[Illustration: 20. Dr. Goddard in his workshop at Roswell, New
Mexico, October 1935.]
Robert Hutchings Goddard, the American rocket pioneer, was one of the
first to suggest the use of the rocket to gather scientific information
from high altitudes. As seamen use sounding lines to measure the depth
of unknown waters, so scientists use sounding rockets to investigate the
nature of our atmosphere. As early as 1917, the Smithsonian Institution
agreed to fund Dr. Goddard’s studies. In 1926, he built and flew the
world’s first successful liquid-propellant rocket which rose to an
altitude of 12.5 meters (41 feet) over a field in Massachusetts.
After the scientist received substantial grants from the Daniel and
Florence Guggenheim Foundation, he established a facility near Roswell,
New Mexico, where he built and tested a series of rockets and engines
between 1930 and 1942.
A-Series rockets—one on exhibit—were flown during the summer of 1935, as
part of Dr. Goddard’s program to develop methods of stabilizing his
rockets in vertical flight. The principles he pioneered in this area
were among his greatest contributions to the field of rocketry.
The greatest height reached by an A-Series rocket was about 2130 meters
(7000 feet) and the greatest speed in flight was more than 1130
kilometers per hour (700 miles per hour).
The rocket on exhibit is from Robert H. Goddard.
Length 4.7 m. (15 ft., 6 in.)
Diameter 15.2 cm. (6 in.)
Fuel Gasoline
Oxidizer Liquid oxygen
Thrust about 90 kg. (200 lb.)
Velocity 1130 km. (700 mi.) per hr. (+ or -)
Altitude 2.3 km. (7600 ft.) (+ or -)