Mar 16 2009
The First Liquid-Fueled Rocket
A few weeks ago in one of our first history lessons on rocketry, we mentioned briefly about Robert Goddard and his rocket. It was on this day in 1926 (March 16th) that the first liquid fueled rocket was launched.
American physicist, Robert H. Goddard successfully launched the world’s first liquid fueled rocket at Auburn, Massachusetts. This rocket traveled only for 2.5 seconds at a speed exceeding 60 miles per hour, and it reached an altitude of 41 feet, by the way, it landed 184 feet away from where it was launched.
The rocket stood ten feet tall and was constructed out of thin pipes, it was fueled by liquid oxygen and gasoline. I wonder what kind of a motor it had in it. The model rockets of today are made of cardboard, balsa wood, and plastic, they fly higher and further (a series on model rocketry is coming…..)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight center in Greenbelt, Maryland is named in honor of Robert H. Goddard.
I am guessing the fact that it was made out of pipes slowed it down. Interesting that it traveled it that fast even if it was for a short amount of time.