Robert H. Goddard

Robert H. Goddard
Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882–1945)
Born	Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-10-05)October 5, 1882 Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S.
Died	August 10, 1945(1945-08-10) (aged 62) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Cause of death	Throat cancer
Nationality	American
Education	Worcester Polytechnic Institute Clark University
Occupation	Professor, aerospace engineering, physicist, inventor
Known for	First liquid-fueled rocket
Spouse(s)	Esther Christine Kisk (m. 1924–1945) (1901–1982)
Parent(s)	Fannie Louise Hoyt Nahum Danford Goddard
Awards	Congressional Gold Medal (1959) Langley Gold Medal (1960) Daniel Guggenheim Medal (1964)

Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.^[1] Goddard successfully launched his model on March 16, 1926, ushering in an era of space flight and innovation. He and his team launched 34 rockets^[2] between 1926 and 1941, achieving altitudes as high as 2.6 km (1.6 mi) and speeds as fast as 885 km/h (550 mph).^[2]

Goddard's work as both theorist and engineer anticipated many of the developments that were to make spaceflight possible.^[3] He has been called the man who ushered in the Space Age.^[4]:xiii Two of Goddard's 214 patented inventions—a multi-stage rocket (1914), and a liquid-fuel rocket (1914)—were important milestones toward spaceflight.^[5] His 1919 monograph A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes is considered one of the classic texts of 20th-century rocket science.^[6][7] Goddard successfully applied three-axis control, gyroscopes and steerable thrust to rockets to effectively control their flight.

Although his work in the field was revolutionary, Goddard received very little public support for his research and development work. The press sometimes ridiculed his theories of spaceflight. As a result, he became protective of his privacy and his work. Years after his death, at the dawn of the Space Age, he came to be recognized as one of the founding fathers of modern rocketry, along with Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, and Hermann Oberth.^{[8][9][10][11][12]} He not only recognized the potential of rockets for atmospheric research, ballistic missiles and space travel but was the first to scientifically study, design and construct the rockets needed to implement those ideas.^[13] NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center was named in Goddard's honor in 1959.

Early life and inspiration

Goddard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Nahum Danford Goddard (1859–1928), a farmer, and Fannie Louise Hoyt (1864–1920). Robert was their only child to survive; a younger son, Richard Henry, was born with a spinal deformity and died before his first birthday.^[14]:16 Goddard's family had roots in New England dating to the late 1600s. Shortly after his birth the family moved to Boston. With a curiosity about nature, he studied the heavens using a telescope from his father and observed the birds flying. Essentially a country boy, he loved the outdoors and hiking with his father on trips to Worcester and became an excellent marksman with a rifle.^[15]:63,64 In 1898 his mother contracted tuberculosis and they moved back to Worcester for the clear air. On Sundays the family attended the Episcopal church, and Robert sang in the choir.^[14]:16

Education and early studies

It has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.

— Robert Goddard, On Taking Things for Granted, 1904.

The young Goddard was a thin and frail boy, almost always in fragile health. He suffered from stomach problems, pleurisy, colds and bronchitis, and fell two years behind his classmates. He became a voracious reader, regularly visiting the local public library to borrow books on the physical sciences.^[14]:16,19

First patents

In the decades around 1910, radio was a new technology, fertile for innovation. In 1912, while working at Princeton University, Goddard investigated the effects of radio waves on insulators.^[22] In order to generate radio-frequency power, he invented a vacuum tube that operated like a cathode-ray oscillator tube. U.S. Patent 1,159,209 was issued on November 2, 1915. This was the first use of a vacuum tube to amplify a signal, preceding even Lee de Forest's claim.^{[14]:55[23][24]}

By 1912 he had in his spare time, using calculus, developed the mathematics which allowed him to calculate the position and velocity of a rocket in vertical flight, given the weight of the rocket and weight of the propellant and the velocity (with respect to the rocket frame) of the exhaust gases. His first goal was to build a sounding rocket with which to study the atmosphere. Not only would such investigation aid meteorology, but it was necessary to determine temperature, density and wind speed in order to design efficient space launch vehicles. He was very reluctant to admit that his ultimate goal was in fact to develop a vehicle for flights into space, since most scientists, especially in the United States, did not consider such a goal to be a realistic or practical scientific pursuit, nor was the public yet ready to seriously consider such ideas. Later, in 1933, Goddard said that "[I]n no case must we allow ourselves to be deterred from the achievement of space travel, test by test and step by step, until one day we succeed, cost what it may."^{[15]:65,67,74,101}

Unfortunately, in early 1913, Goddard became seriously ill with tuberculosis and had to leave his position at Princeton. He then returned to Worcester, where he began a prolonged process of recovery. His doctors did not expect him to live. He decided he should spend time outside in the fresh air and walk for exercise, and he gradually improved.^[14]:61–64 When his nurse discovered some of his notes in his bed, he kept them, arguing,"I have to live to do this work."^[15]:66

