Robert H. Goddard

Many consider Goddard to be the father of modern rocketry, and his love of space came at an early age. At the age of 16, Goddard read H.G. Wells War of the Worlds, and his pursuit of space began. At the time, science was not fond of ideas concerning space travel, so Goddard worked largely in private. Goddard's first writings about rocketry occurred during his undergraduate career in the spring of 1908 and were jotted down in his journal. He stated that liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen could be used as a fuel. By 1913, he had calculated the mathematics of a rocket launch, and, one year later, Goddard applied for and received two patents. The first described a multi-stage rocket, and the second described a rocket fueled by gasoline and liquid nitrous oxide. In 1915, he showed that a rocket could work in a vacuum and actually proved that a rocket's performance actually decreases under atmospheric pressure. However, his most influential work was still to come.

In 1919, Goddard published his most influential work, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. In this, he discussed his previous research, theories of rocket flight, and future space travel. Before the end of the decade, he would discuss an ablative heat shield as well as photographing the moon, contacting distant civilizations using inscribed metal plates, solar energy use in space, and high energy ion propulsion. Goddard finally launched his first liquid fueled rocket on March 16, 1926 in Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket only flew 41 feet into the air, but it showed that liquid propelled rockets were possible. Goddard continued rocket experiments until 1945. He moved to Roswell, New Mexico where 31 rockets were launched between 1930 and 1945. The highest altitude that he ever achieved was 9km on March 26th, 1937. Planes and other rockets could exceed this altitude, but his work is still influential as well as pivotal. It is no surprise that he is considered one of the fathers of rocketry.