At the Moscow State Technical University of Civil Aviation, as part of the “University Saturdays” project, a lecture entitled “Russian Cosmism: the idea of the settlement of humanity in outer space” was held. Professor and Doctor of Philosophy Olga Garanina told high school students and students about the history of Russian cosmism - how plausible is the idea of settlement of people in outer space, whether there is a need for the exploration of other planets and whether anyone will be able to bring this idea to life. .
Hello everyone. More than fifty years ago, the first inhabitant of the Earth flew into outer space. Over the past 50 years, more than 500 people have visited outer space. This is little and at the same time a lot, if we remember how difficult and difficult it is for humans to master outer space. A question arises, and it has arisen for me, and I am sure it can arise and probably has arisen for everyone sitting in this audience: why does a person leave his cozy, well-lived Earth and fly into this empty, cold, endless space of space? For what? In order to get some new objects there that he cannot get on Earth, to feel some new feelings? In order to begin answering this question, let's turn to the basic concepts that characterize the space where people fly when leaving planet Earth. This is the concept of space and the concept of the Universe.
It would seem that these are identical concepts that mean the same thing - the space into which a person flies when leaving planet Earth. But there is a fundamental, deep difference between them. The term cosmos is of Greek origin and translated into Russian means “order, ordered whole.” You can understand the deeper meaning of this word if you remember that the concept of space is the root of the concept of cosmetics - putting things in order. The cosmos is an order, an ordered whole that exists according to certain laws, and a person can know the laws of this order. This is the Western orientation in space exploration. To know the cosmos as an ordered whole, as an order that exists according to certain laws, to know the harmony that ensures this order.
And the term Universe in its root contains the word “village, settle, village.” The universe is a place where people live. And here the question arises: how did this concept of the universe, “a settlement for people,” come to be used to define outer space? To answer this question, we turn to our domestic thinker, unfortunately, far from appreciated and practically forgotten, whose works are only now beginning to be mastered - Nikolai Fedorovich Federov.
Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov lived a very, from your point of view, dreary and boring life. He worked almost all the time as a teacher in different cities of Russia, taught at a gymnasium, and for more than 25 years he served as a custodian in the catalog room of the library of the Rumyantsev Museum. The building is well known to all of you. Surely, someone passed by, and someone even visited him. It was in the catalog room of this library that Nikolai Fedorovich worked for more than 25 years. Today it is the largest Russian State Library in Russia.
It must be said that while working in the catalog room, Nikolai Fedorovich knew all the books that made up the library’s collection, without exception. Moreover, he knew them not only from index cards and spines. He knew the contents of every book that was in his care. He knew several languages: French, Italian, German, Portuguese, Chinese - and read books in these languages. That is, he was a comprehensively educated person, occupying such a modest position. And yet, he went down in the history of Moscow and Russia as a person who did a lot to develop ideas for space exploration.
Outstanding thinkers, poets and writers often visited Fedrov’s library. In Leonid Osipovich Pasternak’s painting “Three Philosophers” you can see those individuals who make up the pride of Russian intellectual thought. This is Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy and Vladimir Sergeevich Solovyov. "Three Philosophers" Leonid Osipovich Pasternak and Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov belonged to the galaxy of philosophy as a doctrine of how the world exists and how it develops. Look, this is an artist who is the father of the poet and writer Boris Pasternak you know. He came to the library in order to obtain information about the life of Leo Nikolaevich Tolstoy, became friends with Fedorov and secretly sketched a portrait from him, because Fedor was a very modest person. I made sketches of a portrait and eventually painted this picture. It must be said that Lev Nikolaevich Tolstoy was proud of his acquaintance with Fedorov. He wrote in his diaries that “I am proud that I live at the same time as this man.” And when he wrote in his diary “today I’m going to the Rumyantsev Library,” it meant that he was going to a meeting with Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov.
And here the question arises: what did this man, whom Moscow intellectuals called “Moscow Socrates”, do? Does this mean he did something to help man understand his life more deeply, does it mean he had conversations that related to man’s existence in the world? Yes, that's true.
Fedorov, insofar as he worked with books all the time, valued scientific knowledge very highly. And he believed that with the help of scientific knowledge a person can regulate nature. This word regulation is one of this thinker’s favorites.
“By regulating nature, using the knowledge of laws,” said Fedorov, “mankind can get rid of earthquakes, floods, and destroy drought. But, most importantly, with the help of scientific knowledge, a person can solve his target problem, destroying the world’s evil.”
What did Fedorov understand as world evil? That misfortune that haunts a person from the moment of his birth: the most terrible evil in the world, according to Fedorov, is death. Man is born in order to die. But this is unfair, because nature gives man life so that he can live. Man can and should be immortal. And therefore the task of science is to make man immortal.
Science can do it. Fedorov was deeply convinced that scientific knowledge would reach such a level that man would ultimately receive his immortality.
But here another problem arose, which arose due to the fact that Fedorov was a deeply religious person. And he knew that in the Orthodox religion one of the main dogmas is the dogma of resurrection in the flesh. He said that Christ bequeathed to humanity to carry out this task. To bring about the resurrection of those who no longer exist. Solve the problem of resurrecting the dead. And, turning to science, he said that this is also possible. With the help of scientific knowledge, Nikolai Fedorovich said, it is possible to reunite scattered molecules and atoms and recreate those people who are no longer with us. Children must become the fathers of their fathers. Think about this situation. Children must become the fathers of their fathers. This is the common cause of humanity. This is the name of the main work of Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov. Moreover, the work was not published by him, it was published by his students and distributed free of charge to everyone. Here are collected the main thoughts and ideas of Fedorov, his sketches on how science can resurrect those who no longer exist. He was deeply convinced of this: the task of humanity, the goal of humanity, is to make man immortal, and so that those who have already gone into oblivion live again, rise again. The common cause of humanity.