It was during this period of recuperation, however, that Goddard began to produce some of his most important work. As his symptoms subsided, he allowed himself to work an hour per day with his notes made at Princeton. In the technological and manufacturing atmosphere of Worcester, patents were considered essential, not only to protect original work, but as documentation of first discovery. He began to see the importance of his ideas as intellectual property, and thus began to secure those ideas before someone else did—and he would have to pay to use them. In May 1913, he wrote concerning his first rocket patent applications. His father brought them to a patent lawyer in a firm in Worcester, who helped him to refine his ideas for consideration. Goddard's first patent application was submitted in October 1913.^[14]:63–70

In 1914, his first two landmark patents were accepted and registered. The first, U.S. Patent 1,102,653, described a multi-stage rocket fueled with a solid "explosive material." The second, U.S. Patent 1,103,503, described a rocket fueled with a solid fuel (explosive material) or with liquid propellants (gasoline and liquid nitrous oxide). The two patents would eventually become important milestones in the history of rocketry.^[25][26] Overall, he published 214 patents, some posthumously by his wife.

Early rocketry research

In the fall of 1914, Goddard's health had improved, and he accepted a part-time position as an instructor and research fellow at Clark University.^[14]:73 His position at Clark allowed him to further his rocketry research. He ordered numerous supplies that could be used to build rocket prototypes for launch and spent much of 1915 in preparation for his first tests. Goddard's first test launch of a powder rocket came on an early evening in 1915 following his daytime classes at Clark.^[14]:74 The launch was loud and bright enough to arouse the alarm of the campus janitor, and Goddard had to reassure him that his experiments, while being serious study, were also quite harmless. After this incident, Goddard took his experiments inside the physics lab, in order to limit any disturbance.

At the Clark physics lab, Goddard conducted static tests of powder rockets to measure their thrust and efficiency. He found his earlier estimates to be verified; powder rockets were converting only about 2 percent of their fuel into thrust. At this point he applied de Laval nozzles, which were generally used with steam turbine engines, and these greatly improved efficiency. (Of the several definitions of rocket efficiency, Goddard measured in his laboratory what is today called the internal efficiency of the engine: the ratio of the kinetic energy of the exhaust gases to the available thermal energy of combustion, expressed as a percentage.)^[27]:130 By mid-summer of 1915, Goddard had obtained an average efficiency of 40 percent with a nozzle exit velocity of 6728 feet (2051 meters) per second.^[14]:75 Connecting a combustion chamber full of gunpowder to various converging-diverging expansion nozzles, Goddard was able in static tests to achieve engine efficiencies of more than 63% and exhaust velocities of over 7000 feet (2134 meters) per second.^[14]:78 Few would recognize it at the time, but this little engine was a major breakthrough. These experiments suggested that rockets could be made powerful enough to escape Earth and travel into space. This engine, and subsequent experiments sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution, were the beginning of modern rocketry and, ultimately, space exploration.^[28] Goddard realized, however, that it would take the more efficient liquid propellants to reach space.^[29]

Later that year, Goddard designed an elaborate experiment at the Clark physics lab and proved that a rocket would perform in a vacuum such as that in space. He believed it would, but many other scientists were not yet convinced.^[30] His experiment demonstrated that a rocket's performance actually decreases under atmospheric pressure.

From 1916 to 1917, Goddard built and tested experimental ion thrusters, which he thought might be used for propulsion in the near-vacuum conditions of outer space. The small glass engines he built were tested at atmospheric pressure, where they generated a stream of ionized air.^[31]

A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes

In 1919 Goddard thought that it would be premature to disclose the results of his experiments because his engine was not sufficiently developed. Dr. Webster realized that Goddard had accomplished a good deal of fine work and insisted that Goddard publish his progress so far or he would take care of it himself, so Goddard asked the Smithsonian Institution if it would publish the report he had submitted in late 1916.^[14]:102

In late 1919, the Smithsonian published Goddard's groundbreaking work, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. The report describes Goddard's mathematical theories of rocket flight, his experiments with solid-fuel rockets, and the possibilities he saw of exploring Earth's atmosphere and beyond. Along with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's earlier work, The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices,^[35] which was not widely disseminated outside Russia, ^[36] Goddard's book is regarded as one of the pioneering works of the science of rocketry, and 1750 copies were distributed worldwide.^[37]

Goddard described extensive experiments with solid-fuel rocket engines burning high grade nitrocellulose smokeless powder. A critical breakthrough was the use of the steam turbine nozzle invented by the Swedish inventor Gustaf de Laval. The de Laval nozzle allows the most efficient (isentropic) conversion of the energy of hot gases into forward motion.^[38] By means of this nozzle, Goddard increased the efficiency of his rocket engines from two percent to 64 percent and obtained supersonic exhaust velocities of over Mach 7.^[17]:44[39]

