139 Facts About Robert Goddard

Robert Hutchings Goddard was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket.

Robert Goddard has been called the man who ushered in the Space Age.

Two of Robert Goddard's 214 patented inventions, a multi-stage rocket, and a liquid-fuel rocket, were important milestones toward spaceflight.

Robert Goddard successfully pioneered modern methods such as two-axis control to allow rockets to control their flight effectively.

Robert Goddard was a shy person, and rocket research was not considered a suitable pursuit for a physics professor.

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Robert Goddard was inducted into the International Aerospace Hall of Fame in 1966, and the International Space Hall of Fame in 1976.

Robert Goddard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts, to Nahum Danford Robert Goddard and Fannie Louise Hoyt .

Robert Goddard was their only child to survive; a younger son, Richard Henry, was born with a spinal deformity and died before his first birthday.

Robert Goddard had English paternal family roots in New England with William Robert Goddard a London grocer who settled in Watertown, Massachusetts in 1666.

Robert Goddard experimented, believing he could jump higher if the zinc from a battery could be charged by scuffing his feet on the gravel walk.

Robert Goddard developed a fascination with flight, first with kites and then with balloons.

Robert Goddard became a thorough diarist and documenter of his work—a skill that would greatly benefit his later career.

Robert Goddard became interested in space when he read H G Wells' science fiction classic The War of the Worlds at 16 years old.

Robert Goddard was transfixed by the sky, and his imagination grew.

Young Robert Goddard was a thin and frail boy, almost always in fragile health.

Robert Goddard suffered from stomach problems, pleurisy, colds, and bronchitis, and he fell two years behind his classmates.

Robert Goddard became a voracious reader, regularly visiting the local public library to borrow books on the physical sciences.

Robert Goddard noted how remarkably the birds controlled their flight with their tail feathers, which he called the birds' equivalent of ailerons.

Robert Goddard took exception to some of Langley's conclusions and in 1901 wrote a letter to St Nicholas magazine with his own ideas.

Around this time, Robert Goddard read Newton's Principia Mathematica, and found that Newton's Third Law of Motion applied to motion in space.

Robert Goddard excelled in his coursework, and his peers twice elected him class president.

Robert Goddard quickly impressed the head of the physics department, A Wilmer Duff, with his thirst for knowledge, and Duff took him on as a laboratory assistant and tutor.

At WPI, Robert Goddard joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and began a long courtship with high school classmate Miriam Olmstead, an honor student who had graduated with him as salutatorian.

Robert Goddard spent another year at Clark as an honorary fellow in physics, and in 1912 he accepted a research fellowship at Princeton University's Palmer Physical Laboratory.

Robert Goddard submitted the idea to Scientific American, which published the paper in 1907.

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Robert Goddard later wrote in his diaries that he believed his paper was the first proposal of a way to automatically stabilize aircraft in flight.

Robert Goddard's proposal came around the same time as other scientists were making breakthroughs in developing functional gyroscopes.

Robert Goddard considered centrifugal force, radio waves, magnetic reaction, solar energy, atomic energy, ion or electrostatic propulsion and other methods to reach space.

Robert Goddard had begun to study ways of increasing a rocket's efficiency using methods differing from conventional solid-fuel rockets.

Robert Goddard wrote in his notebook about using liquid hydrogen as a fuel with liquid oxygen as the oxidizer.

In 1912, while working at Princeton University, Robert Goddard investigated the effects of radio waves on insulators.

Robert Goddard accepted only a consultant's fee from Collins when the suit was dropped.

For vertical flight from the surface of Earth Robert Goddard included in his differential equation the effects of gravity and aerodynamic drag.

Robert Goddard 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.

In early 1913, Robert Goddard became seriously ill with tuberculosis and had to leave his position at Princeton.

Robert Goddard then returned to Worcester, where he began a prolonged process of recovery at home.

Robert Goddard decided he should spend time outside in the fresh air and walk for exercise, and he gradually improved.

Robert Goddard was afraid that nobody would be able to read his scribbling should hesuccumb.

Robert Goddard 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.

Robert Goddard's father brought them to a patent lawyer in Worcester who helped him to refine his ideas for consideration.

Robert Goddard ordered numerous supplies that could be used to build rocket prototypes for launch and spent much of 1915 in preparation for his first tests.

The launch was loud and bright enough to arouse the alarm of the campus janitor, and Robert Goddard had to reassure him that his experiments, while being serious study, were quite harmless.

At the Clark physics lab Robert Goddard conducted static tests of powder rockets to measure their thrust and efficiency.

Robert Goddard found his earlier estimates to be verified; powder rockets were converting only about two percent of the thermal energy in their fuel into thrust and kinetic energy.

