“Planets are inhabited by living creatures”

Konstantin Tsiolkovsky

The collection of works by Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, translated into English

1933

Many well-educated and worldwide-known scientists disbelieve existence of animals on other planets on the grounds that nobody saw them and they do not show themselves. Likewise, for a long time Europeans believed that there is no America and people living there.

Here we want to prove the contrary: it is quite impossible to doubt inhabitance of numberless planets.

There is undoubted knowledge, although currently it is impossible to verify it. For example, chemical composition of suns’ surface is known in theory. However, we have not hold a single crumb of their substance in our hands. Much is known about celestial bodies. For example, their sizes, distances, densities. But nobody measured all this directly, and only theoretical verification of this knowledge is possible. Nobody saw atoms, however, they undoubtedly exist. Similarly, there are solid grounds for complete confidence in existence of numerous units of nonearthly habitants.

Which are these grounds? We will name them.

All these trillions of suns and all rarefied gaseous masses of the above consist of the same substance as the Earth is composed of.
All planets separated from suns. Therefore, they are also composed of the same matter as the matter which our planet is formed of.
All celestial bodies are subject to gravity. Therefore, weight is found on all planets.
There are liquids and gases on all major planets.
All planets are exposed to the same rays of their suns.
Almost all planets have day-and-night cycles and seasons.

It is evident from the above that planets from various solar systems differ from one another only quantitatively, not qualitatively. Well, they are of different size, have different gravity, different depth of their oceans, different atmospheric depth, they have different mean temperature, different duration of day-and-night cycles and year, different harshness of climate, etc. But, certainly, there are planets extremely similar to the Earth.

There are about ten major planets and a thousand of small ones near every sun. At least one of the large ones resembles the Earth – by temperature, size, gravity, water and air, etc. Well, how could one deny organic life on them?

One could count a million of billions of suns in the known Universe. So, we have the same number of planets similar to the Earth. It is implausible to deny life on them. If life was conceived on the Earth, why it could not emerge in the same conditions on planets similar to the Earth? There can be less of them than the number of suns, but, however, they must be. It is possible to deny life on 50, 70, 90 percent of all these planets, but not on all of them – it is quite impossible.

Besides, why should the difference of conditions eliminate life? On our planet there are places with different temperature, different environment (water, air, soil), and other conditions do vary as well. However, is there a place with no plants and animals on the Earth? They can be found everywhere – even in arctic snows, on heights and in depths. Absence of light, cold, heat – nothing stops development of living organisms on the Earth. Therefore, each sun has not just one inhabited planet, but, probably, a few of them.

Technical force of humanoid creatures matters a good deal as well. Thanks to it, a man on the Earth can organize a comfortable life on poles and in deserts, on mountains and under water, above earth and in aether, and anywhere else. It is especially true for our mighty descendants.

What are the grounds for denial of reasonable planetary beings in the Universe? We will name these grounds.

We are told: if there were any, they would have visited the Earth. My answer is: maybe, they will visit us, but time has not come yet for this. Savage Australians and Americans of ancient centuries saw Europeans visit them – but many millenniums passed before they arrived. Similarly, we will see such a visit in some time. At other planets, maybe, their mighty habitants for a long time have been visiting one another.

We are also objected: if they existed, they would have shown us some signs of their existence.

My answer is: our facilities are too weak to perceive these signs. Our celestial neighbours understand that at the certain level of knowledge people themselves will definitely prove inhabitance of another planets. In addition, there is no good of informing about inhabitance of planets lower animals from the Earth, along with majority of humankind – because of low degree of their development. What if this knowledge does harm? What if massacres and St. Bartholomew’s nights occur due to this?

Time must pass until the average level of humankind’s development is sufficient for nonearthly dwellers to visit us.

We – brothers – kill one another, wage wars, treat animals cruelly. How will we treat the creatures who are quite alien to us? What if we consider them rivals in owning the Earth and destroy ourselves in a one-sided fight? They cannot wish such a fight and death. Humankind is as far in development from more perfect planetary creatures, as lower animals are from people. We do not go on a visit to wolves, venomous snakes or gorillas. We only kill them. Perfect animals from the cosmos do not want to do the same with us.

Could we carry out reasonable communication with dogs and monkeys? Similarly, higher creatures are powerless to communicate with us so far.

On the other hand, there is a number of strange facts that prove participation of another creatures in our life. It already directly confirms existence of another, more mature, organisms.

Would you like to read other works of Konstantin Tsiolkovsky?

Read them online in English or download them for free in PDF format on the page “Scientific Heritage” of the website.

Read them online in the original Russian or download them free of charge in PDF format on the page “Научное наследие” of the website.

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