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Picture of the day -
October 11, 2006
Dr. Robert Goddard Pulling One Of His Rockets
Click photo to enlarge. Photo courtesy of
NASA.
Although Dr. Robert H. Goddard was born just 17 years after
the end of the
he had an inspiration that would
eventually allow us to travel to other worlds and explore our universe
on a grand scale.
 At
the dawn of the 20th century, Dr. Goddard saw the
Wright Brothers
successfully test a machine at Kitty Hawk, NC that had the ability
to escape the shackles of gravity and enable human beings to take
flight and soar through the air like birds. He immediately
understood the amazing potential for flight, both manned and
un-manned. While he recognized that the development of the airplane
would forever change the way we move people and cargo large
distances here on earth, his sights were set much higher - what if we
could travel away from earth and visit other planets and
beyond?
Goddard knew that an airplane could never achieve the velocity
required to escape the earth's gravity - that monumental feat would
require the amazing thrust generated by a rocket motor. He set about
designing, building and launching rockets, and over the course of
his career he built up a massive body of rocket science that would
eventually serve as the foundation of the technology that landed
American astronauts on the moon! But there was a problem...
Many Americans thought Goddard was simply a crackpot wasting
thousands of dollars chasing an unrealistic dream, and the U.S.
Government had no interest in his work. The Germans did, however. At
the end of World War II, several influential German rocket engineers
were brought to the U.S. and questioned about their highly
successful rocket program. When asked how they learned how to design
rockets, they replied "by watching your Dr. Goddard". They seemed
astounded that the Americans hadn't taken advantage of Goddard's
work before they did!
Although Dr. Goddard didn't live long enough to see America step
into the space age, his work was instrumental in allowing us to do
so. As a long-overdue gesture of thanks and respect, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland was named in
his honor.
"It is difficult to
say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is
the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow." --Dr. Robert H. Goddard.
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