Dharma is a key concept with multiple meanings in Indian religions, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and others. There is no direct single-word translation for dharma in Western languages, however, the Christian and Platonist concept of "eusebeia" is close to the Hindu interpretation of dharma, and the Christian or Stoic "Logos" is close to the Buddhist interpretation. The Christian notion of Physis, meaning "created order" or "the arrangement of physical reality", from which the modern word physics is derived, also overlaps with some readings of "dharma", albeit with a lesser emphasis on the divine. In addition, the New Testament usage of νόμος (nómos, literally "law") would often translate "dharma" well, as it is used both with reference to divine law (as in Heb 8:10) and to the correct way for humans to live in accordance to divine law (as in Rom 9:31).
In Hinduism, dharma is one of the four components of the Puruṣārtha, the aims of life, and signifies behaviours that are considered to be in accord with Ṛta, the order that makes life and universe possible. It includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and "right way of living". In Buddhism, dharma means "cosmic law and order", as expressed by the teachings of the Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for "phenomena". Dharma in Jainism refers to the teachings of Tirthankara (Jina) and the body of doctrine pertaining to the purification and moral transformation of human beings. For Sikhs, dharma means the path of righteousness and proper religious practice.
The concept of dharma was already in use in the historical Vedic religion, and its meaning and conceptual scope has evolved over several millennia. As with other components of the Puruṣārtha, the concept of dharma is pan-Indian. The ancient Tamil moral text of Tirukkural is solely based on aṟam, the Tamil term for dharma. The antonym of dharma is adharma.
The word dharma has roots in the Sanskrit dhr-, which means to hold or to support, and is related to Latin firmus (firm, stable). From this, it takes the meaning of "what is established or firm", and hence "law". It is derived from an older Vedic Sanskritn-stem dharman-, with a literal meaning of "bearer, supporter", in a religious sense conceived as an aspect of Rta.
In the Rigveda, the word appears as an n-stem, dhárman-,
with a range of meanings encompassing "something established or firm"
(in the literal sense of prods or poles). Figuratively, it means
"sustainer" and "supporter" (of deities). It is semantically similar to
the Greek themis ("fixed decree, statute, law").
Dharma is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. It has multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism. It is difficult to provide a single concise definition for dharma, as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings and interpretations. There is no equivalent single-word synonym for dharma in western languages.
There have been numerous, conflicting attempts to translate ancient Sanskrit literature with the word dharma into German, English and French. The concept, claims Paul Horsch, has caused exceptional difficulties for modern commentators and translators. For example, while Grassmann's translation of Rig-Veda identifies seven different meanings of dharma, Karl Friedrich Geldner
in his translation of the Rig-Veda employs 20 different translations
for dharma, including meanings such as "law", "order", "duty", "custom",
"quality", and "model", among others. However, the word dharma has become a widely accepted loanword in English, and is included in all modern unabridged English dictionaries.
The root of the word dharma is "dhri", which means "to
support, hold, or bear". It is the thing that regulates the course of
change by not participating in change, but that principle which remains
constant. Monier-Williams, the widely cited resource for definitions and explanation of Sanskrit words and concepts of Hinduism, offers numerous definitions of the word dharma,
such as that which is established or firm, steadfast decree, statute,
law, practice, custom, duty, right, justice, virtue, morality, ethics,
religion, religious merit, good works, nature, character, quality,
property. Yet, each of these definitions is incomplete, while the
combination of these translations does not convey the total sense of the
word. In common parlance, dharma means "right way of living" and "path of rightness".
The meaning of the word dharma depends on the context, and
its meaning has evolved as ideas of Hinduism have developed through
history. In the earliest texts and ancient myths of Hinduism, dharma meant cosmic law, the rules that created the universe from chaos, as well as rituals; in later Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas and the Epics, the meaning became refined, richer, and more complex, and the word was applied to diverse contexts.
In certain contexts, dharma designates human behaviours
considered necessary for order of things in the universe, principles
that prevent chaos, behaviours and action necessary to all life in
nature, society, family as well as at the individual level. Dharma
encompasses ideas such as duty, rights, character, vocation, religion,
customs and all behaviour considered appropriate, correct or morally
upright.
The antonym of dharma is adharma (Sanskrit: अधर्म), meaning that which is "not dharma". As with dharma, the word adharma
includes and implies many ideas; in common parlance, adharma means that
which is against nature, immoral, unethical, wrong or unlawful.
In Buddhism, dharma incorporates the teachings and doctrines of the founder of Buddhism, the Buddha.