Though most of this work dealt with the theoretical and experimental relations between propellant, rocket mass, thrust, and velocity, a final section, entitled "Calculation of minimum mass required to raise one pound to an 'infinite' altitude," discussed the possible uses of rockets, not only to reach the upper atmosphere but to escape from Earth's gravitation altogether.^[40] He determined that a rocket with an effective exhaust velocity (see specific impulse) of 7000 feet per second and an initial weight of 602 pounds would be able to send a one-pound payload to an infinite height. 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 discussed the matter seriously, down to an estimate of the amount of powder required. Goddard's conclusion was that a rocket with starting mass of 3.21 tons could produce a flash "just visible" from Earth, assuming a final payload weight of 10.7 pounds.^[27]

Goddard eschewed publicity, because he did not have time to reply to criticism of his work, and his imaginative ideas about space travel were shared only with private groups he trusted. He did, though, publish and talk about the rocket principle and sounding rockets, since these subjects were not too "far out." In a letter to the Smithsonian, dated March 1920, he discussed: photographing the Moon and planets from rocket-powered fly-by probes, sending messages to distant civilizations on inscribed metal plates, the use of solar energy in space, and the idea of high-velocity ion propulsion. In that same letter, Goddard clearly describes the concept of the ablative heat shield, suggesting the landing apparatus be covered with "layers of a very infusible hard substance with layers of a poor heat conductor between" designed to erode in the same way as the surface of a meteor.^[41]

First liquid-fueled flight

First static tests

Robert Goddard, bundled against the cold weather of March 16, 1926, holds the launching frame of his most notable invention — the first liquid-fueled rocket.

Goddard began experimenting with liquid oxidizer, liquid fuel rockets in September 1921, and successfully tested the first liquid propellant engine in November 1923.^[27]:520 It had a cylindrical combustion chamber, using impinging jets to mix and atomize liquid oxygen and gasoline.^{[27]:499–500}

In 1924–25, Goddard had problems developing a high-pressure piston pump to send fuel to the combustion chamber. He wanted to scale up the experiments, but his funding would not allow such growth. He decided to forego the pumps and use a pressurized fuel feed system applying pressure to the fuel tank from a tank of inert gas, a technique used today. The liquid oxygen, some of which evaporated, provided its own pressure.

On December 6, 1925, he tested the simpler pressure feed system. He conducted a static test on the firing stand at the Clark University physics laboratory. The engine successfully lifted its own weight in a 27-second test in the static rack. It was a major success for Goddard, proving that a liquid fuel rocket was possible.^[14]:140 The test moved Goddard an important step closer to launching a rocket with liquid fuel.

Goddard conducted an additional test in December, and two more in January 1926. After that, he began preparing for a possible launch of the rocket system.

Lindbergh and Goddard

After a launch of one of Goddard's rockets in July 1929 again gained the attention of the newspapers,^[56] Charles Lindbergh learned of his work in a New York Times article. At the time, Lindbergh had begun to wonder what would become of aviation (even space flight) in the distant future and had settled on jet propulsion and rocket flight as a probable next step. After checking with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and being assured that Goddard was a bona fide physicist and not a crackpot, he phoned Goddard in November 1929.^[17]:141 Professor Goddard met the aviator soon after, in his office at Clark University.^[57] Upon meeting Goddard, Lindbergh was immediately impressed by his research, and Goddard was similarly impressed by the flier's interest. He discussed his work openly with Lindbergh, forming an alliance that would last for the rest of his life. While having long since become reticent to share his ideas, Goddard showed complete openness with those few who shared his dream, and whom he felt he could trust.^[57]

By late 1929, Goddard had been attracting additional notoriety with each rocket launch. He was finding it increasingly difficult to conduct his research without unwanted distractions. Lindbergh discussed finding additional financing for Goddard's work, and lent his famous name to Goddard's work. In 1930 Lindbergh made several proposals to industry and private investors for funding, which proved all but impossible to find following the recent U.S. stock market crash in October 1929.^[57]

Roswell, New Mexico

Charles Lindbergh took this picture of Robert H. Goddard's rocket, when he peered down the launching tower on September 23, 1935, in Roswell, New Mexico.

