "training camp" on the Moon, belonging
to ,the Nigher ~tronautical Eehool, where future astronauts will perfect
their theoretical and practical studies.
1f i~t should be possible ~ organize the production ~of rocket fuel on the
~tioon, this satellite v=ill play an important part as an intermediatR sta-
tionfor distant iuterplanetaryships. The organization of such production
will probaabin= be ,the most important and primary task of the people on
the >w$oon..A,nd there .can hardly be any doubt that this task v~-ill be solved.
A contributing factor is the abundance of energy resources on the ?~laon.
eater evil/ b.e produced to supply the working fluid for atomic jet engines,
for chemical liquid-feel rocket engines it u=ill be possible to organize the
prodllcti~on Hof liquid oxygen, various metallic hydrides, that is, com-
pounds tof metals and hn=drogen, silicon h3?drides, ?ud other combns-
.tibles.
tin= no means ~="111 it be absolutely necessary for space ships to ]and on the
i`io.on in order to refuel, l*orthispurpose theshipneed only become a satel-
lite of the DSoon for a while, in order to intercept the container of fuel sent
frAm the Moon to ,the corresponding orbit. It will also be possible to use an
artificialsatelli,te ofthe Afoon, as proposed for this purpose by Rondrat}nil:.
Large quantities of fuel supplied from the Bfoon may be accumulated on
this satellite in advance. The circular velocity in relation to the ?~ioon,
near its surface, is equal to 1.7 kilometres per second, so that a missile
fired from a modern long-range gun setup on the A1oon can become a per-
manent lunar satellite.
It `will also be feasiblo to supply terrestrial satellites with 'fuel from
the 11oon. This will require slightly more fuel (about 20 per cent more)
than if it were sent to a lunar satellite. Incidentally, it may be practical
to build, right on tho I1~Ioon, interplanetary stations to be set up at the
Earth's shores. They can then be transferred from the /loon to their orbits
near tho Earth.
Tllo specific features of tho Boon, its low escape velocity, the absence of
an atmosphere, and its great supply of energy=, make it feasible to send
freight to the lunar and terrestrial satellites and also to the Earth itself
not by rocket but by an electromagnetic catapult. Generally speaking, if
regarded from the viewpoint of energy expenditure for the take-off run of
a space projectile, such a catapult is more practical than a rocket. In any
catapult energy will be spentt take offtthe larger part of the fuelthatlis
whereas in the case of a roche
consumed is spent on the acceleration of that very fuel, whose mass is so
many times greater than the mass of the ship. IIowever, the use of catapults
for the take-off of manned space ships is out of the question because of the
limitation of the allowable acceleration. This would necessitate having
a catapult many hundreds of kilometres long. The situation is altogether
different as regards launching freight ships with fuel, goods, ran= materials.
In t]lis case the accelerations ma}= be vern=great and the length of tho cata-
pult correspondingly much less.
In an artillery gun the acceleration of a projectilewhen firedmaybetens
of thousands of times greater thler accelerations it is fully possiblego build
1-Iowever, even with much smal
electromagnetic catapults, especially on tho 1loon, where the required
final velocity of the ship is much less than ou Earth.
Tho absenco of an atmosphere on tobstacle which exists on Earth~eover-
stacle as regards using catapults, an cote-
heating the ship during the take-on `=en~ ~ nse air atastremendous speed,
Ault from the Earth, it must Ily Y
with the result that even in,the best of cases the ship's sl:tl~e tempera-
greatly because of aerodyns of thousands1ol degrees tasaa result of which
Lure may rise to many to `
the ship's skin will evaporate insta etla mTsi ~eneninstant y andr make off
is its speed-it must pierce the dens P
to such altitudes where there will be no overheating. In a word, the
' 207 .
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terrestrial atmosphere makes it impossible, in practice, to launch a ship by
catapult. This obstacle does not exist on the /loon. .
The electromagnetic catapult for the take-off run of a ship will be built
on the same principle as that governing the construction of all electric
machines, generators and motors, which play such an important role in
modern technique. Physics tells us that when an electric conductor moves
in a magnetic field, an electric current arises in that conductor. That is
exactly how dynamos, the generators of electric current, are built. On the
other hand, if we force current to flow through the conductor which is in the
magnetic field, the conductor will begin to move about in that field. This
phenomenon is used in the building of electric motors. In the d}~namo me-
chanical energy (the rotation of the armature) is converted into electrical
energy; in the electric motor, on the other'hand, electrical energy is con-
verted into mechanical.
Obviously in the case under discussion we must apply the principle of
electric motors, inasmuch as mechanical work, the take-o(f run of the ship,
that is, imparting to it the necessary kinetic energy, must be accomplished
by the electric energy expended.
VVe can visualize the catapult as follows: a powerful magnetic field is
set up between the Ilat polar shoes of the electromagnets. The flat armature
o[ the catapult can move about in this field. When current begins to flow
in the armature winding, the armature begins to move along the polar ends
of the electromagnet. Theship that is taking off is connected with the arma-
ture. Such catapults are already being used today to launch aircraft.
According to one project for such an electromagnetic catapult it would
he possible to send freight tankers containing one ton of fuel off from the
Moon every several hours. This fuel tivould be stored up on a lunar satel-
lite and later used to refuel space ships. Such an arrangement would be of
tremendous importance for the future of interplanetary, communication.
This alone would justify the organization of a colony on the Moon.
The plan for the conquest of the Moon, outlined in such general terms
above, is a task that is calculated for many decades.
The living conditions on Mars will very likely be easier than those on the
Moon. It will be possible to obtain oxygen from Mars' atmosphere,
although it is very rare: its oxygen content is supposed to be less than
l~iooo that of the Earth's. Water is also present both on the surface of i4lars
and in its atmosphere, although, once again, in very small quantities.
~ ~ ulntorplaurotary settlement^ at an altitude of 1,870 km.
/1~ ti
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Plant life exists on Mars. Tho temperature on this planet does not drop be-
low--70? C.,* which is the same as on Earth. IIotivever, it will not bo
possible to got along without a space suit on Mars, for the atmosphere is
too rare and the pressure on Roars corresponds to terrestrial altitudes of
16-171cilometres.
TJro scientific findings of an excursion to Mars should be exceptionally
valuable. It will at last become possible to solve Rlars' numerous mysteries,
which have been worrying the minds of scientists and inspiring the imagi-
nation of writers.
What fascinating upportunities scientists will have when they are able
to visit iVlars! IIutiv enriched will our knowledge become, and what progress
science will make!
It will bo possible to organize colonies of people on Mars, similar to
those on the R4oon, and industrial enterprises as well. The relatively great
distance of Mars from the Sun will make it impractical to' use
solar energy, .and the chief source of energy on Mars will, therefore,
probably be atomic power stations;.The astronautical significance of Mars
may prove very great when space flights of the third stage, those to the
outer planets of the solar system,, are undertaken. ~Te may assume that
long-distance space ships will be ref uelled from Mars. It is most likely that
this fuel will first bestored up on Rlars' satellites, Phobos and Deimos. Tor
this purpose the production of rocket fuel will have to be organized
on Mars.
Scientists know very little about the Earth's mysterious neighbour,
Venus. The impermeable layer of clouds that constantly envelop this plan-
et very effectively conceal all her secrets. Venus has a dense atmosphere~'~
about whose composition eve l~now very little. The only thing we can con-
sider ashavingbeendefinitely established is that it contains much carbon-
ic.acid, much morn than the Earth's atmosphere has. Practically no oxy-
gen has been discovered in, Venus' atmosphere, while its water content is
not morn than l~io that of the Earth's. It should bo noted that all these con-
* Temperatures of -400? C. have been observed at the 114artian poles,
** Venus' atmosphere Nos discovered by Lomonosov in 17G4. This brilliant discov-
ery laid the basis?for the physical study of the planets. Lomonosod considered the
study of the planets and their satellites not as a goal Nitbin itself, but as a basis for
the study of problems of greater ideological significance,'in particular, tbe.problem~of
the habitability of? oLber celestial bodies.
209
14-1255
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elusions havo been made on the basis of data obtained by a spectral analy-
sis of the gases that lie above the stratum of certain opaque clouds.
Thocomposition of these clouds and the gases beneath them is ua]cnown.
That is why nothing dofinito can bo said about the living conditions on
Pho6os~
M,,~rcury
Mooo
. ,.~ ~,
"Reconstruction" of the solar system.
Venus, except, perhaps,
that the temperature on
its surface may reach
100? C. Obviously only
the landing of a cosmic
ship on the surface of
Venus will be able to
solve these mysteries.
A4uch morn could be
said about the opportu-
nities that will be afford-
ed people as the space
ships on which they are
travelling make their
way deep within the solar
system, farther and far-
ther from the );arth, and
when landings on ever
new celestial bodies are
made. But oven the little
we havo mentioned above, which will become possible after the first
victories of astronautics, tivill be of such great importance for the future
of the scientific technical progress of mankind, that the desirability of
directing our-efforts towards interplanetary flight is quite obvious.
We ?cannot, today, foresee all the opportunities that may become avail-
able as the science of astronautics is further developed and achievements
in it are attained. "
For instance, usually no mention is made of the possibility, one which
exists in principle, of man's active interference in the life of the solar sys-
tem. By using jet technique, especially atomic reaction technique, we will
be able, at wish, to change the paths of motion of the celestial bodies in
their orbits and reorganize the solar system.
To change the course of any particular celestial body, it will be neces-
sar}~ to set up a powerful battery of jet engines on it, such as operate on
atomic or chemical fuel, and to switch on these engines at very dofinito
moments. At the present level of development of reaction technique it
would bo possible to cl~ango the path of only relatively small celestial
bodies. Although the Moon is not so small, yet its course about the 1?;arth
could bo changed at will oven today.
In order to achieve this, the molecules of gases escaping from the liquid-
fuel rocket ?motors set up on the I1~foon must have a greater velocity than
the velocity of escape from the 114oon, which, as wo know, is equal to
2'J, kilometres per second. They would then part with the b4oon for all
time, shoving it away from the orbit in tivhich it revolves around the )Jarth.
By affecting the lunar orbit in this way it may become possible, some
day, to render a great service to man, that is, to prevent the Moon from f ail-
ing on the lvarth, which "might become possible in the very distant future
(if the views of certain scientists `vho have expressed such a hypothesis
should turn out to be correct). This would take place, in any event, not be-
fore many thousands of millions of years had elapsed.
Wo could suggest ,many other ways in which man could usefully inter-
fere in the well-regulated life of the solar system. However, we shall
leave it to future generations to think them out, for they will have plenty
of limo to do so.
Chapter 19
ON A SPAC);.SffiP
~~Vhat difficulties and dangers await the future space travellers when they
find themselves face to face'with interplanetary space? Will man be able
to hold out against all the trials ho will experience during space travel?
The answers to these questions may prove decisive as far as the future
of astronautics is concerned.
Today it is as yet impossible to give a very definite reply to them. In "
order to do so, ono must make numerous, diverse investigations in the labor
ratories of scientists and by means of experimental flights of high-altitude
rockets. As with other physiological problems, these experiments, too,
will first be made with animals.
Such investigations are already being made today. Animals, for in-
stance, are sent up in stratospheric rockets. People Nill be permitted to
" 2X1
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undertake such flights onlylater. Tho final result will only bo known after
the first long cosmic alight has been made.
Far the time being wo can judge of the clangors of interplanetary travel
only in a proliminaryway, basing our findings on the ]cnowladgo now avail-
able in various fields of science. Fortunately, as wo shall see later on,
such a preliminary estimate loos not give its any reason for assuming that
an interplanetary flight will bo impossible because of man's inability to
stand up to it. Although the various dangers awaiting man in spaco
are very serious ones, they can probably be obviated. Tsiolkovs]:y; who
was the first to consider the different dangors?of space travel, also came to
this conclusion, which is confirmed by the latest invastigations.