History
According to Pandurang Vaman Kane, author of the authoritative book History of Dharmasastra, the word dharma appears at least fifty-six times in the hymns of the Rigveda, as an adjective or noun. According to Paul Horsch, the word dharma has its origin in the myths of Vedic Hinduism. The hymns of the Rig Veda claim Brahman
created the universe from chaos, they hold (dhar-) the earth and sun
and stars apart, they support (dhar-) the sky away and distinct from
earth, and they stabilise (dhar-) the quaking mountains and plains. The gods, mainly Indra,
then deliver and hold order from disorder, harmony from chaos,
stability from instability – actions recited in the Veda with the root
of word dharma. In hymns composed after the mythological verses, the word dharma takes expanded meaning as a cosmic principle and appears in verses independent of gods. It evolves into a concept, claims Paul Horsch, that has a dynamic functional sense in Atharvaveda
for example, where it becomes the cosmic law that links cause and
effect through a subject. Dharma, in these ancient texts, also takes a
ritual meaning. The ritual is connected to the cosmic, and "dharmani" is
equated to ceremonial devotion to the principles that gods used to
create order from disorder, the world from chaos.
Past the ritual and cosmic sense of dharma that link the current world
to mythical universe, the concept extends to ethical-social sense that
links human beings to each other and to other life forms. It is here
that dharma as a concept of law emerges in Hinduism.
Dharma and related words are found in the oldest Vedic literature
of Hinduism, in later Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, and the Epics; the
word dharma also plays a central role in the literature of other Indian
religions founded later, such as Buddhism and Jainism. According to Brereton, Dharman occurs 63 times in Rig-veda; in addition, words related to Dharman also appear in Rig-veda, for example once as dharmakrt, 6 times as satyadharman, and once as dharmavant, 4 times as dharman and twice as dhariman.
Indo-European parallels for "dharma" are known, but the only Iranian equivalent is Old Persian darmān "remedy", the meaning of which is rather removed from Indo-Aryandhárman, suggesting that the word "dharma" did not have a major role in the Indo-Iranian period, and was principally developed more recently under the Vedic tradition. However, it is thought that the Daena of Zoroastrianism, also meaning the "eternal Law" or "religion", is related to Sanskrit "dharma". Ideas in parts overlapping to Dharma are found in other ancient cultures: such as Chinese Tao, Egyptian Maat, Sumerian Me.
Eusebeia and dharma
The Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription is from Indian Emperor Asoka in 258 BC, and found in Afghanistan. The inscription renders the word dharma in Sanskrit as eusebeia in Greek, suggesting dharma in ancient India meant spiritual maturity, devotion, piety, duty towards and reverence for human community.
In the mid-20th century, an inscription of the Indian Emperor Asoka from the year 258 BC was discovered in Afghanistan, the Kandahar Bilingual Rock Inscription. This rock inscription contains Greek and Aramaic text. According to Paul Hacker, on the rock appears a Greek rendering for the Sanskrit word dharma: the word eusebeia.
Scholars of Hellenistic Greece explain eusebeia as a complex concept.
Eusebia means not only to venerate gods, but also spiritual maturity, a
reverential attitude toward life, and includes the right conduct toward
one's parents, siblings and children, the right conduct between husband
and wife, and the conduct between biologically unrelated people. This
rock inscription, concludes Paul Hacker,
suggests dharma in India, about 2300 years ago, was a central concept
and meant not only religious ideas, but ideas of right, of good, of
one's duty toward the human community.
Rta, maya and dharma
The evolving literature of Hinduism linked dharma to two other important concepts: Ṛta and Māyā. Ṛta in Vedas is the truth and cosmic principle which regulates and coordinates the operation of the universe and everything within it. Māyā in Rig-veda and later literature means illusion, fraud, deception, magic that misleads and creates disorder, thus is contrary to reality, laws and rules that establish order, predictability and harmony. Paul Horsch
suggests Ṛta and dharma are parallel concepts, the former being a
cosmic principle, the latter being of moral social sphere; while Māyā
and dharma are also correlative concepts, the former being that which
corrupts law and moral life, the later being that which strengthens law
and moral life.
Day proposes dharma is a manifestation of Ṛta, but suggests Ṛta
may have been subsumed into a more complex concept of dharma, as the
idea developed in ancient India over time in a nonlinear manner. The following verse from the Rigveda is an example where rta and dharma are linked:
O Indra, lead us on the path of Rta, on the right path over all evils...
