Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky did real-life work crucial to space-flight and is one of the neglected pioneers of Science Fiction. Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at a few of his works.
DREAMS OF EARTH AND SKY (1895) – The opening section of this piece presents the well-worn Hollow Earth with an interior sun storyline. The real treasure is found in the “Dreams of the Sky” portion.
An asteroid in the Asteroid Belt between Mars and Jupiter is so large that today it would be called a Dwarf Planet like Ceres. The planetoid is inhabited by ambulatory plant-like humanoids who have wings instead of arms and who live in small versions of greenhouses.
These flying plant-people from the Asteroid Belt obtain nourishment through chlorophyll and solar radiation. They also have advanced technology like the harnessing of dismantled asteroids into rings, resulting in lower gravity for manufacturing work.
The beings have even created “space-trains” capable of taking them on interstellar journeys.
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OUT OF THE EARTH (1920) – Coincidentally set in the year 2017 A.D. this tale features what readers are told is the first manned flight to the moon, some 48 years AFTER it happened in real life. An international team of tycoons and scientific adventurers are planning to explore the universe, with the moon an obvious first step.
This international fellowship is headquartered in the Himalayas and boasts members from Russia, America, England, France, Germany and Italy. Tsiolkovsky was ballsy enough to use millionaires and industrialists as the story’s heroes despite the disapproval of the (by 1920) Soviet government.
The fellowship uses a multi-stage rocket propelled by liquid fuel. After perfecting model rockets the group moves on to full-scale spacecraft. The explorers orbit the Earth first, and use space suits for extra-vehicular activities. Continue reading
Balladeer’s Blog wrings down the curtain on Veterans Day of 2017 with this item. In keeping with the whole “Eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month” tradition here are eleven World War One figures who were awarded the Medal of Honor. 
JAKE ALLEX 
J.M. SWAAB – Jacques Michael Swaab didn’t even take to the air with the 22nd Aero Squadron until August 27th of 1918 but before the war ended on November 11th he managed 10 confirmed kills and SEVEN more possible. At that rate Swaab could have challenged Eddie Rickenbacker’s total of 26 kills if he had started earlier in the war. 
FRANK LEAMAN BAYLIES – For the first eleven days of November Balladeer’s Blog takes a look at neglected figures of World War One, ending on Veterans Day. Frank Leaman Baylies tried to serve as a pilot in the U.S. Army but was rejected for supposedly poor vision, so in May 1917 he enlisted in the French flying corps instead. 
BLOOD AND IRON (1917) – Written by Robert Hobart Davis & Perley Poore Sheehan. Dramatic depiction of advanced technology being used in World War One. In Germany one of the Kaiser’s scientists is experimenting with replacing lost limbs and organs with mechanical replacements. He has been trying to create cyborgs out of maimed German soldiers from the front lines. 
