The Father of Rocketry Nobody Believed: Robert Goddard's First Launch (100th Anniversary)
Show Notes
March 16, 1926: a physics professor fires a homemade rocket from a frozen cabbage field in Auburn, Massachusetts. It flies for 2.5 seconds and reaches 41 feet. The New York Times had already called him ignorant. They wouldn't print a correction until the day after Apollo 11 launched — forty-nine years later. On the 100th anniversary of that first liquid-fueled rocket launch, this is the story of how one man's impossible dream became the foundation for the Saturn V, the Space Shuttle, SpaceX, and every rocket that has ever left Earth.
Chapters
- 0:00 A Frozen Field in Massachusetts
- 1:18 The Cherry Tree Vision
- 12:04 What Goddard's Story Teaches Us
- 13:34 Visit Goddard's Rockets at the Smithsonian
- 14:38 The Dream That Outlived Him
Sources & References
Frequently Asked Questions
Who launched the first liquid-fueled rocket?
Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926, from a farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket flew for 2.5 seconds, reaching an altitude of 41 feet.
When is the 100th anniversary of the first rocket launch?
The 100th anniversary of Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket launch is March 16, 2026. The Goddard Centennial Celebration runs from March 13-16, 2026.
Why was Robert Goddard called the father of modern rocketry?
Goddard held 214 patents and pioneered technologies that became the foundation for the Saturn V, the Space Shuttle, SpaceX rockets, and every liquid-fueled rocket ever built. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is named in his honor.