The Father of Rocketry
adapted from NASA

1 Dr. Robert Hutchings Goddard (1882–1945) is known as the father of modern rocket propulsion. While he demonstrated great skill as a physicist, Goddard also proved himself to be a genius in matters of invention. His work was so great that NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, was established in his memory on May 1, 1959.
2 The launching of Goddard's rocket on March 16, 1926 in Auburn, Massachusetts could be argued to be as important to history as the flight of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk. Similar to the early accomplishments of the Wrights, Goddard failed to leave much of an impression on government officials.
3 The Smithsonian granted him a total of $10,000 by 1927, and through the personal efforts of Charles A. Lindbergh, he received financial support from the Guggenheim Foundation. Progress on all of his work was documented in the work titled "Liquid Propellant Rocket Development," which was published by the Smithsonian in 1936.
4 Goddard's work was ahead of its time in terms of technical detail, in areas such as gyroscopic control, steering by means of vanes in the rocket motor, gimbal-steering, and power-driven fuel pumps. During World War II, Goddard again offered his services and was assigned by the U. S. Navy to assist with the development of liquid propellant rocket motors and practical jet assisted takeoff.