Goddard towing a rocket in Roswell

With new financial backing, Goddard eventually relocated to Roswell, New Mexico, in summer of 1930,^[62]:46 where he worked with his team of technicians in near-isolation and relative secrecy for years. He had consulted a meteorologist as to the best area to do his work, and Roswell seemed ideal. Here they would not endanger anyone, would not be bothered by the curious, and would experience a more moderate climate (which was also better for Goddard's health).^[14]:177 The locals valued personal privacy, knew Goddard desired his, and when travelers asked where Goddard's facilities were located, they would likely be misdirected.^[14]:261

By September 1931, his rockets had the now familiar appearance of a smooth casing with tail-fins. He began experimenting with gyroscopic guidance, and made a flight test of such a system in April 1932. A gyroscope mounted on gimbals electrically controlled steering vanes in the exhaust, similar to the system used by the German V-2 over 10 years later. Though the rocket crashed after a short ascent, the guidance system had worked, and Goddard considered the test a success.^[14]:193–5

A temporary loss of funding from the Guggenheims, as a result of the depression, forced Goddard in spring of 1932 to return to Clark University until the autumn of 1934, when funding resumed. Upon his return to Roswell, he began work on his A series of rockets, 4 to 4.5 meters long, and powered by gasoline and liquid oxygen pressurized with nitrogen. The gyroscopic control system was housed in the middle of the rocket, between the propellant tanks.^{[4]:xv,15–46}

The A-4 used a simpler pendulum system for guidance, as the gyroscopic system was being repaired. On March 8, 1935 it flew up to 1,000 feet, then turned into the wind and, Goddard reported, "roared in a powerful descent across the prairie, at close to, or at, the speed of sound." On March 28, 1935, the A-5 successfully flew vertically to an altitude of (0.91 mi; 4,800 ft) using his gyroscopic guidance system. It then turned to a nearly horizontal path, flew 13,000 feet and achieved a maximum speed of 550 miles per hour. Goddard was elated because the guidance system kept the rocket on a vertical path so well.^{[14]:208[27]:978–9}

In 1936–1939, Goddard began work on the K and L series rockets, which were much more massive and designed to reach very high altitude. The K series consisted of static bench tests of a more powerful engine, achieving a thrust of 624 lbs.in February 1936.^[59] This work was plagued by trouble with chamber burn-through. In 1923, Goddard had built a regeneratively cooled engine, which circulated liquid oxygen around the outside of the combustion chamber, but he deemed the idea too complicated. He then used a curtain cooling method that involved spraying excess gasoline, which evaporated around the inside wall of the combustion chamber, but this scheme did not work well, and the larger rockets failed. Returning to a smaller design, the L-13 reached an altitude of 2.7 kilometers (1.7 mi; 8,900 ft), the highest of any of Goddard's rockets. Weight was reduced by using thin-walled fuel tanks wound with high-tensile-strength wire.^[4]:71–148

Goddard experimented with many of the features of today's large rockets, such as multiple combustion chambers and nozzles. In November, 1936, he flew the world's first rocket (L-7) with multiple chambers, hoping to increase thrust without increasing the size of a single chamber. It had four combustion chambers, reached a height of 200 feet, and corrected its vertical path using blast vanes until one chamber burned through. This flight demonstrated that a rocket with multiple combustion chambers could fly stably and be easily guided.^[4]:96

From 1940 to 1941, work was done on the P series of rockets, which used propellant turbopumps (also powered by gasoline and liquid oxygen). The lightweight pumps produced higher propellant pressures, permitting a more powerful engine (greater thrust) and a lighter structure (lighter tanks and no pressurization tank), but two launches both ended in crashes after reaching an altitude of only a few hundred feet. The turbopumps worked well, however, and Goddard was pleased.^{[4]:187–215}

When Goddard mentioned the need for turbopumps, Harry Guggenheim suggested that he contact pump manufacturers to aid him. None were interested, as the development cost of these miniature pumps was prohibitive. Goddard's team was therefore left on its own and from September 1938 to June 1940 designed and tested the small turbopumps and gas generators to operate the turbines. Esther later said that the pump tests were "the most trying and disheartening phase of the research."^[14]:274–5

Goddard was able to flight-test many of his rockets, but many resulted in what the uninitiated would call failures, usually resulting from engine malfunction or loss of control. Goddard did not consider them failures, however, because he felt that he always learned something from a test.^[62]:45 Most of his work involved static tests, which are a standard procedure today, before a flight test.

Launch history

Between 1926 and 1941, the following 35 rockets were launched:^[2]

