Robert H. Goddard

FATHER OF MODERN ROCKETRY

While Robert Goddard was still young, he developed a great interest in space by observing  the planets and stars with a telescope given to him by his father.  Very early in his career, he concluded that the only way to reach space was in a vehicle powered by a rocket motor.  Robert continued his education and eventually earned a PhD at Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts.

In the early years, Goddard experimented mostly with dry powder fuel for his rockets.  Then in 1914, he applied for and received two U.S. patents for the use of liquid fuel. He continued experimenting with various rockets and in 1926, the built and successfully tested a liquid fuel powered rocket.  Dr. Goddard, now a Professor at Clark University , wrote a paper entitled “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes”  Toward the end of the report, he outlined the scientific feasibility of reaching the moon.  The media, much like today’s paparazzi, ridiculed his work calling him the “Man in the Moon” and a few less complimentary names.  In Europe ,the Nazis were just coming into power and were very interested in Goddard’s work.  Much of his pioneering research was copied and ended up in the V1 and V2 German Vengence missiles.

   
Dr. Goddard was a shy man and to avoid the media, elected to move Ester, his wife, and all of his experiments to Roswell , New Mexico .  There he (1) proved a rocket could work in a vacuum, (2) built a rocket that would take pictures at high altitude, (3) achieved a patent for a multi-stage rocket, (4) developed successful turbine rocket fuel pumps (5) and launched a rocket with a full gyroscopic guidance system for stability at high altitudes. One rocket he developed eventually became used as a weapon and we know it today as the “bazooka.” 

   
Although not highly recognized during his outstanding work, on September 16, 1959, the 86th Congress posthumously awarded him one of America ’s highest honor.  They also established a major space science laboratory named in his behalf, the Robert H. Goddard Space Flight Center , Greenbelt , Maryland .  His family was also awarded $1,000,000 as a monetary honor for his contributions.
 

Dr. Goddard standing by the first liquid fuel rocket he created in 1926.  This rocket is now on display at National Air & Space Museum, Washington D.C.

This curriculum is sponsored by the Drug Demand Reduction
Program of the Civil Air Patrol National Headquarters
Maxwell AFB, Alabama.