"The rocket's reach was short, but it marked the moment that humanity entered a new era. It proved that liquid fuel could lift a craft skyward—the essential breakthrough that would one day carry humans to the moon."
"Goddard didn't seek the spotlight. He sought the truth. He was a scientist. Apart from his small team, very few people could say that they were truly there who felt the steady roar and saw the flash of fire against the New England snow."
Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket launched from a snowy Auburn field on March 16, 1926, for only two seconds but fundamentally changed space exploration. Unlike earlier solid-fueled rockets, liquid-fueled rockets provided the sustainability and control necessary for orbital and interplanetary missions. The rocket, nicknamed "Nell," was witnessed by only a handful of people, including Goddard, his wife Esther, crew chief Henry Sachs, and physics professor Percy Roope. A young boy named Gerald Hastings observed the launch while sledding nearby. Photographs and a monument mark the historic site, now located on a golf course. Replicas of Nell have been constructed over the decades, some capable of flight, yet the original rocket's current location remains unknown a century later.
Read at Ars Technica
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