Dharma is an organising principle in Hinduism that applies to human
beings in solitude, in their interaction with human beings and nature,
as well as between inanimate objects, to all of cosmos and its parts.
It refers to the order and customs which make life and universe
possible, and includes behaviours, rituals, rules that govern society,
and ethics.
Hindu dharma includes the religious duties, moral rights and duties of
each individual, as well as behaviours that enable social order, right
conduct, and those that are virtuous. Dharma, according to Van Buitenen,
is that which all existing beings must accept and respect to sustain
harmony and order in the world. It is neither the act nor the result,
but the natural laws that guide the act and create the result to prevent
chaos in the world. It is innate characteristic, that makes the being
what it is. It is, claims Van Buitenen, the pursuit and execution of
one's nature and true calling, thus playing one's role in cosmic
concert. In Hinduism, it is the dharma of the bee to make honey, of cow
to give milk, of sun to radiate sunshine, of river to flow. In terms of humanity, dharma is the need for, the effect of and essence of service and interconnectedness of all life.
In its true essence, dharma means for a Hindu to "expand the
mind". Furthermore, it represents the direct connection between the
individual and the societal phenomena that bind the society together. In
the way societal phenomena affect the conscience of the individual,
similarly may the actions of an individual alter the course of the
society, for better or for worse. This has been subtly echoed by the
credo धर्मो धारयति प्रजा: meaning dharma is that which holds and
provides support to the social construct.
In Hinduism, dharma includes two aspects – sanātana dharma, which is the overall, unchanging and abiding principals of dharma which are not subject to change, and yuga dharma, which is valid for a yuga, an epoch or age as established by Hindu tradition and thus may change at the conclusion of its time.
In Vedas and Upanishads
The history section of this article discusses the development of dharma concept in Vedas. This development continued in the Upanishads
and later ancient scripts of Hinduism. In Upanishads, the concept of
dharma continues as universal principle of law, order, harmony, and
truth. It acts as the regulatory moral principle of the Universe. It is
explained as law of righteousness and equated to satya (Sanskrit: सत्यं, truth), in hymn 1.4.14 of Brhadaranyaka Upanishad, as follows:
धर्मः तस्माद्धर्मात् परं नास्त्य् अथो अबलीयान् बलीयाँसमाशँसते धर्मेण यथा राज्ञैवम् ।
यो वै स धर्मः सत्यं वै तत् तस्मात्सत्यं वदन्तमाहुर् धर्मं वदतीति धर्मं वा वदन्तँ सत्यं वदतीत्य् एतद्ध्येवैतदुभयं भवति ।।
Nothing is higher than dharma. The weak overcomes the stronger by dharma, as over a king. Truly that dharma is the Truth (Satya);
Therefore, when a man speaks the Truth, they say, "He speaks the
Dharma"; and if he speaks Dharma, they say, "He speaks the Truth!" For
both are one.
The Hindu religion and philosophy, claims Daniel Ingalls, places major emphasis on individual practical morality. In the Sanskrit epics, this concern is omnipresent.
In the Second Book of Ramayana,
for example, a peasant asks the King to do what dharma morally requires
of him, the King agrees and does so even though his compliance with the
law of dharma costs him dearly. Similarly, dharma is at the centre of
all major events in the life of Rama, Sita, and Lakshman in Ramayana,
claims Daniel Ingalls.
Each episode of Ramayana presents life situations and ethical questions
in symbolic terms. The issue is debated by the characters, finally the
right prevails over wrong, the good over evil. For this reason, in Hindu
Epics, the good, morally upright, law-abiding king is referred to as
"dharmaraja".
In Mahabharata,
the other major Indian epic, similarly, dharma is central, and it is
presented with symbolism and metaphors. Near the end of the epic, the
god Yama, referred to as dharma in the text, is portrayed as taking the
form of a dog to test the compassion of Yudhishthira,
who is told he may not enter paradise with such an animal, but refuses
to abandon his companion, for which decision he is then praised by
dharma.
