How rockets were invented

Get ready for blast off! 🚀 One hundred years ago, a super clever inventor named Robert Goddard launched the very first liquid-fueled rocket! It only flew for 2.5 seconds and landed right in a cabbage patch! Can you believe people laughed at him? They thought his idea was silly! But guess what? That tiny, quick flight in a snowy field was the start of everything! This little hop led to giant leaps: giant V-2 rockets, the exciting Space Race, and even landing humans on the MOON! Join Mira and Finn as they explore how one small pop changed the future and took us to the stars! Don't miss this explosive history adventure!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome to History's Not Boring by Kidopoly.com. I'm Mira. And I'm Finn. Finn, did you know that right now, exactly 100 years ago, something totally crazy happened in a snowy field that helped humans get to the moon? We're talking about the very first liquid-fuelled rocket launch.

SPEAKER_01 0:21

A real rocket, like the ones astronauts use.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

Exactly. But this one was small, only about eight feet tall, and it flew for only 2.5 seconds before crashing into a cabbage patch. It sounds like a flop, but this tiny flight changed everything.

SPEAKER_01 0:39

Wait, only 2.5 seconds? That's less time than it takes to tie my shoes.

SPEAKER_00 0:45

It is, but those 2.5 seconds, on March 16, 1926, proved that liquid fuel, the stuff that powers huge modern rockets, actually worked. Today, we're exploring how one man's dream of reaching the stars started with a crash landing in a field near Auburn, Massachusetts. So, imagine it's 1926. Cars are new, most people listen to the radio, and aeroplanes are still pretty wobbly, only flying a few hundred miles at most. No one thought space travel was possible.

SPEAKER_01 1:19

How far could the fastest plane fly back then?

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Great question. It was nothing like today. For example, the first non-stop transatlantic flight was only a few years earlier, in 1919, covering about 1,850 miles. But even that was a huge deal. For space? People thought it was science fiction.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

So who was the person trying to do the impossible?

SPEAKER_00 1:45

That was Dr. Robert Goddard. His full name was Robert Hutchings Goddard. He was a physicist, kind of like a super smart scientist who loved math and engines. He started dreaming about rockets when he was just 16, climbing a cherry tree in his backyard in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1898. Whoa, from a cherry tree. Did he build a little rocket then? He did. But his first real test was in 1914, using only gunpowder, like fireworks, and it only reached an altitude of about 184 feet. That was okay, but he knew gunpowder couldn't get anything to space. To reach space, you need much more power and speed. He needed liquid fuel, liquid oxygen and gasoline.

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Gasoline and oxygen? Like a car engine, but for a rocket?

SPEAKER_00 2:37

Exactly. The problem was controlling the fire. He spent years, from 1914 all the way to 1926, working on the delicate mechanics. The fuel tanks, the pumps, the nozzle, everything had to work perfectly. He even got some money from the Smithsonian Institution, about$1,000 total, to help fund his secret work. Finally, on March 16, 1926, he was ready. He secretly moved his rocket, which he nicknamed Nell, out to a farm owned by the Cusino family in Auburn. It was a cold, snowy day. The rocket was only about 8 feet tall and weighed around£29 when empty.

SPEAKER_01 3:23

Only£29? That's lighter than my backpack when it's full of books. Where did he launch it from?

SPEAKER_00 3:31

He used a simple tripod stand he built himself. He had to check the pressure gauges. The liquid oxygen was stored at minus 297 degrees Fahrenheit. Imagine something that cold! He and his assistant, a local high school teacher named Chris Ford, had to work fast to keep the delicate plumbing from freezing or leaking.

SPEAKER_01 4:03

What happened when they lit the fuse?

SPEAKER_00 4:05

They held their breath. At 2.30 pm, the fuel ignited. There was a roar, and the little rocket shot up. It went straight up for 2.5 seconds, reaching an altitude of 41 feet. That's taller than a four-story building.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Wow, 41 feet! That's not bad for 2.5 seconds. Did it land safely? Nope.

SPEAKER_00 4:33

Remember the cabbage patch? The rocket shot up 41 feet, then drifted sideways and crashed right into the patch on the farm, making a small hole. It was successful scientifically, but on the ground it looked like a failure.

SPEAKER_01 4:50

A cabbage patch?

unknown 4:52

Haha.

SPEAKER_01 4:53

So the newspapers hated it, right? They absolutely did.