Robert Goddard realized that it would take the more efficient liquid propellants to reach space.

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Later that year, Robert 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.

Robert Goddard believed it would, but many other scientists were not yet convinced.

Robert Goddard's experiment demonstrated that a rocket's performance actually decreases under atmospheric pressure.

From 1916 to 1917, Robert Goddard built and tested the first known experimental ion thrusters, which he thought might be used for propulsion in the near-vacuum conditions of outer space.

Robert Goddard began to solicit potential sponsors for financial assistance, beginning with the Smithsonian Institution, the National Geographic Society, and the Aero Club of America.

Robert Goddard responded with a detailed manuscript he had already prepared, entitled A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.

Two years later, at the insistence of Dr Arthur G Webster, the world-renowned head of Clark's physics department, Goddard arranged for the Smithsonian to publish the paper, A Method.

Robert Goddard believed his invention had overcome all the obstacles that had previously defeated other scientists and inventors, and he had his findings published in the November 1929 issue of Popular Science.

Robert Goddard believed his rocket research could be applied to many different military applications, including mobile artillery, field weapons and naval torpedoes.

Talks eventually broke down as Robert Goddard began to fear his work might be appropriated by the business.

However, an Army Signal Corps officer tried to make Robert Goddard cooperate, but he was called off by General George Squier of the Signal Corps who had been contacted by Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Charles Walcott.

Robert Goddard proposed to the Army an idea for a tube-based rocket launcher as a light infantry weapon.

In 1919 Robert Goddard thought that it would be premature to disclose the results of his experiments because his engine was not sufficiently developed.

In late 1919, the Smithsonian published Robert Goddard's groundbreaking work, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.

Robert Goddard sent a copy to individuals who requested one, until his personal supply was exhausted.

Robert Goddard described extensive experiments with solid-fuel rocket engines burning high-grade nitrocellulose smokeless powder.

Robert Goddard determined, using an approximate method to solve his differential equation of motion for vertical flight, that a rocket with an effective exhaust velocity 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.

Robert Goddard discussed the matter seriously, down to an estimate of the amount of powder required.

Robert Goddard's conclusion was that a rocket with starting mass of 3.

Robert 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.

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In that same letter, Robert 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.

Basis of that criticism was the then-common belief that thrust was produced by the rocket exhaust pushing against the atmosphere; Robert Goddard realized that Newton's third law was the actual principle and that thrust was possible in a vacuum.

Week after the New York Times editorial, Robert Goddard released a signed statement to the Associated Press, attempting to restore reason to what had become a sensational story:.

In 1924, Robert Goddard published an article, "How my speed rocket can propel itself in vacuum", in Popular Science, in which he explained the physics and gave details of the vacuum experiments he had performed to prove the theory.

Robert Goddard worked alone with just his team of mechanics and machinists for many years.

Robert Goddard became increasingly suspicious of others and often worked alone, except during the two World Wars, which limited the impact of much of his work.

Nevertheless, Robert Goddard had some influence on European rocketry pioneers like Hermann Oberth and his student Max Valier, at least as proponent of the idea of space rocketry and source of inspiration, although each side developed their technology and its scientific basis independently.

Robert Goddard was the foremost experimenter, and his report was responsible for encouraging many to build their own rockets.

Robert Goddard began considering liquid propellants, including hydrogen and oxygen, as early as 1909.

Robert Goddard began experimenting with liquid oxidizer, liquid fuel rockets in September 1921, and successfully tested the first liquid propellant engine in November 1923.

Robert Goddard wanted to scale up the experiments, but his funding would not allow such growth.

Robert Goddard 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 that is still used today.

Robert Goddard conducted a static test on the firing stand at the Clark University physics laboratory.

Robert Goddard conducted an additional test in December, and two more in January 1926.

Robert Goddard determined early that fins alone were not sufficient to stabilize the rocket in flight and keep it on the desired trajectory in the face of winds aloft and other disturbing forces.

Robert Goddard added movable vanes in the exhaust, controlled by a gyroscope, to control and steer his rocket.

Professor Robert Goddard met the aviator soon after in his office at Clark University.

Robert Goddard discussed his work openly with Lindbergh, forming an alliance that would last for the rest of his life.

Robert Goddard was finding it increasingly difficult to conduct his research without unwanted distractions.

Robert Goddard's services were offered, but there was no interest, initially.

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Buzz believed that if Robert Goddard had received military support as Wernher von Braun's team had enjoyed in Germany, American rocket technology would have developed much more rapidly in World War II.

Robert Goddard's liquid-fueled rocket was neglected by his country, according to aerospace historian Eugene Emme, but was noticed and advanced by other nations, especially the Germans.

Robert Goddard showed remarkable prescience in 1923 in a letter to the Smithsonian.

