Robert H. Goddard

Hello. My name is Robert Goddard. When I was a little boy, I loved to look up at the big, blue sky. At night, I would stare at the twinkling stars and the bright, beautiful Moon. I dreamed of building something that could fly all the way up there, higher than any bird or airplane.

I loved to invent and build things in my workshop. My biggest idea was to build a special kind of rocket. Instead of using powder like a firework, I used a special liquid fuel to make it go. One special day in 1926, my first liquid-fueled rocket, which I named 'Nell,' lifted off the ground. Whoosh. It was so exciting to see it fly.

At first, not many people understood my rocket ideas, and some even laughed. But I kept working because I knew it was important. My ideas for building rockets were like planting a tiny seed. That seed grew and grew, helping other smart people build bigger and better rockets that could one day take astronauts all the way to the Moon.

I lived to be 62 years old, always dreaming of space. Today, people remember me as the 'Father of Modern Rocketry.' My dreams and inventions helped make space travel possible for everyone.