March 16, 1926: The First Liquid-Propellant Rocket Launch
Document Type
Photograph
Date
3-16-1926
Keywords
Robert Goddard, rocketry, liquid-propellant rocket
Description
Photograph of the rocket in its testing frame on March 6, 1926 at Aunt Effie's (a distant relative of Goddard) Ward Farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. There were two tests in March 1926. The first, on March 6, was unsuccessful. This was because the aluminum bottom of the chamber burned through. The recoil from the nozzle yanked the remainder of the chamber upward, bending the supply pipes. These errors were soon patched up and the next test, held on March 16, marked the world's first launch of a liquid-propellant rocket.
Following December 6, 1925 (the day Goddard achieved the first liquid-fuel rocket to lift its own weight), he realized a successful launch required making the rocket as streamlined and light as possible. Despite working for years to develop pumps and engines for rockets, he would now be relying on the pressure of oxygen evaporated within a liquid oxygen tank.
This photograph was used in Goddard's "Report on the Development of a Liquid Propelled Rocket". This is the first time many of these photographs have been made available for online viewing, and together they represent the most granular visual documentation of the March 16, 1926 rocket and its leadup in existence. An excerpt of that report covering everything between December 6, 1926 and March 16, 1926 can be found here.
Photographs were scanned at 400dpi.
Recommended Citation
Goddard, Esther, "Figure 123: Rocket in testing frame at Ward Farm, March 6, 1926" (1926). March 16, 1926: The First Liquid-Propellant Rocket Launch. 21.
https://commons.clarku.edu/goddardlaunch/21
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