Amar Makhamadaliev
Mrs.Hyde
ELA Honors II
21, February 2024
The Father of the Space Age
The stale ice was contorting under rhythmic pressure, no longer mute. the horse’s cries flew over the awakened ice. On a nebulous morning, a young Russian boy was accelerating into a peculiar village named Ijevskoe. Whatever errand this child was carrying out for his family of 20 would cost him. Shortly after his dicey journey, he would contract scarlet fever. This sickness would be detrimental to his health for a short period, but would cause him to lose his hearing indefinitely. A few years later, he would spend a minor portion of his teenage years scrounging an education from the library in Moscow. On the corner of 110 S. Jefferson St., Tsiolkovsky would spend years obtaining an education for a career as a teacher. When he was not engaged in conversation with the regulars, he carried on conversations with dead poets, scientists, and writers embedded in manuscripts that spanned centuries. During his education, he developed a fascination with a niche branch of scientific theory. This branch believed that it may be possible for a man-made piece of machinery to grant flight to the heavens above. Emulated and ecstatic, Tsiolkovsky would spend the rest of his life applying Newtonian physics to design an alloy pegasus.
Following Tsiolkovsky’s 2 year academic apprenticeship in the capital, he would resign his efforts and go to fulfill his role as a teacher. The year was 1879, and it was just then that a particular infant was born in Ulm, Germany. The Russian monarchy would not be violently dissolved for another four decades. World War I was implausible, and the great generation of modern scientists was beginning to speak their first words. Far before the internet, before NASA, before the space age, and before the advent of code, Tsiolkovsky would spend the latter decades, and foremost the decades of the 19th and 20th centuries, discovering vital dynamics and tools for space flight using only traditional physics and his ingenuity. His discoveries and inventions included the first blueprint for a rocket ship, the first theoretical use of liquid fuel to power a rocket, the first depiction of weightlessness, and aeronautics research that utilized the first wind tunnel designed in Russia by Tsiolkovsky. His mathematical discoveries included the first rocket propulsion equation (V = C ln (Wi/Wf)), which is used to find the final velocity of a rocket. This velocity can be calculated to ensure that a missile can leave Earth's orbit. His other discovery, combined with this equation, shows that the velocity required to leave Earth must be at least 8 km/s.
Tsiolkovsky would have been rejected and even imprisoned by the old Russian Monarchy for his studies, but with the October Revolution, the tide turned in his favor. The new communist regime would grant Tsiolkovsky a pension, allowing him to devote more time to his studies. These publications would garner him great fame and recognition. The communist government would also give tribute to the great scientist on his 75th birthday in every newspaper throughout the USSR. His legacy was commended when Sputnik launched shortly after the 100th anniversary of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky’s birth. The launch would kick off the Cold War, and the same discoveries Konstantin had made would now be used to mandate new global warfare tactics. He attributed all his work, and research to philosophy, and believed that the stars would unite humanity. “Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in the cradle forever” (Konstantin Tsiolkovsky).
"Rocketing into Space: The Beginnings of the Space Age." Science and Its Times, edited by Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer, vol. 6, Gale, 2001. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CV2643450705/SUIC?u=tel_k_tsla&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=69225e63. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.
The article is a brief accounting of the contributions of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, among other scientists, to the fruition of the space age. This is educational work published at an information center within a reliable domain on the internet, and with reliable co-authors. The work in question is itself a biography. Reliable information about Konstantin’s scientific work, effect on the global arms race, and effect on other scientific works after him are all present in the biography. I should use these elements to project Konstantin's ultimate consequence on the world that came about from his brilliance in the pursuit of the great pseudoscience of his time. My other citation works to describe Konstantin’s life, and pure scientific work. This may be coupled with the overarching theme of great nations' thirst for any technological edge present within this article. Konstantin opened Pandora's box to provide great militaristic transportation for the woeful advent of nuclear weapons, as well as its dual political undertaking of a technological -fueled Cold War. These points are possible due to the nature of this citation.
"Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky." Encyclopedia of World Biography Online, Gale, 1998. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1631006586/SUIC?u=tel_k_tsla&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=aa98bab9. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.
The work ranges from a description of Tsiolkovsky’s work on planes and rockets, to his early life, and job as a teacher. The source is a biography of Konstantin; this source comes from Gale Context, a trusted and secure site that branches from the homepage of classlink in Williamson County. This source gives a depth of information varying from Tsiolkovsky's studies on planes and spacecraft. The information describes the specific areas of studies and methods Tsoilkovsky used for his research. This source gives information on experiments and research the scientist involved himself with. These details can be combined with my other source’s details, brushing over his accomplishments that came about from his studies.
"Konstantin Tsiolkovsky." World of Invention, Gale, 2006. Gale In Context: High School, link.gale.com/apps/doc/K1647000355/SUIC?u=tel_k_tsla&sid=bookmark-SUIC&xid=092281ee. Accessed 21 Feb. 2024.
The source is equipped with mentions of Tsiolkovsky’s recognitions, tributes, discoveries, and role within the Russian scientific community. This biography accounts for reputable information regarding Tsiolkovsky’s life. The source itself is provided by a school administration’s dashboard, and works with the county’s regulations. Specifically, its high school requirements, this entails being a secure source of information. This work aims to digest his achievements, recognition, and discoveries that granted both of these. I will include both these for an accurate speech. The points made can tie in with the studies that Tsiolkovsky made, and the impact of his scientific work on a global scale.