The value and appeal of the Mahabharata is not as much in its complex
and rushed presentation of metaphysics in the 12th book, claims Ingalls,
because Indian metaphysics is more eloquently presented in other
Sanskrit scriptures; the appeal of Mahabharata, like Ramayana, is in its
presentation of a series of moral problems and life situations, to
which there are usually three answers given, according to Ingalls: one answer is of Bhima, which is the answer of brute force, an individual angle representing materialism, egoism, and self; the second answer is of Yudhishthira, which is always an appeal to piety and gods, of social virtue and of tradition; the third answer is of introspective Arjuna,
which falls between the two extremes, and who, claims Ingalls,
symbolically reveals the finest moral qualities of man. The Epics of
Hinduism are a symbolic treatise about life, virtues, customs, morals,
ethics, law, and other aspects of dharma. There is extensive discussion of dharma at the individual level in the Epics of Hinduism, observes Ingalls;
for example, on free will versus destiny, when and why human beings
believe in either, ultimately concluding that the strong and prosperous
naturally uphold free will, while those facing grief or frustration
naturally lean towards destiny. The Epics of Hinduism illustrate various aspects of dharma, they are a means of communicating dharma with metaphors.
According to 4th century Vatsyayana
According to Klaus Klostermaier, 4th century Hindu scholar Vātsyāyana explained dharma by contrasting it with adharma.
Vātsyāyana suggested that dharma is not merely in one's actions, but
also in words one speaks or writes, and in thought. According to
Vātsyāyana:
Adharma of body: hinsa (violence), steya (steal, theft),
pratisiddha maithuna (sexual indulgence with someone other than one's
partner)
Dharma of body: dana (charity), paritrana (succor of the distressed) and paricarana (rendering service to others)
Adharma from words one speaks or writes: mithya (falsehood), parusa
(caustic talk), sucana (calumny) and asambaddha (absurd talk)
Dharma from words one speaks or writes: satya (truth and facts),
hitavacana (talking with good intention), priyavacana (gentle, kind
talk), svadhyaya (self-study)
Adharma of mind: paradroha (ill will to anyone), paradravyabhipsa
(covetousness), nastikya (denial of the existence of morals and
religiosity)
Dharma of mind: daya (compassion), asprha (disinterestedness), and sraddha (faith in others)
Dharma is part of yoga, suggests Patanjali; the elements of Hindu dharma are the attributes, qualities and aspects of yoga. Patanjali explained dharma in two categories: yamas (restraints) and niyamas (observances).
The five yamas, according to Patanjali, are: abstain from injury
to all living creatures, abstain from falsehood (satya), abstain from
unauthorised appropriation of things-of-value from another
(acastrapurvaka), abstain from coveting or sexually cheating on your
partner, and abstain from expecting or accepting gifts from others.
The five yama apply in action, speech and mind. In explaining yama,
Patanjali clarifies that certain professions and situations may require
qualification in conduct. For example, a fisherman must injure a fish,
but he must attempt to do this with least trauma to fish and the
fisherman must try to injure no other creature as he fishes.
The five niyamas (observances) are cleanliness by eating pure
food and removing impure thoughts (such as arrogance or jealousy or
pride), contentment in one's means, meditation and silent reflection
regardless of circumstances one faces, study and pursuit of historic
knowledge, and devotion of all actions to the Supreme Teacher to achieve
perfection of concentration.
Sources
Dharma is an empirical and experiential inquiry for every man and woman, according to some texts of Hinduism. For example, Apastamba Dharmasutra states:
Dharma and Adharma do not go around saying, "That is us." Neither do gods, nor gandharvas, nor ancestors declare what is Dharma and what is Adharma.
— Apastamba Dharmasutra
In other texts, three sources and means to discover dharma in Hinduism are described. These, according to Paul Hacker, are:
First, learning historical knowledge such as Vedas, Upanishads, the
Epics and other Sanskrit literature with the help of one's teacher.
Second, observing the behaviour and example of good people. The third
source applies when neither one's education nor example exemplary
conduct is known. In this case, "atmatusti"
is the source of dharma in Hinduism, that is the good person reflects
and follows what satisfies his heart, his own inner feeling, what he
feels driven to.
Dharma, life stages and social stratification
Some texts of Hinduism outline dharma for society and at the individual level. Of these, the most cited one is Manusmriti, which describes the four Varnas, their rights and duties. Most texts of Hinduism, however, discuss dharma with no mention of Varna (caste). Other dharma texts and Smritis differ from Manusmriti on the nature and structure of Varnas. Yet, other texts question the very existence of varna. Bhrigu, in the Epics, for example, presents the theory that dharma does not require any varnas.
In practice, medieval India is widely believed to be a socially
stratified society, with each social strata inheriting a profession and
being endogamous. Varna was not absolute in Hindu dharma; individuals
had the right to renounce and leave their Varna, as well as their asramas of life, in search of moksa.
