Fifty years before Sputnik, Dr. Robert Goddard dreamed of sending rockets into space.
In his autobiography, Robert Goddard wrote about an inspiration he had as a boy of making a device that would fly into the heavens – and maybe even reach Mars.
Goddard would go on to build the first liquid-fueled rocket. Until his invention, rockets had been propelled using gunpowder.
Born in 1882, Goddard’s ideas didn’t get off the ground until 1907, while studying at Worchester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts. His experiments with rockets created great clouds of gunpowder smoke in the basement of the physics building, but rather than kick him out for causing a disturbance, the school took an interest in his ideas.
By 1914, Goddard had received two U.S. patents, one for a rocket using liquid fuel and another for a two- or three-stage rocket using solid fuel. Goddard began teaching physics at Clark University and was named the director of the Physical Laboratory in 1923.
But Goddard was now thinking about how to get his rockets into outer space. He theorized that a rocket could work in a vacuum, without having to push against air. In the vacuum of space, the rocket engines would produce thrust.
The government didn’t pay much attention to Goddard’s theories, and he paid for his experiments mostly from his own pockets. With funding from the Smithsonian Institution, he was able to develop solid mathematical theories on rocket propulsion. The Smithsonian published his paper “A Method for Reaching Extreme Altitudes.” The foresighted Goddard included a section where he discussed using rockets to send payloads to the moon.
The press found out about his theory and he was ridiculed. He responded to a reporter’s questions by saying, “Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it, once realized, it becomes commonplace.”
On March 16, 1926, Goddard successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket in Auburn, Mass. The rocket reached an altitude of 41 feet, lasted two seconds in the air and averaged about 60 miles per hour.
In 1929, Goddard launched the first rocket with a payload – a camera and a barometer.
In 1930, Goddard moved to New Mexico to continue his research in private. Bythe end of the 1930s, his rockets had broken the sound barrier and had flown up to 1.7 miles high.
Goddard died in 1945, with 214 patents in rocketry, but without ever receiving real attention for his research in rocket propulsion. Modern rocket scientist discovered, however, that it was impossible to launch a rocket or satellite without acknowledging Goddard’s research.
Goddard is now known as the father of modern rocketry. His research would become the
foundation for the principles of rocket propulsion. Even the media naysayers later admitted they were wrong to ridicule Goddard’s ideas.
In 1959, NASA dedicated the Goddard Space Flight Center in Goddard, MD in his honor.
Robert Goddard would probably marvel at how far the space program has come, launching rockets to the moon – and even landing on Mars.
Online source: http://www.nasa.gov.
PBSKids.org/zoom/sci/lemonjuicerockets
ACTIVITIES
Build a lemon juice rocket
Try this only with adult supervision and do this outside wearing safety glasses. Here’s what you’ll need: Empty 16 oz. plastic bottle, a cork that fits tight, toilet paper, lemon juice, baking soda, water, soda pop or vinegar, scissors, funnel, safety glasses
Instructions: Cut a small square of toilet paper and put a tsp. of baking soda in the middle. Fold to make a packet. Use a funnel and pour a half-inch of lemon juice into the bottle. Add water to fill a little less than half-full. Put on your safety glasses and drop the baking soda pack into the bottle. Close the bottle with the cork.
Shake it up and watch the cork blast off.
Why does it fly? Lemon juice is an acid and baking soda is a base. Together they produce carbon dioxide – a gas that creates pressure and “propels” the cork in the air.
Today’s lesson fulfills the following New York standards: E1c, E3c, E3d, E5a, Science Standards S4, S4a.