Date	Type	Altitude in feet	Altitude in metres	Flight duration	Notes
March 16, 1926	Goddard 1	41	12.5	2.5 s	first liquid rocket launch
April 3, 1926	Goddard 1	49	15	4.2 s	record altitude
December 26, 1928	Goddard 3	16	5	unknown
July 17, 1929	Goddard 3	90	27	5.5 s	record altitude
December 30, 1930	Goddard 4	2000	610	unknown	record altitude
September 29, 1931	Goddard 4	180	55	9.6 s
October 13, 1931	Goddard 4	1700	520	unknown
October 27, 1931	Goddard 4	1330	410	unknown
April 19, 1932	-	135	41	5 s
February 16, 1935	A series	650	200	unknown
March 8, 1935	A series	1000	300	12 s
March 28, 1935	A series	4800	1460	20 s	record altitude
May 31, 1935	A series	7500	2300	unknown	record altitude
June 25, 1935	A series	120	37	10 s
July 12, 1935	A series	6600	2000	14 s
October 29, 1935	A series	4000	1220	12 s
July 31, 1936	L series, Section A	200	60	5 s
October 3, 1936	L-A	200	60	5 s
November 7, 1936	L-A	200	60	unknown
December 18, 1936	L series, Section B	3	1	unknown	Veered horizontally immediately after launch
February 1, 1937	L-B	1870	570	20.5 s
February 27, 1937	L-B	1500	460	20 s
March 26, 1937	L-B	8000-9000[3]:340	2500–2700	22.3 s	Highest altitude achieved
April 22, 1937	L-B	6560	2000	21.5 s
May 19, 1937	L-B	3250	990	29.5 s
July 28, 1937	L-series, Section C	2055	630	28 s
August 26, 1937	L-C	2000	600	unknown
November 24, 1937	L-C	100	30	unknown
March 6, 1938	L-C	525	160	unknown
March 17, 1938	L-C	2170	660	15 s
April 20, 1938	L-C	4215	1260	25.3 s
May 26, 1938	L-C	140	40	unknown
August 9, 1938	L-C	4920 (visual) 3294 (barograph)	1500 1000	unknown
August 9, 1940	P-series, Section C	300	90	unknown
May 8, 1941	P-C	250	80	unknown

Some of the parts of Goddard's rockets

Annapolis, Maryland

Navy Lieutenant Charles F. Fischer, who had visited Goddard in Roswell earlier and gained his confidence, believed Goddard was doing valuable work and was able to convince the Bureau of Aeronautics in September 1941 that Goddard could build the JATO unit the Navy desired. While still in Roswell, and before the Navy contract took effect, Goddard began in September to apply his technology to build a variable-thrust engine to be attached to a PBY seaplane. By May 1942 he had a unit that could meet the Navy's requirements and be able to launch a heavily loaded aircraft from a short runway. In February he received part of a PBY with bullet holes apparently acquired in the Pearl Harbor attack. Goddard wrote to Guggenheim that "I can think of nothing that would give me greater satisfaction than to have it contribute to the inevitable retaliation."^{[14]:322,328–9,331,335,337}

In April Fischer notified Goddard that the Navy wanted to do all its rocket work at the Engineering Experiment Station at Annapolis. Esther, worried that a move to the climate of Maryland would cause Robert's health to deteriorate faster, objected. But the patriotic Goddard replied, "Esther, don't you know there's a war on?" Fischer also questioned the move, as Goddard could work just as well in Roswell. Goddard simply answered, "I was wondering when you would ask me." Fischer had wanted to offer him something bigger—a long range missile—but JATO was all he could manage, hoping for a greater project later.^[14]:338,9 It was a case of a square peg in a round hole, according to a disappointed Goddard.^[17]:209

Goddard and his team had already been in Annapolis a month and had tested his constant-thrust JATO engine when he received a Navy telegram, forwarded from Roswell, ordering him to Annapolis. Lt. Fischer asked for a crash effort. By August his engine was producing 800 lbs of thrust for 20 seconds, and Fischer was anxious to try it on a PBY. On the sixth test run, with all bugs worked out, the PBY, piloted by Fischer, was pushed into the air from the Severn River. Fischer landed and prepared to launch again. Goddard had wanted to check the unit, but radio contact with the PBY had been lost. On the seventh try the engine caught fire. The plane was 150 feet up when flight was aborted. Because Goddard had installed a safety feature at the last minute there was no explosion and no lives were lost. The problem's cause was traced to hasty installation and rough handling. Cheaper, safer solid fuel JATO engines were eventually selected by the armed forces. An engineer later said, "Putting [Goddard's] rocket on a seaplane was like hitching an eagle to a plow."^{[14]:344–50}

Despite Goddard's efforts to convince the Navy that liquid-fueled rockets had greater potential, he said that the Navy had no interest in long-range missiles.^[27]:1554 However, the Navy asked him to perfect the throttleable JATO engine. Goddard made improvements to the engine, and in November it was demonstrated to the Navy and some officials from Washington. Fischer invited the spectators to operate the controls; the engine blasted out over the Severn at full throttle with no hesitation, idled, and roared again at various thrust levels. The test was perfect, exceeding the Navy's requirements. The unit was able to be stopped and restarted, and it produced a medium thrust of 600 pounds for 15 seconds and a full thrust of 1,000 pounds for over 15 seconds. A Navy Commander commented that "It was like being Thor, playing with thunderbolts." Goddard had produced the essential propulsion control system of the rocket plane. The Goddards celebrated by attending the Army-Navy football game and attending the Fischers' cocktail party.^[27]:350–1 This engine was the basis of the Curtiss-Wright XLR25-CW-1 two-chamber, 15,000-pound thrust engine that powered the Bell X-2 research rocket plane. After World War II Goddard's team and some patents went to Curtiss-Wright Corporation. "Although his death in August 1945 prevented him from participating in the actual development of this engine, it was a direct descendent of his design."^[27]:1606 In September 1956 the X-2 was the first plane to reach 126,000 feet altitude and in its last flight exceeded Mach 3 (3.2) before losing control and crashing. The X-2 program advanced technology in areas such as steel alloys and aerodynamics at high Mach numbers.^[71]

