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Kazimieras Simonavičius (~1600 to after 1651) was a graduate of Vilnius University and is the founder of the theory of multi-staged rockets, and is the author of the book The Great Art Of Artillery (1650). On November 11, 1673, near Chocim in the Ukraine (also spelled Khotin), Lithuanian and Polish military units defeated the Turkish army. In this battle rockets of Kazimieras Simonavičius were successfully used.
"
Let better rockets serve Venus than blood- thirsty Mars
" wrote K.Simonavičius in the middle of the 17th c.
Juozas Lukoevičius (1863-1928), a physicist, mineralogist continued development of K. Simonavičius' ideas. He argued that the Moon could be reached by means of a rocket only. He was the first in the world to describe peculiarities of human weightlessness. He calculated the velocities necessary to overcome the gravity of the Earth. His calculations were confirmed after launching first satellites of the Earth. He was a founder and the rector of the Petersburg Institute of Geography.
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