The story of American space travel began in a Massachusetts cabbage patch. That’s where, on March 16, 1926, the first liquid-fueled rocket came down to Earth after a 2.5-second flight. The rocket was the invention of scientist Robert Goddard, who had dreamed of spaceflight since he was a teenager.

Goddard, then a physics professor at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, had been conducting rocket experiments for nearly a decade. He believed that a liquid-fueled rocket would one day be able to reach the moon—an idea dismissed as fantastical by many people at the time.

Born in Worcester in 1882, Goddard had grown up with a deep interest in science and a fascination with the works of the science fiction authors H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. In the fall of 1899, the 17-year-old Goddard climbed a cherry tree in his family’s backyard to prune its branches. Sitting in the tree, he had a daydream that would alter the course of his life—and the future of space travel.

“I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars, and how it would look on a small scale, if sent up from the meadow at my feet,” he later wrote.

From then on, he devoted his studies and work to the pursuit of rocketry. The early 20th century was a period of technological advancement. In 1903, the Wright brothers successfully completed the first sustained, controlled flight of a piloted, engine-powered aircraft over a North Carolina beach. Goddard wanted to soar even higher.

“The Wright brothers took us into the air,” says Kevin Schindler, a historian at Lowell Observatory in Arizona. “Goddard took us beyond.”

On March 16, 1926, the first liquid-fueled rocket came down in a Massachusetts cabbage patch. The flight lasted 2.5 seconds. It was the beginning of American space travel. The rocket was the invention of scientist Robert Goddard. He had dreamed of spaceflight since he was a teenager.

Goddard was a physics professor at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. He had been conducting rocket experiments for nearly a decade. He believed that a liquid-fueled rocket would one day be able to reach the moon. Many people thought his idea was a fantasy.

Born in Worcester in 1882, Goddard had grown up interested in science. He was fascinated by the science fiction authors H.G. Wells and Jules Verne. When he was 17 years old, Goddard climbed a cherry tree in his family’s backyard to prune its branches. Sitting in the tree, he had a daydream that would alter the course of his life.

“I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars, and how it would look on a small scale, if sent up from the meadow at my feet,” he later wrote.

From then on, he studied and worked in rocketry. The early 20th century was a period of technological advancement. In 1903, the Wright brothers successfully completed the first sustained flight of an engine-powered aircraft in North Carolina. Goddard wanted to go even higher.

“The Wright brothers took us into the air,” says Kevin Schindler, a historian at Lowell Observatory in Arizona. “Goddard took us beyond.”

Rockets had been around for centuries, dating back to ancient China, where soldiers used bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder to launch arrows at their enemies. These rockets relied on a solid fuel—gunpowder—which couldn’t be extinguished once it was lit. That made such rockets difficult to control.

“A solid engine is basically a stick of dynamite,” says Wendy Whitman Cobb, a professor at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at Air University, an educational institution run by the U.S. Air Force in Alabama. “Once you light it, there’s no way of stopping it.”

Through mathematical calculations and smaller tests in a vacuum-sealed chamber, Goddard proved that liquid fuels were the key to space travel. A propellant such as liquid hydrogen—which expands rapidly when burned—could create enough thrust to send a rocket beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Liquid fuel could also be shut off and its flow controlled, providing greater precision than a solid-fuel rocket.

In 1920, Goddard published a pamphlet detailing some of his findings, including suggesting that a liquid-fueled rocket could reach the moon. His ideas were met with scorn and criticism from a variety of sources. In an editorial titled “A Severe Strain on Credulity,” The New York Times declared that Goddard “seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.” Rockets, the editorial claimed, wouldn’t work in the vacuum of space with no air to push against. Goddard found supporters few and far between, and had earned the unwanted nickname “Moon Man.”

Undeterred, he kept experimenting with his rocket design. By March 1926, Goddard had a design he was ready to launch. Fuel lines framed the body of the rocket, allowing liquid oxygen and gasoline to combine and produce explosive thrust from the nozzle at its top. (Goddard would relocate the nozzle to the rocket’s base on future launches for stability, a design that remains favored today.) He used gasoline for fuel, since liquid hydrogen wasn’t yet available for widespread use. He named the rocket Nell, after a character in a popular play.

Rockets had been around for centuries. In ancient China, soldiers used bamboo tubes filled with gunpowder to launch arrows at their enemies. These rockets relied on gunpowder, a solid fuel. They couldn’t be extinguished once lit and that made them difficult to control.

“A solid engine is basically a stick of dynamite,” says Wendy Whitman Cobb, a professor at the School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at Air University, an educational institution run by the U.S. Air Force in Alabama. “Once you light it, there’s no way of stopping it.”