V-2

In the spring of 1945, Goddard saw a captured German V-2 ballistic missile, in the naval laboratory in Annapolis, Maryland, where he had been working under contract. The unlaunched rocket had been captured by the US Army from the Mittelwerk factory in the Harz mountains, and samples began to be shipped by Special Mission V-2 on 22 May 1945.^[66]

After a thorough inspection, Goddard was convinced that the Germans had "stolen" his work. Though the design details were not exactly the same, the basic design of the V-2 was similar to one of Goddard's rockets. The V-2, however, was technically far more advanced than the most successful of the rockets designed and tested by Goddard. The Peenemünde rocket group led by Wernher von Braun may have benefited from the pre-1939 contacts to a limited extent,^[14]:387–8 but had also started from the work of their own space pioneer, Hermann Oberth; they also had the benefit of intensive state funding, large-scale production facilities (using slave labor), and repeated flight-testing that allowed them to refine their designs. Oberth was a theorist and had never built a rocket or a working engine.

Nevertheless, in 1963, von Braun, reflecting on the history of rocketry, said of Goddard: "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".^[73] He once recalled that "Goddard's experiments in liquid fuel saved us years of work, and enabled us to perfect the V-2 years before it would have been possible."^[74] After World War II von Braun reviewed Goddard's patents and believed they contained enough technical information to build a large missile.^[75]

Three features developed by Goddard appeared in the V-2: (1) turbopumps were used to inject fuel into the combustion chamber; (2) gyroscopically controlled vanes in the nozzle stabilized the rocket until external vanes in the air could do so; and (3) excess alcohol was fed in around the combustion chamber walls, so that a blanket of evaporating gas protected the engine walls from the combustion heat. ^[76]

The Germans had been watching Goddard's progress before the war and became convinced that large, liquid fuel rockets were feasible. General Walter Dornberger, head of the V-2 project, used the idea that they were in a race with the U.S. and that Goddard had "disappeared" (to work with the Navy) to persuade Hitler to raise the priority of the V-2. It was a strategic mistake, however, to expend an estimated one-half billion war-era-dollars (not counting slave labor) for a terror weapon that did not create the fear desired and lacked the accuracy to be very effective against military targets. Resources could have been better used on existing, or new more effective, weapons.^[67]

Goddard's secrecy

Goddard avoided sharing details of his work with other scientists, and preferred to work alone with his technicians. Frank Malina, who was then studying rocketry at the California Institute of Technology, visited Goddard in August 1936. Goddard hesitated to discuss any of his research, other than that which had already been published in Liquid-Propellant Rocket Development. Theodore von Kármán, Malina's mentor at the time, was unhappy with Goddard's attitude and later wrote, "Naturally we at Caltech wanted as much information as we could get from Goddard for our mutual benefit. But Goddard believed in secrecy.... The trouble with secrecy is that one can easily go in the wrong direction and never know it." ^[77]:90 However, at an earlier point von Kármán said that Malina was "highly enthusiastic" after his visit and that Caltech made changes to their liquid-propellant rocket, based on Goddard's work and patents. Malina remembered his visit as friendly and that he saw all but a few components in Goddard's shop.^[17]:178

Goddard's concerns about secrecy led to criticism for failure to cooperate with other scientists and engineers. His approach at that time was that independent development of his ideas without interference would bring quicker results even though he received less technical support. George Sutton, who became a rocket scientist working with von Braun's team in the late 1940s, said that he and his fellow workers had not heard of Goddard or his contributions, and that they would have saved time if they had known the details of his work. Sutton admits that it may have been their fault for not looking for Goddard's patents and depending on the German team for knowledge and guidance; he wrote that information about the patents was not well distributed in the U.S. at that early period, though Germany and the Soviet Union had copies of some of them. (The Patent Office did not release rocket patents during World War II.)^[55] However, the Aerojet Engineering Corporation, an offshoot of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech (GALCIT), filed two patent applications in Sep 1943 referencing Goddard's U.S. Patent 1,102,653 for the multistage rocket.

