Later, at the pharmacy, where Tsiolkovsky goes to buy iodine and sulfuric acid, he meets a pharmacist, Sergei Ivanovich Panin (Albert Filozov).

Konstantin Eduardovich regularly sends his designs for a aerostat to the Russian Physical-Technical Society in Saint Petersburg, but receives repeated rejections, with responses claiming that the idea has no practical value and denying funding.

The physicist Alexander Stoletov encourages Tsiolkovsky’s belief in the future of controlled balloons, but he is unable to offer him direct support.

He refers to his wife, Varvara Yevgrafovna (Larisa Kadochnikova), as a “healing elixir.” They have several children, and his greatest hope is placed in his son, Ignaty, whom he considers highly talented.

The device indeed takes flight, but the experiment results in a cart catching fire in the town, and Tsiolkovsky is subsequently detained by the police.

The filmmakers then briefly recount key moments from Tsiolkovsky’s life, noting that his books will later become rare collectibles, and a formula he writes will carry his name.