Would AMSAT Ever Existed..If this had not occurred....
Friday March 16
On this day in 1926, Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fuel
rocket. But he was first noticed in 1907 when a cloud of smoke issued
from a powder rocket fired in the basement of the physics building in
Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Needless to say, the school took an
interest in the work of this shy student. Thankfully they did not expel
him, and thus began his lifetime of work in rocket science. Goddard was
also the first to realize the full implications of rocketry for
missiles and space flight, and his lifetime of work was dedicated to
bringing this vision to realization. While most of what he did went
unrecognized for many years, today we celebrate the name of Robert H.
Goddard. This first flight may have gone only 12 meters, but forty
years later on the date of his birth, Gemini 8 was launched, carrying
Neil Armstrong and David Scott into orbit!
