Goddard, Robert Hutchings
Published: September 6, 2006, 10:31 pm
Updated: September 6, 2006, 10:31 pm
This article has been reviewed by the following Topic Editor:
Tom Lawrence
Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945), an American physicist and inventor who, in 1926, constructed and successfully tested the first rocket using liquid fuel. Along with Tsiolkovsky and Oberth, Goddard is recognized as one of the primary founders of modern rocketry and as having launched an entirely new field of science and engineering. Goddard's test flight lasted just 2.5 seconds, reaching an altitude of 12.3 meters and landing (crashing, actually) 55.2 meters from the launch site in his Aunt Effie's cabbage patch. Funded by aviator Charles Lindberg and philanthropist Daniel Guggenheim, Goddard built an entire research laboratory on Eden Valley near Roswell, New Mexico. Over the following decades, Goddard developed a wide range of technologies and produced 214 patents in rocketry. He also made an early breakthrough in magnetic levitation (1904); he proposed a frictionless form of travel by raising train cars off the rails by electromagnetic repulsion roadbeds. In his design, the trains would travel at fantastic speeds inside a steel vacuum tube.
Further Reading
Brief History of Rockets (NASA Glenn Research Center)
Inventor Profile: Robert Hutchings Goddard (National Inventors Hall of Fame)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Homepage
Robert H. Goddard: American Rocket Pioneer (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
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Citation
Cutler J. Cleveland (Lead Author);Tom Lawrence (Topic Editor) "Goddard, Robert Hutchings". In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth September 6, 2006; Last revised Date September 6, 2006; Retrieved May 24, 2013 <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Goddard,_Robert_Hutchings>
The Author
Cutler J. Cleveland is Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University, where he also is on the faculty of the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies. Professor Cleveland is Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Energy (Elsevier, 2004), winner of an American Library Association award, the Dictionary of Energy (Elsevier, 2005), Handbook of Energy (Elsevier, forthcoming), and is the Founding Editor-in-Chief of the Encyclopedia of Earth. He is the recipient of the Adelma ... (Full Bio)
Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882-1945), an American physicist and inventor who, in 1926, constructed and successfully tested the first rocket using liquid fuel. Along with Tsiolkovsky and Oberth, Goddard is recognized as one of the primary founders of modern rocketry and as having launched an entirely new field of science and engineering. Goddard's test flight lasted just 2.5 seconds, reaching an altitude of 12.3 meters and landing (crashing, actually) 55.2 meters from the launch site in his Aunt Effie's cabbage patch. Funded by aviator Charles Lindberg and philanthropist Daniel Guggenheim, Goddard built an entire research laboratory on Eden Valley near Roswell, New Mexico. Over the following decades, Goddard developed a wide range of technologies and produced 214 patents in rocketry. He also made an early breakthrough in magnetic levitation (1904); he proposed a frictionless form of travel by raising train cars off the rails by electromagnetic repulsion roadbeds. In his design, the trains would travel at fantastic speeds inside a steel vacuum tube.
Further Reading
Brief History of Rockets (NASA Glenn Research Center)
Inventor Profile: Robert Hutchings Goddard (National Inventors Hall of Fame)
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Homepage
Robert H. Goddard: American Rocket Pioneer (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center)
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