Browse Items (11 total)
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"Coming In from Webster"
A syndicated editorial cartoon that appeared in the Worcester Evening Post (and likely elsewhere) in February 1920. While the illustration is called "Coming in from Webster", the comic is not geographically specific, making it applicable for local newspapers. A group of men sit together on the train, with mention made about "a bird shootin' a rocket to Mars". By February 1920, the Goddard "Moon rocket" was being reported with Mars as its destination.
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi. -
"La instrument monte"
One of the many illustrations by Émile-Antoine Bayard that accompanied Jules Verne's 1870 novel From the Earth to the Moon. These visualizations of Verne's text proliferated the collective imagination. In news coverage of Robert Goddard's rocket, it was these images and ideas that artists and journalists drew from, as opposed to his actual work. Editorial cartoons and illustrations almost always depicted some combination of launching a rocket via cannon and/or a rocket that could carry passengers. -
"The Professor Might Ask This Fellow Something About It"
An editorial cartoon that appeared in the Birmingham-Age Herald on January 16, 1920. It features a man whose height reaches the moon and a professor carrying papers and a "moon shooter" while looking up at the man. There is also a handwritten note on the illustration written by a fellow classmate of Robert Goddard's that says "How about it, Bob? Davis '08 Athens Ala."
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi. -
"A Trip to the Moon"
Illustration of a rocket ready to launch from atop a city building, drawn by early animation pioneer Max Fleischer. Multiple images appear alongside The Independent article titled "A Trip to the Moon". These images were used in educational films (a new market) under the supervision of Fleischer himself. It was during his time at Bray that Max created Koko the Clown and the "Out of the Inkwell" series, for which he invented the rotoscoping animation technique. Photographs of Fleischer at Bray show a mix of animation and model work being produced for the educational films.
These images proliferated much of the press surrounding Goddard during the 1920s and were reproduced in many newspaper articles during those years. The Bray/Fleischer images found in this series come from the three shorts in their "Mechanics and Science Films" series produced from 1918 to 1920, titled "All Aboard for the Moon", "Hello, Mars", and "If We Lived on the Moon". It is not a coincidence that these shorts were made the same year as the Goddard "moon rocket" press. Popular Science Monthly also had a hand in these shorts and are credited as "Edited By". This image comes from "All Aboard for the Moon".Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.
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Assembled liquid oxygen tank [3]
Photograph of the assembled liquid oxygen tank likely used in Robert Goddard's landmark March 16, 1926 rocket launch. Following December 6, 1925 (the day Goddard achieved the first liquid-fuel rocket to lift its own weight), he realized a successful launch required making the rocket as streamlined and light as possible. Despite working for years to develop pumps and engines for rockets, he would now be relying on the pressure of oxygen evaporated within a liquid oxygen tank.
It is important to note that many sources incorrectly claim that forgoing the pumps and engines is the breakthrough that made the December 6 lift possible, but this is untrue. Goddard writes in both his diary and subsequent reports about using pumps and engines in the December 6 test, as well as the realization that he would need to eliminate them in order to produce a light enough rocket to achieve that first launch.
Following indoor static tests conducted at Clark University in January 1926, Goddard was ready to construct a rocket as light as possible of the purpose of obtaining a successful flight. This liquid oxygen tank was definitely used in the unsuccessful March 6, 1926 test and very likely used on March 16, 1926 (the March 6 failure was not related to the tanks, and no changes or damage were noted). An earlier iteration of the liquid oxygen tank can be seen in Figures 102 and 103.
The top of the tank is more complex than its predecessor because this rocket was built to supply its own back pressure. This was done with the rod noted next to the number 31, and the lever noted next to the number 32. The angle of Figure 110 shows the location of a safety valve (noted next to the number 33) which kept an excess of back pressure from generating. In the finished rocket, this tank was placed above the gasoline tank, with enough space between the two for the alcohol stove.
This photograph was used in Goddard's "Report on the Development of a Liquid Propelled Rocket". This is the first time that photographs of these rocket parts have been made available for online viewing, and together they represent the most granular visual documentation of the March 16, 1926 rocket and its leadup in existence. An excerpt of that report covering everything between December 6, 1926 and March 16, 1926 can be found here.