While neither Manusmriti nor succeeding Smritis of Hinduism ever use
the word varnadharma (that is, the dharma of varnas), or
varnasramadharma (that is, the dharma of varnas and asramas), the
scholarly commentary on Manusmriti use these words, and thus associate
dharma with varna system of India.
In 6th century India, even Buddhist kings called themselves "protectors
of varnasramadharma" – that is, dharma of varna and asramas of life.
At the individual level, some texts of Hinduism outline four āśramas, or stages of life as individual's dharma. These are: (1) brahmacārya, the life of preparation as a student, (2) gṛhastha, the life of the householder with family and other social roles, (3) vānprastha or aranyaka, the life of the forest-dweller, transitioning from worldly occupations to reflection and renunciation, and (4) sannyāsa, the life of giving away all property, becoming a recluse and devotion to moksa, spiritual matters.
The four stages of life complete the four human strivings in life, according to Hinduism.
Dharma enables the individual to satisfy the striving for stability and
order, a life that is lawful and harmonious, the striving to do the
right thing, be good, be virtuous, earn religious merit, be helpful to
others, interact successfully with society. The other three strivings
are Artha – the striving for means of life such as food, shelter, power, security, material wealth, and so forth; Kama – the striving for sex, desire, pleasure, love, emotional fulfilment, and so forth; and Moksa
– the striving for spiritual meaning, liberation from life-rebirth
cycle, self-realisation in this life, and so forth. The four stages are
neither independent nor exclusionary in Hindu dharma.
Dharma and poverty
Dharma
being necessary for individual and society, is dependent on poverty
and prosperity in a society, according to Hindu dharma scriptures. For
example, according to Adam Bowles, Shatapatha Brahmana 11.1.6.24 links social prosperity and dharma
through water. Waters come from rains, it claims; when rains are
abundant there is prosperity on the earth, and this prosperity enables
people to follow Dharma – moral and lawful life. In times of distress,
of drought, of poverty, everything suffers including relations between
human beings and the human ability to live according to dharma.
In Rajadharmaparvan 91.34-8, the relationship between poverty and
dharma reaches a full circle. A land with less moral and lawful life
suffers distress, and as distress rises it causes more immoral and
unlawful life, which further increases distress.
Those in power must follow the raja dharma (that is, dharma of rulers),
because this enables the society and the individual to follow dharma
and achieve prosperity.
Dharma and law
The notion of dharma as duty or propriety is found in India's
ancient legal and religious texts. Common examples of such use are pitri
dharma (meaning a person's duty as a father), putra dharma (a person's
duty as a son), raj dharma (a person's duty as a king) and so forth. In
Hindu philosophy, justice, social harmony, and happiness requires that
people live per dharma. The Dharmashastra is a record of these guidelines and rules.
The available evidence suggest India once had a large collection of
dharma related literature (sutras, shastras); four of the sutras survive
and these are now referred to as Dharmasutras.
Along with laws of Manu in Dharmasutras, exist parallel and different
compendium of laws, such as the laws of Narada and other ancient
scholars.
These different and conflicting law books are neither exclusive, nor do
they supersede other sources of dharma in Hinduism. These Dharmasutras
include instructions on education of the young, their rites of passage,
customs, religious rites and rituals, marital rights and obligations,
death and ancestral rites, laws and administration of justice, crimes,
punishments, rules and types of evidence, duties of a king, as well as
morality.
Buddhism
In Buddhism dharma means cosmic law and order, but is also applied to the teachings of the Buddha. In Buddhist philosophy, dhamma/dharma is also the term for "phenomena".
Buddha's teachings
For practising Buddhists, references to "dharma" (dhamma
in Pali) particularly as "the dharma", generally means the teachings of
the Buddha, commonly known throughout the East as Buddhadharma. It
includes especially the discourses on the fundamental principles (such
as the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path), as opposed to the parables and to the poems.
The status of dharma is regarded variably by different Buddhist
traditions. Some regard it as an ultimate truth, or as the fount of all
things which lie beyond the "three realms" (Sanskrit: tridhatu) and the "wheel of becoming" (Sanskrit: bhavachakra), somewhat like the pagan Greek and Christian logos: this is known as Dharmakaya (Sanskrit). Others, who regard the Buddha as simply an enlightened human being, see the dharma as the essence of the "84,000 different aspects of the teaching" (Tibetan: chos-sgo brgyad-khri bzhi strong) that the Buddha gave to various types of people, based upon their individual propensities and capabilities.
Dharma refers not only to the sayings of the Buddha, but also to
the later traditions of interpretation and addition that the various schools of Buddhism
have developed to help explain and to expand upon the Buddha's
teachings. For others still, they see the dharma as referring to the
"truth", or the ultimate reality of "the way that things really are"
(Tibetan: Chö).
