Robert Hutchings Goddard. 

The father of American rocketry. 

 

Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard. Credit: NASA 

Robert Hutchings Goddard, an American engineer and physicist, considered one of the founding fathers of rocketry and astronautics, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on October 5, 1882. He is recognized as the father of American rocketry and as one of the pioneers in the theoretical exploration of space. He dreamed of exploring the Earth’s upper atmosphere and, ultimately, space using rocket propulsion. Although his work was revolutionary, he received little public support for his research. Following his theoretical work on the physics of rocketry, he began experimenting with different rocket engines. Believing that liquid propellants offered the most promise, in 1926 he successfully launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket.

   Goddard showed an early interest in science and mathematics. He received a bachelor’s degree in physics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1908 and a doctorate in physics from Clark University, also in Worcester, in 1911. As a graduate student in 1909, he wrote his first paper on the feasibility of using liquid propellants to fuel rockets. In 1914, he registered his first two patents, describing a multi-stage rocket and a rocket fueled by solid or liquid propellants, respectively, both milestones in the history of rocketry. While he self-funded his early research, in 1917, he received a grant from the Smithsonian Institution, a then-unheard-of $5,000 for five years. In 1919, the Smithsonian published his original paper, "A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes", which summarized his theoretical and experimental rocketry research, and in which he included a small section stressing that rockets could be used to send payloads to the Moon — included as a thought experiment was the idea of launching a rocket to the Moon and igniting a mass of flash powder on its surface, so as to be visible through a telescope. He received little recognition from fellow scientists and some ridicule from the press for his seemingly outlandish ideas about space exploration. A January 13, 1920, The New York Times anonymous editorial scoffed at Goddard’s ideas, erroneously pointing out that rockets could not work in the vacuum of space since they required air to push against to achieve thrust. Goddard responded to a reporter's question by stating, "Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace."

   Goddard began experimenting with liquid-fueled rocket engines in September 1921, using gasoline as fuel and liquid oxygen as an oxidizer, successfully testing the first one a little more than two years later. After further refining the engine, Goddard was ready for its first flight. On March 16, 1926, he set up his rocket, which he later called Nell, fueled with gasoline and liquid oxygen, on a farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. Goddard designed the rocket with the engine on top and the fuel and oxidizer tanks below, an unusual configuration by modern standards but one he thought would provide more stability. The rocket rose 12.5 meters (41 feet) in the air during its 2.5-second flight, landing 56 meters (184 feet) away in a cabbage field. A modest beginning, but like the Wright Brothers’ first brief flight at Kitty Hawk, it ushered in a new era.

 

Robert H. Goddard standing next to the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket and its launch frame in Auburn, Massachusetts, in 1926.
  Credit: Esther Goddard/Wikimedia Commons  

   After a few more flight tests, Goddard realized that placing the rocket engine beneath the propellant tanks provided adequate stability and simplified the overall design. He also realized that the rockets needed additional stabilization with longer and longer flights, and he added moveable vanes to the engine exhaust and gyroscopes to control the rocket’s attitude. Soon he outgrew his facilities in Massachusetts, and with famed aviator Charles Lindbergh (1902–1974) promoting Goddard’s efforts, the Guggenheim family provided funding for new and larger facilities in Roswell, New Mexico. Despite this, Goddard’s efforts remained underfunded, making his progress slow. The highest altitude that any of his rockets reached was about 9,000 feet (2.7 km) in March 1937. The highest engine thrust ever was 985 pounds, reached in January 1941. And while the U.S. government showed little interest in his rocketry research before World War II, other nations such as Germany and the Soviet Union studied his results to advance their own rocketry programs. On August 10, 1945, Goddard died and did not live to see his dreams of his rockets reaching into space come true.

   Robert Goddard's contributions to missilery and space flight would make a lengthy list. Below are some highlights.

• Explored the practicality of using rocket propulsion to reach high altitudes, even the Moon (1912)
• Proved that a rocket will work in a vacuum, that it needs no air to push against
• Developed and fired a liquid fuel rocket (March 16, 1926, Auburn, Mass.)
• Shot a scientific payload in a rocket flight (1929, Auburn, Mass.)
• Used vanes in the rocket motor blast for guidance (1932, New Mexico)
• Developed gyro control apparatus for rocket flight (1932, New Mexico)
• Received U.S. patent for a multi-stage rocket (1914)
• Developed pumps suitable for rocket fuels
• Launched a rocket with a motor pivoted on gimbals under the influence of a gyro mechanism (1937)

 

 

Robert Goddard in his rocket construction workshop in Roswell, New Mexico, in the late 1930s.

Credit: Credit: National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution 

    Goddard avoided sharing details of his work with other scientists, preferring to work alone with his technicians. Some modern authors have concluded that, because of Goddard's secrecy, his work had less influence than the chronology of rocketry milestones would suggest. Although Goddard's achievements were dazzling, considering that the rockets were built by one man with a few assistants, his rocketry had no real impact on his field, either during or after the war. Goddard's rockets of the 1930s were no match for the German army’s accomplishments. After the war, American rocket technology evolved from Germany’s work on the V-2 rocket, not from Goddard's experiments. As summarized by physicist and aerospace engineer Theodore von Kármán (1881–1963) of the California Institute of Technology, "There is no direct line from Goddard to present-day rocketry. He is on a branch that died…”

   Speaking in 1963, Wernher von Braun (1912–1977), developer of the German A4 (V-2) and many American rockets including the Saturn V that took astronauts to the Moon, reflected on Goddard’s contribution to the space program, "His rockets ... may have been rather crude by present-day standards, but they blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles." On May 1, 1959, the newly established National Aeronautics and Space Administration named the Goddard Space Flight Center in his honor.

It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.

— Robert H. Goddard

 

 

Goddard rocket in launching tower at Roswell, New Mexico, March 21, 1940. Fuel was injected by pumps from the fueling platform at left. Credit: NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center 

References:

Uri, John. NASA Johnson Space Center: 95 Years Ago: Goddard’s First Liquid-Fueled Rocket
NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center: Dr. Robert H. Goddard, American Rocketry Pioneer
Marconi, Elaine M.: KSC Staff Writer: Robert Goddard: A Man and His Rocket
Winter, Frank H.: Robert Goddard Was the Father of American Rocketry. But Did He Have Much Impact?, Smithsonian Magazine
Encyclopedia Britannica: Robert Goddard

 

© 2025, Andrew Mirecki