When man has finally dared to penetrate space, ho will find it
hostile to him in everyrespect. What dangers and difficulties will the trav-
eller in this boundless "ocean" not encounter! Absolutely iio air, severest
cold, scorchingsolarrays, other rays that are harmful or oven fatal, bound-
less expanses and a (light that lasts for months, collisions with celestial
stones, the complete disappearance of weight and at times, on the contrary,
its inordinate increase, and"who knows what else!... );verything mustbo
.studied and weighed before a space ship takes off on its distant journey,
for any mistake, even the most insignificant, may prove fatal for~man in
his hand-to-hand encounter with the elements.
The only thing capable of saving man when he decides to invade the ex-
panses of space, which are so full of danger, will bo his complete all-
round protection against all the possible influences of that space. Those
astronauts who undertake an interplanetary journey will be subjected to
long, voluntary confinement in a space ship, which may often last many
months. And all they will have to count ,upon will bo their own courage,
.ability, and such supplies as they have with them.
~1lany are the things the commander of a'space ship will have to bear in
mind when he fits it out for that long and difficult trip. , `
First of all, there is the air. The passengers will have to breathe fresh
clean air all the time. This means. it will be necessary constantly to expel
from their cabin the poisonous carbon dioxide which they exhale, and, on
,the other hand, to procure oxygen in place, of that which has been absorbed.
How is this to be done? What oxygen supplies' are necessary? What is
"the best,air pressuro to be maintained iri the ship? Theseare questions"which
~mu'st b'e answered first of all.
It will probably bo desirable to maintain such a pressuro in the passen-
ger compartment of a spaco ship, as will bo slightly less than the usual
atmospheric pressuro at the surface of the ];arth, such, for instance, as at
some high mountain resort. That will lessen the load on the walls of the
compartment and will simplify the whole air-conditioning system. Inciden-
tally, this question will not bo of great importance, and tha experiences of
the first flights will supply the final answer to it.
The air pumped out of the cabin will be delivered by a ventilator to a
purifier, which will rid it of its carbon dioxide. Chemical methods of pu-
rification may bo used, but it is also possible that a refrigerator will be
employad, ono in which "dry ice" is formed, that is, where the carbon di-
oxide is frozen. In;this case it must be borne in mind that the water vapours
in the air will be condensed in this refrigerator, becoming water, which will
then freeze into ice; if this water is not used (not regenerated), it will later
have to be supplemented from the supplies on board the ship, but we must
not forget that this water comprises about 60 per cant of all the?water used
by the passengers of the ship.
Tho addition of oxygen to the air freed of carbon dioxide will
]ce t in oxygen
take place in a gasifier, in which liquid oxygen, p
containers on the ship, tivill be converted into gas. Then the air is passed
into a moistener in which the ext ste t will be to enriclittheaair ~ th aall t o
to the required amount. Then p
necessary aromatic and other substances, for which there will be a special
apparatus, and, finally, it willatu eacWhenrallthislh stbeen donee the venbe
haatad to the required temper
later will supply tha freshly prepared air to the passenger compartment.
The needed amount of oxYg anion of th eflight Itison inemdPbe mattermo
ber of passengers and the du " "
calculate what this amount will be, inasmuch as the amount of oxygen used
by man depends on many conditions: the intensity and character of Clio
work ho does, the length of time he sleeps, etc. For preliminary calcula=
tions we can assume that. every passenger on the ship will, on an average,
consume no morn that ono kilogramme of oxygen per day, bearing in mind
that ho moves about relatively little on the ship. So we ieent oxe en for
particular difficulties connected with the problem of supp y' g Yg
flights over relatively short distances. For instance, f yga trip t 1 th~ d?be
and back, on a ship carrying throe passengers, the ox en supp y
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aa[y 20-2a kiloQ ammes, This problem is espaciall}? simplified if the
ship's motor u=~ ligaid oxygen a; an oxidizer.
Ho~zcer, the situation chan?es if the flights cater greater distances.
Thos, on a Gfght to l~far, which lasts about nine month;;, each pawenger
ea the ship will require a sapply of about 300 kilo, amines of oxygen, sad
then only providia,; that the oxygen repaired for life on Mars and for the
retara trip will be obtained from liars' atmosphere. Obviously, in cases of
sack Ioag-range flights itwill be necessary to organize a laborator}? on board
the ship to predate oxygen for the pasengers o f the space ship. For instance,
ft fs po,~ible to band such a unit in which the carbon dioxide exhaled
by the ship's crew will be split up again into carbon and oxygen, for which
purpose, of coure, it vrill be necessary to expend a corresponding amount
of energy. This apparatus will "hreathe" just as plants do: it will inhale
carbon dioxide and e.Yhale oxygen. True, this comparison with plants is
a superficial one. Soy=let scientists have in recent years discovered that the
oxygen given ot! by plants comes not from carbon dioxide but Iron the
water which the plants sack up through their roots.
:1 matter of no less importance than that oI suppl}'ing the passengers of
the space ship with oxygen is the satisfaction of their needs as regards food
and water. Food specialists will have a great Geld of activity awaiting them.
They will have to prepare the most diverse assortment of foods !or the needs
of the astronauts. The experience accumulated in the organization of po-
lar ezp~ditions and also long-range aviation Lights will be of definite
value here, However, that is but a timid beginnin;.Similar tasks connected
with the organization of interplanetary trips will be immeasurably more
complicated.
It is difficnlttodetermine exactlywhatsupply of food and water should
be taken along an a space ship. Just as an approximation we can say that
the minimum sapply of water per person should be about one kilogramme'
a day, healing in mind that the water contained in the air (exhaled during
breathing and given off through the skin during perspiration) will be ez-
tractedfrom it and used again, for the total water requirements of man are
about X2.5 kilogrammes a day. The supply of food can be determined on
the basis of 0.5-1 kilogramme per man a day. It follows, then, that the
daily requirements of oxygen, food and water for each passenger of a spat?
ship will be about 2.5-3 kilogrammes, but to be on.the safe side it would
be best to take the higher figure. This should be considered when the ship
is being des}geed and when the necessary amount of fuel and the like are
being determined.
Tho ship should havo a special heating system to supply the passengers
with heat, that is, to maintain the necessary temperature of the air in the
compartment. Wheu this is done, measures must be taken to ensure the
thorough thermal isolation of the cabin, for the ship's heat will hardly be
sufficient to warm up the space around it.
The Sun can, in practically all cases, bo the source of heat. Solar boilers,
~vbich will heat the liquid that will circulate in the heating system of the
cabin, will bo located on the surface of the ship for this purpose. It will
obviously be passiblo to use ono of the components of the engine fuel for
this liquid, the oxidizer or the combustible. The surface of the boilers will
bo painted a dark colour to better absorb the heat of the solar rays. The
boilers may be protectedwithfoldingcovers at the take-off of the ship and
also when they are shut off. These folding covers, like th srha sf nlverized
surf ace, will possibly bo painted with a metallic paint, p p p
aluminium, which will give the ship a pleasing silvery colour. This will
be of value in diminishing the absorption of solar ra}rs and the irradia-
tion ofheat bythe ship. On long flights to the outer planets the boilers can
be bettor heated by reflecting mirrors that open up.
If the ship has an atomic engine, the problem of heating is greatly om:
plified, and it will not be necessary to resort to solar energy f or this pure
It should be pointed out that the heating system for the cabin may be
used at will as a cooling unit, tonetarl fli hts in theldgrection oof the S ne
necessary during certain interpla ) g
Tho isolation of the space travel/ rrthe Condit ens esist~ngeon the planet
ship lands on some planet. Only afte
will havo been thorough/}~ studied will the passengers be able to climb out
beyond the protective walls of theirs esu is whicheuill vyarylalccord ng to
leave the ship only when clad in sp
the difTerent planets. , be 1 in in wait for man on the
.Ono of the serious dangers ~vhicli ma} Y g
celestial bodies, may bo bacteria that are unknown to us on Forth and
which may be fatal for man inasmuch a s?en more dangeroust~vill be su. ch
ed to combat them. What may prose
bacteria as are brought back to the I;arth~namts passengers willlha e t to
space ship. Undoubtedly the space ship
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wrong with it. It is, therefore, no wonder that ideal health and physical
training are demanded of fliers. Ono and the same overloads affect different
people differently.
Of great importance is the duration of the overload. A person may with-
stand very great overloads during brief periods. We are chiefly indebted
to aviation for the experience accumulated in this connection. And so
wo may assume that a person can hold out under an overload not exceeding
two, that is, when his weight is increased twofold, for a rather long limo.
An overload of four (in this case a person's weight will be about 200-250
kilogrammes), which is accepted as the allowable overload during the take-
off of a space ship, can probably be endured Tor several minutes wft)iout
serious interference with the functions of the organism.` People can hold
out for fractions of a second under an overload of 15 and even 20, in
which case they may "weigh" over a ton. Such overloads are experienced,
for instance, during dives, at the very moment when the diver enters
the water.
Tsiolkovsky proposed a special apparatus, which is no~v being used, to
investigate the effect of great inertia overloads on the human organism and
to train fliers. For instance, a long rail track down which a cart in which
a person is seated is driven by moans of a rocket motor. This cart is stopped
suddenly to produce an overload. During some tests with such an
apparatus, a person Nos able to hold out under an overload of 35 f or `f s of
a second. For the same purpose one sometimes uses a sort of carrousel cen-
trifuge consisting of a lever, from 15 to 20 metres long, with a seat for a
man or a testing cabin attached to one end. The centrifuge is made to ra
fate about its axis by means of an electric motor. Such a unit makes it
possible to produce practically any desired overload for an unlimited
period, the overload being created by centrifugal force during rotation.
When tests were made Kith various animals an oveiload of many times
ten was attained. Such units will undoubtedlybo used to train astronauts
in the future.
It is quite simple to understand why a person in different positions re-
acts differently to an overload. The flow of blood from the brain or, on
* The motor-cyclist ~ho'takes part in the well-known stunt of "motor-cycle races
along a vertical wall" is subjected to an overload of this ]rind. The motor-cycle .rushes
along a vertical wall of a cylindrical shaft, that is, in a horizontal position. Stunts
of this /rind ?e,,,.tt.. t--~ _---
the contrary, to the brain, and the load on the heart during inertia over-
loads depend on the weight of the "column" of blood affecting these organs,
which, in turn, is determined by the height of this "column." Overloads,
therefore, alToct a standing person more seriously than any other. When
a person is seated ho can onduro much greater overloads, especially if these
overloads comp from the head. Iio can hold out under the greatest over-
loads whenho is in a horizontal position. This explains why, when the first
jet planes appeared and greater overloads developed because of the great
velocities during flight, the designers began trying to place the pilot on
his abdomen or back. This also enabled tliom to decrease the transverse
section of tlio fuselage of the plane, which led to a decrease in the frontal
resistance and an increase in the flight speed. However, the pilots did not
lilto this horizontal position very much, even though it enabled them to on-
duro tlio inertia overloads when doing stunt flying. Today the situation is
different. The pilot is seated in a so-called anti-overload or contour chair.
When the plane is immobile or the overload is small, as during a horizon-
tal flight or when taking of>', the pilot sits in this chair as in an ordinary
chair. If the overload is increased, the back of the chair automatically
drops backward and the greater the overload, the farther back it falls.
When the overloads are great, the pilot almost lies flat on his back.
Passengers on a space ship will probably be seated in similar chairs or
may even have to lie on their backs from the very beginning. The chairs for
the passengers will have to bo sufficiently spring} to accommodate the
bodies of the persons lying in them. That will make it easier f or the passen-
gers to onduro the load on them.
Tsiolkovslcy even thought of placing the passengers, at the take-off
of the space ship, in ahydro-shock-absorber, a vessel filled with a liquid
that had an especially selected specific gravity, equal to the specific grav-
ity of the ]iuman body. Inasmuch as a body immersed in a liquid loses
as much weight as the weight of the displaced liquid, the passenger seated
in this typo of bath would weigh nothing at all, and in this case ho need
not fear any overload whatever.
