First Launch Centennial

03/18/2026

Clark University possesses such valuable from Goddard. Here's more about the gyroscope.💡

03/16/2026

Shared by City of Worcester, Massachusetts ! Cool!

Happy Centennial! 🚀🎉

City Hall has been decked out with banners to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket launch.

Celebrate Worcester's role in the Space Age with events scheduled all week long: https://www.discovercentralma.org/goddard-centennial/

03/16/2026

Did you know...

In 1965, the 89th Congress passed an act designating March 16 as Goddard Day, and President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation calling for national observance.

This official acknowledgment served to rectify years of skepticism Goddard faced during his lifetime, including a famous 1920 New York Times editorial that mocked his belief that rockets could function in a vacuum.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, established in 1959, continues to uphold his legacy by leading major missions in Earth science and astrophysics.

03/16/2026

Happy 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘆! 🚀

More importantly, happy 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗗𝗮𝘆!

100 years ago, it started with a wimpy-looking rocket, but with the first ever use of liquid-fuel, this rocket rose up...

Since then, the technology has been worked on for a few more decades, then perfected...

Men have gone to space due to this technology, to the Moon, satellites have been launched and given us so many tools here on Earth, like GPS, Earth Observation, and more...

We built a Space Station with a constant presence of humans on it for over two decades...

We launched diverse payloads of instruments and equipment for research and science purposes...

Humans got to see the Earth from space and that provided us with a lesson like no other of our togetherness, the fragility of our planet, and that we're really on it with no other place to go (𝙬𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚!)

There are spacecrafts way outside of out Solar System zooming out there in interstellar space (Voyager furthest away, New Horizons way past our Solar System)... This is humans' ingenuity, our unique abilities (compared to animals on Earth), our perseverance and a show of the good we can do (compare to the bad, such as rockets for warfare).

The rocket that propelled us toward all that, started on this day in 1926 by Robert Goddard.

(Please share this post to share about Goddard's legacy, but also, as we're entering a week-long set of events in Worcester, where Goddard lived.)

03/16/2026

Happy Goddard Day! More importantly, happy centennial of Goddard day!

Clark University shared this fantastic video of what Goddard's work has given humanity! 🚀🚀

03/13/2026

Here's a beautiful piece about Esther Goddard and how she made sure that Robert's legacy would be known and understood. But a beautiful story of their partnership.
Written by a staff member of Clark University

Esther Goddard was meticulous, devoted, and fiercely in control of the narrative. While Robert Goddard is remembered today as the father of modern rocketry, a key reason we remember him at all is she worked tirelessly to ensure he never be forgotten.

03/13/2026

Ok, this is pretty cool, shared by Roswell Museum!

Goddard Centennial Virtual Tour
Step inside a virtual Goddard Workshop from the Roswell Museum to tour the place where modern rocketry came to life with this award-winning project by educator Catalina Collins. Through archival images, recreated spaces, and interactive exploration, learners discover how Robert H. Goddard used simple tools, careful thinking, curiosity, and persistence to turn ideas into flight.

https://www.thinglink.com/view/scene/2054276842222781284

03/12/2026

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱, a woman to admire and celebrate on this Women History month!

Because of Esther, Robert H. Goddard, (her husband),'s achievements and legacy are known today, quite literally.

Robert Goddard is said to be the "Father of the Space Age" or one of the "founding fathers of modern rocketry".

Indeed, his inventions propelled (pun intended) to move rocketry and the space race" fast forward, and for his innovations to still be utilized today in the space industry!

Esther, his partner in life, was also partner and key player in his work:

She...
- deciphered his notes, which she alone could read,
- photographed and filmed his work (i.e. launches),
- stamped out the brush fires that were the results of his launchings,
- kept his account books,
- sewed the parachutes he used in his launchings,
- his business manager,
- travelled with him to all his work/launch sites to be there to assist him.

In 1926 when his innovation —liquid-fueled rockets— succeeded, nobody, except his entourage really knew about it.

That first launch was just the first baby step, but he continued to work on getting rockets to lift off the ground ... until he passed in 1945.

In 1969, the first men walked on the Moon.

Sadly, Robert was not to see how his innovation helped launch humanity to journey for the first time outside our planet.

His wife, Esther did.

And she did so much more:

She made certain her husband's work was not forgotten and that he received the honor and credit he deserved.

She devoted the first years to meticulously sorting out Robert's papers. Others had been pirating Goddard's inventions, and she set out to get the patent rights to insure legal recognition for his work.

She worked with Charles Hawley, a Worcester patent attorney, and in all, Goddard received 214 patents, 131 secured posthumously through Esther's efforts.

