On the day following the delivery of paper I went to the printing office for the final arrangements about the typesetting of Tsiolkovskii's book. It was decided that the title should be "Rocket to Interplanetary Space," similar to Oberth's pamphlet. After a prolonged search for some German (Latin) type we had not found enough to set a booklet of two printer's sheets. Apparently, most of the Latin type in that printing office had been lost during the years of Revolution. The available amount of German type was only sufficient to set my preface. We decided that once the German preface was read, the book would be translated abroad, the subject being very topical. There were plenty of Russian translators in Germany.
Tsiolkovskii's book was ready at the printing office on the mournful day of Lenin's death, 21 January 1924. Red flags with black borders flew over all the houses of Kaluga while I was walking to the printing office to deliver the book. The frost was severe and my steps rang on the streets. The office was also in mourning. It was only a few days later that I received the books. Some copies were delivered to Tsiolkovskii, and I took about 300 copies and set off for Moscow. I found the necessary European and American addresses, and in the course of a few days sent about 250 copies to approximately ten countries. to the best-known institu tions, libraries, and to many scientists who in my opinion would definitely be interested in Tsiolkovskii's works. Ten copies each were sent to Professors Oberth and Goddard. Thus, the task was completed, the duty fulfilled, and the only thing left to us was to sit and wait for the response.
I also distributed Tsiolkovskii's book to many Soviet specialists. The return address on the parcels containing the books was that of Tsiolkovskii, namely Kaluga, 3 Jaures Street.
Prof. Oberth's first assistant was engineer A. B. Szerszewski, a Pole by nationality. When Tsiokovskii's book with the German preface reached Oberth he asked Szerszewski for a translation. A few months after that Tsiolkovskii received a friendly letter from Szerszewski, which initiated a correspondence between the two. In one of his letters, Szerszewski asked Tsiolkovskii to give me his collegial regards as Tsiolkovskii's "assistant." In this connection Tsiolkovskii wrote to me from Kaluga to Moscow as follows: "Dear Aleksandr Leonidovich [Chizhevskii], I would have sent you the booklet long ago if I had only known your precise address. I was not even sure whether you were in Moscow. Nevertheless I am sending the booklet at random. You had better come and see me. Szerszewski (from Berlin) sends you his collegial greetings as my 'assistant'. Probably you were 'promoted' to this status because of your German preface. You should always mark your address on your letters. As soon as I have received your address I will send you a few copies of the booklet. You will take more copies when you visit me at Kaluga. I am ill but working.
Yours, K. Tsiolkovskii." Szerszewski to Tsiolkovskii: "The rocket is our future. You probably know of Oberth's and Goddard's rockets. They want to send a small rocket to the Moon. You see that in this way your dream and that of other great people of vision for the future will be fulfilled much earlier than the previously assumed 100 or 1000 years... and I hope that you, as the prophet of interplanetary
flights, will live to see the red-letter day of the first flight to the stars.
The priority is undoubtedly yours (this fact I am pointing out to every body, untiringly), and therefore it is your sacred duty, as well as that of your government, to start on practical work... " Prof. H. Oberth to Tsiolkovskii: "Esteemed Colleague, Thank you very much for the MS material received from you. I should be the last man to deny your priority and your achievements in the field of rockets. I only regret that I did not hear of you before 1925 (this is an error; it should read '1924.'— A. Ch.). In that case I should have certainly advanced much further than I have up to now and would have avoided many unnecessary mistakes, if I could have known of your excellent work." In another letter, Oberth wrote as follows: "You ignited the flame and we will not let it be extinguished, but will make every effort to realize mankind's greatest dream." Szerszewski wrote:* "The senior Russian scientist K. E. Tsiolkovskii was the first to treat the problem of the spaceship scientifically. His first work on this sub jet appeared in 1903, and it was republished in 1924. The continuation of the 1903 work was published in 1911-1913 in the Russian journal 'Vestnik Vozdukhoplavaniya' which was the first specialized journal • Luftfahrt-technische Nachrichten, Berlin. 1924 -26.
in the world to publish a classical solution of the problem of inter planetary rockets. In this work theory overtook practice. In his pre face to the 1924 edition, the young scientist Chizhevskii reviews Tsiol kovskii's works on rockets, emphasizes his scientific priority, and complains about the almost criminal indifference to scientists on the part of the general public." It is already 39 years since the publication of Tsiolkovskii's booklet "Rocket to Interplanetary Space." This is a long time not only in the life of an individual but also of an entire society. The world has changed beyond recognition in many respects, there have been tremendous changes in social structure and prospects, and therefore it is now very interesting to see how people regard those distant years. Such interest is quite justified.
A new basic book on astronautics was published at Constance in 1958, edited by the Munich Professor Karl Schiitte. It contains a paper "History of Interplanetary Travel" by Willy Ley. This is how Tsiolkovskii's role and the significance of the 1924 edition of his booklet are regarded by the contemporary German historian of this subject: "A turning point in Tsiolkovskii's life occurred after the publication of Hermann °berth's book 'Die Rakete zu den Planetenraumen' in 1923. The German book was discussed in the Russian press and Tsiolkovskii's original work of 1903 was immediately republished as a booklet, under the new title 'Rocket to Interplanetary Space'." Thus, Ley's paper provides objective proof of the importance of the prompt republication of Tsiolkovskii's work in 1924.
In conclusion it should be said that during the last years of Tsiolkovskii's life his work was duly recognized in the USSR. At the present time, the name Tsiolkovskii enjoys world-wide renown and respect.