It is quite possible that special anti-overload suits such as are used in
aviation today will bo used in astronautics. Air is insufflated between two
* Tbo internal organs of the human body might nevertheless lie displaced as re-
gards their relative positions,
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layers of the fabric of such a suit, so that the inner layer lies close to the
body of the pilot.
. These overloads might prove critical if it were necessary to make a long
gradual take-off and a similar landing. However, as pointed out above,
when the overload is four, the take-oif will last no longer than 6-7 min-
utes, during which the passengers of the ship will probably be able to hold
ont roithout extreme unpleasantnesses. Even }vhen the overload is reduced
to three the duration of the take-off will be increased to only eight min-
utes. Thus the dangers connected with the effect of overload at take-off,
so often spoken of in the past, are most likely exaggerated.#
The situation is altogether different as regards the effect on a person dur-
ing complete loss of weight, which occurs right of ter the overload vanishes
after the take-off, tls soon as the ship's engine is switched off and the ship
begins its free flight, weight on the ship vanishes and the passengers be-
comeweightless. Of course, it is a pity to "lose" a quarter of a ton all at
once, but that is quite unavoidable. The passengers of the ship will be
"weightless" almost throughout the entire flight, which means several days
during a flight to the 1loon, or many months on longer flights. How will
they feel under this condition? That is one of the most important ques-
tions of .astronautics.
Usually the numerous fantastic romances and stories describe the absence
of weight in passengers on a space ship as a sensation of extreme lightness,
something extraordinarily pleasant and exciting. However, such will
hardly be the case in actual fact. eery likely the first impression received
when weight vanishes will be that of a momentary loss of support. It will
seem as ii one's support suddenly vanished from under one's feet, a feel-
ing which will make one instinctively try to grab hold of something to
keep from falling. Then one will experience a feeling of falling into a bot-
tomless pit,. a sensation not meant far weaklings. ~'hroughout this period of
weightlessness the passengers of the space ship will. be in a state of constant
tension, instead of experiencing a delightful. sensation of lightness. How-
ever,we may hope that after long, persistent training man will finally be
able to adapt himself to this condition.
' During the take-otf of a space ship its control will probably be effected automati-
cally so as to save the creN the need of exerting themselves physically. This is also
desirable in order to increase the exactness of the take-off.
~~~~~~~
:Aslronaulics
? ~~~~
Duralian
oJ`in1luence of
overload~n~secands
'? Overload
:t111owable inertia ovarlOjdadionnof o~re~load.n of man and duration
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objects. Both of these sensations are fully coordinated at such a time and
merge into ono sense of orientation.
But as soon as weight vanishes, the mechanical receptors fail to perform
their function of orientation. If man is immobile, they may be absolutely
"silent" and it will be necessary for him .to find his bearings only with the
aid of his sight. When a person moves, the mechanical receptors are excited,
but only under the influence of the forces of inertia, which will impart
weight that changes in value and direction, with the result that the sig-
nals of the receptors change. In this case the pictures registered by the
mechanical receptors and by our oyes will differ.
The experience of pilots during blind Rights in airplanes shows that man
may suppress the incorrect information communicated by the mechanical
receptors and bo guided only by the recordings of ]ifs instruments. This
very important trait is developed by pilots only through long training.
):Iowever, certain investigations show that such a disharmony bet~veon the
sensations and feelings, which are usually in complete harmony under nor-
mal conditions of weight, may avoko pronounced forms of seasickness.
It is possible that the absence of weight may make the ocean of world space
aver}~ "stormy" one for astronauts, since they may be subjected to most
vicious attacks of "space sickness."
ror instance, it is possible that the absence of weight may cause serious
disturbances in the action of the so-called vestibular apparatus of the inter-
nal ear, that organ of the senses which reacts to changes in position and di-
rection of motion of the human body, and which plays a most important
role in ensuring the equilibrium of the body at rest and in motion,
The problem of weightlessness is beginning to interest aviation as
well. Modern high-altitude jet planes, when making a sharp descent
from high altitudes where the air resistance is very little, can produce
conditions of weightlessness for the pilots for 25-30 seceuds. Such
flights, however, have not evolved morbid sensations in most pilots
any more than delayed parachute jumps from high altitudes.
In order to create conditions of weightlessness for a long period for pur-
poses of investigation, certain special apparatuses are necessary. The first
types wore proposed by Tsiolkovsky, Today similar experiments are being
conducted by using deep pits of coal mines, lifts, etc. During these
experiments the person being studied fsmade firm fn a special, freely fall-
ing cart, and during the fall his blood pressure is measured, his heart ac-
lion is studied, etc, It has boon proposed that special high-altitude rockets
bo produced to study the effect of ~voightlossness on man. According to ono
such project, the rocket, which is built on the principle of the long-range
rocket described in Chapter 6, should weigh 21 tons, l7 tons of which is the
fuel: The passenger cabin containing a person will bo located at the top
of the rocket (the total pay-load tivill weigh about 1,300 kilogrammes).
During tlzo 2'f; minutes that the motor works, the rocket will fly off to an
altitude of about 701vilometres, and then, after making a free flight of about
2301vilometres, will, in a little over six minutes, roach a total altitude of
300 lvilametros. After tlio motor is switched off a special mechanism de-
taches the cabin, which will malvo a free flight for five-sis minutes and then
come down by parachute.
Tho effect of weightlessness will bo studied most fully when passenger
rockets of evor'greater range and altitude will appear, and, later, orbital
rockets, the artificial satellites of the Earth. At present wo cannot say with
certainty whether it will be necessary to create artificial weight on space
ships orwhethor half-measures, such as magneticsoles filed to one's shoes,
will be sufficient. Most lilvoly artificial weight will bo created only on
space ships making flights between the satellites of the planets, that is,
for the main section of the cosmic trajectories.
Chapter 21
rATAL RAYS AND ERRANT MISSILES
Space in which the ship will have to fly is by no means "empty," even
though it has no air, Thcro really are few things in this space,yet it is very
rich in energy, for it is permeated with powerful rays of all kinds,
Iiow will this radiation affect the health of the astronauts? Will the
walls of the space ship protect them -against the effects of these rays
should Choy prove harmful? A space flight can hardly be undertalven unless
wo know the exact answers to these questions, unless we are certain that
the rays penetrating space will not bo fatal or even simply harmful to the
'passengers of the space ship.
Wo who live here on Earth do not have an exact idea of what the rays
penetrating space actually are. Because of, the filtering properties of the
terrestrial atmosphere, we here, on the surface of the Earth, can detect only
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the weak reverberations of thaso powerful processes which tal.o place in
the upper atmosphere under the fnfluenco of the rays that force their way
into it from space. Only an insignificant part of the original rays reach
the Earth's surface. Nevertheless, science has been able to fathom this
mystery of nature by means of most delicate instruments which have been
sentuptogreat altitudes in soundingballaons and inhigh-altitude rockets.
The result of these achievements on the part of science is that tvo now have
quite a definite idea of the nature of the rays which penetrate space, al-
though other forms of rays, as yet unknown to us, may, of course, be dis,
covered in the future.
Certain ra}=s have a harmful effect on the human organism, and if ab-
sorbed in largo doses may even prove mortally dangerous, Tho question
raised at the beginning of this chapter is, therefore, not an idle one. The pas-
sengers of aspace ship must be protected against the harmful effects of vari-
ousforms of cosmic radiation. Such a space flight as will end by delivering
to its destination only the remains of the passengers, killed en route by
fatal_rays, can hardly be considered a successful flight.
Of all the rays that penetrate the space around the Sun, now known to
science, those dangerous to man are the ultraviolet solar rays, the solar
X-rays and the so-called gamma-rays. Other dangerous rays are
the cosmic rays mentioned above. To bo more enact, they are not really
rays but streams of electrically charged particles emitted by sources `vhose
nature has not as yet been esactl'y determined.
Electrically charged particles are also emitted by the Sun. It is these
particles that produce the aurora borealis, or the northern lights.
Ultraviolet radiation, which is not weakened by the atmosphere, can
burn the skin seriously, However, the skin of the space ship and the
glass of the illuminators of the passenger compartment will obviously fully
protect the astronauts against the harmful effect of this radiation.
* The usual sunburn which, on the whole, is of value to man, is caused by rays lying
in the so-called close ultraviolet region of the spectrum. IIarder ultravioletrays, those
having a shorter wave-length, are already dangerous to one's health, These rays are
retained by the ozone diffused in the atmosphere at altitudes up to GO kilometres.
Rays of an even more distant ultravioletregionof the spectrum, which are also harmful
to one's health, are stopped by the osygent nitrogen and other gases of the terrestrial
atmosphere. These rays kill the bacteria in the air. If they reached the terrestrial
surface, life on Earth would probably be impossible.
1-rays and gamma-rays harm the body in much Lhe same ~vay as the
hard ultraviolet rays do, the onl}= difference being that these rays penetrate
deep within the human body and affect the internal organs. They ionize
Lhe molecules of the substances which comprise the cells of the organism,
thus com=erting them into electrically charged particles. The result is that
the cells of the living tissue in the organism, subjected to such radiation,
perish or their functions 'arc interfered with. If the dose of rays that arc
absorbed is great, considerable harm maybe caused to the organism: a
malignant blood disease may set in because of the change in the number
and composition of the white blood corpuscles, Lho function of the bone mar-
row may bo interfered with, etc. IIawever, wo may assume that the inten-
sity of the ~-rays and gamma-rays released by the Sun is less than the
amount dangerous to man, although science as yet does not have eshaus~
five data on Lhis question. And when we take into consideration the pro-
tective effect of the skin of the space ship, we may assume that this radia-
tion will not be of great danger to space travellers.
The situation as regards cosmic radiation is more complicated. The par-
ticles of which theSC "rays" consist whirl about at a tremendous speed and
possess energy which is millions of times greater than the energy of all the
other particles known to science. This is,especially true of those heavy par-
ticles recently,discovered, which are part of the so-called primary compo-
nent of the cosmic rays along with the light particles that are basic for it,
the protons, that is, the nuclei of h}=drogen atams.The heavy particles are
the more complex nuclei, beginning with helium and ending with indium,
and even heavier ones; their mass is from four to sixty times greater than
the mass of the proton.
Tho action of cosmic rays on the human organism in many respects resem-
bles Lliat ofradioactive radiation, but the cosmic particles c~iuse much great-
er destruction in the human body.
rurthormore, the "bullet-like" action of the heavy primary particles on
the tissues of the organism may prove serious because of the tremendous
speed these particles possess. Ilowever, the relativelysmall density of cos-
~mic radiation gives reason to hope that it will not present any serious
danger.
t1L the present, time there is no authoritative data an the effect of cosmic
particles on tlie health of man, especially about the hca~=y particles which
possess great energy. Yet these problems hay=e alread}= arisen in aviation
y1
it
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in connection with the question of increasing the coiling of modern air-
craf t.
If the physiological effect of cosmic particles is to bo investigated, high-
altitudeflights aronecessary, and these are possible only by means of roclt-
ets. );speriments have already been conducted with various insects, as
moths, which have been confined in high-altitude rockets. Parrots, mice
and even monhoys have been flown to the ionosphere, but this is only a
feeble beginning.
In the future, similar flights will have to be made with various animals
and then, final/}~, with man.
A space ship fl}=ing through space at a groat speed will encounter on its way
not only rays and streams of invisible elementary particles of substances.
Space will attack our ship, firing at it point-blank `vith artillery of all
possible calibres. And every missile that hits the ship may prove f atal to it.
What are these missiles which threaten to destro}= the space ship? Thoy
are meteoric bodies, celestial stones which plough the space around the
Sun in all directions. These "errant missiles" are one of the great dangers
during a space flight.
Some of these meteoric bodies are mere specks of dust; others are tremen-
dous fragments of celestial bodies, entire mountains rushing about in
space and usually surrounded by a suite of smaller bodies. There are iso-
lated meteoric bodies which may be akin to the asteroids (discussed above),
and there are whole streams, swarms of such bodies which go whirling
in elliptical orbits around the Sun, obvious/}= the remains of comets. The
polar system is the birthplace of the absolute majority of such meteoric
bodies, but some of them may have been born elsewhere, in other stellar
worlds.
