Konstantin Eduardovich Tsiolkovsky (Russian:Константи́н Эдуа́рдович Циолко́вский;IPA: [kənstɐnʲˈtʲin ɪdʊˈardəvʲɪtɕ tsɨɐlˈkofskʲɪj]; Polish:Konstanty Ciołkowski; 17 September [O.S. 5 September] 1857  –19 September 1935) was a Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory, of Polish, Russian and Tatar descent. Along with his followers, the German Hermann Oberth and the American Robert H. Goddard, he is considered to be one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics. His works later inspired leading Soviet rocket engineers such as Sergei Korolev and Valentin Glushko and contributed to the success of the Soviet space program.