1926 : FIRST LIQUID-FUELED ROCKET:
The first man to give hope to dreams of space travel is American
Robert H. Goddard, who successfully launches the world's first
liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts, on March 16, 1926. The
rocket traveled for 2.5 seconds at a speed of about 60 mph, reaching
an altitude of 41 feet and landing 184 feet away. The rocket was 10
feet tall, constructed out of thin pipes, and was fueled by liquid
oxygen and gasoline.
The Chinese developed the first military rockets in the early 13th
century using gunpowder and probably built firework rockets at an
earlier date. Gunpowder-propelled military rockets appeared in Europe
sometime in the 13th century, and in the 19th century British
engineers made several important advances in early rocket science. In
1903, an obscure Russian inventor named Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky
published a treatise on the theoretical problems of using rocket
engines in space, but it was not until Robert Goddard's work in the
1920s that anyone began to build the modern, liquid-fueled type of
rocket that by the early 1960s would be launching humans into space.
Goddard, born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1882, became fascinated
with the idea of space travel after reading the H.G. Wells' science
fiction novel War of the Worlds in 1898. He began building gunpowder
rockets in 1907 while a student at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute
and continued his rocket experiments as a physics doctoral student and
then physics professor at Clark University. He was the first to prove
that rockets can propel in an airless vacuum-like space and was also
the first to explore mathematically the energy and thrust potential of
various fuels, including liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. He
received U.S. patents for his concepts of a multistage rocket and a
liquid-fueled rocket, and secured grants from the Smithsonian
Institute to continue his research.
In 1919, his classic treatise A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes
was published by the Smithsonian. The work outlined his mathematical
theories of rocket propulsion and proposed the future launching of an
unmanned rocket to the moon. The press picked up on Goddard's
moon-rocket proposal and for the most part ridiculed the scientist's
innovative ideas. In January 1920, The New York Times printed an
editorial declaring that Dr. Goddard "seems to lack the knowledge
ladled out daily in high schools" because he thought that rocket
thrust would be effective beyond the earth's atmosphere. (Three days
before the first Apollo lunar-landing mission in July 1969, the Times
printed a correction to this editorial.)
In December 1925, Goddard tested a liquid-fueled rocket in the physics
building at Clark University. He wrote that the rocket, which was
secured in a static rack, "operated satisfactorily and lifted its own
weight." On March 16, 1926, Goddard accomplished the world's first
launching of a liquid-fueled rocket from his Aunt Effie's farm in
Auburn.
Goddard continued his innovative rocket work until his death in 1945.
His work was recognized by the aviator Charles A. Lindbergh, who
helped secure him a grant from the Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion
of Aeronautics. Using these funds, Goddard set up a testing ground in
Roswell, New Mexico, which operated from 1930 until 1942. During his
tenure there, he made 31 successful flights, including one of a rocket
that reached 1.7 miles off the ground in 22.3 seconds. Meanwhile,
while Goddard conducted his limited tests without official U.S.
support, Germany took the initiative in rocket development and by
September 1944 was launching its V-2 guided missiles against Britain
to devastating effect. During the war, Goddard worked in developing a
jet-thrust booster for a U.S. Navy seaplane. He would not live to see
the major advances in rocketry in the 1950s and '60s that would make
his dreams of space travel a reality. NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is named in his honor.
history.com/tdih.do
Robert H. Goddard, who successfully launches the world's first
liquid-fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts, on March 16, 1926. The
rocket traveled for 2.5 seconds at a speed of about 60 mph, reaching
an altitude of 41 feet and landing 184 feet away. The rocket was 10
feet tall, constructed out of thin pipes, and was fueled by liquid
oxygen and gasoline.
The Chinese developed the first military rockets in the early 13th
century using gunpowder and probably built firework rockets at an
earlier date. Gunpowder-propelled military rockets appeared in Europe
sometime in the 13th century, and in the 19th century British
engineers made several important advances in early rocket science. In
1903, an obscure Russian inventor named Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky
published a treatise on the theoretical problems of using rocket
engines in space, but it was not until Robert Goddard's work in the
1920s that anyone began to build the modern, liquid-fueled type of
rocket that by the early 1960s would be launching humans into space.
Goddard, born in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1882, became fascinated
with the idea of space travel after reading the H.G. Wells' science
fiction novel War of the Worlds in 1898. He began building gunpowder
rockets in 1907 while a student at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute
and continued his rocket experiments as a physics doctoral student and
then physics professor at Clark University. He was the first to prove
that rockets can propel in an airless vacuum-like space and was also
the first to explore mathematically the energy and thrust potential of
various fuels, including liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen. He
received U.S. patents for his concepts of a multistage rocket and a
liquid-fueled rocket, and secured grants from the Smithsonian
Institute to continue his research.
In 1919, his classic treatise A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes
was published by the Smithsonian. The work outlined his mathematical
theories of rocket propulsion and proposed the future launching of an
unmanned rocket to the moon. The press picked up on Goddard's
moon-rocket proposal and for the most part ridiculed the scientist's
innovative ideas. In January 1920, The New York Times printed an
editorial declaring that Dr. Goddard "seems to lack the knowledge
ladled out daily in high schools" because he thought that rocket
thrust would be effective beyond the earth's atmosphere. (Three days
before the first Apollo lunar-landing mission in July 1969, the Times
printed a correction to this editorial.)
In December 1925, Goddard tested a liquid-fueled rocket in the physics
building at Clark University. He wrote that the rocket, which was
secured in a static rack, "operated satisfactorily and lifted its own
weight." On March 16, 1926, Goddard accomplished the world's first
launching of a liquid-fueled rocket from his Aunt Effie's farm in
Auburn.
Goddard continued his innovative rocket work until his death in 1945.
His work was recognized by the aviator Charles A. Lindbergh, who
helped secure him a grant from the Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion
of Aeronautics. Using these funds, Goddard set up a testing ground in
Roswell, New Mexico, which operated from 1930 until 1942. During his
tenure there, he made 31 successful flights, including one of a rocket
that reached 1.7 miles off the ground in 22.3 seconds. Meanwhile,
while Goddard conducted his limited tests without official U.S.
support, Germany took the initiative in rocket development and by
September 1944 was launching its V-2 guided missiles against Britain
to devastating effect. During the war, Goddard worked in developing a
jet-thrust booster for a U.S. Navy seaplane. He would not live to see
the major advances in rocketry in the 1950s and '60s that would make
his dreams of space travel a reality. NASA's Goddard Space Flight
Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is named in his honor.
history.com/tdih.do
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