Date: 1926
Country of Origin: United States of America
Dimensions:
Overall: 5 in. wide x 6 ft. 4 in. long x 2 1/2 in. diameter (12.7 x 193.04 x 6.35cm)
Materials:
Mainly of aluminum to save weight, with some steel including nozzle; some asbestos wrapping around pipes on both sides of the lower (liquid oxygen) tank.
This rocket was designed and built by U.S. rocket experimenter Robert H. Goddard. It was Goddard's first in which the motor was placed at the base since he found that his previously "nose driven" rockets with the motor underneath the nose, were inherently unstable. The rocket was tested at Auburn, Mass., on 4 May 1926 but failed to lift.
Another attempt at launch was made the following day, also without success. It was concluded that the rocket was too small to permit refinements and it was decided to abandon this design and build larger rockets. This rocket was donated to the Smithsonian by the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation for the Promotion of Aeronautics in 1985.
Daniel & Florence Guggenheim Foundation
