He was born in Poltava in June 1897 under the name Shargey Aleksandr Ignatyevich. Due to fears for his further safety after the coming of Soviet authority, he took the name of Yuri Kondratyuk and under that name became known in the scientific world for the so-called “Kondratyuk’s track theory”, which was the basis for the American astro-mission trip to the Moon.
His first invention was not related to astronautics at all: he built a wooden elevator with a capacity of 10,000 tonnes without any nails.
At the theoretical level, Kondratyuk-Shargey was the first to substantiate the economic feasibility of vertical takeoff of rockets, creation of intermediate bases during flights, braking in the upper atmosphere, use of solar energy by spacecraft, calculated the route for a rocket to the Moon. His latest development was used in the USA on the Apollo mission. This fact was acknowledged by the Heads of Mission and confirmed in “Life” magazine.
The name of this Ukrainian engineer hangs in the Cosmonautics Hall of Fame in the USA at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.