KONSTANTIN EDUARDOVICH
TSIOLKOVSKY

(1857—1935)

From the Editorial Board

The research program of the International Geophysical Year provides for the launching of artificial Earth satellites. For the first time, instruments intended for scientific research will be carried for an extended period into outer space. At the same time, the first step will be taken toward solving the problem of interplanetary communications.

Taking into account the interest of our readers in these questions, the Editorial Board is publishing in this issue a series of special articles. Although they do not cover the entire problem as a whole, these articles nevertheless give a general idea of questions concerning the motion of a satellite and the scientific investigations carried out with its help.

A number of reviews and articles devoted to the formulation of scientific problems on an artificial Earth satellite will be published in subsequent issues of our journal.

The preparation for the launching of artificial Earth satellites coincides with the 100th anniversary of the birth of Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, who was the first to indicate a scientifically grounded path toward the realization of humanity’s age-old dream—to overcome the spaces of the world and to extend the accessible region of the universe far beyond the limits of the terrestrial globe.

This issue is dedicated to his blessed memory.