Portrait of Robert Goddard
NASA
Robert Goddard
Robert Goddard was an American physicist who lived between 1882-1945. He was a pioneer of modern rocketry who discovered that liquid fuel is more efficient than solid fuel. Although Goddard's first rocket flew for only 2 1/2 seconds, it made him believe that travel into space and to the Moon was possible, an idea for which he was often ridiculed.
Goddard also learned how to control rocket flight and how to equip them with parachutes so they land safely. He spent much of his life perfecting liquid propulsion systems, and his results were later used by the U.S. space program to design powerful launch vehicles and spacecraft.
Goddard was quoted as saying: "The dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow".
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