There are meteoric bodies which move at relatively small speeds in rola-
;tion to the )Jarth, and there are such whose relative velocity reaches 200
kilometres per second.l~Iost of the meteorites are of stone, consisting chief-
ly of silicates, that is, a combination of oxygen and silicon, while a fourth
Part is of iron. The rest, about if is are iron meteorites consisting of
.about 90 per cent iron and 9 per cent nicltel.
A hypothesis suggested of late is that a considerable part of all meteoric
;Undies consists of ice, i. e., frozen gases of all kinds.
The world was once overwhelmed by the catastrophe that. followed when
the Titanic collided with an iceberg in a fog. But how insignificant
does such a collision seem in comparison with the passible encounter of a
space ship and a mountain rushing at a terrific speed in the darkness of
space. After such an encounter not e~=en the slightest trace of the ship will
remain, and it will simply be registered in the list of space ships reported
as "missing."
~Vo all understand, of course, why this problem of a collision between a
space ship and meteoric bodies should hold the attention of astronautics, for
it may prove fateful as re-
gards even the very possi-
bility of making a space
Light. This problem con-
sists essentially of two
independent questions:
first, it is important to ];now
what is the probability
of a collision between a
space ship and meteoric
bodies of all hinds, that is,
of various dimensions, com-
position, and flight speed;
secondly, we must ]:now
en when
ha
a
t
h
pp
y
a
m
w
such a collision between a ship and a meteoric body takes place.
IIow real is Lhe danger of a collision between a space ship and a mete-
oric body?
Judging from the truly colossal number of meteoric bodies that are con-
stantly malting their way into the terrestrial atmosphere, producing
the remarkable picture of "shooting stars," space abounds in meteoric
bodies.
Indeed, as observations have shown, no less than several scores of mil-
lions of meteoric bodies of all hinds and, according to certain data, even
thousands of millions of Lhese c the termrestrial~atmospherete teryday~The
10-20 tons, make their way into
supposition is, therefore, often made that it is practically impossible to
pierce such a "curtain of fire."
IIowever, such a pessimistic conclusion is, to say the least, too hurried
a one.
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motcor. It is also converted into light energy, enabling one to. see the me-
teor, and into energy which ionizes the. air molecules located near the fall-
':
ing meteor. ~ ,'
These forms of energy are distributed approximately as follows: tlio
thermal energy is 100 limos greater than the light energy, and the latter ,;
is 100 times greater than the ionization energy, that is, only ono per cent
of all the ]cinetic energy is converted into light and 0.01 per cent into iani- ;~;
zation energy. All the rest of the energy is transformed into heat. -;
\TOVOrtheloss, the column of ionized air formed in the atmosphere fol- ~~;Y
lowing the flight of a motcor through it is several kilometres in length
and is an indisputable sign by which a radar station not only establishes {:
the fact that a meteor has flown by, but even determines its approximate
size. A radio beam sent into Lhe heavens collides with this column of
electrified air and is reflected b}~ it as by an obstacle. The reflected beam
is caught as a radio echo in the receiving part of the radar unit, permit-
ting ono to judge of the altitude of the meteor's flight and its size. , s
According to the data of observations thn ~ acoll do wmh ~~spacetship
number of meteoric particles which thre
can be estimated from the fact that about 100 million such particles fall ~;+,
on the l?,arth in ono day. This figure takes into account only particles
not less than one milligramme in weight.e kvof dus h if it hasga velocity '~
small particle, which is no larger than a sp
of tens of l~ilometres per second, is a mortal danger to man, for it will :~
produce the same effect on him as a point-blank shot from a large calibre lY
pistol.* '
If wo /:now the total density of the meteoric bodies, and if we assume
that one and the same quantity keeps whirling about in all directions,
we can dotermiue the time that will elapse between two successive colli- ;
lions of the space ship and the meteoric body. ~
Such calculation shows that a collision between a space ship and a mete-
oric body which is capable of piercing its surf ace will ~talce place not of-
tener than once in ten .years. The likelihood of a person being struck by
lightning here an );arth is much greater. ~ .!
* A typical case showing, bow dangerous is a collision at a great speed occuFred re-
cently with a jet bomber. It collideN n itof the b tuber, 150X200tmm.aJustimaginela _
collision n bole was, formed in the g
bird piercing that tbicl: sheet of rrietal!
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dangerous neighbour in space is switched on either by the command-;
er or automatically. It makes the necessary calculations, and if there
is danger of a collision it shows what change should bo made in the course
of the ship. The ship's motor rvill be switched on instantly, and this
will be sufficient to obviate a tragic collision. Perhaps instead of switch-
ing on the ship's motor it may bo possible to use a "gun" of rays, which
will send a powerful pencil of electrically charged molecules, ions of some
substance, from the ship to combat the meteor, or short-wave radio
beams. Tho farce of reaction of these rays will deflect the ship some-
what and also the meteor, as a result of which Choir trajectories, which
had intersected before this, will no~v diverge. If successful, the passen-
gers of the space ship will get a fleeting glance of the meteor which, il-
luminated by the ship's powerful searchlight, 1vi11 glide past the illumi-
nators of the passenger cabin at a tremendous speed, as if silently remind-
ing them of the terrible danger they have just escaped.
P~crt S~~x
d LOOK. I1T0 TII~ ru~rQ~~c
]t is alisurd to deny the role
o[ fantasy even in LUe most
exact of sciences.
Chap ter 22 ?
TIZOIlI 1~IOSC01~ TO TIII', 11~IOON
It was a warm summer evening, the first evening in July 19....
There was a great deal of excitement in the Little IIall of the new 14Ios-
~a~v Planetarium, which occupied several upper floors of the new sky-
scraper, the Douse of tlstronomy. Youths and girls in their teens, who
filled the hall, collected near the colourful diagrams and pictures that
were hung on the walls, crowded about the scientists who were still
present in the hall, and gathered together in small excited groups. All
were full of the impressions left by the meeting they had just attended,
.and were loath to leave far home.
At the meeting a circle of young astronomers, which was organized at
the planetarium,'had reported on their activities for the past school year..
illembers of the circle, students of the upper grades of Moscow schools,
had assembled in this fashion not for the first time, to review the year,
just ended, a year full of interesting, absorbing activities, and also to
take leave of their older comrades, the seniors, who would now be leav-
ing their school circle.
however, this evening was different from the usual ones. This year marked
the 15th anniversary of the first manned flight to the Moon, and the
public, far`and wide, was celebrating the achievements of astronautics
in the fight to conquer space. As the years went by there was hardly:a
235
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place.in the solar system which had not boon frequented by the Barth's
emissaries. At the meeting just ended the director of the planetarium had
read a decision of the Academy of Sciences to the effect that in honour
of the anniversary of the first flight tq the l~ioon ten members of the Young
Astronomers' Circle, who rvero also honour pupils at school, would, be-
ginning with this year, be annually awarded excursions to the Nloon. It
ryas this announcement that had aroused such excitement among those
present. );ach ono congratulated the fortunate students, and at the same
time wondered if he would be able to win the right to take part in such
an excursion the following year.
But most excited, of course, were those rvhaso names were in the list
of the selected ten. What interesting things they would see! IIow many
things they would learn! The young astronomers were already completely
absorbed in the coming flight. If only that wonderful day, when they
were to fly off, were alread}~ here! But they still had a whole rveel: to
wait.
However, this week would bo full of most interesting events also. Many
instruments and apparatuses would have to be prepared, as the excursion-
ists planned to make numerous observations during the flight and while
on the Moon itself, about which they would later report to their circle.
Once again they had to reread books about the A~Ioon and books describ-
ing space ships and flights in them. It would not do to shore the craw
of the ship they were to fly on that they were novices and ignoramuses,
besides which, they themselves rVanted to know all about everything.
And haw many other things had to be done before that long-awaited day
would come, the day they would take off....
The day after the next they were to meet at the planetarium, from where
they would go on an excursion to the 14oscorv cosmoport.
Two days later the group of young astronomers flew off to the cosmo-
port on a large helicopter. The cosmoport, which was 30 ]cilometres from
Moscow, had a landing place for the helicopter on the flat roof of
its main building. The engineer there met the excursionists as they
climbed out of the helicopter. Then they all went over to the
laeework parapet at the edge of the roof. Before them they saw a pano-
rama of the cosmoport. The engineer told the young people of its work.
It was ono of the largest cosmoports, and dozens of ships had already
flown off from it on their way into space. ,
Various buildings and structures rvero scattered over its vast territory,
and rvero connected with' each otlior by concrete paths. Beautiful green
lawns, flower hods and fountains could bo soon here and there among the
buildings. The rvholo rear part of the field was occupied by an aerodrome
belonging to the cosmoport. Jet planes of various types kept landing and
flying off all the limo. The people Choy transported came from various
cities throughout the country. Some rvero about to set off on a space Might;
others wore going to make high-altitude flights for research purposes;
still others attended to the diverse needs of the cosmoport. To the loft
wore the long light buildings of the repair works, which was not onl}~
abla to repair and re-equip such space ships as already existed, but
was also able to build new ones, in accordance with the projects
of the designing bureau of the Interplanetary Building Trust. The latter
was located in the five-storey building that stood a bit to ono side,
right near the grove that bordered on the territory of the cosmoport.
To the right, hidden among the greenery of the gardens, rvero the spar-
kling, rvhito cottages of the employees of the cosmoport. And a little f ar-
thor o`ff was the observator}~ where scientists, day and night, studied the
solar household, whit t hacal outlines of powerful radarBun is of a radio
observatory they sore th yp
station, which maintained constant radio connections with the commu-
nities on the Moon and the planets, with the crews of space ships and with
the members of interplanetary stations.
But what attracted greatest attention rvero the tremendous towers,
as High as skyscrapers. As the excursionists caught glimpses of them through
the laeework of the-parapet, they recognized the attractive outlines
of the space ships. These towers were set up on concrete squares in front
of the main building, at a distance of a Ecru scores of metros from each
other.
Tn the background, nearer. the aerodrome, in a rather distant corner,
rvero two or three other towers of smaller dimension but similar to the
big ones. Tho guide explained that these smaller towers were used for
research purposes and the testing of space ships, whereas in the main towers
ships rvero made ready for space flights. The engineer also explained that
beneath the cosmoport, at a depth of scores of metres, were gigantic sub-
terranean cisterns containinn tfrefrain 'from asleing to be a to vedpto have
Ono of the pupils could
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a closer look at the space ships. Tho others immediately joined in, repeat-
ing his request,
"I understand your impatience," said the engineer, smiling. "14ro will
go and see them now. But lot's agree upon ono thing: you won't touch any-
thing yourselves, or rve will all be asked to leave immediately."
A lift quickly delivered tlio entire group to the vestibule of the main
building, rvhero a colourful mosaic map fixed to a marble board showed
what places the space ships which had taken off from the Moscow cosmo-
port, had already reached. Numerous lines, all of which radiated from
a red star bearing the inscription "l~foscorv," silently told of the achiove-
monts of Soviet astronauts during the years that had elapsed since the
first flight had been undertaken.
But let's hurry on to the ships!
Is there any need to say that the excursionists enthusiastically accept-
ed the invitation of the engineer to take them around and show them the
very ship on which they were to make their distant flight to the hlaon
five days later? Tho ship had been set up in one of the towers and was
being fitted out for its trip. Lifts kept scurr}=ing up and down the shafts
of the tower, raising and lowering freight of all kinds. People kept bringing
instruments and equipment. At various levels from the bottom of the
ship to its rery summit, which extended high into the sky, rvorlcers stood
about on platform-lifts, separately or in groups of twos and threes, as
they worked on the surface of the ship. Yau could hear the drone of elec-
tric drills, see the flashes of lightning emitted during welding, while pneu-
matic hammers rat-tatted like machine guns.
The ship was standing vertically inside the tower, resting on its con-
crete foundation. It was really a beautiful thing, one of the ships on the
through express line iYloscow-Moon. This ship, considerably larger than
those in the neighbouring .towers, which flew only to interplanetary sta-
tions, immediately won the hearts of its future passengers.
