denise_ said:
oh my goodness i havent started on my assignment for physics!
its worth 10% of my UAI :S OMGOMGOMG
well.. anyways, we have to reasearch on one of the phyisicists listed on out assignment sheet and i decided to do it on Robert Goddard Since there is a few resources on BOS available on him. Has anyone done anything about him? if so please add me to my msn or post here
my msn is
hypnotik_poison88@hotmail.com
thanks =)
Calm down, calm down lol, there is still time
I also happen to be doing him and this is what I have:
Born on 5 October, 1882, Robert Hutchings Goddard started wondering what it would be like to travel to Mars when he was 17. Ten years later he realised that rockets would be the answer, and from then on dedicated his life to their development. During an extraordinary but lonely career, Goddard combined theory and practice to such an extent that he is known today as "the father of modern rocketry".
As a boy he showed skills in science and engineering and was particularly good at mathematics and physics. He was an avid reader of science fiction, and in 1902, while still at high school, contributed to the Popular Science Monthly, writing articles on space navigation and multistage rockets.
After graduating from Worcester Polytechnic Institute 1908, Goddard went to Clark university where he obtained his doctorate and eventually became Professor of Physics. While at Clark he suggested liquid hydrogen and oxygen as ideal rocket fuels. In 1914, as a result of his successful demonstrations of his theoretical ideas, Goddard was awarded several patents on rocket combustion chambers, propellant feed systems, fuel nozzles and multistage rockets. Most of his ideas are incorporated into modern rocket designs.
With World War 1 approaching, Goddard became involved in testing powder rockets. His experiments suggested that more research was necessary, so he successfully approached the Smithsonian institute for funding. His research during the war led to the development of the forerunner of the "bazooka", a shoulder rocket launcher.
After WWI, Government interest in rockets declined and funding became harder to obtain. However, in 1919, Goddard sparked the public interest in a paper in which he discussed the possibility of sending a rocket to the moon. The press dubbed him the "Moon man", and the subsequent publicity resulted in more grants from the Smithsonian Institute. He also obtained a Government contract to develop rocket depth charges and armour piercing projectiles for the navy. He worked on these until 1923, when he again turned to his interest in rockets.
On 16 March, 1926, Goddard launched the world's first liquid fuel rocket from a field in his Aunt Effie's farm at Auburn, near Worcestor. The rocket was 3.4 metres long and weighed 4.6 kg. It used liquid oxygen and petrol was the fuel. It flew to a height of 12.5 metres, reached a speed of 27 metres per second, and the flight lasted 2.5 seconds. Not a spectacular beginning, but still an historic step in the history of spaceflight.
During the next 15 years Goddard conducted over 100 rocket tests. His efforts represented one of the most remarkable private development programs in the history of technology. He studied fuel valves, guidance systems, parachute recovery and pressurised fuel reservoirs. His successes attracted more and more funding. In 1930 he moved, with his wife and four other assistants to a ranch in New Mexico. His experiments were becoming too noisy and dangerous to continue on a vacant block of land in the middle of Massachusetts.
In 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression, funds ran out and Goddard returned to Clark University to teach. In 1941, when America entered World War II, Government funding enabled Goddard to continue his research. As well as working on liquid fuel rockets he derived jet-assisted motors for seaplanes.
After his death in 1945 his widow was granted over $1 000 000 for the use of his patents, which numbered in excess of 200. Goddard was honoured posthumously by the United States congress, receiving the first Space Transportation award of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences. In 1960 the Smithsonian Institute conferred the coveted Langley medal upon him. In 1970 his ranch in New Mexico was turned into a rocket and space museum, and the Goddard Space Centre was named after him.
*stops typing for 30 seconds and exhales*
I hope that helps immensely