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.
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Combustion chamber and nozzle [3]
Photograph of a combustion chamber and nozzle secured in frame, made in preparation for what would be Robert Goddard's landmark March 16, 1926 rocket launch. Following December 6, 1925 (the day Goddard achieved the first liquid-fuel rocket to lift its own weight), he realized a successful launch required making the rocket as streamlined and light as possible. Despite working for years to develop pumps and engines for rockets, he would now be relying on the pressure of oxygen evaporated within a liquid oxygen tank.
It is important to note that many sources incorrectly claim that forgoing the pumps and engines is the breakthrough that made the December 6 lift possible, but this is untrue. Goddard writes in both his diary and subsequent reports about using pumps and engines in the December 6 test, as well as the realization that he would need to eliminate them in order to produce a light enough rocket to achieve that first launch.
Following indoor static tests conducted at Clark University in January 1926, Goddard was ready to construct a rocket as light as possible of the purpose of obtaining a successful flight. This combustion chamber and nozzle was used in the unsuccessful March 6, 1926 test and is almost exact to what was used on March 16, 1926. Due to the aluminum bottom of the chamber burning through in the former test, slight variations were made to these parts for March 16. Other photographs of this chamber and nozzle can be seen in Figures 106 and 107.
This photograph was used in Goddard's "Report on the Development of a Liquid Propelled Rocket". This is the first time that photographs of these rocket parts have been made available for online viewing, and together they represent the most granular visual documentation of the March 16, 1926 rocket and its leadup in existence. An excerpt of that report covering everything between December 6, 1926 and March 16, 1926 can be found here.
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.
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Combustion chamber and nozzle [2]
Photograph of a combustion chamber and nozzle made in 1926 before Robert Goddard's landmark March 16, 1926 rocket launch. Following December 6, 1925 (the day Goddard achieved the first liquid-fuel rocket to lift its own weight) he realized a successful launch required making the rocket as streamlined and light as possible. Despite working for years to develop pumps and engines for rockets, he would now be relying on the pressure of oxygen evaporated within a liquid oxygen tank.It is important to note that many sources incorrectly claim that forgoing the pumps and engines is the breakthrough that made the December 6 lift possible, but this is untrue. Goddard writes in both his diary and subsequent reports about using pumps and engines in the December 6 test, as well as the realization that he would need to eliminate them in order to produce a light enough rocket to achieve that first launch.
Following indoor static tests conducted at Clark University in January 1926, Goddard was ready to construct a rocket as light as possible of the purpose of obtaining a successful flight. This combustion chamber and nozzle was used in the unsuccessful March 6, 1926 test. Due to the aluminum bottom of the chamber burning through, slight variations were made to these parts for March 16. More detailed photographs of the chamber and nozzle can be seen in Figures 106 and 108.
This photograph was used in Goddard's "Report on the Development of a Liquid Propelled Rocket". This is the first time that photographs of these rocket parts have been made available for online viewing, and together they represent the most granular visual documentation of the March 16, 1926 rocket and its leadup in existence. An excerpt of that report covering everything between December 6, 1926 and March 16, 1926 can be found here.
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.
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Combustion chamber and nozzle
Photograph of a combustion chamber and nozzle made in 1926 before Robert Goddard's landmark March 16, 1926 rocket launch. Following December 6, 1925 (the day Goddard achieved the first liquid-fuel rocket to lift its own weight), he realized a successful launch required making the rocket as streamlined and light as possible. Despite working for years to develop pumps and engines for rockets, he would now be relying on the pressure of oxygen evaporated within a liquid oxygen tank.
It is important to note that many sources incorrectly claim that forgoing the pumps and engines is the breakthrough that made the December 6 lift possible, but this is untrue. Goddard writes in both his diary and subsequent reports about using pumps and engines in the December 6 test, as well as the realization that he would need to eliminate them in order to produce a light enough rocket to achieve that first launch.