The first experimental ships with atomic jet engines had already trav-
ersed the Moscow-iVloon route, but they had not as yet made any regular
trips with passengers. Tho ship on which the young astronomers rvero
to fly had jet engines which used the usual chemical fuels.
Tho excursionists stopped at a little distance from the tower where
"their" ship was standing, The very first figure named by the engineer
filled his audience with awe, and they glanced ateach other in amazement
and rapture. This ship would weigh 9~i0 tons at take-off! That ryas
much morn than the very heaviest airplanes weighed and corresponded to
about the weight of four powerful railway'locomotives.Tho engineer went
on to explain that the first ships that went to the Moon had been oven
heavier, far Choy had had to ensure the return of their passengers to the
Barth and could not hope to be refuelled anywhere en route. Ships that
rvoro norv refuelled at interplanetary stations, in particular those that
were standing near by, were about half as heavy.
"By the way," the engineer added, "you can judge for yourselves how
difficult it was for our fathers to make a flight to the /loon. In their days,
that is, at the beginning of the second half of our century, the fuels used
in jet technique were only half as goad as those now used. That meant
that a ship like this ono had to weigh hundreds of thousands of tons at
take-oft, and not a mere 9~i0 tons. That also explains why their dream
of making a space flight could not be realized for such a long time, Tho
]ieiglit of this ship is over 50 metres; its diameter at the widest part is
six metres. As you see, its shape reminds you of a gigantic cigar,
equipped with triangular wings in front. At take-off S14 tons of bhe total
weight of 9~i0 tons is the weight of the fuel. That is over SG per cent.
And less than ~l~i per cent, only 126 tons, is the weight of the ship itself,
its equipment and its passengers. But does this mean that when the ship
lands on the /loon with empty fuel tanks it will weigh 12G tons?"
The engineer looked expectantly at his youthful audience.
Several of the youngsters called out, one after another:
"No; it's amulti-step ship!"
"4Ve11, rvcll, I see you are real astronauts, there's no denying that. Yes;
indeed, the ship on which you will fly is a multi-step ship. That is why
you won't recognize it when you climb out of it at the /loon. It will look
much less impressive. Only the front part of the ship will reach the Nloon.
With you on it, of course, so don't get so upset! This is a three-step
ship. The lower step, which is the very largest part of the ship, is the firsE
step. It weighs 100 tons and will carry GS5 tons of fuel, so that its total
weight will be 7S5 tons. The neat step, the second, is only- l~o as heavy;
it weighs 20 tons and together with its 113 tons of fuel will weigh 133 tons.
Tlienj wo came to the last step, the third, which is the winged step,
and in which the passenger compartment is located. That weighs only
four tons, and together rvith..the passengers, necessary equipment, foods
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whereas other ships still fly Kith overloads equal to four, and their
passengers feel?worso.
"B ut if the inertia overloads arc equal to three, Lhat means that the accel-
eration of the ship during flight, created by the motor, will be three
times the acceleration of tho );arLlz's gravitation, which, as you know, is
equal to about 10 metres per second for every second. In other words,
the thrust of Lho motor will fncreaso the ship's velocity every second by 30
metres por second. And so each of you, while on tho ship and so long as the
engino operates, will weigh threo times as much as you.now do. I suggest
that you weigh yourselves before you (ly off so that you will know your
record weight on the ship. But this also means that the total weight of
tho ship at such atake-o(f run will incroase threefold, so that during
tlio take-off it will weigh 2,820 tons and not 9~i0. And that's the value
of tho thrust which tho engines of the first step of the ship would have
to develop at take-off if they did not have to overcome the resistance
of the air.
"The first stop of the shfp has seven liquid-fuel rocket motors, each of
which can develop a maximum thrust of ~i50 tons. That is tremendous, and
is equivalent to the thrust of 20 powerful diesel engines. When all these
engines operate at the take-off of the ship, developing their maximum
thrust, thoy consume over 71J: tons of fuel every second, or aver a ton
per engine. The turbines which set fn motion the pumps that deliver the
fuel to the combustion chambers of the engines develop over 25,000 h.p.
`That fs the same as tho power of the electric stations of large cities.
"As the fuel is consumed, the total weight of the ship is decreased. `1'he
thrust of the engines must decrease likewise fn order to keep the overload
c~onstaut all the time, equal to three. There is a special automatic unit to
decrease the thrust of the engines; it is connected with an instrument that
measures the acceleration, the accelerometer, and it decreases the deliv-
ery of fuol, This causes the pressure in the combustion chambers of the
engines to drop and the thrust decreases. By the time the motors of the
first stago finish working, that is, when they have consumed all of their
685, Cons, the weight of the entire ship will have been reduced to 255 tons,
and 'the thrust of the engines-to about 800 tons.
"When this happens, the first step is automatically separated and de-
scends to the?Earth by means of a large, special parachute. This step can
still be used on many a ship. The motors of the second step are switched
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s
on automatically, Tho interval in the work of the motors should boa min-
imum as it causes a loss in velocity, This interval should not exceed sav-
eral tenths of a second. But there won't be any such interval on
ship; tho designers have tbought~ of somelhin yar ~ 1 our
I'll tell you about it if you aren't tired." g ~ cla~er to avoid it,
"Please do!" camp the unanimous request from all sides,
"Well then, just listen. The walls of tho ship which you sae aren't its
walls at all. Annular fuel tanks havo been installed on the outside of tho
ship, It is their surface /lest you sae, Thera, just take a loop in that di-
rection; that tank hasn't been installed yet and you can sae tho real wall
of the ship there. When all tho fuel in thesa.tanks has been consumed; and
this fuel will bo tho first to bo used up, tho tanks will be detached and
jettisoned. This idea of jettisoning the empty tanks has been borrowed
from aviation, It is used b}~ arrplanes, in particular b ~ '
so, when the tanks of the first step are been thro`tin ov i~boardl the ,And
dis-
close the outlet nozzles of the engines of thesecond step, which are located
ou special brackets on the circumference. This makes it possible to switch
on the engines of the second step even beforo the first slap has been de-
tached, so that there is no interval in the work of tho motors. Is that
clear?"
"That's great!" tho youngsters exclaimed, simply delighted. "And the
same thing happens with the second step, doesn't it?"
`1Vo, the second step, it is true, also has tanks that can be jettisoned,
but the motor of the last step, the third, is located in tho centre slang
Clio axis of tho ship, and not in bacl: but in front.
"It has been designed in this way becauso the motor is switched on only
to brakd when landing on the 1~Ioon.
"Since the total weight of the ship after tho first step is separated from
the vessel, is only 155 tons, the maximum thrust of the engines of the sec-
ond stag will be almost 500 tons, as it must again be three times the
weight ~of the ship. Then the thrust gradually diminishes to 130 bons,
when all of the 113 tons of fuel that havo bacn stored up on this step have
been consumed. The second stage also has seven engines each of which
has a maximum thrust .of 70 tans. One such engine is installed in the last
the third step of the ship, which tivill reach the Moon together with you.
The minimum thrust of this engine when it lands will be equal only to
several loos."
"low much limo do tho engines of tho ship actually work, taken all
'
i together?"
j "A litlla over oigh6 minutes; of lheso eight minutes about six era spent
al Lahe=off. The east of the time-and your flight to the i4loon will
last slightly over three days-the motors are switched off. What forces
affect tho ship during this period? Only tho farces of gravity. Tha ship
will bo attracted by the );arch, the moon and the Sun. At. first the
attraction towards the Rar~h will be fell most strongly, so that lhoship
will fall freely on it, Lho way an applo falls from a tree. But ~~~hereas
tl~e apple actually falls to lha earth, your ship will not, of course, for
it will be whirling away from the );arth at a tremendous speed. The Barlh's
attraction will affacl only the ship's velocity, which will keep dropping
all lho limo. Whan the ship approaches so close'to tho 14oon that the at-
traction towards the /loon becomes greater than the terrestrial attraction, it
will no longer fall towards tho Barth'but towards tho iVloon, and its veloc-
ity `vill again begin to increase. And so, as you sea, you will be falling
freely all the time, first to the );arty and Lhen to the 14oon."
"That means we won't weigh anything at all?" the }roung people asked,
all at the same time.
"Exactly! Your weight will vanish completely. And to prepare for that
feeling of weightlessness and avoid all sorts of mistakes during the first
moments of such a free flight, you, liko all other space travellers, will
leave to Grain on a special apparatus wo have bore at the cosmoport. You
tivill have to come here once or twice especially for this purpose. Any ob-
jections?"
The question was obviously superIluous.
The secondary school pupils followed the engineer all aver the terri-
tory of lho cosmoport for a long time, climbing up to the tops of towers,
looking into tike inner part of the? ships, and inspecting the observatory.
They even visited'the plant and the designing bureau of tho Interplanetary
Building Trust. '
It was already dart: Whan these youthful excursionists, tired but happy
and proud of what they had learned, got, into their helicopter. Powerful
searchlights illuminated the' entiro territory of the cosmoport and the
landing places~of the aerodrome. Red stars, warning lights, glittered ~on
Ilse lops of the towers.. When the helicopter whirled up into the air almost
without a sound, the youngsters saw a sea of lights ahead of t)lem, the
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lights of their beautiful native city, lioscow. They could hardly wait
to get home and begin training the very nest day far their flight, as very
IittIe time remained before they would take off.
The remaining days flashed by in the fuss and bother of countless things
that had to be done, and at last the day arrived.
The ship's take-off was set for 3 p.m. But the young astronomers were
there long before the appointed time. They were surrounded by their rel-
atives, school-mates and comrades who worked with them at the plane-
tarium. After they had listened patiently (for the nth time) to all sorts
of admonitions, requests and good wishes, the young travellers were asked
to take their places in the ship,
Here is the space ship. The tower was now fixed to the ship only on one
side. The other half of the tower (we discovered that the tower consisted
of two halves) had been taken aside via a special track. A lift quickly
delivered the passengers to the landing which was situated very high and
from which they went up a gangway and passed through the door of the
Passenger compartment of the ship. The members of the crew, the cap-
tain of the ship, the second pilot, the pilot-radio officer and the stewardess,
all of whom had already met the young passengers, were now in their
places. The door of the ship was closed tightly and hermetically sealed.
The totiver was taken aside and the ship now stood proudly all by itself.
A green rocket was sent up into the sky and the air was instant/}' filled
tivith the powerful roar of the ship's motors. For a second they operated
on reduced thrust, the last check-up, and thon the roar became intolerable.
Fiery torches came sputtering out of the nozzles of the engines. The ship
trembled, then slowly, as if unwillingly, tore away from its supports
and went rushing upwards, ever quicker and quicker, leaving a long
smoke-like trail behind it. For several moments one could see a silvery
line in the sky, and then it vanished. Bon voyage!
Let us now return to the ship's compartment and see how our astronauts
are getting along.
When the door of the ship slammed shut, the children discovered that'
they were locked up in the cabin. They would have taspend three whole days
here during the flight to the Moon, and as many days on the return trip.
Fach took his place. They were "sleeping" places. All told, there were
70 berths in the passenger cabin, as many as the number of excursionists.
These places were near the windows, alongside the walls of the cabin
that extended upwards, and Lhoy rominded,mto of sailors' bunks, which
are suspendod one over another, but this tima fivo bunks were placed one
above the other, a sort of five-storey bedroom. Thero ware rope ladders
by which tho passengers climbed up to their bunks and laydown on thorn.
Somo wero even inclined to joko about it ("All hands on deck!" "Going
to sleep alroady?"), but Lhc solemnity of tho moment embarrassed them.
All realized that during take-off one simply had to lfo on ono's back in
order to lessen the strain of the inertia overloads.
Ltcidontally, tho berths wero oxcollont, with springs, and were very
comfortablo to lie on. All the youngstors lay on their backs, head towards
tho wall, whom them was a vertical row of electric lights. Their feet were
turned towards the other wall, which was covered by a Lhic]c rug with
a black vortical strip down its centre. There was a door in the ceiling,
which, as they later learned, lod to the crew's cabin.
