In 1968, when the whole world was mesmerized by American astronauts’ space flight to the Moon, John Hubolt, one of the ‘Apollo’ Program managers said: “Some 50 years ago Kondratiuk estimated the scheme of the last module detachment from the orbital-craft was in the energy aspect the best way of the Moon landing”. Who was this mysterious Kondrtiuk who became known to the scientific world meriting to the Apollo Program?

Yuriy Kondratiuk (his real name was Aleksander Shargey) has left to his followers the computing of a space flight to the Moon, a caterpillar automobile, and a water turbine. He projected a 12 thousand kilowatt wind-electric power station having no world analogues even now. Nikolay Nikitin had used Konratiuk’s works while constructing the Ostankino TV-tower.

Unfortunately, the ideas of Kondratiuk-Shargey have been accepted and utilized when it was already too late.

Aleksander Shargey was born on June 9 (21), 1897 in Poltava, Ukraine. In 1914, the 17-year old apprentice in a small town of Poltava begins a fundamental work ‘on identification of the rocket flight basics’ without any previous knowledge of world science achievements in this field. A 104-page writing was full of principally new astronautic related ideas with strong scientific and technical background.

Shargey was not able to graduate from the Petrograd Polytechnical Institute due to enrollment to the front during the First World War. During the Civil War in Ukraine after the 1917 revolution he was enrolled first to the White Guard, and then to the Denikin Army that fought against bolsheviks. Being a pacifist, Shargey actually fought for none. However, he was considered an enemy by the new communist power. That is why he had to conceal himself, suffer from hunger and poverty for the next few years, but never parted with his notes and went on with research. In order to escape from political persecution Shargey changes his name and biography. He is Yuriy Kondratiuk now and this name will become known to the world. 

In 1927, Yuriy Kondratiuk came to Novosibirsk (Russia) as hoist builder. Two years before he had sent his work ‘Conquering of Interplanetary Space’ to Moscow. Despite the appraisal of many scholars, the publishing of this work was suspended and Kondratiuk published it on his own costs.

In a while Kondratiuk was arrested. Oddly enough, but his only crime was that he built the world’s biggest granary using no nails (there was a shortage of nails at that time). During his imprisonment, the scientist worked out an unusual project of wind-electric power plant without any previous experience in this field. His project was acknowledged the best, ahead of two other projects worked out by two specialized scientific schools. In result, Yuriy was transferred to Kharkiv to proceed with the project. In Moscow, after the meeting with Sergey Koroliov who was impressed by his research Kondratiuk was offered a position of chief theoretician in a secret ‘Jet Lab’. But due to his concealed past, he had to refuse that proposal.

It’s hard to imagine now how hard a decision it could have been for a person faithfully devoted to space exploration. And who knows how it would affect the history of astronautics if the genius scientist had accepted the proposal.

Yuriy Kondratiuk never saw his giant wind-electric power plant in work for its construction had been stopped and never finished. Tired and completely disappointed, he joined the Soviet army soon after the beginning of the World War II and died in a battle in 1942.

The real name of the ‘Moon Route’ inventor was revealed only in 1970. Most of Kondratiuk’s ‘absurd’ ideas are implemented now and considered the only possible solutions. Even now scholars are amazed by his genius. One of the Moon craters, as well as a small planet has been named after Kondratiuk. To date, his inventions, each one being a revelation, and his destiny torn into pieces by history are depicted in books and numerous publications, in Poltava and Novosibirsk museums.