By 1939, von Kármán's GALCIT had received Army Air Corps funding to develop rockets to assist in aircraft take-off. Goddard learned of this in 1940, and openly expressed his displeasure at not being considered.^[77] Malina could not understand why the Army did not arrange for an exchange of information between Goddard and Caltech, since both were under government contract at the same time. Goddard did not think he could be of that much help to Caltech because they were designing rockets with solid fuel, while he was using liquid fuels.

Goddard was concerned with avoiding the public criticism and ridicule he had faced in the 1920s, which he believed had harmed his professional reputation. He also lacked interest in discussions with people who had less understanding of rocketry than he did,^[14]:171 feeling that his time was extremely constrained.^[14]:23 Goddard's health was frequently poor, as a result of his earlier bout of tuberculosis, and he was uncertain about how long he had to live. He felt, therefore, that he hadn't the time to spare arguing with other scientists and the press about his new field of research, or helping all the amateur rocketeers who wrote to him.^{[14]:61,71,110–11,114–15} In 1932 Goddard wrote to H. G. Wells:

How many more years I shall be able to work on the problem, I do not know; I hope, as long as I live. There can be no thought of finishing, for "aiming at the stars", both literally and figuratively, is a problem to occupy generations, so that no matter how much progress one makes, there is always the thrill of just beginning.^[15]

Goddard spoke to professional groups, published articles and papers and patented his ideas; but while he discussed basic principles, he was unwilling to reveal the details of his designs until he had flown rockets to high altitudes and thus proven his theory.^[14]:115 He tended to avoid any mention of space flight, and spoke only of high-altitude research, since he believed that other scientists regarded the subject as unscientific.^[14]:116

However, Goddard's tendency to secrecy was not absolute, nor was he totally uncooperative. In 1945 GALCIT was building the WAC Corporal for the Army but was having trouble with the rocket's engine performance. Frank Malina went to Annapolis and consulted with Goddard and they arrived at a solution to the liquid propellant problem, which resulted in the successful launch of the high-altitude research rocket.^[78]

During the First and Second World Wars, Goddard offered his services, patents and technology to the military, and made some significant contributions. Just before the Second World War several young Army officers, and some higher-ranking ones, believed Goddard's research was important but were unable to generate funds for his work.^[58]

Toward the end of his life, Goddard, realizing he was no longer going to be able to make significant progress alone in his field, joined the American Rocket Society and became a director. He made plans to work in the budding US aerospace industry (with Curtiss-Wright), taking most of his team with him.^[14]:382,385

Personal life

On June 21, 1924, Goddard married Esther Christine Kisk (March 31, 1901 – June 4, 1982),^[79] a secretary in Clark University's President's office, whom he had met in 1919. She became enthusiastic about rocketry and photographed some of his work as well as aided him in his experiments and paperwork, including accounting. They enjoyed going to the movies in Roswell and participated in community organizations such as the Rotary and the Woman's Club. He painted the New Mexican scenery, sometimes with artist Peter Hurd, and played the piano. She played bridge, while he read. Esther said Robert participated in the community, and readily accepted invitations to speak to church and service groups. The couple did not have children. After his death, she sorted out Goddard's papers, and secured 131 additional patents on his work.^[80]

Concerning Goddard's religious views, he was raised as an Episcopalian, though he was not outwardly religious.^[81] The Goddards were associated with the Episcopal church in Roswell, and he attended occasionally. He once spoke to a young people's group on the relationship of science and religion.^[14]:224

Goddard's serious bout with tuberculosis weakened his lungs, affecting his ability to work, and was one reason he liked to work alone, in order to avoid argument, and confrontation with others and use his time fruitfully. He labored with the prospect of a shorter than average life span. After arriving in Roswell, Goddard applied for life insurance, but when the company doctor examined him he said that Goddard belonged in a bed in Switzerland (where he could get the best care).^[14]:183 Goddard's health began to deteriorate further after moving to the humid climate of Maryland to work for the Navy. He was diagnosed with throat cancer in 1945. He continued to work, able to speak only in a whisper, until surgery was required, and he died in August of that year in Baltimore, Maryland.^{[14]:377,395[82]} He was buried in Hope Cemetery in his home town of Worcester, Massachusetts.^[83]