Silenco reigned. No one felt like speaking. All secmod to be listening
for something, very much excited, as if expecting something. `Then it came!
It was the roar of the engines, muffled, howevor, by the walls of the compart-
ment. Another instant and some powerful force pressed the ~roungsters
to their berths. Now, do what the}' would, they couldn't get up. They evon
found it difficult to breathe. The passengers thou realized that the ship
was already flying.
The childron began to watch the clock with a huge second hand
on the ceiling, above the door leading to the crew's cabin. Three
minutes had elapsod. 'That meant Lhat the first step of the ship, with
its emptied tanks and motors, was already flying back to the Barth, descend-
ing by parachute. They had noL even felt the first step being separated,
or whop the motors of the second,step had been s~ritched on.
The arrow of an instrument hanging, on Lhe ceiling beside the clock
kept constantly moving around in a circle.Itindicated the altitude above
tike Barth. 'they had already flotivn 200 kilometres. Instead of the custom-
ary light blue slcy, the firmament as they saw it from their cabin win-
dows vas a dark dark-violet, almost blue-blacks aAndtinathislmost nuu-
miusual dull luminosity and thousands of star
sual slcy the passengers saw a most unusual Barth. They even failed ~to
recognize it at first, it vas so. unlike their n folded beforevtbem now
knew so well. The picture of the Earth as it un
was quite unlike the Earth as they had seen it from the helicopter.
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travellers learned to handle the situation and, as may be supposed, ate
everything with a hearty appetite. The}=sucked the soup and cocoa up from
the dishes through straws similar to those children use to blow soap-
bubbles.
After dinner the pilot-radio officer came in to see how the young passen-
gers were getting along. He proved to be a merry, cmivcrsational person
who, in spite of his }routli, had already acquired quite a bit of experience
in space travel. IIis flying record in space now consisted of several hun-
dreds of millions of kilometres, and he dreamed of becoming a "billionaire"
in the future. Terrestrial pilots had long ceased to enry their interplan-
etary colleagues in this respect, considering it quite hopeless to tr}= to
catch up with them.
After introducing himself to his young companions, the radio officer
told them of the latest radiograms received from the );arch. Tho passen-
gers showered the officer with dozens of questions, and he had a hard time
trying to answer them all. As far as possible he answered by giving prac-
tical illustrations. For instance, when he was asked if a match would
burn in the compartment, he immediate/}=lit ono, and all tivere convinced
that it would burn excellently. When one of the youths started to sav.
"But we heard..." the officer winked understandingly and said: "Just a
minute." He left the room for an instant and when he returned he lit anoth-
er match. It flared up, then the flame quickly curled up into a little
ball and went out. The officer left the room again, and this time when he
returned the match again burned quite normally. ~yhat was the answer
to this riddle?
"You shut aQ the ventilation!" someone exclaimed.
"Right!" the officer returned. "Under conditions of weightlessness, if
there is no special artificial ventilation the flame `chokes.' By the way,
you would be suffocated, too, if I turned off the ventilation system for any
length of time," he added.
The second day of the flight vas marked by their meeting an interplan-
etary station, an entire community of buildings of all shapes whirling
in their orbit around the 1Jarth at an altitude of over 100,000 kilometres
without disturbing ,their order, like a hatch of strange birds. Pressed
close to the windows of their cabin, the children looked' on in silence
as the "islands on the terrestrial shares," created by= the will and .
genius of man, silvery in the rays of the Sun which illuminated
i
1
1
lnterplanotary sliip is ready to land
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h~~l
~111I1~ '~ ~
~r4t;?~
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them, floated past at a distance. i;ach thought of the Soviet peoplo
living on these artificial satellites of the );arch, peoplo who were doing
ari important, necessary work. Tlie officer explained ]iow vastly important
these interplanetary stations tivere for science and for interplanetary com-
municationand that similar satellites now revolved around the Nfoon too,
but they would be unable to sec them on this flight.
The time on the ship passed by unnoticeably (if only the}= didn't have
that feeling of ~voightlessness), for it vas filled with absorbing impressions.
Came the third day oI the fight. That tivas an unusual day. The commander
of Lhe ship permitted his young passengers (he had first received permission
from the );arth for this) to make an excursion outside the ship, out there
in space. The gay commotion on the ship that followed his announce-
ment lasted half a day. The youngsters went out one at a limo, each
being accompanied by=the second pilot of the ship. All the others took part
in equipping the fortunate person who was the nest to go off on this trip.
The preparation for these excursions had to be most painstaking, for any
carelessness might load to serious consequences. All excited, the youngster
climbed into his massive space suit,with which the excursionistshad already
become acquainted. ~'iThen ever}=thing was ready permission was given
to leave the ship. Both "excursionists" said good-bye and went out through
the door of the cabin into the hermetically sealed "lock." The door behind
them shut, the air vas pumped out of the "lock," f or it was a pity to lose it,
and then the outer door was opened. The tourists were now outside the
ship. The other passengers watched them through the cabin windows, laugh-
ing gaily at the sight of the rather awkward movements of these space
"swimmers," `vho were whirling along beside the ship as though Gied to it
by invisible strings. To them the ship seemed immobile.
The last day of the flight finally arrived. The youngsters were over-
joyed and excited in anticipation of seeing the Nloon. They could not tear
themselves away from the windows through which they kept watching the
ever-increasing lunar disc, half of which was illuminated by the Sun, and the
other half of which lay in the shade. A unique, gloomy world opened up
before them.
The A4oon kept coming closer and closer. There, they had already passed
the neutral point, that point at which the attraction of the ship towards the
);arth and the Nloon is equal; now the ship would no longer fall to the
l;arth, but to the Nloon, which was less than 40,000 kilometres away:
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.~.~
- ..~
Incidentally, the passengers in the cabin of the ship wore not iu a condi=
lion to notice this change. It tivas all Cho same to them whore Choy would
fall. Tho commander of the ship, however, felt dilTorently about that.
ror him it was of great importance. Tho ship's velocity, which had grad-
ually been diminishing and was a minimum at the neutral point, slightly
less than a kilometre a second, now began to increase once more under
the influence of lunar attraction. .
Tho Nfoon kept coming inosorably closer. At last the order was rereived
to lie down oncQ more on Choir berths, just as when they had taken o1T
from the Earth, but to lie on the opposite side of them. Again the cabin
tivas converted into afive-storey bedroom, but ho who had been on top
before, now found himself on bottom.
Only 1,000 kilometres remained to Cho 14oon, 500 kilometres.... A ra-
dio beam checked ofF the kilometres exactly the way a sonic depth-finder
measures the depth of the sea.. The ship's velocity vas almost throb ltilo-
motres per second. It was necessary to begin to brake now, for otherwise
they might crash on landing. They were only 150 ltilomotres from the
surface of the Moou. Powerful searchlights were now lit up on the Moon,
illuminating the landing place, which was on Cho dank side of the /loon
and on which the Sun did not shine as yet: this was at tlio very boundary
between light and Clark, which intersected the lunar disc. Tho commander
switched on the motors and again that same force which Cho passengers
had already felt when tatting off from the Earth pressed them down to
their berths. ~ stream of heated gases escaped from the engine nozzle,
rushing towards Cho Nloon, outstripping the ship by over four kilometres
every second. Tho reaction thrust of the motor seemed to press up against
the front of the ship, as if it were a mi,;hh~ hand, ,thus decreasing the
velocity of the ship's fall.
Tho ship's speed kept diminishing all the time. Tlio last few ltilomotres
it approaclied the Moon very slowly. The engine thrust was only slightly
greater than the weight of the ship, which was no~v'~a of what it had.been
on Earth, because of the lesser force of attraction towards the Nioon. rinally
the last metres, the last centimetres were passed. The ship gently touched
Clio surface of the Moon 'and came to a standstill on its shock-absorbing
chassis, which looked like four steel "logs" with supporting discs ou their
earls: This,chassis can bo withdrawn, and its "legs"are let out before land-
ing,,just as with airplanes. There was practically .no jerlt at all. It was
250
a wonderful "mooning" (compare "landing"). Tho whole operation tools
about 11~. minutes, All told only a bit over three days had elapsed from
the moment Choy had taken off from the Earth.
Tho dream of the children had comp true! They were on the Illoan! How
interesting it was to look througli tho~window at the landing place ~vhero
people in space suits were walking about, and to see those strange-looking
structures in the distance, the masts of radio stations.
In spite of the fact that it was night, it was light on the Moon. Tho
Earth, awhitish-bluish disc (four'times larger than the lunar disc), tivhich
was suspended in the sky, brightly lit up the surface of the Nixon. The
Earth's light is about SO times brighter than the lunar light is for us on
Earth, Ono can easily read a book on the A~Ioon by the light of the Earth.
Before much time elapsed our young travellers climbed out of the ship,
one after another, and in their space suits set off for the dwellings of the "sele-
nites"-the Nloon dwellers. Their living quarters, which were situated near
this landing place (there were other communities as well), were under the
surface of the soil, and only their round cupolas revealed the whereabouts
of some of them. All the travellers entered ono such sublunar hotel, tivhich
had been organized for the new arrivals, through the "lock," with which
they were already familiar. After exchanging greetings the travellers were
fed and put to bed, for they were going to get up as early as possible as
they had an interesting day ahead of them. ' .
Chapter 23
Tho young travellers were awakened early in. the morning A lunar
night lasts two weeks, as you know, and the lunar'dayis equally long,
but on this ~articnlar day the lunar morning coincided witli Clio terrestrial:
It was early in the morning on the Nloon as well, for the Sun was just about
to rise. No one had seen it hero for a' fortnight. That was the surprise
awaiting our young astronomers and about which they had..been ,given
a hint when they were still on Earth. But no, matter how hard~>l;hey had
tried, ou the way over, to guess'what it eras all about, they had been unable
to. Their arrival on the 114oon had been so. calculated in advance, as to
enable them to see the sunrise on the Nloon. It was an unusually beauti~
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ful aud, as wo seo, a rathm~ rare phenomenon. But Lhmi, Lho su-iriso on
the /loon lasts a wholo hour, aud not just n minuto or two as it does on
Earth.
No morn than half an hour had elapsed when the children wore already
off with a guide, ~vho had been assigned to them for their sojourn on tho
11~Ioon. Clad in spaco suits, thoy marched off, one behind tho other, to tho
place from which they wero to observo the sunrise. As yet thorn was no
sign whatever indicating that our daytime star was soon to appear. The
slcy was not coloured as it is on Earth just boforo tho Sun rises, for tho I1loon
does not have the necessary atmosphere. Only myriads of stars without
any L~vinkle in them shone coldly in the sky, filling it with their dull lumi-
n051t)', and the terrestrial disc still hung suspended there, just as it had
the evening beforo. It looked as if ~it wero fastened Lo one spot. You
sec, the Earth does not move about in tho lunar firmament as the 1~Ioon
does in the Earth's, so that when viewed from tho 1~Ioon, the Eartli neithor
rises nor sets. This characteristic of the lmiar lmldscape is of real servico
to tho people on the Moon, for they can easily determino their bearings
on the lunar surface by the position of the Earth in the slay. It is difficult
to laso one'sway on tho Moon, for the Earth can be seen from any part of
the lunar surface which is always visible from the Earth. IIowover, as
far as the "rear" part of the Nloon is concerned the situation is quite differ-
ent. The landing place was situated relatively near the edge of tho lunar
disc, which is visible from the Earth, and was in the Soa,of Showers, near the
famous lonely peak Piton, so that the Earth stood rather low, If our
excursionists had been near the lunar pole they would have seen Clio
Earth on the horizon.
And how many stars there were in the firmament! IIere on Earth we can
see about 3,000 stars with the naked eye, but there on the 1~Iaon it felt
as though tho scales had fallen from the eyes. Incidentally, the posi-
bion of the familiar,brighter stars had not'changod at all. Wlaat do a mere
384,0001{ilometres which separato the il4oon from the Earth mean when
compared with Lhe distance ~o the stars! Such were the thoughts that
clashed through the minds of our school children as the/' waited impa-
tiently for dawn to come'.
