Yuri Kondratyuk and the Moon

In the field of cosmic research Ukraine’s contribution is represented by many well-known names among which of the first belongs to Yuri Vasylyovych Kondratyuk (Olexandr Shargey). The dramatic circumstances of his life made him live under the assumed name and world fame came to him many years after his death.

The time and place of his birth are known: June 21, 1897, Poltava. After finishing the 2^nd Poltava gymnasium he entered St. Petersburg University in 1916. In 1918-1925 he was working in Poltava, Kyiv and some smaller towns and since 1925 in the Northern Caucasus. In 1927 he moved to Novosibirsk where his occupation was designing elevating gears. In the 30s he worked in Kharkiv at the Ukrainian Research Institute of Industrial Energetics. He stood at the head of the group of scientists whose task was designing and constructing a huge wind-power station. Working in Moscow before the war he devoted much of his time to energetics problems. It is a well-known fact that in building the Ostankino teletower, specialists used Y. Kondratyuk’s workings out of reinforced towers construction and wind-power technique. The exact time of his death and his burial-place are unknown: early October 1941, or 1942, Kaluga district (he had been killed in action at the front).

Y. Kondratyuk is often referred to as Ukrainian Tsiolkovsky. It was Kondratyuk who suggested the idea of creating a base round the Moon and his idea was later realized in the Appolo Flight programme in 1969. This flight and landing the Moon would have been impossible without Y. Kondratyuk’s solving a number of problems: defining the optimal trajectory of cosmic flights, proving the theory of multi-stage space rockets, suggesting some metals and non-metals and their hydrogen compounds as rocket fuel.

This great scientist and engineer didn’t realize his gift and talent to the full. His memory is dear to us. A crater on the back side of the Moon was named after Yuri Kondratyuk.

In 1992 the National Cosmic Agency of Ukraine was established. It has worked out the cosmic program to further progress in cosmic studies and investigations.

Notes to the Text

1. сircumstances – обставини

2. assumed – вигаданий

3. Caucasus – Кавказ

4. elevating gear – підйомний механізм

5. reinforced – підсилений

6. to prove – доводити

7. multi-stage – багатоступеневий

Exercise 12. Translate into English:

внесок України, світова слава, переїхати до, на чолі групи, завдання, вітрова електростанція, присвятити багато часу, баштова конструкція, місце поховання, часто вважається, запропонувати ідею, висадка на Місяць, визначення оптимальної траєкторії, сполуки водню, дар, зворотня сторона Місяця, подальший прогрес

Exercise 13. Match the words (1-6) with their definition (a-f).

1. Оccupation a. very big

2. Research b. a job, employment

3. Construction c. consisting of a combination of two or more parts

4. Huge d. action or ceremony of putting a dead body into a grave

5. Burial e. the business or work of building

6. Compound f. advanced and detailed study of a subject, so as to learn

new facts, get additional information

Exercise 14. Give the comprehensive answers to these questions:

1. What dramatic facts of Yuri Kondratyuk’s biography do you know?

2. What is the contribution of Kondratyuk to world science?