But here another problem arises: if a person is immortal, and if many, many generations of the dead are resurrected, there will be no place left for life on planet Earth. How to solve this problem? And Nikolai Fedorovich says that humanity must make all the planets that exist in outer space their home. Humanity must settle in space. Make space your home. This is where the concept of the Universe comes from - humanity settles in outer space and lives there just as it lives on planet Earth. But a very interesting point in this concept of Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov is that, highly appreciating scientific knowledge, he believed that, having mastered the laws by which the Earth exists in outer space, a person will be able to control the Earth as a spaceship. He will become an “earth rover”, that is, using the Earth as a means of transportation in outer space, a person will be able to visit, as an inhabitant of the Earth, one, and another, and a third planet. And so he will master all the planets of outer space and become a “planetary guide.” He has this word - “planet guide”. That is, a person lives in outer space, as in his home, as in a village. And he moves from planet to planet, visiting other people who live there. It seemed like a strange idea. But this idea formed the basis of philosophical, scientific and cultural teaching, which, dear listeners, is the pride of our Russian thought.
This direction is called "Russian cosmism". Pay attention to the phrase. Our domestic scientists and philosophers have proven the importance and necessity of the settlement of humanity in outer space.
When Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov worked in the library of the Rumyantsev Museum - the Rumyantsev Library - a young man of seventeen would occasionally come to see him. I borrowed books from him, stayed to listen to the conversations that the thinker-librarian had with the philosophers, writers and poets who came to him, and became fascinated by Fedorov’s ideas. This young man is very well known to you, my friends - Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky.
Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, whom Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov introduced to the idea of the need for human exploration of outer space. Today the name of Konstantin Eduardovich is well known to you. He is called the father of Russian cosmonautics. But he is called the father of Russian cosmonautics for one simple reason: because he invented the rocket (we will look and talk about this a little later). He substantiated the basic principles of rocket science. And it is no coincidence that today many of the principles in rocket science that were formulated by Tsiolkovsky are used in the modern process of creating these spacecraft.
The fact is that Konstantin Eduardovich worked not so much on technical systems that make it possible to go beyond the Earth, but rather solved the problem that was posed by Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov. He solved the problem of how to live for resurrected and immortal humanity in outer space. That is, he decided, first of all, this purely humanistic, philosophical idea. And before we discuss it more deeply, I would like to note the following: Konstantin Eduardovich had a very difficult and very instructive fate. The fact is that when he was 10 years old, he became very seriously ill. He caught a cold and the result of the advanced illness was deafness. Maybe some of you know this, if not, you will find out today. He essentially didn't hear anything. He was a man who did not feel the sounds of the surrounding world. And as a result of this shortcoming, or, as he called it, as a result of his “disability,” Tsiolkovsky had to work a lot on himself, engaging in self-education. He was simply expelled from the gymnasium when he was in third grade because he could not hear what the teacher was saying. The time had come, as Konstantin Eduardovich once said, of dullness: “I felt stupid compared to those students with whom I sat at the same desk.” He had to leave school and studied on his own. When he turned 17, his father sent him to Moscow to enter university. But he also could not study at the university. For one simple reason: he did not hear what the teachers were saying. Therefore, he dropped out of university and lived in Moscow for three years, educating himself. But these three years were very important for Tsiolkovsky. Because while educating himself, he read books. And for books he went to the library of Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov. And there he became acquainted with the idea of the need for man to enter outer space. That's what bothered Konstantin Eduardovich.
Let me introduce you to a quotation, a statement from his works: “Many people think that I worry about the rocket and worry about its fate because of the rocket itself. This would be a profound mistake. The rocket for me is only a way, only a method of penetrating into the depths space. But it is by no means an end in itself. People who have not matured to such an understanding of things talk about what does not exist, which makes me some kind of one-sided technician, and not a thinker. Unfortunately, many who talk or write about a rocket ship think so. “I don’t argue, it’s very important to have rocket ships, because they will help humanity spread throughout the world. And for the sake of this resettlement, the whole point is to move from Earth and populate space.” He said this in his work "The Theory of Space Ages". We will remember this work again.
Look how often the words “relocation”, “resettlement”, “Universe” are used here, right? Like a house where humanity will live. But for any move you need, first of all, means of transportation. And Konstantin Eduardovich solved this technical problem.
It must be said that he solved this technical problem while in a rather dire situation. He worked as a mathematics teacher in a real school, first in Borovsk, then in Kaluga. Due to the fact that his illness was deafness, he coped with his work well enough, but not in such a way that other teachers and colleagues treated him with great respect. And Konstantin Eduardovich devoted all his free time to the design of aeronautical vehicles. That is, aircraft. He lived in Kaluga in a small house on the outskirts of Kaluga, which he bought after working as a mathematics teacher for several years. The house was one room. There was one living room. And Tsiolkovsky, living there with his family, gradually upset this house. To this day, this house exists in Kaluga; it has been turned into the Tsiolkovsky house-museum and, if you are in this city, please visit it.