Following indoor static tests conducted at Clark University in January 1926, Goddard was ready to construct a rocket as light as possible of the purpose of obtaining a successful flight. This combustion chamber and nozzle was used in the unsuccessful March 6, 1926 test. Due to the aluminum bottom of the chamber burning through, slight variations were made to these parts for March 16. More detailed photographs of the chamber and nozzle can be seen in Figures 107 and 108.
This photograph was used in Goddard's "Report on the Development of a Liquid Propelled Rocket". This is the first time that photographs of these rocket parts have been made available for online viewing, and together they represent the most granular visual documentation of the March 16, 1926 rocket and its leadup in existence. An excerpt of that report covering everything between December 6, 1926 and March 16, 1926 can be found here.
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.
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Entrance pipes for liquid fuels [2]
Photograph of entrance pipes for liquid fuels developed by Robert Goddard between December 1925 and January 1926. These pipes were not used in the March 16, 1926 rocket launch, but represent the final months of trial-and-error testing that made March 16, 1926 possible. These final months were defined by a major late-stage pivot, stripping away the pumps and engines and replacing them with pressure tanks.
Following December 6, 1925 (the day Goddard achieved the first liquid-fuel rocket to lift its own weight), he realized a successful launch required making the rocket as streamlined and light as possible. Despite working for years to develop pumps and engines for rockets, he would now be relying on the pressure of oxygen evaporated within a liquid oxygen tank.
It is important to note that many sources incorrectly claim that forgoing the pumps and engines is the breakthrough that made the December 6 lift possible, but this is untrue. Goddard writes in both his diary and subsequent reports about using pumps and engines in the December 6 test, as well as the realization that he would need to eliminate them in order to produce a light enough rocket to achieve that first launch.
The ring-shaped pipe pictured here was initially made to try and improve the combustion. Multiple entrance pipes would carry each liquid (LOX and gasoline) from the ring-shaped pipe, the idea being that smaller streams would secure better combustion. These tests were not satisfactory, and the multiple entrance pipes were discarded in favor of a single opening for the liquid oxygen and a single pipe for the gasoline. Another angle of this entrance pipe can be seen in Figure 104.
This photograph was used in Goddard's "Report on the Development of a Liquid Propelled Rocket". This is the first time that photographs of these rocket parts have been made available for online viewing, and together they represent the most granular visual documentation of the March 16, 1926 rocket and its leadup in existence. An excerpt of that report covering everything between December 6, 1926 and March 16, 1926 can be found here.
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.
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Entrance pipes for liquid fuels
Photograph of entrance pipes for liquid fuels developed by Robert Goddard between December 1925 and January 1926. These pipes were not used in the March 16, 1926 rocket launch, but represent the final months of trial-and-error testing that made March 16, 1926 possible. These months were defined by a major late-stage pivot, stripping away the pumps and engines and replacing them with pressure tanks.
Following December 6, 1925 (the day Goddard achieved the first liquid-fuel rocket to lift its own weight), he realized a successful launch required making the rocket as streamlined and light as possible. Despite working for years to develop pumps and engines for rockets, he would now be relying on the pressure of oxygen evaporated within a liquid oxygen tank.
It is important to note that many sources incorrectly claim that forgoing the pumps and engines is the breakthrough that made the December 6 lift possible, but this is untrue. Goddard writes in both his diary and subsequent reports about using pumps and engines in the December 6 test, as well as the realization that he would need to eliminate them in order to produce a light enough rocket to achieve that first launch.
The ring-shaped pipe pictured here was initially made to try and improve the combustion. Multiple entrance pipes would carry each liquid (LOX and gasoline) from the ring-shaped pipe, the idea being that smaller streams would secure better combustion. These tests were not satisfactory, and the multiple entrance pipes were discarded in favor of a single opening for the liquid oxygen and a single pipe for the gasoline. Another angle of this entrance pipe can be seen in Figure 105.
This photograph was used in Goddard's "Report on the Development of a Liquid Propelled Rocket". This is the first time that photographs of these rocket parts have been made available for online viewing, and together they represent the most granular visual documentation of the March 16, 1926 rocket and its leadup in existence. An excerpt of that report covering everything between December 6, 1926 and March 16, 1926 can be found here.
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.