The dharma is one of the Three Jewels
of Buddhism in which practitioners of Buddhism seek refuge, or that
upon which one relies for his or her lasting happiness. The Three Jewels
of Buddhism are the Buddha, meaning the mind's perfection of enlightenment, the dharma, meaning the teachings and the methods of the Buddha, and the Sangha, meaning the monastic community who provide guidance and support to followers of the Buddha.
Chan Buddhism
Dharma is employed in Ch'an in a specific context in relation to transmission of authentic doctrine, understanding and bodhi; recognised in dharma transmission.
Theravada Buddhism
In
Theravada Buddhism obtaining ultimate realisation of the dhamma is
achieved in three phases; learning, practising and realising.
In Pali
pariyatti – the learning of the theory of dharma as contained within the suttas of the Pali canon
patipatti – putting the theory into practice and
pativedha – when one penetrates the dharma or through experience realises the truth of it.
Jainism
Jainism
The word dharma in Jainism is found in all its key texts. It
has a contextual meaning and refers to a number of ideas. In the
broadest sense, it means the teachings of the Jinas, or teachings of any competing spiritual school, a supreme path, socio-religious duty, and that which is the highest mangala (holy).
The major Jain text, Tattvartha Sutra mentions Das-dharma
with the meaning of "ten righteous virtues". These are forbearance,
modesty, straightforwardness, purity, truthfulness, self-restraint,
austerity, renunciation, non-attachment, and celibacy. Acārya Amṛtacandra, author of the Jain text, Puruṣārthasiddhyupāya writes:
A right believer should constantly
meditate on virtues of dharma, like supreme modesty, in order to protect
the soul from all contrary dispositions. He should also cover up the
shortcomings of others.
— Puruṣārthasiddhyupāya (27)
Dharmastikaay (Dravya)
The term dharmastikaay also has a specific ontological and soteriological meaning in Jainism, as a part of its theory of six dravya (substance or a reality). In the Jain tradition, existence consists of jiva (soul, atman) and ajiva
(non-soul), the latter consisting of five categories: inert
non-sentient atomic matter (pudgalastikaay), space (akasha), time
(kala), principle of motion (dharmastikaay), and principle of rest
(adharmastikaay). The use of the term dharmastikaay
to mean motion and to refer to an ontological sub-category is peculiar
to Jainism, and not found in the metaphysics of Buddhism and various
schools of Hinduism.
Sikhism
Sikhism
For Sikhs, the word dharam (Punjabi: ਧਰਮ, romanized: dharam) means the path of righteousness and proper religious practice. Guru Granth Sahib in hymn 1353 connotes dharma as duty. The 3HO
movement in Western culture, which has incorporated certain Sikh
beliefs, defines Sikh Dharma broadly as all that constitutes religion,
moral duty and way of life.
Dharma in symbols
The wheel in the centre of India's flag symbolises dharma.
The importance of dharma to Indian sentiments is illustrated by India's decision in 1947 to include the Ashoka Chakra, a depiction of the dharmachakra (the "wheel of dharma"), as the central motif on its flag.
Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first liquid-fueledrocket.
Goddard successfully launched his rocket on March 16, 1926, which
ushered in an era of space flight and innovation. He and his team
launched 34 rockets between 1926 and 1941, achieving altitudes as high as 2.6 km (1.6 mi) and speeds as fast as 885 km/h (550 mph).
Goddard's work as both theorist and engineer anticipated many of the developments that would make spaceflight possible. He has been called the man who ushered in the Space Age.
Two of Goddard's 214 patented inventions, a multi-stage rocket (1914),
and a liquid-fuel rocket (1914), were important milestones toward
spaceflight. His 1919 monographA Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes is considered one of the classic texts of 20th-century rocket science. Goddard successfully pioneered modern methods such as two-axis control (gyroscopes and steerable thrust) to rockets to control their flight effectively.
Although his work in the field was revolutionary, Goddard
received little public support, moral or monetary, for his research and
development work. He was a shy person, and rocket research was not considered a suitable pursuit for a physics professor.
The press and other scientists ridiculed his theories of spaceflight.
As a result, he became protective of his privacy and his work. He
preferred to work alone also because of the after effects of a bout with tuberculosis.