It must be said that Kaluga residents have great respect for their famous fellow countryman. They erected many monuments to him. And so I decided to show you one of the monuments. The fact is that Konstantin Eduardovich loved to ride a bicycle, and every day he took a bicycle and rode along the streets of Kaluga, where residents could observe him. So they erected such an interesting monument to him.
But it was not so much teaching mathematics as the idea of creating technical systems capable of carrying a person into space that worried Konstantin Eduardovich. He started small. He began by getting acquainted with literature that was devoted to the problems of aeronautics. But he looked into the future. It is interesting that his views into the future were confirmed in the modern results of visits by astronauts and space stations to different planets.
One of the first works of the fantastic genre, written by Tsiolkovsky, is called “On the Moon”. He describes the journey of two friends who somehow ended up on the moon, describes the surface of the planet, the craters they found there, the mountains they saw. And it should be noted that the American astronauts who visited the Moon gave, in principle, the same description of the planet’s surface that Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky once gave. That is, he was able to look into the future with his mind's eye, to see what does not yet exist.
Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in his office. At the back are models of all-metal airships of his design. Photo: ITAR-TASS
But I repeat: he began to touch aeronautics with the design of airships. He tried to improve the airships that existed at that time and which were used quite widely. He approached the military department with his projects in order to obtain funds to create prototypes and prove their usefulness. But he was refused; they did not consider it necessary and important for the state to participate in such a seemingly obviously important matter for us today, but at that time unimportant, as the construction of improved airships. And Konstantin Eduardovich himself, at his own expense, in the attic of the house that we just saw, he himself built these models of airships, and they are still in this house. So you can look at them.
While studying literature on aeronautics, Konstantin Eduardovich published one of his first works on movement in outer space in the journal Scientific Review in 1903. It was called "Exploration of world space using jet instruments." This work was first published in 1903. After some time, Konstantin Eduardovich published a continuation of this work, where he proposed other systems related to rocket science. And he published the first and second parts as a separate book already in 1914, which is presented here. I specifically suggest that you familiarize yourself with the title of this book and look at the projects of rocket ships that Tsiolkovsky modeled so that we, together with you, remember the motto of astronautics adopted by modern astronautics. Because the second part of this work ends with significant words, which you will see here at the exhibition: “The earth is the cradle of the mind. But you cannot live forever in the cradle.” This is what Konstantin Eduardovich paid attention to. Yes, the Earth is the cradle of the mind, the Earth is a place where people live, but you cannot live forever in a cradle, you must leave this place, leave this home and settle in outer space.
Diagram of an airship designed by Tsiolkovsky. Photo: ITAR-TASS
And here I would also like to note one interesting point, or aspect of Konstantin Eduardovich’s activity: you probably noticed that - I even said this several times - he worked as a mathematics teacher. He did not engage in such extensive scientific work; he published all the works that are presented to you at his own expense. They sold very poorly, and, accordingly, Konstantin Eduardovich did not have such scientific popularity, or popularity in scientific circles. In 1923, in Germany, the German scientist Hermann Oberth published a work where he sets out the basic principles of rocket science. This work was translated into Russian, and domestic newspapers immediately published many laudatory reviews of this work, arguing that the principles of rocket science proposed by the German Oberth indicate that humanity can create technical systems with the help of which it will go beyond Earth.
When Tsiolkovsky became acquainted with the work of Oberth (1923) and with the reviews that our domestic scientists wrote on the work of the German scientist, he was very indignant: he published his work, published in 1903, at his own expense, sent it to scientific institutions, sent this work “Exploration of World Spaces with Reactive Instruments,” the first one, back in 1903 (and we are talking about 1923, 20 years have passed) was sent to Germany, and, my friends, what was supposed to happen happened. The German scientist Hermann Oberth recognized Tsiolkovsky's priority in developing the principles of rocket science and in developing the principles of space rocket flight. But in this way, and this is very important, the priority of domestic cosmonautics and domestic rocket science was recognized. I am saying that if it were not for the activity of Tsiolkovsky, he himself published his work, he himself carried out its distribution, if it were not for this activity of a scientist, a teacher of mathematics, then the priority in the creation of rocket science would not belong to Russia. This also suggests that Konstantin Eduardovich was not only a scientist on a planetary scale. He loved his homeland, loved Russia and, of course, made sure that the knowledge that belonged to him personally became the property of wide circles.
Konstantin Eduardovich was concerned not only with building a rocket, but also with technical support for the idea of settling humanity in outer space. Please note that in the models you see, not only elements of a rocket engine are presented in its different variations. Look, everywhere Tsiolkovsky takes care of the person who will be in this rocket. He makes sure that there are certain conditions that will not prevent a person from making multi-day flights in outer space. This is what we call ergonomics today – a comfortable workplace. And Konstantin Eduardovich did not forget about this. And we imagine him, as he correctly noted, as a kind of one-sided technician. And he is, first of all, a thinker on a cosmic scale, and it is no coincidence that his concept is called “Cosmic Philosophy.” He believed that the task of humanity - the moral task of humanity - was to improve the cosmos, turning it into a home for earthlings. But a person can do this only when he leaves the Earth and becomes the master of space in this outer space, settling on different planets. And it is no coincidence that Tsiolkovsky’s works deal not only with rocket engines as an element of a space rocket, allowing one to go beyond the Earth. His works also talk about space orbital stations, which became a reality only 50 years after his death. He talks about space rocket trains that will transport people from one planet to another. And today these orbital space stations are already international space stations - they represent a workplace for people. The crews who live there for a long time are replaced. Various experiments are being carried out, scientific research is being conducted. That is, humanity begins, following the promises of the scientist, to explore outer space.