Suddenly the summits of the high mountains began to shine blindingly
against the darlt background of the. sky, as though lit up by powerful
searchlights. Only their summits sparl~led. The line of demarcation between
$paco ship has arrived a6 lunar lwso
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the bright light and tho darknecson ~~ ~lis v~ ~o ~liQ l,gh t is dlffusodnin
sec a picturo lil.e that anywher
tho atmosphere. It was a moment of extraordinary beauty!
There's tho Sun! It didn't look at all like the brig f ery gigantic star,
during sunrise on Barth, but appeared like a dazzling,
preceded by its corona, fountains and streams of light that surrounded
it an all sides. The play of colours was such as can never bo forgotten! Yot
at soma distanco from the Sun tha sky romained tho samo volvety black,
filled with a dull luminosity, and the stars in it continued to shine as
they had been shining before.
Tho obliquo rays of tho Sun illuminateds ran e~`sullon and 1 foless tho
school childron 1001:01 about them. IIo 0
world about them socmed.
Tho Sea of Showers, whore they ware, wasn't a soa at all, any morn than
the other lunar "seas" are. Not a drop`v~`C~ tlio shfplhad rlan ed.s lmewas
be said of the Swamp of Foos near
at all, and no f ogs of any kind worn ever to be witnessed there.
not a swamp the first astrono-
These names are merely then?~uho tho lout tho dark regions of the b4oon
mers, beginning with Galll ,
were expanses of water. tlctually, tho "spas" are tremendous barren stony
serfs while the lighter places on tho surf acs ho surf ace of thef111oon,
de ~ er of dust cove
of sandy and clayey rock. A lay
the result of volcanic action and explosioas that occurred when meteorites
roa that was perfectly smooth
Poll. Nowhero was thorn tho slightest
and level. The soil was pitted with craters of vario aCelall around
of them had diameters of over 100,{ic1m~SrandTwas ove ed with pilos of
vas cut up by deop fissures a assablo.Thosoilwasch~eily
rock fragments, all of which made it quite imp
a dark greyish brown, although some oe t~o craters had a light sur ace
anted by tho minute cavities
similar to pumice. Th-s similarity vas
in many of the surf ace rocks. with their sharp-edged
The mountain ranges stood out in shar ended surfaces or smooth passes
sides and peal,; there was no sign of any
e so common on Barth as a result of the action of water and
which ar
wind. on the 1~Ioon very good;
Tho absence of an atmosphere makes ~,isibolt~ ical of the Barth. But
there are no foggy mists in the distance,
253
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 ollow-
because certain astronomers declan n that back in 19~i8 a brig t Y
. car it, the trail left by a tremendous
brownish luminosity.had been see
meteorite as it fell, ono similar to tho'fungus meteorite. And no~v it was
interesting to check up on that hypothesis.
also visited the crater Aristarchus,wh~o enm /peak of this5crat-
Thoy
ometres and which is 1.5 kilometres deep. Tho children
.' the lightest spot on the lunar surf?a~ar ~ shame bo seen from
er is
the Earth. It shines brightly even m t treaks were that
d~what kind of rock it is that refleeTk radial a r light so well.
dascovorc
It was also inter iL al eak?of this cratersoutwards' .sat ices/ crater
extended from c? P which i YP
The travellers visited the crater Theophilus, ter the great
rin of mountains around its circumnamed of d a mountain
having a g ernicus crater,
in the middle, and the Cop flow over the very
to Theophilus they en o ed the view
Polish astronomer. On their way located almost at
centre of the lunar disc as seen fromston tliotn,Ioon~Y , Y
of one of the highest mountain rang whOS? summit is almost nine
the Leibnitz Mountains, close to
ere,
the South Pole, Clavius,
kilometres above the average le ~~? largestlc esters on the Moon, esters
the South Pole, they saw one of
diameter is over 200 kilometres. ItThels visited the Alpine Valley,
whose
which is separated from the Sea
its depth being almost eight kilometres. which is 10 kilometres wide
the only one of its kind on th?Ths valley,
of Showers by high mountains. is smooth, resembling
arl and over 120 kilometres its o~ri in has not as yet been
at its widest P
touthful astronauts also visited another
a sort of gigantic gash.in the mountain rang?~ led in the Sea of Clouds.
satisfactorily explained. Tho }
" the Straight Wall, which is loco
lunar "curiosity - ' of G00 metres, simply amazed bur travellers.
't'his ledge, a vertical drop h? Could it have originated during some
What made it so erect and so hig ~ ? children visited the Sea of
terrilile "moonquake"?
Aster fly' g which almost vanished before
m across the lunar Caucasus t had been watching
Serenity with its mysterious crater f,inne,
astronomers, who visible;
the very eyes of th? astonished this crater had been clearly
ast centuryoun eople simply had to Sind out
it from the Earth. Inoti ce blo. Our 3 g P
now it Ness hardly
what had happened to this unusual crater!
255
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They climbed insio a tIt is almost at thovsouthornmost edgohofgtho lunar
Moon, is so m}sterf us.
disc and is the Centro of tho most powerful system of "rays" on tho lunar
surface: light coloured streaks that diverge from Lhe crater almost over tho
entire surface of the lwiar disc. Nothing can stop these "rays," neither moun-
tain nor hallow. 1Vhat are these mysterious "rays"-traces of explosions
during volcanic eruptions or did they romain after gigantic meteorites
fell? Condensed vapours which filled tho clefts that were formed
together with the crater? Tho young astronomers will toll Uheir friends
on Earth all about it when thoy return,
ror their travels on tllo 1~Ioon the excursionists had ~ special excursion
rocket ship at their service, ~~~hile on the ship and after landing they took
pictures of overything~i~~tesofm n s ono)Jarthnfor~the}~woul have to to I
thought might interes
them about everything they had seen when they got back.
The attention of these school children was especially attracted to some
buildings that had been erected on the 1~Ioon in the years following man's
first arrival there, They visited the "sublunar" enterprises, where fuels
for liquid-fuel rocket engines of space ships were produced. These plants
not only fully supplied the ships that landed on the i1~Ioon with the fuel
they needed, but also the interplanetary stations-tho artificial satellites
of the );arth and the /loon. Containers of fuel were dispatched to theso
stations by means of a tremendous electromagnetic catapult.
The excursionists also visited tho gigantic solar power station ~+'ulch
provided the enterprises and dwellings of the lunar colony with electricity
andheat, Theylooked into tho central dispatcher's room, from which sev-
oral atomic.power stations, that were at a distance of 150 kilometres from
that room, were controlled. `They went down into tho pits of mines, where
many valuable, raro metals and minerals were obtained.
);venings in tho "sublunar" clubrooms the young people watched
TV programmes from the );arch, One of theso broadcasts vas organ-
ized especially for them. They saw their relatives and friends.
They also had long conversations with veterans who had been living
on the Moon for several years and only visited the );arth on their
vacations, which they spent at resorts on the Black Sea and at 14ascow's
suburban sanatoriums, Tho children probably enjoyed these conversations
morn than anything else, for they learned much that was both interesting
What tUo youtliful trav=ellers saw on tUeC[oon?Thoonhuus.
r
1, Sea of C,ld.
2. Crater Plato.
3. Crater LinnB.
4. Alps.
5. IIay of Itainbows.
g, Swamp of Foos.
7? Caucasus.
g, Lake of Dreams.
6. Sea of Sholace for
16. Landing, P
i i. Crater Archimedes.
23
12. Sea o1 Serenity. 2t,, Strai;hti wall.
13. Crater Arlstarchus. 25, Sea oI Nectar.
14? Swamp of Putretactlon. 26 Pyrenees.
15. Apennines. 27 Sea of Clouds.
16. Carpathians. 2g, Sea oI, Humidity
2g, Crater Tycho.
i7. 5ea of Vapours. 30. Crater Clavlus.
i6, Ocean of Storms. gl, Crater Newton.
1p? Crater Copernicus.
20 Sea of Tranquill[ty. 32. Leibnitz Mountains.
ship. 2i. Sea of Abundance,
g2, Crater PtolemY?
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~4~00
r1q Svlurn
Path of Iiallcy's comet in tUe solar system.
and fascinating about rho he-
roicstruggle of theso pioneers
in tho conquest of rho Nloon.
While on rho Moon the
young pooplo discovered that
thero was another surpriso in
storo far them. It was rho pilot
who told them about it. When
Ilying off from rho il4oon Clio
ship would (ly around its "rear"
side, which had becomo acces-
sible to mau only after space
ships had succeeded in circum-
navigating the 1~Ioon. For thou-
sands of years people on Earth
had been observing only ono
and the same surface of the
lunar disc, or slightly over half
of it, about gig of the total lunar surfaco. (The children were especial-
ly interested to know that the part of the luuar surface which is
visible to us on Earth covers an area approximately equal to the
surfaco of the Soviet Union.) This explains why, at all planetariums the
world over, one side of the globs representing the A~Ioon was blank. People
did not know what this part of the Moon was like. This is duo to the fact
that the iVioon's rotation on its axis under the influence of tidal forces
caused by the Earth's force of gravity, gradually slowed down. Once it
was faster, but now the Moon makes only ane rotation on its axis in
the same limo that it takes to make one complete revolution around rho
Earth. The result is that one and the same side of rho Nloon is always
turned towards the Earth. It sways very slightly from its position of
equilibrium, which Lhus enables us to look a little "beyond the Moon."
The same tidal forces havo transformed the Moon from a globe into a.sort
of gigantic poor., having formed a protuberance that is almost a
kilometre in height and which always faces the Earth..
Now the children wero able to see the other side of the iVloon and pho-
tograph it, in order later to tell their friends about it. They wero? certainly
in luck!
a ainst the black sky of rho 1~Ioon,
+thin 'f here, g g star:'
13ut this was not over} g?
a rarovisitor at the shores of tlu Earth-a comet, a "s a g
nd rho Sun in an elongatadellip-
thoy saw which moves aro to be morn
It was Ylnlloy's comet, even
returning to it onto in three-fourth Ll of most mysterious,
tics/ orbit, Comets arc, perhaps, back in tho
onto in 7G years).
o~act, comets
h the most numerous ccles~lcl bodies in tho solar sys ? is
ter said Lhat "them are as many movo
thoug Johannes 1C p ? il4ost of tho comp
seventeenth century
aco.as there aro fish in the Deco .
in celestial sp radically not to be distinguished from
1 comets return to the Sun only onto in several scores
arowld rho Su uc orbits which arc P of thousands of years.
.a parabola. S and even hundreds
ears, these comets come from a colossal
of thousands oL y lions, articles in them.
According Lo latest conceP ases with solid p and at
? oI icy blocks formed of frozen g slowly around rho S'm "comet
"cloud ovo comparatively.
These blocks of ?ice m it. 'lho transverse diameter of this Such
distances from
tremendous imes greater than the diameter of the solar system.
cloud" is 2,000 t ers~ollar ships will havo to overcome. Some of
is the "barrier" which; lion Choy approach the Sun at a closer distance,
these frozen blocks, hallFy's
becomo comets. erhaPs the most comet,
'i Halley's comet ~s p that have been \ i
11 comets
interesting of a their several returns to l
~ observed dtuing bri ht, ~v}1ereas all II
i _ ? _ r+ ;c very g __ c~~hl~. 1MadS
the other comes ~l ?"'V rester than
t'on is g
Its period of revolu l Ilal-
that of any other similar comet? osito
n
a directio
' omot moves in l nets
?p
a
c o
Aril
ruMQy`
1
ley s
not only to the revolutia os ~~ to that of
around. the Sun, but opp
comets. In this relation
all other ]cnowe`Ceptlon'of its /tine. rMay
it is the only aoAprr!
Iialley's comet has beacon porary Ear /
as
h
f9Mv
! ..r.:.
