Without the exploration of the liquid fueled rocket Robert Goddard made in 1926 the world would be almost no where today in space travel. And without his exchange with the Smithsonian Institution the liquid fueled rocket might not have been a possibility. Robert Goddard was born October 5th, 1882 in Worcester Massachusetts. His mother was Fannie Hoyt and his father was Nahum Goddard. As a child Robert was not the best student he missed many days of school in high school. However, he was very successful in college and was considered ahead of his time.
He attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where he came up with his first ideas of the liquid fueled rocket, but could not experiment and received his Bachelor of Science in 1908. From there he went to Clark university taught physics and began his experiments on rockets. Where he experimented for many years. In 1915 he began testing the efficiency of the rockets. And because no one saw promise in his work he was considering giving up, but he didn’t give up he kept going. In 1916 he sent a letter to the Smithsonian Institution describing his rocket experiments and requesting funds so he could continue his work.
This letter consisted of facts and equations that showed the rocket could be a possibility. One year after writing the letter in 1917 Robert received a $5,000 grant from the Hodgkins Fund. Without this specific exchange with the Smithsonian the liquid fueled rocket may not have been a possibility, because if he had not made that connection with the Smithsonian, he wouldn’t have gotten the support necessary for the invention of the liquid fueled rocket. The Smithsonian supported and exchanged with Robert for a very long time and not only financially.
Robert continued to experiment make equations and even improve the De Laval nozzle. In 1919 the Smithsonian Institution published “A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes”. and as usual very few people thought any of his methods would even come close to working, but those who did though it could be used to send weather instruments to new heights but he thought bigger, he thought of his rockets completely escaping Earth’s atmosphere. But as usual, no one thought he could do that. However, on March 16, 1926 Robert launched the first liquid fueled rocket.
This rocket was one of the most significant inventions to all of mankind. 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 liquid fueled. This would not have been possible without the De Laval Nozzle. The De Laval Nozzle is an asymmetric hourglass like nozzle that is attached to the end of rockets that creates pressure form liquids burning and creating thrust that sends the rocket upwards.
The De Laval uses the expanding gases from burning fuels and in the pinched part of the middle of the nozzle the gases are pressurized and the pressure creates thrust. Using the De Laval nozzle increased his rocket’s efficiency by 63%. He improved the original design by using a calibrated compressed spring. And a device with that could work in a vacuum such as space. However, no one believed that his invention could even work, let alone travel in space. But his same design was used in the rocket that sent the first humans to the moon.
Three years later, on July 17, 1929 he tested the first rocket to carry scientific instruments with a barometer and camera on it. That rocket got a lot of press so he got more funds and was able to experiment even further with his rockets. In the 1930’s he and a team worked in relative secrecy in an almost isolated area in Roswell, New Mexico they moved their work there because of safety hazards. He used a new gyroscopic system and by mid 1930’s his rockets broke the sound barrier and could travel to heights up to 1. 4 miles.
But in 1931 the german army was starting to research and create a long range missile powered by liquid propellants. Goddard unknowingly assisted them in this by answering telephone questions from german engineers. In 1936 Robert began production on K and L rockets that were massive and meant to reach extremely high altitudes. His inventions also led to creations of many other things such as German V-2 missiles, steering by means of vanes in the jet stream of the rocket motor, gimbal-steering, power-driven fuel pumps and other devices. Robert also developed and demonstrated the idea of the “Bazooka”.
When World War II started he offered his services and was assigned to the development of practical jet assisted takeoff and liquid propellant rocket motors capable of variable thrust. In both areas, he was successful. After the Nazis surrendered her examine German V-2’s and identified many of the components as his own inventions from when he accidentally helped the Germans create a missile. Sadly he did not get to see his dream come true of a the first rocket to go to space which was the Sputnik on on October 4, 1957 And although he died August 10, 1945 of throat cancer his work still made great contributions to technology.
He is credited with 214 patents 131 filed after his death. Most of his inventions, however did not get fame during his lifetime, but after he died, he is recognized as the father of modern rocketry. And in the late 1960’s Robert Goddard’s liquid fueled rocket was made huge his design helped NASA create a rocket that sent 3 men into space. And without that design most of the exploration of space may have only been a dream. And things in space (telescopes, satellites, Spaceships etc,) might not have been possible without Robert Goddard and his inventions. His inventions affect technology to today in rocket science and in other studies.
