Robert Hutchings Goddard, Ph.D. (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945), U.S. professor and scientist, was a pioneer of controlled, liquid-fueled rocketry.
Robert Goddard was the leading rocket scientist of the United States. In 1943, after Shiplord Straha defected from the Race to the U.S., Goddard was given first crack at the technology and at Straha's pilot, Vesstil, with Sam Yeager as his translator.[1]
In 1944, while in Hot Springs, Arkansas, he was able to develop a primitive rocket.[2] Despite precautions, the first test firing brought a fleet of Race helicopters on a strafing mission, although Goddard, Yeager, and the rest of the team was not endangered. [3] These rockets were quickly adopted by the U.S. military. While Goddard made efforts to improve the technology enough to develop rockets that could be tipped with atomic bombs, Goddard's health was badly taxed during the process.[4] Mercifully, the Peace of Cairo ended the war in the same year, and the need grew less urgent.