~ r~May
1June
,:~ '
rsMay,
o w
of the
an astronomer w
fter ono
f Newton..In 1G82 a
Halley Pre'
the Ear
assed
th p
,
o
19 4910,
of this comet,
comet.
D~IuY ~ '
s ~
On
s
regular visits That wa
75 years. h the tail of Halley
hrong
i
'
t
n of this nature. The
dieted its return
ion
the first predict
.259
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return of Halley's comet can bo traced for 2,000 years in ancient manu-
scripts. Tho last Limo it appeared near the Sun was in 1910. On May 19,
1910, it passed between tl1? Sun and the Barth at a distance of 2~i million
kilometres from the Barth, so that the Earth very likely "pierced" the
tail of the comet, which is much larger, about 30 million l;ilometres.
tlnd now this comet had returned again....
t1t last the day for their return to the Barth arrived! It `vas limo to get
ready. Tho Sun was already right above the horizon. Tho long lunar
night with its pitiless frosts was just about to set in. Our travellers, ~vl1o
had quite forgotten about their ship in the excitement of so many lunar
affairs, were now unable to recognize it, tls when it arrived, the ship stood,
nose downward, on its four "legs," but now a tremendous additional
tank of fuel had been setup on it. This tank, whose own weight was three
tons, contained 3G tans of fuel. I+urthcrmore, t~vo other globe-like tanks
with fuel had been setup on the ends of the wings. Bach of them weighed
only 250 kilogrammes and contained 3.25 tons of fuel. Thus the ship now
weighed GS tons (that would have been its weight on Barth, inasmuch
as on the Nloon it weighed only a little over 11 tons), of which 5S.5 tons
comprised the fuel.
The pilot-radio officer whose friendship the children had not forgotten
even when they were on the Nloon, explained to them why the ship weighed
less at the take-off from the Moon than when setting off from the Barth.
Tho escape velocity from the Moon was only 2`~, l{ilometres per second
(it is, therefore, not surprising that the 11oon lost its atmosphere long, long,
ago, as the molecules of gases possessed a still greater velocity and had
deserted the Moon for all time). I+'urthermore, when landing on the Barth,
the braking by motor will reduce only half the velocity of the falling ship,
while the rest of the speed will b? reduced by the resistance of the air when
flying in the Barth's atmosphere. It is here that the wings will be of great
service. With their aid the ship will be able to, glide around the Barth
for a long time, during which the remaining, superfluous velocity will
bo reduced.
"On the whole," the pilot said, "the supply of fuel for the return trip
has been so calculated that it should be sufficient to impart to the ship
at take-off, when there is no fore of gravity or air resistance, a velocity
' Halley's comet should return in 1986.
2G0
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of 9.2 kilometres per second, which is only GO per cent of the velocity at
the take-off from the Bart11. Tho deccrlcas tlnbr kfngswhen lauding omit,
ta]ce-off Irom the Moon, as compare
and the smaller woigllt of the additional fuel tanks onabla us to decrease
the supply of fuel.
After saying a warm goad-bye to thoiroln earth our t aae lersncglimbed
along the. letters given thorn far people
into thou cabin, which looked exactly as it oom And onceoaga'-n the crew
on the Moon. ThG assens ers anld the clocke vas on the floor.
was beneath the p g reen rocket sent off-
The doors were firm sh TC tb a ble, took off from the Moon.
and the ship, after ual to i0 tons, was
The thrust of the engine, which, a 68 tons at the take-off from the Moon
able to impart to the ship wolghing er second for
an acceleration almost equ~SCtOis six times /the 10 eleration of the lunar
every second. T11at, of cou ,
attraction, so that during a vertical ascent the ship's velocity increases
a little over eight metres per second every second of the ascent. At this
by risen ers is practicall)r equal to their terrestrial
moment the weight of the p ual to one.
nroigllt, the overload being eq g will decrease
IIowever, as the fuel is consumed, the wei ht of the ship
cceleration increase, since the engine Ts thra` cram elocity ofaabo~ti
and the a when the ship n 111 h
By the end of the take-off, ~ tanks will
three kilometres per second and all the fuel in32 tonssandrthe overload
have been consumed, the ship will weigh onl}
o. Bven so, this is less than at the tak somffefrom the Barth, but
will(bo tw from
all were ordered to lie on their berths its~ll ~ as. Inside the ship
~i
The engine roared. IIow its roarlcould be heard, although the sound
bellirid the isolated walls; could hear nothing at
was muffled.: But the dwellers of the lunar co ony
oncerned the ship flew silently, as sound is not .
all, as far as they wore c
transmitted in space devoid of air.
d risen only slightly above,the surdfeT to da this he deflect
Tho ship ha
the commander made a sharp turn sida~ay from the axis of the ship. The
ed the axis ~of the engine slightly
ilt in such a way that it can b? tuenan toulncreasea~s speed,
engine is bu
heavy long-range rockets. Then tho~ship b g
2G
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flying at a relatively lo~v altituOTe N ?o no losses in velocity duo to lunar
convenient to fly this waY? Th
attraction and the passengers worn bettor able to soo what was going on
down below.
The childran warn glad to take advantage of the opportunity afforde
them. At first Choy flow over the places already familiar to them. They
recognized the hills, spas, craters. Bua ~~o ho~iion tIn mmoment it woulld
lunar polo, the Earth almost set bohin the Nloon. Tho, children got
vanish completely from sight, hidden by an one from the Earth.
a view of the lunar surface as yet Hover seen by Y
The landscape they saw .vas usuoaTOf nnoven.Qoon, only its relief was oven
more ragged and the surface m
The lunar surface changes evtonmClCh~n~es~in it.*t Of oc nrse,hwo annot
been able to establish any auth
say that nothing happens on the Moon. Its surface is constantly being
subjected to the bombardment of meteorites, to the actiontoo'cthmforco of
and electronic streams that comp rushing out of space. Then,
attraction towards the Earth affects the Moon. The chcagses staatification
when day turns to night and the other way round,
of the rocks on the Moon. But because of hangs in the fchara tmro ofhtho
and moisture the processes which c
lunar surface proceed much more slo~vly than on Earth.
The most active of these processes ar aacacbu b s too midnight thestem-
the change in temperature. When mid Y g
perature on the surfaceof the Moos to apcrackling frostOthat read es from
of from +100' to +120?C. dr p raduall T
_150? to -160'C.** Ido Cevof t e1M on moay besfelt only after many mil
and its effect on the surf a
lions of years.
* According to individnu lied foTrsomontime, but lntelr app areilanew. Doeslthis
in the Sea of Serenity, va
mean they weree twmpe fflled with la da which later sank deep dovn~ Perhapscbut suaL
tivity or thnt th y
observations are still not completely authentic.
** The fluctuations in temperature in theareas around the poles.is much less than
at its lunnrequator. Innspsten{~eralladifferentf Thatig why the site f mtbe lunar ba e
ferent parts'of the nioo
l
e.
as selected relatively close to the po
' 262
~1-s co~not trsvarses the );arch's orbit
lii Iront-the moon
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Tho relatively sharp change in temperature during lunar eclipses is
felt much morn severely, Whon the );arth gets in the way of the solar
rays that are rushing to the Moon, the temperature of the lunar surfac?,
as measurements show, drops about 150?C., from -}-70? to -80?C. within
ono hcur. But tlieso lunar eclipses take place only on that side of the Moan
that faces the I';arth: its opposite silo is free of such sharp temperature
changas and, therefore, the stratification of lunar rocks on the "roar" side
takes place more slowly, and its surface is more uneven.
Absorbed in their observations, the youngsters did not notice Whon the
engine was switched off and the ship began its free flight around the Moon,
in order later to head for the I?;arth. The children could not be torn away
Irom the windows for even a minute, so extraordinarily beautiful was the
scene that was being unfolded bef ore them. Two narrow crescents, the closer
ono, the lunar, and the farther one, which was smaller, the terrestrial,
gleamed in the rays of the Sun. Halley's comet glittered blindingly, its
huffy tail spread over the entire half of the velvety-black sky. Venus
sparkled above the comet like a precious diamond! Moments never to be
forgotten!...
The next two days in the ship's cabin, which felt so cozy now, flashed
by quickly. The children kept their eyes fixed on the );arth, which was
growing larger all the time. They recognized the familiar outlines of
the continents, enjoyed the reflection of the Sun in the ocean, and tried
to guess which spot on the earth's surface vas their beloved
lVioscow.
When getting ready to land on Earth, the commander of the ship decid-
ed to turn its nose in that direction. This was desirable when braking
the ship by means of the motor, which was set up on the very edge of the
ship's nose, and also when gliding in the )Jarth's atmosphere. Tho ship
should encounter the least possible resistance, otherwise the braking will
bo too sharp and the ship may become incandescently hot and flare up,
in which case it would suffer the fate of countless meteors.
The small fly-wheel in the crew's cabin droned as it was unwound by
an electric engine, and the ship slowly began to turn about in the opposite
direction. Tho );arth and the stars floated past them. Only their motion
told them that the ship was turning. Now the ship was whirling along,
nose forward, ready for its dangerous encounter with the l+;arth's at-
mosphere.
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Tho tremendous fuel tank, now no longer needed, had been thrown
overboard and burned up in the atmosphere, which it had penetrated at
a tremendous cosmic velocit}~.
Tho pointer that showed the number of kilometres remaining to the
Earth's surface kept moving rapidly. Only 2,000 kilometres remained,
1,500. A robot artificial satellite which kept moving constantly around the
Earth in its two-hour orbit at an altitude of 1,GG9 kilometres, that is,
making one complete circuit of the Earth in t~vo hours, flashed by them.
Judging from the shape of this satellite, it was used as a robot station for
rela}ping television broadcasts.
Tho velocity of the ship exceeded 10 kilometres a second, over 3G,000
kilometres an hour. If the landing was to be a safe one, Lhe velocity of the
ship had to be reduced by braking with the engine.
Tho commander switched on the engine and again, for a little over three
minutes, the inertia overload pressed the bodies of the travellers to the
spring nets of their berths. The ship's velocity dropped to t'ive kilometres
a second. In less than ~i0 seconds after the ship had begun to brace, the
tanks on the wings, which had nosy become unnecessary, were jettisoned.
The ship began to glide down from its altitude of several hundred kil-
ometres. It will make more than one complete circuit "around the glob-
ule" before its velocity fs reduced to the flight velocity of jet planes;
then it will become still less. Of course, the ship will fly in the direction
of the Sun, towards the east, that is, in the direction in which the Eartli
rotates on its axis; in this case the Earth's rotation will help to reduce
the relative velocity of the ship more quickly. There is A~Ioscow on the
horizon! It is a bit to one side. The ship flies to the very same cosmoport
from which it had taken off on its distant journey so very recently. The
aerodrome of the cosmoport is quite close ah~eady. The commander moved
the control sticlt away from himself, thus directing the ship's nose dowmvard
Cowards the Earth. The operating motor retarded what was left of the
velocity, and the ship smoothly landed on its "chassis-legs," which had
been let out beforehand.
Welcoming shouts, joyful exclamations, the waving of hands, and hur-
rying and scurrying here and there.... Earth!
"tl dream, morn fantasy!" you will say. True, a dream. And fantasy,
of course, But how many such bold dreams have been coavortod to the
most real of realities by the creative labour of man, by the achievements
of science!
We are firmly convinced that the limo will come-and it is not far olf-
wheneven this boldest of all the boldest dreams of mankind will comp true.
Wo firmly believe that as the years pass, perhaps decades, manned space
ships will sot o(f on flights to distant worlds, worlds that are so alluring!
Permit me, dear reader, to wish you the opportunity of taking part
in such a flight.
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Printed in the Union?of soviet Socialist Republics
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. fi. ~:s=- ,~ SF's-~"'-r ~ -., ~~--n-~, ?.~;Tn.h:. ~+.
Somo of tho material used in this book has been
published in tho folloNing journals: Journal of the
Dritish Interplanetary Society, Journal of the ~lmer-
ican Rocket Society, Wcltraumfaltrt.