Robert Goddard
and the Liquid-Fueled Rocket
Second Grade: This keynote supplements the
social studies book Robert Goddard by Lola M.
Schaefer
Robert Goddard, the father of
American rocketry, was born on
October 5, 1882, in Worcester,
Massachusetts. Goddard began
to invent and experiment at a
very young age. He built new
kinds of kites. He used his attic
as a chemistry lab. And he tried
but failed to send up a hydrogenfilled aluminum balloon.
Goddard was fascinated by
rockets. They had been used
only as fireworks or weapons.
But Goddard believed that a
piloted rocket might one day
reach the moon or another
planet.
p://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,1101690725,00.html
"Goddard, Robert Hutchings." Reviewed by Milton Lehman. The New Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Mar. 2009
<http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2011960-h>.
He hoped to design rockets that could carry measuring
instruments to very high altitudes. If rockets proved useful for
this purpose, people would be more likely to approve the
funding of rocket research.
In 1916, Goddard asked the Smithsonian Institution in
Washington, D.C., for financial support. After weighing
Goddard's request, which included a report on rocket science,
the Smithsonian gave him $5,000.
In 1919 the Smithsonian published Goddard's report. It was
called A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. In its pages,
Goddard described a multistage rocket. He argued that such a
rocket could reach the moon. The newspapers mocked this
idea...
People Laughed at Him... so he tried to do his
work privately.
"Goddard, Robert Hutchings." Reviewed by Milton Lehman. The New Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Mar. 2009
<http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2011960-h>.
The Liquid-Fuel Rocket.
In the 1920's Goddard began
experimenting with a new kind of
rocket. Its engine burned liquid fuel
and liquid oxygen instead of
gunpowder. It promised greater
power and more control.
With gunpowder and other solid-fuel
rockets, there was no way to control
the burn rate and thrust. But Goddard
built liquid-fuel rockets that contained
separate tanks for the fuel and
oxygen.
"Goddard, Robert Hutchings." Reviewed by Milton Lehman. The New Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Mar. 2009
<http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2011960-h>.
The First Flight of
Nell
On
March
16,
1926,
Goddard
finished
building
a
spindly,
10-ft.
rocket
he
dubbed
Nell,
loaded
it
into
an
open
car
and
trundled
it
out
to
his
aunt
Effie's
nearby
farm.
He
set
up
the
missile
in
a
field,
then
summoned
an
assistant,
who
lit
its
fuse
with
a
blowtorch
attached
to
a
long
stick.
For
an
instant
the
rocket
did
nothing
at
all,
then
suddenly
it
leaped
from
the
ground
and
screamed
into
the
sky
at
60
m.p.h.
Climbing
to
an
altitude
of
41
ft.,
it
arced
over,
plummeted
earthward
and
slammed
into
a
frozen
cabbage
patch
184
ft.
away.
The
entire
flight
lasted
just
2
1/2
sec.
—
but
that
was
2
1/2
sec.
longer
than
any
liquid-fueled
rocket
had
ever
managed
to
fly before.
http://www.time.com/time/time100/scientist/profile/goddard02.html
http://www.nasm.si.edu/exhibitions/gal100/goddard.htm
Smithsonian Photograph
#2006-3191
Goddard set up a research station near Roswell, New
Mexico. In New Mexico rocket tests could be made yearround. There Goddard developed larger and better rocket
engines and steering devices. In 1935 one of his rockets
flew at the speed of sound for the first time.
During World War II, Goddard was called to the U.S. Naval
Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He developed a liquid-fuel
jet device to assist flying boats (a kind of airplane) in taking
off from bodies of water. He asked the government to
develop rockets for use as long-range weapons. Although
Goddard was one of the world's leading rocket experts, the
United States did not act on his suggestion.
"Goddard, Robert Hutchings." Reviewed by Milton Lehman. The New Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Mar. 2009
<http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2011960-h>.
Goddard avoided publicity. Few people
appreciated Goddard's work during his
lifetime. One of the people who took
Goddard's work seriously was German
scientist Wernher Von Braun. Von Braun
eventually led the German military's rocket
program during World War II (1939-1945).
After the war, Von Braun developed rockets
for the American space program. In 1969,
long after Goddard's death, this program
sent the first astronauts to the moon.
"Goddard, Robert Hutchings." Reviewed by Milton Lehman. The New Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Mar. 2009
<http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2011960-h>.
http://education.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Robert Goddard died on August 10, 1945. Shortly after
his death, the United States started a large rocket
program for military defense. Goddard's work finally
began to attract wide notice. In 1959 he was awarded a
Congressional medal. In 1962 the Goddard Space Flight
Center, in Greenbelt, Maryland, was dedicated.
"Goddard, Robert Hutchings." Reviewed by Milton Lehman. The New Book of Knowledge®. 2009. Grolier Online. 2 Mar. 2009
<http://nbk.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?assetid=a2011960-h>.
How has the world changed?
Goddard
accomplished
a
great
deal
but
because
of
his
modesty, most
people
did not These
know about
his
achievements
during
his
lifetime.
included
theorizing
on
the
possibilities
of
jet-powered
aircraft,
rocket-borne
mail
and
express,
passenger
travel
in space,
nuclear-powered
rockets,He
and
journeys
to
the
Moon
and
other
planets.
also
made
the
first
mathematical
exploration
of
the
practicality
of
using
rockets
to
reach
high
altitudes
and
achieve
escape velocity.
He patented
numerous
inventions
associated
with
space
flight...Although
he
did
not
live
to
see
the
space
age
begin,
if
any
one
man
had
a
central
role
in
its
creation, it was Goddard.
http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/SPACEFLIGHT/Goddard/SP
3.htm
-From Launius, Roger D. Frontiers of Space Exploration. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood
Press, 1998.
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Flying devices called rockets come in many sizes, from simple
fireworks to the engines that are used to launch missiles, satellites,
and spacecraft. The vehicles driven by rockets are often called
rockets themselves.
Rockets in China
Rockets may have been first used in 13th-century China. The Chinese had
probably used gunpowder for about a thousand years before that time.
They made rockets by filling bamboo cases with gunpowder. When they
lit the gunpowder, it exploded. The gas from the explosion sent the
rocket into the air.
The Chinese used rockets during religious ceremonies. The noise of the
rockets was believed to frighten off evil spirits. The Chinese also used
rockets as weapons. They shot rockets at Mongol invaders, who called
the rockets “fire arrows.”
Rockets in space travel
In the late 19th century a Russian scientist named Konstantin E. Tsiolkovsky proposed the idea that rockets could be used
to travel into space. Tsiolkovsky was influenced by the stories of space travel by the French writer Jules Verne. Tsiolkovsky
knew that enormous power would be needed to carry human beings beyond Earth's pull of gravity. He did not actually build
rockets, but his theories about rockets remain in use today. Robert H. Goddard, a U.S. engineer, built the first liquid-fuel
rocket in 1925.
The Soviet Union launched the first rocket into space. The spacecraft, called Sputnik 1, entered space in October 1957.
Rockets carried dogs and monkeys into space until humans felt ready to make a space trip themselves. By 1969 rockets had
carried men to the moon. (See also space exploration.)
“Rockets”
Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia
http://www.britannica.com
Rockets as Inventions (Late 19th Century)
“History of Rockets”
http://www.kidsinfobits.com