Was Dr. Goddards famous during his life?
Although he was in the newspapers periodically throughout his life, Robert Goddard was far from being nationally well-known. This is probably due in part to the fact that rockets were little-used while he was alive. The time he received the most press coverage was probably after his rocket launch on July 17, 1929. Dr. Goddard described what occurred in a report he wrote during August of 1929: “Owing to the flight being the highest so far attained, and the flame using an excess of gasoline producing a loud noise and a bright white flare, neighbors sent in calls for ambulances, thinking that an airplane had caught fire and crashed. Unknown to me, two police ambulances searched through Auburn for “victims,” and an airplane was sent from the Grafton airport for the same purpose…We were nearly packed up when over the hill from the direction of the farmhouse I saw about a dozen automobiles, raising a great cloud of dust, the first two being ambulances. I asked the two officers if they could
Although he was in the newspapers periodically throughout his life, Robert Goddard was far from being nationally well-known. This is probably due in part to the fact that rockets were little-used while he was alive. The time he received the most press coverage was probably after his rocket launch on July 17, 1929. Dr. Goddard described what occurred in a report he wrote during August of 1929: “Owing to the flight being the highest so far attained, and the flame using an excess of gasoline producing a loud noise and a bright white flare, neighbors sent in calls for ambulances, thinking that an airplane had caught fire and crashed. Unknown to me, two police ambulances searched through Auburn for “victims,” and an airplane was sent from the Grafton airport for the same purpose…We were nearly packed up when over the hill from the direction of the farmhouse I saw about a dozen automobiles, raising a great cloud of dust, the first two being ambulances. I asked the two officers if they could
