The Goddard Rocket Film Reels

Reel 01: Tests of Liquid-Propellant Rockets by Dr. Robert H. Goddard, at Auburn Mass., 1926-1928

Type

Video

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Date

1926-1928

Description

The Goddard Rocket Film Reels consists of twelve four-hundred-foot 16mm black-and-white film reels documenting Robert Goddard's experimental work with rockets in Auburn, Massachusetts, Roswell, New Mexico, and Annapolis, Maryland from 1926 through 1945. These reels were restruck in the mid-1960s, which were then digitized several years ago. Some, and very likely all, of these home movies were shot by Robert's wife Esther C. Goddard.

Reel 1 depicts experiments and/or tests with liquid-propellant rockets in Auburn, Massachusetts from March 1926 to February 1928. This reel contains footage from the day of the landmark March 16, 1926 flight, but the intertitles narrate that the actual flight was not photographed "probably due to fright of operator". Other sources claim that Esther ran out of film that day.

This list of intertitles gives a detailed account of the footage contained in this reel:

(00:10) R.H. Goddard with Aluminum Covered Rocket at Clark University Physics Laboratory, March 1926
(00:26) Outdoor test, March 8, 1926, at the Ward Farm, Auburn, Mass.
(00:40) Test giving first flight with a rocket using liquid propellants, March 16, 1926, Auburn, Mass. Actual flight was no photographed, probably due to fright of operator. Dr. Goddard stands happily beside the empty launching frame.
(01:04) Two Test Runs, April 1926
(01:31) Tests with new model, having combustion chamber and nozzle at bottom instead of top, May 1926
(01:59) Tests of much larger model in new permanent launching tower, January - August 1927. Note turntable for rotation. Lift was unsatisfactory. Grass fires were frequent.
(03:03 to end of video) Return to medium-sized model, September 1927 - February 1928. Henry Sachs, machinist, and P.M. Roope assisted at tests. Note gradual improvement of combustion

Duration

00:10:38

Genre

home movies

Keywords

Robert H. Goddard, rocketry, home movies, motion picture film, liquid-propellant rockets

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