An Introverted Genius

Solid rockets, as envisioned by Tsiolkovsky, had neither the power to carry a payload into space nor the flexibility to modulate their thrust as needed. Once fired, they burned to exhaustion, dissipating in “smoke” much of the energy generated by combustion. In theory, liquid propellants were the answer because they are compact, efficient, and can be deployed on demand. But no one knew how to use them practically until, in March 1926, a sickly, introverted American, Robert Goddard, also a strong-willed scientist with a complex personality, put his hand to the problem by experimenting with an early, improbable gasoline-liquid oxygen rocket. It was a glorious failure from which we can say that modern rocketry was born. Goddard was a pioneer in every aspect of this new scientific and technological discipline. With the support of another pioneer, Charles Lindberg, and the resources of the Guggenheim Foundation, he was able to clarify the concept of vacuum thrust and develop solutions such as high-efficiency nozzles and gyroscopes for guidance. None of his many launches can be compared to what was soon to be done in Germany by Hitler's scientists, but they were certainly a stimulus and guide for the subsequent development of rocketry.