Nikolai Kibalchich
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Nikolai Ivanovich Kibalchich (1850 – April 3, 1881) was a pioneer of rocketry, a revolutionary and a terrorist.
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 revolutionary movement Narodnaya Volya and put his explosives expertise to use for them.
In 1881, some of his grenades were used in the assassination 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 (http://www.russianspaceweb.com/kibalchich.html) on the Russian space web