The Earth's Atmosphere and Beyond
Pioneers and Innovators

Robert H. Goddard

(October 5,1882­August 10,1945)

    Robert Goddard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on October 5,1882. He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Clark University. After graduating, he began teaching physics at WPI, Princeton, and Clark University. In 1914, Goddard received two U.S. patents for a rocket using liquid fuel and for a multistage rocket using solid fuel. In 1919, he published a book called "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes". In this book, he proposed thst a rocketr might, acvtually, be able to reach the moon. Of course, no one believed him. On March 16,1926, Goddard constructed and tested successfully the first rocket using liquid fuel in Auburn, Massachussetts. The fuel was a mixture of gasoline and liquid oxygen. The rocket flight only lasted for 2.5 seconds, and it reached an altitude of 40 ft.

        The Smithsonian Institution encouraged Goddard to make a larger rocket like thepicture above, but Goddard did not have much luck. In 1929, one of his rocket flights carried the first scientific payload. The rocket carried a barometer, a thermometer, and a small camera.
    From 1930 to 1942, Goddard worked in New Mexico under the aid of a Guggenheim Foundation Grant. In 1932, He was the first to use vanes in the rocket motor blast for guidance, and he developed the first gyro control apparatus for rocket fight. During his years in New Mexico, he made rockets that reached speeds of 550 m.p.h. and heights of 1.5 miles.
    Robert Goddard ended up accummulating over 200 patents related to rocketry. He died on August 10,1945. On May 1,1959, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was established in memory of Goddard.
On September 16,1959, the 86th Congress issued a gold medal in honor of Goddard. Robert Goddard is known as the "Father of Modern Rocketry".

 Page by: Gary Skoff

References:
http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov/gsfc/service/gallery/fact_sheets/general/goddard/goddard.htm
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Goddard.html
http://www.charleslindbergh.com/rocket/
http://www.northstar.k12.ak.us/schools/ryn/spacerace/people/goddard.html