Tsiolkovsky was deeply convinced that in the process of development, man in space, improving this space, would ultimately merge with it. He had the idea of transforming humanity into ray humanity. That is, as humanity develops, the share of matter in outer space, including human corporeality, will disappear. The energy will increase, which will turn a person into a ray substance. He says that a person will learn to turn on certain energy forces inside atoms that will make it possible to turn matter into a beam. And thus there will be a certain embrace of the entire outer space by the mind. The cosmos will become intelligent due to the fact that there will be human intelligence everywhere in it. This is the task of the existence and development of humanity.
It should be said that Tsiolkovsky’s ideas were not sufficiently appreciated in their time. Kaluga residents, residents of the city where Tsiolkovsky taught mathematics, treated him as some kind of eccentric person, hard of hearing, who with his ideas - strange ideas of space exploration - sometimes even interfered with them. But Tsiolkovsky was often invited to give lectures about space, about the possibility of space exploration using jet engines. And then one day, while giving a lecture at a real school, Tsiolkovsky received a lot of questions after the end of the lecture. Seeing that the listeners were interested, he invited them to his home the next day. Of all the students who attended the lecture, only one came to Tsiolkovsky. This was Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky, the founder of cosmobiology, cosmomedicine, the doctrine of the active influence of space and especially the influence of solar activity on people's lives.
Alexander Leonidovich is a pioneer in science, not just in his fantasy thoughts about how outer space affects a person and his well-being. He is a pioneer in the scientific development of these problems. And today, when we talk about the influence of geomagnetic disturbances on human well-being, when we talk about the influence of the phases of the Moon on the processes that occur on Earth, all this is connected with the name of Chizhevsky. While still a very young man, talking with Tsiolkovsky, just as Tsiolkovsky, at one time, was carried away by Fedorov’s teaching about the need for earthlings to go into outer space, so Chizhevsky, talking with Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, was carried away by the idea of the unity of man and space. And this idea was constantly at the center of his attention.
It must be said that while still a very young man, when he was 17 years old and the First World War began, he went to the front. He was almost immediately wounded, returned home, and during the period of treatment he was engaged in collecting statistical materials on the influence of cosmic processes on the processes that occur on Earth. But the First World War was going on. And, of course, Chizhevsky, since he himself was on the battlefields, recorded the victories and defeats of Russian troops and drew attention to the fact that these processes that occurred in the war correlated with the processes that occur on the Sun. And the Sun, as you know very well, is not some kind of, so to speak, mirror substance. Spots may appear on the Sun. They are not permanent, they appear someday, sometime they disappear. Prominences and outbursts of energy can occur on the Sun, which are also episodic. And so, combining the statistics of spots and prominences that he observed on the Sun and received reflections in scientific research, and the statistics of military operations, Alexander Leonidovich came to the conclusion that these processes are inextricably interconnected. This idea, the idea that outer space influences everything that happens on planet Earth, formed the basis of his main works. Look, they are called: “Physical factors of the historical process”, “Earthly echo of solar storms”. This work, despite the fact that the photograph is of a fairly mature person, this work was written when Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky was only 24 years old. And here he summarized, among other things, the material that we just talked about. The entire work is based on the analysis of statistical materials, various processes that occur on Earth and those processes that occur on the Sun. This scientist convincingly proved that the Earth and humanity, as a product of earthly development, are inextricably linked with outer space. How can one not remember, dear listeners, the words of the English poet of the 16th century, who wrote “Everything in the world is connected, my friend. We will not multiply examples. You will not suddenly touch a flower, so as not to disturb the stars.” And our domestic scientist Chizhevsky proved this using scientific methods.
The fact is that Alexander Leonidovich is known to you today, including from some household appliances that are used in our apartments to ionize the air. Because he was deeply convinced that we must help humanity physically cope with those processes, cosmic influences that a person will encounter while moving through outer space. Look, here is a statement that I offer you in order to substantiate the idea that I told you about: “We are accustomed to adhere to a crude and narrow anti-philosophical view of life as the result of a random play of earthly forces. This, of course, is wrong. Life , as we see, is to a much greater extent a cosmic phenomenon than an earthly one. It is created by the influence of the creative dynamics of the cosmos on the inert material of the Earth. It lives by the dynamics of these forces, and every beat of the organic pulse is coordinated with the beat of the cosmic heart. stars, sun and planets." Here is the main idea: life on planet Earth is the result not only of those processes that occur on planet Earth, it is the result of the influence of cosmic forces. We will return to this idea a little later.
Now I present to your attention the result of statistical analyzes conducted by Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky. Look how interdependent, how the birth rate in Europe and the appearance of sunspots are mutually influenced. What is called solar activity. Here they are, the graphs, are closely related. The physical process - fertility, is associated with activity in the Sun. Here is a graph of diseases: diseases in Russia of cholera, influenza, and this one - look, a very significant graph for earthlings. The last one, under the letter "D". This is the grain yield in Russia and the dependence of the yield level on the activity of the Sun, on solar activity. It should be noted that we have just talked about the main works of Alexander Leonidovich, that not only the physiological and physical processes associated with the bodily existence of earthlings are determined by the activity of the cosmos, cosmic processes.
