by Luke Dearden

Created on: May 20, 2009   Last Updated: May 27, 2009

On March 16, 1926 the first liquid-fueled rocket was launched into the air in Auburn, Massachusetts. It flew at the speed of sixty miles per hour to reach a height of forty-one feet. The inventor, Robert H. Goddard, stared in amazement. The next day, Goddard wrote in his diary: March 17-The first flight with a rocket using liquid propellants was made yesterday at Aunt Effie's farm in AuburnIt looked almost magical as it rose, without any appreciably greater noise or flame, as if it said, 'I've been here long enough; I think I'll be going somewhere else, if you don't mind.'Some of the surprising things were the absence of smoke, the lack of very loud roar, and the smallness of the flame.

To ignite the rocket Goddard used matches and gunpowder, while his assistant stood by with a blow torch on a pole. However, lighting the fuse didn't immediately set it off. Goddard then used a pump connected to the rocket to pump the gas and oxygen into the combustion chamber where the fuse was still lit. The total flight time was only two and a half seconds, but Goddard found his rocket one hundred and eighty-four feet away from the launch site with the lower half of the nozzle burnt off.

Robert H. Goddard was born October 5th, 1882 in Worcester, Massachusetts. He grew up an only child and was fascinated with kites and balloons. At age sixteen he tried to construct a balloon out of aluminum. This failed miserably, but didn't stop him.

Instead, he became interested in space after reading The War of the Worlds, by H.G. Wells. On October 19th, 1899, Goddard wrote, How wonderful it would be to make a device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars, and how it would look, on a small scale, sent up from the meadow at my feet. From then on, Goddard looked upon that day as the first inspiration for building rockets. This turned out to be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

Due to health issues Goddard became an eighteen year-old sophomore. Despite this, he was successful in his studies, and became the valedictorian of his graduating class in 1904. While giving his speech, he said, It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today, and the reality of tomorrow. In 1909, Goddard came up with the idea of liquid-fueled rockets for space travel. Because of this he was publicly ridiculed for many years. Fortunately, he ignored the laughing, set out to fulfill his idea, and achieved. After Goddard's first

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