Goddard made mathematical calculations and ran smaller tests
in a vacuum-sealed chamber. His work proved that liquid fuels were the key to space travel. Liquid hydrogen expands rapidly when burned. It could create enough thrust to send a rocket beyond Earth’s atmosphere. Liquid fuel could also be shut off and its flow controlled. It gave the rockets greater precision than a solid-fuel rocket.

In 1920, Goddard published some of his findings, including suggesting that a liquid-fueled rocket could reach the moon. His ideas were met with ridicule and criticism. In an editorial titled “A Severe Strain on Credulity,” The New York Times declared that Goddard “seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.” Rockets, the editorial claimed, wouldn’t work in the vacuum of space with no air to push against. Goddard found supporters few and far between. He had earned the unwanted nickname “Moon Man.”

He kept experimenting with his rocket design. By March 1926, Goddard had a design he was ready to launch. Fuel lines framed the body of the rocket. The liquid oxygen and gasoline could combine and produce explosive thrust from the nozzle at its top. Goddard later relocated the nozzle to the rocket’s base for stability. This remains the design used today. He used gasoline for fuel. Liquid hydrogen wasn’t yet available for general use. He named the rocket Nell, after a character in a popular play.

On the morning of the launch, Goddard, his wife, Esther, and two assistants transported the rocket parts to a field on his aunt’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. By midday, Nell had been safely installed on a launch stand, anchored to the frozen ground. Goddard’s assistant, Henry Sachs, ignited the rocket by using a blowtorch attached to a long stick. There was no formal countdown. Instead, Nell slowly burst to life at about 2:30 p.m. It burned off excess fuel before it flew off “at express-train speed,” as Goddard described it.

It climbed about 41 feet into the air, vertically at first but then tilting sideways into an arc because it had no steering system. The vehicle crashed into a cabbage patch 184 feet away, skidding to a halt, with a total flight time of just 2.5 seconds—nearly 10 seconds shorter than the first flight of the Wright brothers in 1903.

Transformational as the event would prove to be, it received barely a mention at the time. In part, that was because Goddard was highly secretive and protective of his rocket research.

“Goddard worked in pretty much isolation,” Schindler says. “He had a team he worked with, but he had them sign waivers” to prevent them from sharing information. During his lifetime, Goddard would file more than 200 patents to protect his work.

Over the next three years, Goddard conducted three more launches from his aunt’s farm, reaching altitudes of up to 90 feet while improving the fuel system of the rockets and even experimenting with parachute recovery. The launches continued to receive little fanfare until 1929, when he was forced to move elsewhere after neighbors expressed alarm about a fire set off by one of the tests.

Goddard, with the help of the aviator Charles Lindbergh, relocated with his wife and his team to Roswell, New Mexico, to continue his work. During the next decade and a half, he launched some three dozen rockets in total, with one reaching an altitude of 8,000 to 9,000 feet.

On the morning of the launch, Goddard, his wife, Esther, and two assistants took the rocket parts to a field on his aunt’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. By midday, Nell had been safely installed on a launch stand. It was anchored to the frozen ground. Goddard’s assistant, Henry Sachs, used a blowtorch attached to a long stick to ignite the rocket.  There was no formal countdown. Instead, Nell slowly burst to life at about 2:30 p.m. It burned off excess fuel before it flew off “at express-train speed,” as Goddard described it.

It climbed about 41 feet into the air. It flew vertically at first but then tilted sideways into an arc. It had no steering system and crashed into a cabbage patch 184 feet away. The total flight time was just 2.5 seconds. It was nearly 10 seconds shorter than the first flight of the Wright brothers in 1903.

At the time, the rocket flight received barely a mention. In part, that was because Goddard was highly secretive and protective of his rocket research.

“Goddard worked in pretty much isolation,” Schindler says. “He had a team he worked with, but he had them sign waivers” to prevent them from sharing information. Goddard would file more than 200 patents to protect his work.

Over the next three years, Goddard conducted three more launches from his aunt’s farm. He reached altitudes of up to 90 feet while improving the fuel system of the rockets. He even experimented with parachute recovery. The launches continued to receive little fanfare until 1929. He was forced to move his testing after neighbors expressed concern about a fire set off by one of the tests.

Aviator Charles Lindbergh helped Goddard relocate with his wife and his team to Roswell, New Mexico. During the next 15 years, he launched some three dozen rockets in total. One reached an altitude of 8,000 to 9,000 feet.