If someone is interested in this problem, he will find a lot of interesting material confirming that, as Chizhevsky said, not only bodily processes, not only physical, physiological processes are influenced by these magnetic storms, the activity of the Sun and other cosmic elements. They also influence people's social behavior. Chizhevsky convincingly proved in his work that the Crusades, wars in the history of mankind, the appearance and activities of great personalities - all this, dear listeners, is connected with the processes that occur in outer space. First of all, according to Chizhevsky, with the activity of the Sun. And in this case, we could take care of this problem from a social perspective. Observing the activity of the Sun makes it possible to predict those social unrest, social cataclysms, man-made accidents and catastrophes that may occur during this period. This is how it happens: if some man-made disaster occurs, we can correlate it during this period with a surge in solar activity.
Alexander Leonidovich was an outstanding scientist of his era. He developed a doctrine that became world famous. But his fate, just like the fate of Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov and Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky, was far from blissful. The fact is that in 1942, at the very height of his scientific activity, Alexander Leonidovich was arrested following a denunciation and spent 8 years in camps. In 1950 he was exiled, and he spent another 6 years in exile. And look: for 14 years of his active work, this greatest Russian scientist was cut off from instruments, from scientific communication, from the normal process of scientific activity. But even in prison, even in exile, a scientist remains a scientist. He worked in the camp hospital and conducted scientific research there on the influence of cosmic processes, solar activity, on hematopoietic processes, on various human diseases and, accordingly, recorded and wrote down all these results. But he was no longer able to continue his activities actively after he was released from the camp in 1956. This was a very sick man. And it must be said that the world community, the scientific community, remembers Chizhevsky, who before his imprisonment, before his arrest, was a member of so many foreign international scientific academies. And it must be said that at the University of Paris, at the Sorbonne, there are bas-reliefs of the most outstanding scientists in the world. And the bas-relief of Alexander Leonidovich Chizhevsky is located in this French university - in the Sorbonne.
Chizhevsky’s idea about the unity of space and the processes that occur on Earth was initiated by conversations with Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky. Chizhevsky was not involved in the development of technical systems. He was attracted by another aspect of the same problem: the problem of human settlement in space, which is why we attribute it to the direction of Russian cosmism. He became concerned with the question of how a person can endure the harmful influence of space. And how can these processes be neutralized, processes that can harm human health.
Around the same period, when Chizhevsky developed his doctrine of the interaction of solar activity and biological processes occurring on planet Earth (already a scientist, an outstanding scientist, recognized, having worldwide recognition), and so, at approximately the same period he began his scientific activity and another representative of Russian cosmism, who solved the problem of the unity of earthly and cosmic life, the unity of the Earth and space, is Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky. Here is a portrait of Vernadsky at the age of 20. Here he is a young man, a student (maybe someone present somewhere was even older than him during this period). This year the world scientific community celebrates the 150th anniversary of Vernadsky’s birth. This is an outstanding scientist who has contributed a lot of new things to solving the problem of the influence of space on the lives of earthlings. But Vernadsky turned this problem into a slightly different perspective: he began to analyze and study how human activities can affect outer space.
Let us remember that we said that Tsiolkovsky believed that the target task of earthlings was to contribute to the improvement of space. Practically the same idea is substantiated and developed by Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky. You all know very well that Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky introduced one very important concept into science, a category that allowed us to take a fresh look at the place of life in the existence of the Earth.
By his main education, Vladimir Ivanovich was a geologist. He graduated from the Faculty of Geology and essentially specialized in geology. And so, while carrying out scientific research in the field of geology, Vernadsky drew attention to the fact that many geological processes on Earth are associated with the activities of living organisms. Moreover, some elements of the earth's surface are the result of the activity of living organisms. And formulates the concept of the biosphere. In 1926 he published the book “Biosphere”, and the world community became familiar with this concept. The shell of the planet, populated by living organisms and transformed by their activities. In this case, Vladimir Ivanovich emphasizes the idea that the vital activity of organisms in the process of their development turns into a geological force, under the influence of which the shell of the planet changes. In other words, if we are traditionally accustomed to believe that living things on planet Earth - and, by the way, Vladimir Ivanovich was deeply convinced that living creatures exist only on planet Earth, and in this he saw the cosmic significance of our planet - if living matter is the result of the development of the inanimate, then, from Vernadsky’s point of view, in the process of development and establishment of living matter, living matter on planet Earth, the inanimate is increasingly embraced by this activity. And already inanimate matter, inanimate matter on our planet is the result of the activity of living things.
The biosphere is the shell of the planet that today, according to Vernadsky, constitutes a geological force. But we will find another very important point in the teachings of Vladimir Ivanovich. Living matter, living matter on planet Earth does not arise, exist and develop by chance, but so that within this living matter a mind, a thought, the bearer of which is the living, is generated. And in the process of development of the living, this thought, the mind, becomes an increasingly powerful force. And not only and not just living matter turns into a geological force, transforming the surface of planet Earth. The human mind becomes this geological force. A thought that embraces the entire earthly shell and begins to change it, this earthly shell. But, since thought develops more actively than living matter, this thought begins to explore near-earth space. Thought penetrates into space. Thought remakes the cosmos to fulfill human needs. And probably many present in this audience know about such a concept, which grew out of the concept of the biosphere, like the noosphere.
