The American pioneer of astronautics, Robert H. Goddard (1882-1945) not
only outlined the physical principles that would govern space flight,
but he also constructed and tested many rocket engines, airframes,
control devices, and guidance mechanisms between 1926 and 1942.
Goddard held a doctorate in physics, and was a professor at Clark
University, Worcester, Massachusetts. The Smithsonian Institution began
funding Goddard’s experiments as early as 1917 and published his first
major work, _A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes_, in 1919.
Goddard was not only a trained scientist, but a talented and ingenious
engineer as well. On March 16, 1926, he launched the world’s first
liquid-propellant rocket. By 1930, he had established a rocket test
facility at Mescalero Ranch, near Roswell, New Mexico. Here, he
conducted research, funded by the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim
Foundation, on rocket power plants, pumps and fuel systems, control
mechanisms, and other vital elements of the modern rocket.