Robert Goddard knew that the Germans were very interested in rocketry and said he "would not be surprised if the research would become something in the nature of a race, " and he wondered how soon the European "theorists" would begin to build rockets.

Robert Goddard had consulted a meteorologist as to the best area to do his work, and Roswell seemed ideal.

The locals valued personal privacy, knew Robert Goddard desired his, and when travelers asked where Robert Goddard's facilities were located, they would likely be misdirected.

Robert Goddard began experimenting with gyroscopic guidance and made a flight test of such a system in April 1932.

Robert Goddard remained at the university until the autumn of 1934, when funding resumed.

Robert Goddard was elated because the guidance system kept the rocket on a vertical path so well.

In 1923, Robert 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.

Robert Goddard 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.

Robert Goddard returned to a smaller design, and his L-13 reached an altitude of 2.

Robert Goddard experimented with many of the features of today's large rockets, such as multiple combustion chambers and nozzles.

From 1940 to 1941, Robert Goddard worked on the P series of rockets, which used propellant turbopumps .

When Robert Goddard mentioned the need for turbopumps, Harry Guggenheim suggested that he contact pump manufacturers to aid him.

Robert 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.

Robert 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.

Robert Goddard did not consider them failures because he felt that he always learned something from a test.

Robert Goddard then wrote a memo, including a rather detailed description of Goddard's rocket.

Robert Goddard was offered the position as first administrator of NASA, but he turned it down.

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Robert Goddard's pace was slower than the Germans' because he did not have the resources they did.

Robert Goddard had built the necessary turbopumps and was on the verge of building larger, lighter, more reliable rockets to reach extreme altitudes carrying scientific instruments when World War II intervened and changed the path of American history.

Robert Goddard hoped to return to his experiments in Roswell after the war.

Robert 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.

Robert Goddard had wanted to check the unit, but radio contact with the PBY had been lost.

Robert Goddard regretfully resigned as Professor of Physics and expressed his deepest appreciation for all Atwood and the Trustees had done for him and indirectly for the war effort.

Station, under Lt Commander Robert Goddard Truax, was developing another JATO engine in 1942 that used hypergolic propellants, eliminating the need for an ignition system.

Robert Goddard's team built the pumps for the aniline fuel and the nitric acid oxidizer and participated in the static testing.

Robert Goddard went to RMI to observe testing of the pump system and would eat lunch with the RMI engineers.

Navy had Robert Goddard build a pump system for Caltech's use with acid-aniline propellants.

Robert Goddard continued to develop the variable-thrust engine with gasoline and lox because of the hazards involved with the hypergolics.

Later, Oberth erroneously believed that Robert Goddard lacked vision, was interested only in studying the atmosphere, and did not comprehend the future of rocketry for space exploration.

Three features developed by Robert Goddard appeared in the V-2: turbopumps were used to inject fuel into the combustion chamber; gyroscopically controlled vanes in the nozzle stabilized the rocket until external vanes in the air could do so; and 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.

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" as a way to persuade Hitler to raise the priority of the V-2.

Robert Goddard avoided sharing details of his work with other scientists and preferred to work alone with his technicians.

Robert Goddard hesitated to discuss any of his research, other than that which had already been published in Liquid-Propellant Rocket Development.

Robert Goddard learned of this in 1940, and openly expressed his displeasure at not being considered.

Robert Goddard did not think he could be of that much help to Caltech because they were designing rocket engines mainly with solid fuel, while he was using liquid fuel.

Robert Goddard lacked interest in discussions with people who had less understanding of rocketry than he did, feeling that his time was extremely constrained.

Robert 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.

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Robert 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.

Robert Goddard 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.

Just before the Second World War several young Army officers and a few higher-ranking ones believed Robert Goddard's research was important but were unable to generate funds for his work.

Toward the end of his life, Robert 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.

Robert Goddard made plans to work in the budding US aerospace industry, taking most of his team with him.

Robert Goddard's became enthusiastic about rocketry and photographed some of his work as well as aided him in his experiments and paperwork, including accounting.

Robert Goddard painted the New Mexican scenery, sometimes with the artist Peter Hurd, and played the piano.

Esther said Robert Goddard participated in the community and readily accepted invitations to speak to church and service groups.

Robert Goddard once spoke to a young people's group on the relationship of science and religion.

Robert Goddard labored with the prospect of a shorter than average life span.

Robert Goddard's health began to deteriorate further after moving to the humid climate of Maryland to work for the Navy.

Robert Goddard was buried in Hope Cemetery in his home town of Worcester, Massachusetts.

Robert Goddard received 214 patents for his work, of which 131 were awarded after his death.

The settlement amount exceeded the total amount of all the funding that Robert Goddard received for his work, throughout his entire career.