Look, the Sorbonne University, which we have already mentioned today, in the 20s Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky gave lectures at this university about the biosphere and that within the biosphere there appears a mind, a thought, the action of which covers near-Earth space. And with the help of this thought, life from planet Earth will enter this outer space and end up on other planets. And this lecture, which Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky gave at the University of Paris, was listened to by two friends, two comrades: French students Leroy and Teilhard de Chardin. They were fascinated by that idea, fascinated by the idea that thought becomes a cosmic force. And it was to them, Leroy and Chardin, that this concept belonged - the noosphere, with which they came to their teacher, lecturer Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky and said: “This is the concept - the sphere of reason (νόος (nus) - in Greek, reason, σφαῖρα (sphere) - shell). The sphere of the mind. In other words, another shell appears around the planet Earth, an intelligent shell. But there is a fundamental difference between the interpretation of the noosphere by Teilhard de Chardin and by Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky: the point is that Teilhard de Chardin. - he is a theologian. He connected the noosphere with the divine mind. And Vernadsky approached this matter very practically: he believed that the sphere of the mind from the planet Earth expands into the area of outer space through the purposeful activity of man. This direction indicates that. that the development of not only the planet Earth, but the development of space becomes reasonable. The goal is set by man, and the space develops according to this goal.
These ideas expressed by representatives of Russian cosmism - we just named four names, we analyzed in the most general form only 4 views on how space is understood as a house in which humanity will settle - these four ideas continue to live today, exerting a very great influence on the understanding of what will happen to humanity in the near future.
Vladimir Ivanovich Vernadsky today is the founder of such a powerfully developing scientific direction as global studies. He spoke for the first time about the fact that the problems arising on planet Earth are of a planetary, global nature. These problems must be solved very quickly and very actively through the efforts of all mankind. Our Earth is a house where people live, a house where earthlings live. It's lived-in, it's cozy. But sometimes through human activity - activity that has a result that is completely different from what was expected - a person can lead this Earth to destruction, to irreversible degradation. And then the question will arise: how can humanity survive? The fact is, and you will remember this, that the survival of mankind today is associated with the exploration of outer space. The exploration of outer space for the purpose of settling humanity is a strategic task of manned astronautics. Today, astronautics is developing in pursuit of this goal: how for humanity to settle in space. And this problem can be solved, according to modern representatives of Russian cosmism, in two directions. On the one hand, humanity can create artificial space planets. You and I have just seen the International Space Station, the most powerful man-made object in space today. And this station will become overgrown with others. Further - more. And some kind of artificial planet will arise, where people will live the same way as on planet Earth. That is, the creation of artificial planets. It seems like science fiction, but there is nothing more real than fantastic ideas that are associated with real processes occurring on Earth. That is, to create artificial space objects. And the second direction: earthlings can settle in space if they adapt for habitation those planets that today are already showing their potential for expansion of earthlings.
We still do not have enough knowledge of the features that characterize the planets of our solar system. We can only guess from the data provided to us by spacecraft sent there only for experimental purposes. But it is quite possible that a planet will be found, and maybe more than one, where humanity can settle. This is not a matter of tomorrow. This is not even in 1000 years, but, as Tsiolkovsky said, many, many thousands of years may pass. But this is the prospect of human existence - settlement in outer space. The implementation of the idea that was laid down by our domestic thinker, a simple library worker Nikolai Fedorovich Fedorov. But do not forget that he posed this problem among the solutions to two humanistic problems. This is the achievement of the immortality of humanity and the resurrection of past generations.
Thank you for your attention.
What about the oxidizing agent? Oxygen?
Today we can talk about what prevents us from existing in outer space, because we know more about it, what hinders a person in a purely physiological sense. But the point is that science today... you ask this question, because we know science is working on it. But there is still much we don't know. And so the task is, and those sitting in this audience will definitely take part in this, in order to learn more and more about outer space what is unknown to us, in order to solve this problem. As a strategic goal, as I said, the survival of earthlings.
"Is there a need to populate and develop the entire territory of Russia?" - the teacher asked this question to our group at the university. Then I was sworn that there was no point in this. Today my opinion has changed a little. Why not? The answer is related not only to the geography of Russia, but also to the existing level of technological progress.
Economic feasibility of developing the entire territory of Russia
More than 40% of our territory refers to regions with harsh, extreme and absolutely extreme climatic conditions. The costs of developing these lands for the state and private companies are not comparable to the benefits. Building infrastructure, production and social facilities in such territories is incredibly expensive. It is impossible to provide the population with their own food in these areas. As a result, life on such “virgin land” extremely expensive. Enterprises and the state have to pay increased salaries, pensions and other benefits, and adopt government programs to retain the population. Currently, territories unfavorable for life are being developed mainly in clusters, creating islands of life near large mining and manufacturing enterprises.
At the same time, it is possible if the technological structure changes, and the cost of developing these territories will decrease, then we will be able to populate all our lands without any problems.
Is there a need to populate the entire territory of Russia?
Development of individual areas c, rich in natural resources, of tourist attraction or important for defense, definitely necessary. This is exactly how these lands are being developed today.
But I personally don’t see the need from the point of view of the social aspect. And this is confirmed by statistics. The population density at the end of 2016 in Russia was 8,57 people/km². For comparison, population density in other countries:
- Japan -334.4 people/sq.km;
- China – 144 people/sq.km;
- USA – 33.8 people/sq.km.
