Robert Goddard example essay topic

On October 5, 1882, in Worchester, Massachusetts, an amazing man was born. Ten minutes later, a little ways down the road, Robert Hutchins Goddard, was born as well. I say this because being from a middle class Massachusetts family, no one at that time knew how the world was about to change due to this ordinary little boy. A student at the Worchester Polytechnic Institute, Robert soon became interested in science, due to the many books and magazines he read. On October 19, 1899, he climbed into an old cherry tree to prune it dead branches, when sitting in the tree he began daydreaming, later he quoted, "It was one of the quiet, colorful afternoons of sheer beauty which we have in October, and as I looked toward the fields at the east, I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars, and how it would look on a small scale, if sent up form the meadow at my feet".

This was the day, Robert decided to pursue his life on the idea of spaceflight. Years later, October 19th was noted in Robert's diary as his own personal holiday, known as "Anniversary Day". Robert first gained public notice in 1907, when a cloud of smoke from a powder rocket fired in the basement of the physics building of his school. In 1909, Robert choose to become a student at Clark University, where he could further his study in physics. In 1912, during his first year as a physics instructor at Princeton University, Robert was the first to explore mathematically the practicality of using rocket propulsion to reach altitudes as high as the moon. Robert then chose to go back to Clark University, where he spent the next 30 years devoted to building rockets.

In 1914, Robert finally received two U.S. patents, one for a rocket using liquid fuel, and the other for a two or three stage rocket using solid fuel. He received much ridicule, once the press got a hold of his scientific proposal. March 16, 1926, Robert Goddard constructed and tested successfully the first rocket using liquid fuel. When he launched it, it went 41 feet in the air and a total of 184 feet before it fell back to earth 2.5 seconds later. After 5 years of work, his invention was complete. Yet that rocket was nowhere close to reaching space, it was a feat as worthy in history as the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk.

Robert Goddard's work was largely anticipated in technical detail of the German V-2 missiles, including gyroscopic control, steering by means of vanes in the jet stream of the rocket motor, gimbal steering, power-driven fuel pumps and other devices. His rocket flight in 1929 carried the first scientific payload, a barometer and camera. Goddard also developed and demonstrated the basic idea of the "bazooka", that was later used in World War II. Also in World War II, Goddard offered his services and was assigned by the US Navy to develop a practical jet assisted takeoff (JATO) and liquid propellant rocket motors capable of variable thrusts. He was successful in developing both. On August 10, 1945, Goddard died of cancer, just 4 days after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Japan.

When he died, his wife was given 1 million dollars, from the government. Goddard was the first scientist who not only realized the potentialities of missiles and space flight, but also contributed directly by making them become a reality. He was widely recognized as a gifted experimenter and engineering genius. His rockets were many years ahead of their time. He died holding over 200 patents in rocket technology. His dedicated hours of labor went largely unrecognized in the United States until the dawn of what now is called the "space age".

Robert H. Goddard's high honors and wide praise, was much belated, but richly deserved. He is a leader in many people's lives..