On autum 1857, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the father of modern cosmonautics, was born in the village of Izhevsk, Ryazan province.
As a child, he became almost deaf due to illness and was expelled from the gymnasium for failing. But the boy studied the gymnasium, and then the university curriculum himself, and when he grew up, he became a teacher.
The first car had not yet been invented, but he had already justified the idea of using rockets for space flights, the creation of orbital stations and space elevators. He developed the theory of jet propulsion, the scheme of long-range missiles, the composition of fuel, control systems.
It was Tsiolkovsky who came to the conclusion that it was necessary to use composite, that is, multi-stage missiles. The scientist was ahead of his time.
Until the age of sixty, he taught mathematics and physics at schools in Borovsk and Kaluga and published his own scientific works for his own money. It was only in the 20s that the Soviet leadership of the country allocated him a pension, which allowed Tsiolkovsky to engage exclusively in science.
Konstantin Eduardovich devoted his whole life to the theory of cosmonautics.
Today his house-museum works in Kaluga, streets and cities are named after Tsiolkovsky, Kaluga International Airport, many universities, including the Russian Academy of Cosmonautics, as well as the lunar crater.