Mar 16 2001
From The Space Library
NASA commemorated the 75th anniversary of the first successful launch of a liquid-fueled rocket. On 26 March 1926, Robert H. Goddard had launched a 10-foot-long (3-meter-long) rocket fueled by gasoline and liquid oxygen. The rocket flew just over 40 feet (12 meters) high using the same technology that would one day launch massive rockets carrying Space Shuttles and other research craft into space. NASA had named Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) after Robert H. Goddard. At the anniversary celebration, NASA’s Chief Historian Roger D. Launius called Goddard the forefather of American space exploration: “Dr. Goddard was a true visionary, having already visualized flight in outer space by the time he was 21.” Goddard had turned 21 in 1903, some 50 years before space exploration began in earnest. Even 75 years after Goddard’s successful test, NASA continued to use liquid-propulsion systems to launch most of its spacecraft and satellites. (NASA, “March 16 Marks 75th Anniversary of First Liquid-Fueled Rocket Launch,” news release 01-35, 12 March 2001.)
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