Yuri Kondratyuk (1897-1942) was a Soviet scientist, one of the founders of astronautics. At the beginning of the 20th century, he calculated the optimal trajectory of a flight to the Moon and developed theoretical foundations and practical recommendations for to-be astronauts.
In 1929, Yuri Kondratyuk published in Novosibirsk as a private venture his book Conquest of Interplanetary Space in the quantity of 2,000 copies, which defined the sequence of the first stages of space exploration.
After the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Yuri Kondratyuk volunteered for the people’s militia. He was enrolled as a ranker wireman in a communications company of the 2nd rifle regiment of the 21st Moscow Militia Division of the Kievsky district of the 33rd Army of the Reserve Front.
He was killed on February 25, 1942.
The commemorative stamp provides a symbolic image of a carrier vehicle for launching into space; the main image features a portrait of Yuri Kondratyuk and the cover of his manuscript Conquest of Interplanetary Space.
| Denomination |
Paper |
Printing method |
Format of the postal card |
Edition |
| Letter “B” |
Chalk surfaced |
Offset |
105 × 148 mm |
15 thousand postcards |