Years after his death, at the dawn of the Space Age, Goddard came
to be recognized as one of the founding fathers of modern rocketry,
along with Robert Esnault-Pelterie, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, and Hermann Oberth. He not only recognized early on the potential of rockets for atmospheric research, ballistic missiles and space travel
but also was the first to scientifically study, design, construct and
fly the precursory rockets needed to eventually implement those ideas.
Goddard was born in Worcester, Massachusetts,
to Nahum Danford Goddard (1859–1928) and Fannie Louise Hoyt
(1864–1920). Robert was their only child to survive; a younger son,
Richard Henry, was born with a spinal deformity and died before his
first birthday. Nahum was employed by manufacturers, and he invented
several useful tools. Goddard had English paternal family roots in New England with William Goddard (1628–91) a London grocer who settled in Watertown,
Massachusetts in 1666. On his maternal side he was descended from John
Hoyt and other settlers of Massachusetts in the late 1600s.
Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Boston. With a curiosity
about nature, he studied the heavens using a telescope from his father
and observed the birds flying. Essentially a country boy, he loved the
outdoors and hiking with his father on trips to Worcester and became an
excellent marksman with a rifle.
In 1898, his mother contracted tuberculosis and they moved back to
Worcester for the clear air. On Sundays, the family attended the
Episcopal church, and Robert sang in the choir.
Childhood experiment
With the electrification
of American cities in the 1880s, the young Goddard became interested in
science—specifically, engineering and technology. When his father
showed him how to generate static electricity on the family's carpet,
the five-year-old's imagination was sparked. Robert experimented,
believing he could jump higher if the zinc
from a battery could be charged by scuffing his feet on the gravel
walk. But, holding the zinc, he could jump no higher than usual.
Goddard halted the experiments after a warning from his mother that if
he succeeded, he could "go sailing away and might not be able to come
back."
He experimented with chemicals and created a cloud of smoke and an explosion in the house.
Goddard's father further encouraged Robert's scientific interest by
providing him with a telescope, a microscope, and a subscription to Scientific American. Robert developed a fascination with flight, first with kites and then with balloons.
He became a thorough diarist and documenter of his work—a skill that
would greatly benefit his later career. These interests merged at age
16, when Goddard attempted to construct a balloon out of aluminum,
shaping the raw metal in his home workshop, and filling it with
hydrogen. After nearly five weeks of methodical, documented efforts, he
finally abandoned the project, remarking, "... balloon will not go up.
... Aluminum is too heavy. Failior [sic]
crowns enterprise." However, the lesson of this failure did not
restrain Goddard's growing determination and confidence in his work. He wrote in 1927, "I imagine an innate interest in mechanical things
was inherited from a number of ancestors who were machinists."
Cherry tree dream
He became interested in space when he read H. G. Wells' science fiction classic The War of the Worlds at 16 years old.
His dedication to pursuing space flight became fixed on October 19,
1899. The 17-year-old Goddard climbed a cherry tree to cut off dead
limbs. He was transfixed by the sky, and his imagination grew. He later
wrote:
On this day I climbed a tall cherry
tree at the back of the barn ... and as I looked toward the fields at
the east, I imagined how wonderful it would be to make some device which
had even the possibility of ascending to Mars, and how it would
look on a small scale, if sent up from the meadow at my feet. I have
several photographs of the tree, taken since, with the little ladder I
made to climb it, leaning against it.
It seemed to me then that a weight whirling around a horizontal
shaft, moving more rapidly above than below, could furnish lift by
virtue of the greater centrifugal force at the top of the path.
I was a different boy when I descended the tree from when I ascended. Existence at last seemed very purposive.
For the rest of his life, he observed October 19 as "Anniversary
Day", a private commemoration of the day of his greatest inspiration.
Education and early studies
The
young Goddard was a thin and frail boy, almost always in fragile
health. He suffered from stomach problems, pleurisy, colds, and
bronchitis, and he fell two years behind his classmates. He became a
voracious reader, regularly visiting the local public library to borrow
books on the physical sciences.
Aerodynamics and motion
Goddard's interest in aerodynamics led him to study some of Samuel Langley's scientific papers in the periodical Smithsonian.
In these papers, Langley wrote that birds flap their wings with
different force on each side to turn in the air. Inspired by these
articles, the teenage Goddard watched swallows and chimney swifts from
the porch of his home, noting how subtly the birds moved their wings to
control their flight. He noted how remarkably the birds controlled their
flight with their tail feathers, which he called the birds' equivalent
of ailerons. He took exception to some of Langley's conclusions and in 1901 wrote a letter to St. Nicholas magazine with his own ideas. The editor of St. Nicholas
declined to publish Goddard's letter, remarking that birds fly with a
certain amount of intelligence and that "machines will not act with such
intelligence." Goddard disagreed, believing that a man could control a flying machine with his own intelligence.
