A Russian medical student, journalist, and revolutionary who may have been the first person in history to propose using rocket power as a means of transport in space. Kibalchich had attempted several times to kill Czar Alexander II who, ironically, had tried to introduce reforms in Russia during his reign. Along with his accomplices, Kibalchich finally succeeded in assassinating the Czar on Mar. 13, 1881, and was himself put to death on Apr. 3, at the age of 27. While in prison, awaiting execution, Kibalchich wrote a remarkable paper illustrating the principle of space propulsion. In it, he describes a means of propelling a platform by igniting gunpowder cartridges in a rocket chamber. Changing the direction of the rocket’s axis, he realized, would alter the vehicle’s flight path. In his notes, he explains:
I am writing this project in prison, a few days before my death. I believe in the practicability of my idea and this faith supports me in my desperate plight.
He was a close contemporary of two other rocket pioneers, his compatriot Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and the German Hermann Ganswindt. The great American rocketeer Robert Goddard was born a year after Kibachich’s execution.