His research found other uses outside the realm of space. He worked with the U.S. military on rocket-assisted launchers for aircraft in World War II (1939-45). At the same time, scientists in Nazi Germany had developed liquid-fueled missile launchers for use in combat.

Goddard died on August 10, 1945. Many historians say he didn’t receive the acclaim he deserved during his lifetime, perhaps because he was “a little early” to the scene, says Whitman Cobb of Air University.

“Nobody really believed this was something that was doable,” she says. “Goddard is almost this thrown-away visionary.”

German-born scientist Wernher von Braun, who developed rockets for NASA, said in 1963 that for all the crudeness of Goddard’s designs, his rockets “blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles.”

His research found other uses outside space exploration. He worked with the U.S. military on rocket-assisted launchers for aircraft in World War II (1939-45). During this time, scientists in Nazi Germany had developed liquid-fueled missile launchers for use in combat.

Goddard died on August 10, 1945. Many historians say he didn’t receive the acclaim he deserved during his lifetime.  Whitman Cobb of Air University says it might be because he was “a little early” to the scene.

“Nobody really believed this was something that was doable,” she says. “Goddard is almost this thrown-away visionary.”

German-born scientist Wernher von Braun, who developed rockets for NASA, said in 1963 that for all the crudeness of Goddard’s designs, his rockets “blazed the trail and incorporated many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles.”

During the Space Race (1957-69), the Cold War-era competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to dominate space travel, NASA began to celebrate Goddard as “the father of modern rocketry.” In 1959, the agency named the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland in his honor. In 1960, the government paid his estate $1 million for the use of his many rocket patents.

Goddard’s innovations were ultimately advanced by many other scientists in the U.S., Germany, and the Soviet Union. Michael Neufeld, a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, says that Goddard’s secretiveness limited his direct influence on modern spaceflight technology.

But, Neufeld says, Goddard’s work “popularized the idea that you could fly into space using a rocket,” thereby laying the foundation for space travel.

During the Space Race (1957-69), the Cold War-era competition between the U.S. and the Soviet Union to dominate space travel, NASA began to celebrate Goddard as “the father of modern rocketry.” In 1959, the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland was named in his honor. Then in 1960, the government paid his estate $1 million for the use of his many rocket patents.

Goddard’s innovations were ultimately improved by many other scientists. Michael Neufeld, a curator at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, says that Goddard’s secretiveness limited his direct influence on modern spaceflight technology.

But, Neufeld says, Goddard’s work “popularized the idea that you could fly into space using a rocket,” which was the foundation for space travel.

A century after Goddard’s historic achievement, rocket launches have become routine (see timeline, below). In April, NASA’s Artemis II mission relied heavily on liquid-fueled rocket technology to launch astronauts farther into space than any humans had traveled before. The mission was part of NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the moon again in 2028. Today’s space launchers also carry thousands of Starlink internet satellites from SpaceX, powerful space telescopes that study the early universe, space probes that hurtle toward the sun and beyond Pluto, and people to and from the International Space Station. In 2025 alone, there were more than 300 rocket launches.

Goddard died more than two decades before U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon in 1969. But his influence was felt on the mission. Aldrin’s father had studied under Goddard at Clark University, and the NASA astronaut carried a small copy of Goddard’s autobiography during his journey.

The moon mission prompted editors at The New York Times to address the dismissiveness of the earlier editorial writers about Goddard’s efforts on his aunt’s farm.

“Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th century and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere,” the newspaper wrote on July 17, 1969, the day after Apollo 11 lifted off. “The Times regrets the error.”

A century after Goddard’s historic achievement, rocket launches have become routine (see timeline, below). In April, NASA’s Artemis II mission relied heavily on liquid-fueled rocket technology to launch astronauts farther into space than any humans had traveled before. The mission was part of NASA’s plan to land astronauts on the moon again in 2028. Today’s space launchers also carry thousands of Starlink internet satellites from SpaceX and powerful space telescopes that study the early universe. Rockets also carry space probes toward the sun and beyond Pluto. People also use rockets to travel to and from the International Space Station. In 2025 alone, there were more than 300 rocket launches.

Goddard died more than 20 years before U.S. astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon in 1969. But his influence was felt on the mission. Aldrin’s father had studied under Goddard at Clark University. He carried a small copy of Goddard’s autobiography during his space journey.

The moon mission prompted editors at The New York Times to address the dismissiveness of the earlier editorial writers about Goddard’s efforts on his aunt’s farm.

“Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th century, and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere,” the newspaper wrote on July 17, 1969, the day after Apollo 11 lifted off. “The Times regrets the error.”

^{With additional reporting by Lauren Vespoli.}

^{With additional reporting by Lauren Vespoli.}