Talk:Robert H. Goddard
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[edit] Goddard and von Braun
“Wernher von Braun did most of his work from Goddard's theories. The V-2 was extremely similar to Goddard's designs.”
Ridiculous.
Those are obviously politically motivated statements… probably because people are sensitive to von Braun’s Nazi connection and one of America’s crowning achievements has its roots in grey morality.
Lets look at the facts….
Goddard is credited with creating the first successful liquid-fuelled rocket. 2.4 seconds of flight. Check out the nice picture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Goddard_%28scientist%29
Among well known von Braun designs….the V-2 , Redstone, and Saturn V rockets. Man on the moon. Check out von Braun’s projects.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-2 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redstone_%28rocket%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_V
“EXTREMELY” similar to Goddard’s design?
Although there are historical connections… notably liquid-propellent and nozzle technology (based on a Swede’s design)…this is analogous to saying Charles Babbage’s difference engine is the extremely similar to a modern supercomputer. Or Einstein's 1905 work is mostly based on Newton because they both use calculus.
Pah-lease.
As I see it…. American’s first choice would have been to not use a former Nazi for rocket research… however because the Soviet Union was so far ahead (because of other Nazi German scientists)…. they really had no choice. (First Man in space, first Satellite in space, etc….)
Otherwise why not rely on Goddard’s work and avoid the political scandal of using von Braun’s work?
Goddard’s achievements are truly notable… but please no propaganda or revisionist history. Unfortunately, because rocket technology contains a special propaganda value (even today) this myth will sadly likely continue to propagate.
On the other hand though…. even von Braun couldn’t do it alone. He was financed by America money and assistance. America would have eventually got there on its own... but the propaganda value of achieving “firsts” before the Soviet Union solidified his importance to their space program.
If someone wants to make a connection between von Braun and Goddard it should only be made in a history of rocket article where it would be appropriate and the details of connections could be properly argued and backed up with evidence.
History can be ugly, but we should never rewrite or else we’ll fail to learn lessons. Not to mention it is an abandonment of rationalism.
Sources:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/sputnik/braun.html http://www.centennialofflight.gov/essay/Dictionary/von_Braun/DI119.htm
- I've removed the "extremely similar" phrase that you objected to and replaced it with an objective assessment from another chronicle and with a quotation from von Braun himself, both with citations. JamesMLane 02:55, 21 Feb 2005 (UTC)
[edit] "Clue game"
Clue Game I've snipped the following material which is entertaining but doesn't belong in an encyclopedia article. Dpbsmith (talk) 15:47, 14 September 2005 (UTC)
- "Write down these questions and read them to a friend to make them guess who you're talking about." Hint: They all link together :D
- He was born 63 years before he died.
- He made discoveries that were only fully appreciated until after 1945.
- 15 years before he stopped rocket motor researche he launched liquid fueled rockets.
- From 1939 to 1945 he researched rocket motors.
- He died 10 days after the last of July in the year that he stopped researching rocket motors.
- He stopped research in the year that WWII ended.
- Joined the physics faculty in the school he recieved his Ph.D. from 5 years before his report entailing the kind of rocket flight necessary to reach the moon was published.
- Got a Ph.D. 29 years after he was born.
- Finished Clark University in 1911.
- His report about what type of rocket flight is needed to reach the moon was published 26 years before he died.
[edit] Bazooka references?
I can't find any references on Goddard being the "inventor" of the bazooka, where the bazooka article itself tells a different story. Can someone confirm either story? --Anthony Liekens 14:10, 19 October 2005 (UTC)
- "Goddard developed and demonstrated the basic idea of the 'bazooka' two days before the Armistice in 1918 at the Aberdeen Proving Ground" [1] and "In addition, his research efforts included work on solar energy, vacuum tubes, railroad transportation, radio tube oscillators, and the prototype of the bazooka" [2]. -- Jacob1207 18:12, 4 December 2005 (UTC)
[edit] New York Times, patents, early work
At present (13 May 2006), there is too much coverage of the New York Times' criticism of Goddard's work, too little coverage of the major patents Goddard was awarded (and their importance), and too little on Goddard's early research (esp. his groundbreaking work A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes).
The New York Times section currently takes up as much as 20 percent of the writeup of this article. While the lack of vision by the New York Times is important to understand in viewing Goddard's legacy, it is still only an amusing anecdote in Goddard's life. Therefore, it needs to be viewed in the larger context of Goddard's career, and that should mean giving greater emphasis to what he accomplished.
It is important to understand Goddard's major patents, which are hardly mentioned at all in this article, and his pioneering book, which until recently had not even been mentioned in the body of the article. Clearly, there are a number of improvements to be made to bring up the quality of this article. -- Christopher Nieman 19:14, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
- Excellent; everybody looks forward to seeing what you add! - DavidWBrooks 22:23, 13 May 2006 (UTC)