SPEAKER_00 4:56

The press thought he was a crazy inventor wasting money. They called it the cabbage racket and mocked him relentlessly. He even had to call the farmer to explain that the hole in the patch was just proof his invention worked. Dr. Goddard famously said, the men in the cities never realise what is done in the fields. That's so mean. He proved liquid fuel could work. He did, but he didn't stop. He kept experimenting in secret for years in New Mexico, where the dry, wide open space was better for testing. He eventually got support from the Guggenheim Foundation. He proved that rockets could use gyroscopes for steering, just like an airplane's rudder.

SPEAKER_01 5:40

Steering with gyroscopes. So it didn't just go up and fall over.

SPEAKER_00 5:45

Exactly. He developed the first successful guided liquid-fuelled rocket in 1929. His rockets kept getting bigger. By 1935, one of his rockets flew 4,800 feet high. That's almost a full mile up. He also patented the idea of using veins in the rocket's exhaust for guidance, which is still used today.

SPEAKER_01 6:10

A whole mile! So the guys who built the huge rockets for the moon landing must have used his ideas, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:17

They absolutely did. The liquid fuel concept was the key. Later, during World War II, Goddard's work, especially the guidance and liquid fuel concepts, heavily influenced the German engineers creating the V-2 rocket. The V-2 could fly over 200 miles and was the first human-made object to cross the boundary of space.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Wait, so a rocket designed for a weapon ended up leading to the moon landing? That's a wild path.

SPEAKER_00 6:46

It is. After the war, many of those German engineers and Goddard's own designs were brought to the US. His liquid-fueled rocket was the direct ancestor of the massive Saturn V rocket that took Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin to the Moon in 1969. So, that tiny 2.5-second flight that crashed in a field of cabbages? It was the seed! Without Goddard proving the physics in 1926, the whole space race might have been delayed by decades, maybe even longer.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

That's like the ultimate comeback story from a bad first impression. What else is cool about him?

SPEAKER_00 7:25

Here are some whoa facts. Did you know that Goddard also invented the rocket camera? He used tiny cameras on his rockets in the 1930s to take aerial photos from higher than any airplane could fly at the time. He was taking space selfies decades before anyone else.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

A rocket camera!

SPEAKER_00 7:45

Did they use it to take pictures of the Earth? He did. Another fun one, he was so focused on his math and physics that he actually drove a car around Roswell, New Mexico, in 1935, trying to track one of his rockets from the ground. He needed precise timing and measurements.

SPEAKER_01 8:04

So, he invented the liquid rocket, steering, and aerial photography. All before most people even believed you could go to space.

SPEAKER_00 8:13

Exactly. And the final amazing detail: he held over 200 patents related to rocketry, but he rarely talked about his work because he was so afraid of being mocked again after the cabbage rocket incident. Imagine keeping the secret to space travel locked away. Alright, Finn, time for the quiz! We learnt so much today, especially about those first few seconds. Are you ready to test your knowledge?

SPEAKER_01 8:39

Okay, I'm ready. I hope I remember the weird cold number.

SPEAKER_00 8:43

First question. What was the name Robert Goddard gave to his very first liquid-fueled rocket? Next one, this is about the flight itself. How long did the rocket actually fly for on March 16, 1926? Question 3. How high did that first rocket travel? Roughly taller than a small building? Here's number four. What cold substance did Goddard use as part of his liquid fuel mixture? Last question. Which massive later space mission was made possible by Goddard's liquid fuel discovery? Great job everyone! Let's see how you did. Time to check those answers. The first answer is that the rocket was nicknamed Nell. For question two, the flight lasted just 2.5 seconds. Number three, the altitude reached was 41 feet. Question 4. The super cold ingredient was liquid oxygen. And the final answer is the Apollo moon landing.

SPEAKER_01 9:58

I can't believe such a short, messy flight led to us going to the moon. It makes my drawing look pretty good, even if it gets messy.

SPEAKER_00 10:07

Me too, Finn. It shows that even the smallest first step, even if it lands in a cabbage patch, is the most important one. Dr. Goddard never got a big parade, but his quiet work changed the whole world.

SPEAKER_01 10:21

He was super brave to keep going when the newspapers made fun of him.

SPEAKER_00 10:26

He really was. If you loved hearing about Dr. Goddard's journey from the cherry tree to the stars, we would be so grateful if you could leave us a five-star review. That helps other kids find stories like this one about brave inventors who change history. Just scroll down and tap the stars.

SPEAKER_01 10:44

And check out our site, kidopoly.com. There are tons of fun learning games there to explore more awesome history.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

That's right. And if you ever want to send us a question or tell us which historical moment you want us to explore next, email us at hello at kidopoly.com. We love hearing from you. Bye for now. See you next time on History's Not Boring.