Tsiolkovsky and Goddard: Pioneers of Modern Rocketry
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, there were two individuals who made significant contributions to rocketry. Konstantin Tsiolkovsky in 1898 was the first to suggest utilizing rockets for space exploration. Tsiolkovsky made the suggestion to utilize liquid fuel to maximize the range of a rocket in a report that he published in 1903. He would also suggest that the speed of a rocket was only limited by the exhaust velocity of the gases that it ejected (which would eventually turn out to be wrong, but a good start nonetheless). For being one of the first to suggest such a usage for rockets, Tsilkovsky is sometimes referred to as the father of modern astronautics (Benson, 2010). Later on in America, Robert Goddard was a scientist who first grew interested in rockets as a way to achieve altitudes beyond the reach of balloons (Benson, 2010). Goddard would do a significant amount of development in the field of rocketry, and would be a pioneer in the field. In 1926, Goddard would become the first to successfully launch a rocket powered by liquid fuel. Though the test resulted in uninspiring results by today’s standards, it was an important breakthrough in aeronautics. Due to his contributions to rocket science, Goddard is referred to by some as the father of modern rocketry.
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