Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945)

Robert H. Goddard is generally accepted as the inventor of modern rocket propulsion.

In 1907, while still at school, Goddard fired off accidently a powder rocket in the basement of the physics department in Worcester Polytechnic Institute, sending smoke everywhere! Fortunately the school officials did not expel him but actually encouraged him in his rocket work.

In 1920, the New York Times Newspaper ridiculed Goddard for his ``impossible'' dream of sending a rocket into space. However, on 16th March 1926, Goddard successfully launched the first liquid fuel rocket - the Space Age had begun!

Goddard later said

``Every vision is a joke,
until the first man accomplishes it.''

Use the BACK button in the top menu to return to the previous page.