Of course, I would like to see our country developed as much as possible, without remembering the saying “A holy place is never empty.” However, to implement such a task, colossal financial and human resources.
Look at China, which has been intensively developing its territory over the past decades. China's GDP in 2016 amounted to 11,383 billion dollars. And Russia - only 1,132.7 billion dollars. But what is much more interesting is how much GDP there is per sq. km of the country’s territory. So China's GDP per 1 sq. km = 1.2 million dollars per sq. km. In Russia, 66 thousand dollars per sq. km. From these figures it is obvious why land development in China is proceeding at an accelerated pace.
What does Russia need to move just as quickly to develop its territory? In my opinion, the answer is: volume Russia's GDP should exceed China's as many times as the territory of Russia exceeds the territory of China.
Getting a new living space is always associated with many questions. And when it comes to resettlement, their number is rapidly increasing. In this article, we have prepared detailed instructions on the procedure for relocating from dilapidated housing, taking into account all the necessary nuances of the procedure.
○ The concept of dilapidated and emergency housing.
The legislation does not provide for the definition of dilapidated housing, but in practice this category includes real estate whose wear and tear is:
- 65% for wooden buildings and attics.
- 70% for brick buildings.
At the same time, load-bearing structures do not pose a threat to the life and health of residents. The main difference between emergency housing and dilapidated housing is precisely that the wear of structures exceeds the standards, creating a threat of collapse.
To determine the condition of the building, an application for assessment of living space is sent to a specially created interdepartmental commission. After receiving the petition, the commission has 30 days to make a decision. The solution could be as follows:
- Recognize the living space as suitable for further residence.
- Carry out major repairs and/or reconstruction/redevelopment.
- Recognize the housing as unfit for habitation due to non-compliance with established legal standards.
- Assign the house an emergency status and recognize it as subject to reconstruction or demolition.
○ Resettlement program.
The resettlement of dilapidated houses is included in the targeted federal program " Housing", which was originally calculated for 2002-2010. However, not all regions were able to complete the tasks on time, so the program was extended until September 31, 2017. After its completion, residents of dilapidated and unsafe houses must have comfortable living space within the boundaries of the locality in which the previous one was located.
○ Who carries out the resettlement.
The decision on the need for relocation is made by an interdepartmental commission based on an expert opinion on the condition of the house. If the issue is resolved positively, a resettlement program is developed by local authorities.
In addition to the application, the resident is required to:
- Title documents (copies).
- Reconstruction project (when transferring non-residential premises to residential status).
- An expert inspection report declaring housing unfit for habitation.
- Other documents at the discretion of the applicant.
Regional authorities independently set resettlement deadlines in accordance with the law.
○ Stages of resettlement.
Resettlement involves going through certain stages.
✔ Register of unsuitable housing.
All buildings that are found unsuitable for habitation are entered into a special register. Thanks to this recording, it has become much easier to find out the status of your request. Just go to the website of the Ministry of Capital Construction and view the list of houses subject to resettlement. It is also still possible to find out whether a particular object is included in the register by contacting local governments or structures specially created by them. Resettlement is carried out within the time limits provided for by municipal programs. At the same time, it is possible to apply for a reduction in terms if further residence poses a real threat to life.
✔ Choosing housing for resettlement.
When relocating, residents are offered living space in buildings that were erected specifically for the program for the resettlement of dilapidated housing. At the same time, the area of the new place of residence should not be less than the previous one (for owners) and comply with accepted state standards per person (for tenants). In rare cases, it is possible to move into apartments from the secondary residential market.
Residents have the right to refuse the offered living space and receive compensation in the amount of the market value of their housing.
✔ Conclusion of contracts.
The owners enter into an exchange agreement with local authorities, according to which:
- The parties agree on the area of the new living space and the level of its amenities;
- The resident is provided with an apartment in the same area where the previous one was located;
- By agreement of the parties to the agreement, housing may be provided outside the region, but it must be located on the territory of the region in which the dilapidated housing was located.
If a resident owns housing under a social rental agreement, he enters into a new agreement with the authorities on the same terms. In this case, the size of housing is determined based on the required number of square meters per person.
✔ Moving.
Relocation to new apartments is carried out within 1 year from the date of the expert decision on the need to demolish the house and within 1 month after the conclusion of the relevant agreement. Resettlement occurs in strict order of registration and as new apartment buildings are built.
Expenses incurred during the move will be covered by local authorities.
○ Payment of the purchase price to residents.
When demolishing emergency housing, you can refuse to move and receive monetary compensation. In this case, the state purchases the living space and the apartment is sold at auction. The owner is required to pay an amount corresponding to the market value of the property. At the same time, the losses that a citizen incurs when moving must also be taken into account.
Payment is carried out within the terms stipulated by the contract in the form of a non-cash payment and is of a targeted nature. Accordingly, the funds received should be spent only on the purchase of new housing. If a citizen already has an apartment, the money can be spent on other purposes, but only if the appropriate permission is obtained from the municipality.
○ Features of resettlement:
The legislation provides for the nuances of relocation for owners of emergency housing and their tenants.
✔ For owners.
If a resident has privatized living space and is its owner, he can count on the following rights when resettling:
- Living space of similar size (in area and number of rooms).
- Getting housing in the same area.
