Date of Birth: October 5, 1882
Place of Birth: Worcester, Massachusetts, USA
Died: August 10, 1945
Place of Death: Baltimore, Maryland, USA
Classification: Builders & Titans
After reading the novel War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells as a young boy, he claims that he then knew he had a purpose in life. He dreamed of flight, but it wasn’t regular airplane flight, which hadn’t happened yet. He pushed himself in his studies, pass times, and life to prove that flight in space was not only possible, but that unbelievable speeds could be reached through thrust and propulsion – forces that would require powerful fuels, such as liquid oxygen or hydrogen.
Born to a bookkeeper, the young Robert was fascinated with the newest machinery of the day. While growing up, his inventoins and creativity were promoted by his family. After high school, he attended Worcester Polytechnic Institute and came up with a theory about how transportation of the future would be done through hovering by the forces of electromagnets.
At Clark University he studied for his doctorate –knowing that the more connections he made and the more he learned, the more he’d be able to continue his studies for the rest of his life. At Clark he taught physics and worked with students on his ideas for rockets. He also showed his fellow colleagues how thrust and propulsion could take place without the presence of air, in a vacuum, similar to what would be encountered in outer space.
Robert Goddard had to get some public attention to get funding for his experiments. The Smithsonian Institution was able to donate, and Charles Lindbergh, who had seen how far and fast the Russians were advancing in their aeronautical programs, was able to garnish great support from the Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics. His small group was able to work in Roswell, New Mexico, in the United States. While there, he proved that a liquid-powered rocket could go faster than the speed of sound. He patented several of his inventions, including engines, coolers, and prototypes that would fly higher than any rocket before. In World War II, he was forced to stop his experiments and worked in the development on the modern jet-thrust booster
