Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer Usage Conditions May Apply Usage Conditions Apply There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian's Terms of Use page. IIIF provides researchers rich metadata and image viewing options for comparison of works across cultural heritage collections. More - https://iiif.si.edu View Manifest View in Mirador Viewer

This is a copper water jacket used for cooling rocket motors and was designed and built by early American rocket pioneer Dr. Robert H. Goddard. If a rocket motor became too hot or overheated during runs, it could burst or explode. The jacket fit snugly around the entire motor from the top of the combustion chamber to the bottom of the long nozzle.

The jacket was first tried in tests in 1931 and appeared to work. Goddard thus used this type of cooling in many of his rockets up to 1941. He came close to developing a regenerative cooling system in which the fuel circulates around the chamber before it is injected into the combustion chamber but preferred to use the water jacket. This object was donated to the Smithsonian by Mrs. R. H. Goddard in 1959.

 Display Status

This object is not on display at the National Air and Space Museum. It is either on loan or in storage.
Object Details
Date 1931-1932 Country of Origin United States of America Type PROPULSION-Components (Engine Parts) Manufacturer Dr. Robert H. Goddard
 Dimensions 3-D: 71.5 × 18 × 11.3cm (28 1/8 × 7 1/16 × 4 7/16 in.)
 Materials Copper; smaller diameter cooling tubes; main, large pipes and base pipes, steel
 Inventory Number A19590073001 Credit Line Gift of Mrs. Robert H. Goddard Data Source National Air and Space Museum Restrictions & Rights Usage conditions apply
For more information, visit the Smithsonians Terms of Use.