Legacy

Influence

• Goddard was credited with 214 patents for his work; 131 of these were awarded after his death.^[84]
• Goddard influenced several people who went on to do significant work in the U.S. space program, such as Robert Truax (USN), Milton Rosen (Naval Research Laboratory and NASA), astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Jim Lovell, NASA flight controller Gene Kranz, astrodynamicist Samuel Herrick (UCLA), and General Jimmy Doolittle (US Army and NACA).^[58]
• Goddard received the Langley Gold Medal from the Smithsonian Institution in 1960, and the Congressional Gold Medal in September 16, 1959.^[13]
• The Goddard Space Flight Center, a NASA facility in Greenbelt, Maryland, was established in 1959. The crater Goddard on the Moon is also named in his honor.^[85]
• The Dr. Robert H. Goddard Collection and the Robert Goddard Exhibition Room are housed in the Archives and Special Collections area of Clark University's Robert H. Goddard Library.
• Robert H. Goddard High School was completed in 1965 in Roswell, New Mexico, and dedicated by Esther Goddard; the school's mascot is titled "Rockets".^[86]
• Robert H. Goddard Middle School is in Glendora, California. Their mascot is the "Titan", but not the Titan of Greek mythology--the Titan Rocket.
• A small memorial with a statue of Goddard is located at the site where Goddard launched the first liquid-propelled rocket, now the Pakachoag golf course in Auburn, Massachusetts.
• Release 13 of the Linux distribution Fedora is named after Goddard.
• The television series Star Trek: The Next Generation had a shuttlecraft named after Goddard.
• The robotic dog companion of the titular character in the American computer animated television series The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius is named after Goddard.
• Goddard is a character in some written works of alternate history, including Harry Turtledove's Worldwar series and Allen M. Steele's V-S Day.
• Goddard Ave. in Norman, Oklahoma is named in his honor.
• Goddard Park in Auburn, Massachusetts is named in his honor, the park has two rockets and is adjacent to the Auburn Public Library.
• Goddard Drive, the main road through Malmstrom Air Force Base, is named in his honor.
• New Goddard prototype experimental reusable vertical launch and landing rocket from Blue Origin is named after Goddard.^[87]
• Bottle Rocket, an ale made by the Wormtown Brewery of Worcester, Massachusetts is named in Robert Goddard's honor.^[88]

Robert Goddard honored on a U.S. airmail stamp 

Bronze plaque in Auburn, Massachusetts marking the town in which Dr. Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926. 

Insignia of the 50th Anniversary of the Goddard Space Flight Center, a NASA facility in Maryland 

Robert H. Goddard High School in Roswell, New Mexico. 

Quotations

• "It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." (From his high school graduation oration, "On Taking Things for Granted", June 1904)
• "On the afternoon of October 19, 1899, I climbed a tall cherry tree and, armed with a saw which I still have, and a hatchet, started to trim the dead limbs from the cherry tree. It was one of the quiet, colorful afternoons of sheer beauty which we have in October in New England, and as I looked towards the fields at the east, I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars. I was a different boy when I descended the tree from when I ascended for existence at last seemed very purposive." (Written later, in an autobiographical sketch)
• "Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace."^[42][43] (His response to a reporter's question following criticism in The New York Times, 1920)
• "It is not a simple matter to differentiate unsuccessful from successful experiments. . . .[Most] work that is finally successful is the result of a series of unsuccessful tests in which difficulties are gradually eliminated."^[14]:274 (Written to a correspondent, early 1940s)

Timeline

• 1882 Birth in Worcester, Massachusetts
• Goddard in the 1900 US Census living with his grandmother
• 1908 Wrote Old Tech, a musical composition^[90]
• 1908 Graduation from Worcester Polytechnic Institute
• 1919 A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes published
• 1920 Report in The New York Times on January 12
• 1924 Marriage to Esther Christine Kisk on June 21
• 1926 First rocket launched from Auburn, Massachusetts, on March 26
• 1930 Moved to Mescalero Ranch, Roswell, New Mexico
• 1945 Death from throat cancer in Baltimore, Maryland
• 1966 Inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame
• 1969 Inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame, on September 26

See also

• Robert Esnault-Pelterie
• Sergey Korolev
• Pedro Paulet
• Vikram Sarabhai
• Konstantin Tsiolkovsky
• U.S. space exploration history on U.S. stamps

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Robert Goddard.

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Robert Goddard

• The short film "The Dream That Wouldn't Down (1965)" is available for free download at the Internet Archive
• Time magazine profile of Robert H. Goddard
• FAQ on Goddard
• Robert Goddard Wing of the Roswell Museum
• NASA.Robert H. Goddard: American Rocket Pioneer
• Dr. Robert H. Goddard Archives from Clark University
• New York Times; August 11, 1945; Pioneer in Field, Chief of Navy Research on Jet-Propelled Planes, Taught Physics Experimented Three Decades Secret Work During War. Baltimore, August 10, 1945 (AP) Dr. Robert H. Goddard, internationally known pioneer in rocket propulsion and chief of Navy research on jet-propelled planes, died today at University Hospital.
• A Tribute to R H Goddard--Space Pioneer
• NASA MSFC Goddard Rocket Replica Project
• Robert H. Goddard High School
• A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes- Goddard 1919
• Robert Goddard and his rockets
• Robert H. and Esther Goddard Collection at WPI
• Robert H. Goddard's WPI Years