Russia's space industry is paying tribute to one its founding fathers, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, on the 150th anniversary of his birth. The self-taught scientist is credited with putting forward the theory of rocket-propelled space flight, an idea that insp

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky was a visionary, who, decades ahead of his time, believed the future of human life would be in outer space.

When mankind finally broke free of the Earth's shackles, it was a Russian cosmonaut who did so.  Yury Gagarin was the man who became famous, but it was Tsiolkovsky's ideas that got him there. Self-taught in mathematics, astronomy and physics, he described how rockets could work in space and gained the reputation as the father of space travel.

“Tsiolkovsky calculated the horizontal speed required for orbit around the Earth and conceived the idea of space exploration. Overall he was a pioneer of human space flight,” said Yury Karash, a space expert.

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky dedicated his life to his astronautic research, having dreamt of  space travel since he was a boy. He lived to see his visionary concepts beginning to turn into reality. His proteges built on the foundation laid by Tsiolkovsky.

Just before he died, Tsiolkovsky said his entire life had consisted of nothing but musings, calculations and theories, but his influence on the first generation of Russian space engineers is unquestionable.