A
Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes
by Robert
H. Goddard
Smithsonian
Miscellaneous Collections, Volume 71, Number 2
Publication
2540, 1919
With
10 Plates
Robert Hutchings
Goddard is widely regarded as "the father of modern rocketry," and this
book is generally regarded as his most important
work.
It's
clearly
the most influential book ever written about rocket science.
And with
good reason. Here, Dr. Goddard describes how rockets can be used
to explore the upper atmosphere--and why they function perfectly in the
vacuum of outer space. The texts explains that at a velocity of 6.95
miles per second (11.2 kps), without air resistance, an object can escape
Earth's gravity and head into infinity, or toward other celestial bodies.
This speed became known as the Earth's "escape velocity." In "A
Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes" he points out that humans could
reach the Moon using these techniques.
This
extremely advanced book opened both eyes and minds around the world.
It inspired hundreds, if not thousands, to pursue rocket science, engineering,
and technology. Wernher von Braun was deeply influenced by Goddard's
treatise, as were Willy Ley, Theodore von Kármán, William
Pickering, James Van Allen, Charles Lindbergh, Henry "Hap" Arnold, Herman
Oberth, and Fritz Lang. Even the Wright Brothers studied Goddard's
incredible text.
An important
(and hard-to-find) document, "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes"
covers both theory and practice. First Dr. Goddard explains, in simple
terms, the math involved (it's really not too advanced, even for a high
school student to understand). He then goes on to calculate the minimum
speed
to leave the Earth's gravity.
Next--and
filling the majority of the book--Goddard describes his innovative and
ingenious experiments, using small fireworks rockets and Coston ship rockets.
Working with black powder and (Hercules and Du Pont) smokeless pistol,
shotgun, and rifle gunpowder, in his own small rocket motors (precisely
described with detailed engineering drawings), he makes various static
tests. You'll learn a lot about building and testing rockets from
this important document.
Goddard
describes his electric igniter system in detail, and gives all the information
you would need to build a similar rocket engine in your shop. Next
he shows how he built a larger nickel-alloy steel rocket motor, and conducted
more tests. Then, the physics professor makes extensive tests in
a vacuum chamber! All of these experiments
are described in great detail, with more than enough information and data
(and photos and drawings!) for anyone to copy them.
Goddard's
"tissue paper detector," his "direct-lift impulse-meter," and other test
stand apparatus are quite ingenious (and again easy to build in any basic
shop). There are detailed tables and charts showing the result of
his static tests, along with delightful night photographs of the firings.
Finally,
the professor proceeds to prove that it is possible to escape the Earth's
gravity--using a multi-stage rocket!
His book
gives the calculations of minimum mass to raise one pound to various altitudes
in the atmosphere, and suggestions for recovery of apparatus on return.
There are seven appendices to the book, with recaps of the math equations,
and one called "Probability of Collision with
Meteors." Five pages of notes follow
this, along with 25 terrific photos!
The book
provides many insights into the mind and thinking of this important inventor.
It's a "must have" for the library of every serious rocket scientist, engineer,
and technician. If you want to learn
rocket science from its roots, by all means begin here!
Born a the
son of a machine shop owner in 1882, Goddard became a physics instructor
at Clark University. As a young physics graduate student, he conducted
static tests with small solid-fuel rockets, and in 1912 he developed the
detailed mathematical theory of rocket propulsion. He continued these
efforts and actually received two patents in 1914. One was the first
for a rocket using solid and liquid fuel, and the other for a multistage
rocket.
In 1915
he proved that rocket engines could produce thrust in a vacuum--proving
that space flight was indeed possible. In 1916 the Smithsonian Institution
provided funds for Goddard to continue his work on solid-propellant rockets
and to begin development of liquid-fuel rockets as well.
During
World War I, Goddard developed several types of solid-fuel rockets to be
fired from handheld launching tubes. These formed the basis of the
bazooka and other powerful rocket weapons of World War II.
Goddard
continued as a professor of physics at Clark, turning his attention to
liquid rocket propulsion. In 1916 he applied to the Smithsonian Institution
for assistance in 1916 and received a $5,000 grant. His research
was ultimately published by the Smithsonian as the classic
study, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes,
in 1919.
In this
now-famous treatise, Goddard described how rockets could be used to explore
the upper atmosphere. He went on to show that at a velocity of 6.95
miles per second (11.2 kps), without air resistance, an object could escape
Earth's gravity and head into infinity, or toward other celestial bodies.
This became known as the Earth's "escape velocity." He explained
that humans could reach the Moon using these techniques.
On March
16, 1926, Goddard launched his first liquid-fuel rocket, a liquid oxygen
and gasoline vehicle that rose 184 feet in 2.5 seconds. This event
heralded the modern age of rocketry.
He continued
to experiment with rockets and propellants for the rest of his life.
From 1930 to 1941, he launched rockets of increasing complexity and capability.
He developed systems for steering a rocket in flight by using a rudder-like
device to deflect the gaseous exhaust, with gyroscopes to keep the rocket
headed in the proper direction.
The culmination
of this effort was a successful launch of a rocket to an altitude of 9,000
feet in 1941. Later that year joined the U.S. Navy, and spent the
duration of World War II developing a jet-assisted takeoff (JATO) rocket
to shorten the distance required for heavy aircraft launches. Some
of this work led to the development of the “throttleable” Curtiss-Wright
XLR25-CW-1 rocket engine, which later powered the Bell X-2 research airplane
and helped overcome the transonic barrier in 1947. Goddard did not
live to see this; he died in Baltimore, Maryland, on August 10, 1945.
In 1960
the U.S. government recognized Robert Goddard's work when the
Department of Defense and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) awarded his estate $1 million for the use of his 214 rocketry patents.
Although he did not live to see the space age begin, if any one man had
a central role in its creation, it was Goddard.
Samples of Goddard's
photos and hand-drawn illustrations
(much smaller than in book)
After
several years of correspondence, we obtained from the Smithsonian archives
a rare, high-resolution digital scan of Robert H. Goddard's original manuscript,
and have printed it with a high-resolution laser printer (it's not
photocopied) on high-quality, bright-white, 24-pound, acid-free paper.
It's quality bound for years of reference use. 82 pages, 11" x 8-1/2"
size. $19.95
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We also
offer two other rare Goddard documents--his dissertations for Masters and
Doctorate degrees. These may be found here:
Robert
H. Goddard's Masters Thesis: Theory of Diffraction (1910). http://rocketsciencebooks.home.att.net/diffraction.html
Robert
H. Goddard's Doctoral Dissertation: Conduction of Electricity (1912).
http://rocketsciencebooks.home.att.net/conduction.html |