In 1965 she donated Robert's Magnesium Powder Experiment Box to the National Air and Space Museum.

This artifact developed in 1916 is the oldest space oriented artifact in the National Air and Space Museum and possibly the world.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is established in 1959 and named after the pioneer — thanks to Esther.

Next week, we will be celebrating the centennial of Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled launch.

Had it not been for Esther Goddard, we would not know this innovation came from him; we would not know his name, nor honor him and his legacy today.

(Text by me with parts sourced from the Goddard Memorial organization.)
Photo: Mrs. Esther Goddard, philanthropist Harry Guggenheim, and retired Air Force Lieutenant General James Harold Doolittle look up at a rocket cross-section in the Robert H. Goddard rocket exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History, NYC, circa 1950. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

Estes Rockets Clark University National Space Society Roswell Museum

03/11/2026

New book from the 𝑰𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒂 series 📢

'𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱’𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘀' — Honors the Centennial of the World’s First Modern Rocket Launch

'𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱’𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘀' brings this iconic and inspirational story to life for a general audience.
Published by Arcadia Publishing as part of its Images of America series, the book features more than 200 historical photographs, coupled with accessible writing and vivid descriptions, that trace Goddard’s journey from his early years in Worcester to the experiments that made him a pioneer of modern rocketry.
Readers are guided through the Massachusetts landscapes where he tested engines, refined designs, and nurtured ideas that were decades ahead of their time. A bonus chapter covers his revolutionary work elsewhere, especially in Roswell, New Mexico.

Adding a powerful personal perspective, the book features 𝙖 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙘𝙞𝙖𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙗𝙮 𝘼𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙤 𝟭𝟯 𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙖𝙪𝙩 𝙅𝙞𝙢 𝙇𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡𝙡, who reflects on Goddard’s enduring influence on generations of explorers. Lovell’s words underscore the direct line connecting Goddard’s early experiments to the missions that carried humans into space.

'𝗥𝗼𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱’𝘀 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗮𝗰𝗵𝘂𝘀𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘀', coauthored by Lowell Observatory Historian Kevin Schindler and Charles Slatkin, just released, March 3, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of Goddard’s historic 1926 launch..

The Centennial we will be celebrating in Worcester, Massachusetts, from March 14-22!

More information about the centennial here: https://www.firstlaunchcentennial.org/

03/10/2026

The first person in all of humanity to travel to space is 𝗬𝘂𝗿𝗶 𝗚𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻.

He was born on 9 March 1939.

At age 27 —in 1961— he went to space.

Yuri was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, as a Soviet Union citizen.

Just 35 years prior to that, from the United State, an American engineer was working on rocket propellant (amongst other innovations).

And specifically on 16 March, 1926, Robert H. Goddard successfully launched the first liquid-fueled rocket.

The rocket didn't go far; in fact, it rose 41 feet and for just a few seconds!

But from that tiny step of a launch, to 35 years later, Yuri's rocket allowed him to take off from Earth, orbit it, and spend almost two hours in space.

By the way, Yuri shared the first ever quote about seeing the Earth from space, and his Overview Effect-like observation:

"𝙊𝙧𝙗𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙀𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙝 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥, 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙨. 𝙋𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚, 𝙡𝙚𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙮, 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙧𝙤𝙮 𝙞𝙩!"

In those 35 years, the technology of rocketry advanced a lot, mostly in the missiles form, but from the first propelled rocket to a human in space was 35 years!

Here is another inspiring quote, this time from the engineer's perspective:

"𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬."
- 𝙍𝙤𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙩 𝙃𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙂𝙤𝙙𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙙 (𝟭𝟴𝟴𝟮-𝟭𝟵𝟰𝟱)

Imagine if Goddard could have seen all that, launches to space, to the Moon, men walking on the Moon....

In exactly 5 days, we will be celebrating Goddard's legacy in Worcester, MA for a week-long set of activities, including 100 model rockets that will be launched — and check out the Estes Rockets 'Goddard' new rockets! (See photo.)

The week will be culminating with an event on 22 March at the local theater with speakers, book signings, inspiring talks about Goddard and so much more for a STEM-themed inspiration for all the "future Goddards" of tomorrow.

More info here: https://www.firstlaunchcentennial.org/

Reach out for any info! Or just show up and let's meet in Worcester! (Tickets are free to the theater event!!)

03/05/2026

In 10 days!

The First Launch Centennial will be celebrated to honor Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket, his legacy, and to inspire a new generation of "future Goddards" into and fields and subjects!

This event will happen in Worcester, MA, where Goddard lived.

There will be 100 model rockets launched, and so much more!

Come join us!

More info here: https://www.firstlaunchcentennial.org/

Clark University Estes Rockets National Space Society