Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard received a science degree from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1908 and his doctorate in physics from Clark University in 1911. He taught physics at Clark University from 1909 to 1911 and at Princeton from 1912 to 1913. At this time, Dr. Goddard began his monumental work on the development of rockets by mathematically exploring the practicability of using rocket escape velocity for space flight. In 1914 he received the first United States patent on the idea of multi-stage rockets. By 1916, when Dr. Goddard reached the limit of his own resources, the Smithsonian Institution gave him a grant that enabled him to continue his work on solid-propellant rockets and to begin development on liquid propellant vehicles. During World War I he developed and demonstrated the basic idea of a Bazooka-type weapon to the United States Army. On March 16th 1926, after more than 15 years of research, Dr. Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Massachusetts. It traveled 184 feet in 2½ seconds, at an average speed of 70 miles per hour. This was followed by another liquid-fueled 11-foot rocket launched on July 17th 1929, which carried a payload of a small camera and barometer. Thus the new era of controlled liquid-fueled rocketry was born. From 1930 to 1932, and again from 1934 to 1942, Dr. Goddard took a leave of absence from Clark University to engage in rocket research under a Guggenheim Foundation grant. On March 28th 1935 he fired the first rocket equipped with gyroscopic controls. This rocket attained a height of 4,800 feet, a distance of 13,000 feet, and a speed of 550 miles per hour. During World War II, the United States Navy assigned Dr. Goddard to develop practical jet-assisted takeoff and liquid propellant rocket motors capable of variable thrust.
Inducted in 1966.
Portrait Location: Space Gallery

Induction Video