File:Goddard Rockets - Smithsonian Air and Space Museum - 2012-05-15 (7275640170).jpg

An original 1941 two-stage liquid fueled rocket (left) and a partially reconstructed 1926 one-stage liquid-fueled rocket (right) designed by Robert H. Goddard. On display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

Robert Goddard was born in 1882. He was an American physicist and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueled rocket, which he launched on March 16, 1926. Goddard launched 34 rockets between 1926 and 1941, achieving altitudes as high as 1.5 miles and speeds as fast as 550 mph.

Goddard's work made spaceflight possible. Two of Goddard's 214 patents (for a multi-stage rocket design and for a liquid-fueled rocket) are milestones of spaceflight. Goddard also was the first person to control a rocket on all three axes, use a gyroscope to steer a rocket, and use exhaust vanes to control a rocket. His 1919 paper, "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes", is one of the classic texts of 20th-century rocketry.

Goddard's work was revolutionary, but he was ridiculed in the press for his theories. (The Nazis took him seriously. They used his work to invent the V-2.) However, the Smithsonian Institution and private foundations funded his early research.

In the early 1920s, rocket scientists were using solid fuels. But they had trouble getting them to ignite, and burn evenly (so that the rocket's weight didn't get lopsided).

Goddard recognized that liquid fuel could provide more energy. In 1926, Goddard developed the world's first liquid-fueled rocket. The rocket's engine was at the top and the fuel tanks at the bottom. A light metal frame or "skirt" helped stabilize the rocket while it was still on the ground. The rocket was just over 11 feet high.

The rocket was significantly damaged when it plunged back to the earth. The Smithsonian reconstructed it.

Goddard soon realized that the exhaust passing over the fuel tanks was NOT a good idea. Over the next several years, he moved the engine to the bottom of the rocket, and greatly improved the fuel pumps and cooling systems.

The larger rocket is one of the last Goddard ever flew. This was a two-stage rocket! Goddard had come very far in just 15 years -- especially since he had no funding. Part of the external casing of this 22 foot high rocket has been removed to reveal the internal features.