Robert H. Goddard was an American scientist and professor of physics. As a child, he had many problems with illness. On March 16, 1926, he became the first person in the world to build and launch a liquid-fueled rocket. From 1930 to 1935, Goddard launched rockets reaching speeds of up to 885 km/h (550 mph). Although his work in the field was groundbreaking, he was sometimes ridiculed for his theories on spaceflight. As a child, Goddard was a thin, frail boy who almost always had poor health with colds, stomach problems, and bronchitis. He was two years late. his classmates. While ill, Goddard became a voracious reader, regularly visiting the local public library to borrow books on the physical sciences. As his health improved, he continued his education at South High School in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1901. As a sophomore at South High, he excelled in his classes and his peers twice elected him as class president. At his 1904 graduation ceremony, he gave his valedictorian speech, and in his speech, which he titled "On Taking Things for Granted," Goddard included a phrase that would become emblematic of his life, from Wikipedia: “It has often proven It is true that yesterday's dream is today's hope and tomorrow's reality. » Goddard enrolled at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) in 1904 and quickly impressed A. Wilmer Duff, head of the physics department. Professor Duff hired him as a laboratory assistant and gave him private lessons. At Worcester, Goddard joined SAEF (Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity) and began a long relationship with high school classmate Miriam Olmstead, an honor student who had graduated with Goddard as salutatorian, the second most high graduate of all graduates..... . middle of article...... Goddard's work dealt with the theoretical and experimental relationships between propellant, rocket mass, thrust and velocity, a final section entitled "Calculation of the minimum mass required to raise a pound at an "infinite" altitude. " discussed the possibility of using rockets, not only to reach the upper part of our atmosphere, but also to be able to completely escape Earth's gravitation. Goddard discussed the question of launching a rocket to the Moon and igniting a mass of flash powder on its surface, so as to be seriously visible through a telescope, even down to an estimate of the quantity of flash powder required. Goddard's conclusion was that a rocket with a starting mass of 3.21 tons could produce lightning "barely visible" from Earth. And after forty years, Goddard's concept was proven when the Soviet Luna 2 space probe crashed into the Moon in September. 14, 1959.