In this case, the owner may refuse to receive a new apartment and demand compensation in the amount of its market value.
✔ For employers.
If the living space is used under a social rental agreement, upon resettlement residents can count on:
- Area according to the number of legal square meters per person;
- Housing amenities;
- Location within the same locality.
- “Provided to citizens in connection with eviction on the grounds provided for in Articles 86 - 88 of this Code, other residential premises under a social tenancy agreement must be comfortable in relation to the conditions of the relevant locality, equivalent in total area to the previously occupied residential premises, meet established requirements and be located within the boundaries of this locality. In cases provided for by federal law, such provided residential premises, with the written consent of citizens, may be located within the boundaries of another populated area of a constituent entity of the Russian Federation, on the territory of which the previously occupied residential premises are located. In cases provided for by federal law, citizens who are registered as needing residential premises or have the right to be registered are provided with residential premises according to the provision standards. If the tenant and his family members living with him before eviction occupied an apartment or at least two rooms, the tenant accordingly has the right to receive an apartment or to receive living quarters consisting of the same number of rooms in a communal apartment. Residential premises provided to a citizen evicted by court must be indicated in the court decision on eviction (Article 89 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation).”
In light of recent events, domestic tourism is gaining increasing popularity; Russians prefer Russian resorts to foreign ones. In addition, given the gigantic size of our country and the lack of direct international flights to popular foreign resorts even from large cities, a foreign tour often involves the need to stay for some time in a Russian hotel as a transshipment base. In this regard, the relevant question for many of our compatriots is whether it is possible to check into a hotel with a foreign passport, in what cases this is allowed, and what documents must be presented if a foreign passport is refused.
Is it possible to check into a hotel with a foreign passport?
The rules for regulating the issues of settling tourists and guests in domestic hotels are established at the regulatory level by the government of our country. One of the sections of this resolution regulates the conclusion of an agreement for the provision of hotel services, including a list of documents that can serve as the basis for concluding an agreement on the part of the guest.
As a general rule, Russian rule-makers do not allow check-in into a Russian hotel room using a foreign passport. This requirement was established, on the one hand, for obvious reasons, because such a passport is intended outside the borders of the homeland, but in fact it has no legal force on the territory of the country. Is it possible to fly around Russia with a foreign passport?
On the other hand, sometimes this is a very uncomfortable condition for travelers and sometimes is an obstacle to spending the night in a hotel. This can be caused by various reasons, the most important of which is the fact that tourists traveling abroad often do not have general passports with them when traveling around the country (for example, to get to the airport from a distant town).
At the same time, the majority of hotels in the country have long been private, commercial, so they do not want to lose customers. And, as practice shows, a citizen can often present any identification document, including a foreign passport, to check in. And sometimes Russians are not asked for any documents at all, which is formally a violation of the law, but in fact is not subject to monitoring by supervisory authorities.
In this regard, as a general rule, Russian citizens do not have the right to check into a hotel in the country using a foreign passport, so it is better to have an internal identity card with them. However, if you only have a foreign passport and need to spend some time at the hotel, you shouldn’t despair; perhaps the hotel will agree to this slight violation of the law and check in using the existing document.
What document can I use to check in?
The type of document that allows you to check in and stay in a Russian hotel, first of all, depends on the category of the citizen who plans to stay at the hotel, including his age. Thus, to receive hotel services, a person must present one of the following identification documents:
- Birth certificate of persons who by law do not have a passport (for Russian citizens this age is set at 14 years).
- A general civil passport of a Russian citizen or a passport of the former USSR, which was not replaced with a modern one in the prescribed manner (the second point, although provided for by the rules, does not occur in practice, since the use of such a document is now not legal).
- An identity document of a foreign citizen, which was received by him in the manner prescribed by the legislation of his homeland and is recognized by the Russian government.
- An identification document of a stateless person (which includes a temporary residence permit, residence permit or stateless person certificate issued by a foreign state).
In addition, the list of documents also includes a Russian foreign passport, which only a limited category of citizens can use when checking into a hotel. The rules do not provide for other documents allowing a person to legally move into a hotel room.
Who can use a passport
To decide whether it is possible to check into a hotel with a foreign passport, first of all, you need to refer to the Rules approved by the government. This normative act provides a clear and unambiguous answer that does not allow for double interpretation.
Thus, when concluding an agreement on the provision of hotel services, a passport identifying a Russian citizen abroad is presented only by a Russian citizen who permanently resides in the territory of a foreign state.
At the same time, the law does not specify what is meant by permanent residence abroad; because of this, there may be cases when a person checks into a hotel not entirely legally. It is not difficult to determine the period of stay of a Russian citizen abroad, because... The document contains marks about crossing the state border, indicating the length of stay outside the homeland.
At the same time, it is not clear what period of stay in a foreign country is considered permanent residence. Practice shows that in order to have such a status, a citizen must not be registered in Russia and have a certificate of departure from his place of residence (due to moving abroad). Only in this case does such a person present a passport when checking into the hotel to conclude an agreement.
Thus, from the point of view of the law, checking into a hotel with a foreign passport is possible only for those Russian citizens who do not live in the country, but have permanent residence in a foreign country. Moreover, this fact must be documented, i.e. the person must prove that he is not registered in the country and has left his homeland. However, as practice shows, hotels do not want to lose their clients and are often ready to make concessions and check in using any available identification card (or without documents at all). Will they give me a loan with a foreign passport?
