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Abstract:
The father or modern rocketry and a physicist (1882-1945). It
includes his notebooks, patents, and correspondence. Also included are his wife's papers
and the information that was gathered by his first biographer, Milton Lehman.
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Robert Hutchings Goddard Biographical Note
| 1882, October 5 |
Born at Maple Hill, Worcester, MA |
| 1883 |
Moved with family to Roxbury, MA |
| 1888-1898 |
Attended Mount Pleasant, Hugh O'Brien, & English High Schools in Boston |
| 1889 |
Began thinking about flight into outer space |
| 1898 |
Moved with family to Maple Hill, Worcester |
| 1899, October 19 |
"Anniversary Day" of dedication to the development of a method of attaining great heights |
| 1899-1901 |
Kept from school by illness |
| 1901-1904 |
Student, South High School, Worcester |
| 1904-1908 |
Student, Worcester Polytechnic Institute (B.S. 1908) |
| 1908-1909 |
Instructor of Physics, W.P.I., & special student in Physics, Clark University |
| 1909-1911 |
Fellow in Physics, Clark University (A.M. 1910, Ph.D. 1911) |
1911-1912,
1914-1915,
1918-1920 |
Honorary Fellow in Physics, Clark University |
| 1912 |
First explored mathematically the practicality of using rocket power to reach high altitudes & escape velocity |
| 1912-1913 |
Research Instructor in Physics, Princeton University |
| 1913-1914 |
Contracts and partly recovers from tuberculosis |
| 1914, July |
Awarded first two patents for rocket apparatus: U.S. Letters Patent #1,102,653 liquid-fuel gun rocket; U.S. Letters Patent #1, 103,503 a multistage step rocket (eventually awarded 214 patents, 1914-1956) |
| 1914-1915 |
Instructor in Physics, Clark College; Assistant Professor 1915-1919; Associate Professor, 1919-1920 |
| 1915 |
Proves experimentally that a rocket will provide thrust in a vacuum |
| 1916-1918 |
Instructor, Clark University |
| 1917, January 5 |
Received first financial assistance from the Smithsonian Institution ($5,000 from Hodgkins Fund); Further grants made through 1929 & in 1932 |
| 1917-1918 |
Developed the basis for the rocket weapon, later known as the bazooka, done for U.S. Army Signal Corps & Ordnance Department, in the shops at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, at Clark University, & later at the Mount Wilson Observatory in California. This was demonstrated successfully at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds on November 10, 1918, before representatives of the armed services. |
| 1919 |
First to publish in the U.S. a basic mathematical theory underlying rocket propulsion & rocket flight, together with results of experiments with solid-propellant rockets, "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes", Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 71, No. 2 |
| 1920-1923 |
Part-time consultant on solid-propellant rocket weapons for U.S. Government at Indian Head, Maryland |
| 1920-1925 |
First to develop a rocket motor using liquid propellants (liquid oxygen & gasoline) |
| 1920-1943, August 5 |
Professor, Clark University |
| 1923-1943 |
Director of the Physical Laboratories, Clark University; is chairman of the physics and mathematics departments |
| 1924, June 21 |
Married Esther Christine Kisk |
| 1925 |
Static test at Clark University: liquid-propellant rocket lifted its own weight for first time |
| 1926, March 16 |
First to launch a liquid-propellant rocket, at Auburn, MA |
| 1929, July 17 |
Tested first rocket containing instruments at Auburn, MA, which attracted wide public attention |
| 1929, November 23 |
First meeting with Charles A. Lindbergh |
| 1930, July 10-1932 |
First two-year grant from Daniel Guggenheim, began conducting full time rocket research at Roswell, NM (on leave of absence from Clark University) |
| 1932 |
First developed gyro stabilization apparatus for rockets |
| 1932 |
First used deflector vanes in the blast of the rocket motor as a method of stabilizing & guiding rockets |
| 1932-1934 |
Teaching at Clark University, & continued research financed by the Smithsonian Institution & The Daniel & Florence Guggenheim Foundation |
| 1935 |
"A" series rocket tests (14-test series; rockets at this stage were about 15 feet long) |
| 1935, March 8 |
