Nikolai Kibalchich

He was born in Chernigov in the Ukraine , the son of a parish priest. On September 19, 1871 he graduated from secondary school, then enrolled in the Institute of Transportation Engineers in St. Petersburg and earned a degree in Engineering . He later joined the Medico-Surgical Academy in 1873 .

Kibalchich worked on early forms of rocketry. He was arrested for possessing a piece of anti-tsarist propaganda and was sentenced to exile in Siberia . The experience greatly enraged Kibalchich and upon his release he joined the radical Revolution ary movement Narodnaya Volya and put his explosives expertise to use for them.

In 1881 , some of his grenades were used in the Assassin ation of Tsar Alexander II , and Kibalchich was arrested and sentenced to death together with other conspirators. During his 17-day wait to be executed, Khibalchich sketched a design for a rocket carrying humans into space propelled by a solid-fuel engine. The idea had been put forth by other Russians (such as Tretesky, Sokovnin and Teleshev), but Kibalchich became the most known. Kibalchich sketched a hollow metal cylinder with a hole at the bottom. The rocket engine was attached to a platform, which would allow steering the craft by adjusting the direction of thrust of the engine.

On March 31 , 1881, (days before his execution) Kibalchich officially requested an evaluation of his proposal from the minister of internal affairs. It was not until a year later, however, ( March 26 , 1882 ) that the head of the gendarmes decided to satisfy Kibalchich's appeal. He was executed by hanging.

Kibalchich's report was placed into the archives, where it remained until 1917 . In 1918 , Nikolai Rynin reviewed Kibalchich's ideas in '' Byloye '' magazine.

Kibal'chich Crater on the Moon is named for him.

EXTERNAL LINKS

Nikolai I. Kibalchich on the Russian space web

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Nikolai Kibalchich