First to launch a liquid-propellant rocket which attained a speed greater than that of sound (700 mph) |
| 1935 |
Rocket reached altitude of 7500 feet |
| 1936, March 16 |
Publication of "Liquid Propellant Rocket Development", Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 95, No. 3 |
| 1936-1938 |
"L" series rocket tests (30-test series; rockets were about 18 feet long) |
| 1937 |
Rocket reached height of 9000 feet |
| 1938-1941 |
"P" series rocket tests (this 36-test series represents his last flight rockets; they averaged about 22 feet in length) |
| 1942-1945 |
Director of Research, Navy Dept., Bureau of Aeronautics developing jet-assisted takeoff & variable-thrust liquid- propellant rockets, at Roswell, NM & Annapolis, MD |
| 1943-1945 |
Consulting Engineer, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Caldwell, NJ |
| 1944-1945 |
Director, American Rocket Society |
| 1945, June 2 |
Received an honorary Doctor of Science degree, Clark University |
| 1945, August 10 |
Died at Baltimore, MD. Buried in Hope Cemetery, Worcester, MA |
ORGANIZATION MEMBERSHIPS: Fellow of the American
Association for the Advancement of
Science & of the Institute of Aeronautical
Sciences;
Member of the American Physical Society;
American Meteorological Society;
American Rocket Society;
National Aeronautics Association;
Geophysical Union;
American Institute of Social Sciences;
Sigma Xi; Sigma Alpha Epsilon
Esther Christine (Kisk) Goddard Biographical Note
| 1901, March 31 |
Born at Worcester, MA |
| 1917 |
Student, South High School, Worcester, MA |
| 1918-1920 |
Secretary to President Edmund C. Sanford, Clark College |
| 1920-1922 |
Student, Bates College |
| 1922-1924 |
Secretary to President Wallace W. Atwood, Clark University |
| 1924, June 21 |
Married Robert Hutchings Goddard |
| 1945 |
Johns Hopkins University (B.S.) |
| 1947 |
Member, Worcester Branch, National League of American Pen Women |
| 1948 |
Editor, with G. Edward Pendray, of Rocket Development, condensation of Dr. Goddard's notes on his experiments, Prentice-Hall Co., reissued 1961 |
| 1951 |
Clark University (A.M.) |
| 1958 |
Citation by the Trustees of Worcester Polytechnic Institute |
| 1958 |
"Woman of the Year" of the Worcester Business & Professional Women's Club |
| 1961 |
Goddard Educational Award, given annually at Women's Space Symposium, Los Angeles, CA |
| 1963-1970 |
Member, Board of Directors, Age Center of Worcester Area, Inc. |
| 1964-1970 |
Trustee, Clark University |
| 1962- |
Honorary Member, Chamber of Commerce of Auburn, MA |
| 1964- |
Member, Executive Board of Mass. Chapter, Arthritis Foundation |
| 1965-1970 |
Member, Board of Trustees, Medical Research Institute of Worcester |
| 1965 |
Honorary Alumna, Worcester Polytechnic Institute |
| 1965-1973 |
Director, Worcester Federal Savings & Loan Association |
| 1966-1972 |
Member, Advisory Board, Anna Maria College, Paxton, MA |
| 1966-1970 |
Member, Advisory Historic Landmark Committee for the City of Worcester, MA |
| 1966, March |
Named "First Missile-Tracking Photographer" by Point Mugu, California Chapter of the Photo-optical Instrumentation Engineers) |
| 1967 |
Fellow, American Astronautical Society |
| 1967, May |
Citation for meritorious public service from the Massachusetts Federation of Business & Professional Women's Clubs |
| 1967 |
Honorary Member, Soroptimist Club of Worcester, MA |
| 1969 |
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (Honorary Sc.D.) |
| 1970 |
Honorary Member, Directors Council, Worcester Science Center |
| 1970 |
Editor with G. Edward Pendray, The Papers of Robert H. Goddard, 3 volumes, McGraw-Hill Book Co. |
| 1970 |
Honorary Member, American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics, New York City |
| 1970 |
Member, Board of Governors, National Space Club, Washington, D.C. |
| 1970 |
Honorary Member, Air Force Association, Vandenberg Air Force Base, CA |
| 1970 |
Honorary Citizen, Roswell, NM |
| 1970 |
Trustee, Cathedral of the Pines, Rindge, NH |
| 1970 |
Outstanding Member, American Association of University Women |
| 1972 |
Named "Pen Woman of the Year", National League of American Pen Women |
| 1972 |
Clark University (Honorary Degree, L.H.D.) |
| 1982, June 4 |
Died at Worcester, Massachusetts |
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