I began to realize that there might
be something after all to Newton's Laws. The Third Law was accordingly
tested, both with devices suspended by rubber bands and by devices on
floats, in the little brook back of the barn, and the said law was
verified conclusively. It made me realize that if a way to navigate
space were to be discovered, or invented, it would be the result of a
knowledge of physics and mathematics.
Academics
As his health improved, Goddard continued his formal schooling as a 19-year-old sophomore at South High Community School
in Worcester in 1901. He excelled in his coursework, and his peers
twice elected him class president. Making up for lost time, he studied
books on mathematics, astronomy, mechanics and composition from the
school library. At his graduation ceremony in 1904, he gave his class oration as valedictorian. In his speech, entitled "On Taking Things for Granted", Goddard included a section that would become emblematic of his life:
[J]ust as in the sciences we have learned that we are
too ignorant to safely pronounce anything impossible, so for the
individual, since we cannot know just what are his limitations, we can
hardly say with certainty that anything is necessarily within or beyond
his grasp. Each must remember that no one can predict to what heights of
wealth, fame, or usefulness he may rise until he has honestly
endeavored, and he should derive courage from the fact that all sciences
have been, at some time, in the same condition as he, and that it has
often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and
the reality of tomorrow.
Goddard enrolled at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1904.
He quickly impressed the head of the physics department, A. Wilmer
Duff, with his thirst for knowledge, and Duff took him on as a
laboratory assistant and tutor. At WPI, Goddard joined the Sigma Alpha Epsilon
fraternity and began a long courtship with high school classmate Miriam
Olmstead, an honor student who had graduated with him as salutatorian. Eventually, she and Goddard were engaged, but they drifted apart and ended the engagement around 1909.
Goddard at Clark University
Goddard received his B.S. degree in physics from Worcester Polytechnic in 1908, and after serving there for a year as an instructor in physics, he began his graduate studies at Clark University in Worcester in the fall of 1909. Goddard received his M.A. degree in physics from Clark University in 1910, and then stayed at Clark to complete his Ph.D.
in physics in 1911. He spent another year at Clark as an honorary
fellow in physics, and in 1912 he accepted a research fellowship at Princeton University's Palmer Physical Laboratory.
First scientific writings
The
high school student summed up his ideas on space travel in a proposed
article, "The Navigation of Space," which he submitted to the Popular Science News. The journal's editor returned it, saying that they could not use it "in the near future."
While still an undergraduate, Goddard wrote a paper proposing a method for balancing airplanes using gyro-stabilization. He submitted the idea to Scientific American,
which published the paper in 1907. Goddard later wrote in his diaries
that he believed his paper was the first proposal of a way to
automatically stabilize aircraft in flight. His proposal came around the same time as other scientists were making breakthroughs in developing functional gyroscopes.
While studying physics at WPI, ideas came to Goddard's mind that
sometimes seemed impossible, but he was compelled to record them for
future investigation. He wrote that "there was something inside which
simply would not stop working." He purchased some cloth-covered
notebooks and began filling them with a variety of thoughts, mostly
concerning his dream of space travel.
He considered centrifugal force, radio waves, magnetic reaction, solar
energy, atomic energy, ion or electrostatic propulsion and other methods
to reach space. After experimenting with solid fuel rockets he was
convinced by 1909 that chemical-propellant engines were the answer.
A particularly complex concept was set down in June 1908: Sending a
camera around distant planets, guided by measurements of gravity along
the trajectory, and returning to earth.
His first writing on the possibility of a liquid-fueled rocket
came on February 2, 1909. Goddard had begun to study ways of increasing a
rocket's efficiency using methods differing from conventional solid-fuel rockets.
He wrote in his notebook about using liquid hydrogen as a fuel with
liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. He believed that 50 percent efficiency
could be achieved with these liquid propellants (i.e., half of the heat
energy of combustion converted to the kinetic energy of the exhaust
gases).
First patents
In
the decades around 1910, radio was a new technology, fertile for
innovation. In 1912, while working at Princeton University, Goddard
investigated the effects of radio waves on insulators. In order to generate radio-frequency power, he invented a vacuum tube with a beam deflection that operated like a cathode-ray oscillator tube. His patent on this tube, which predated that of Lee De Forest, became central in the suit between Arthur A. Collins, whose small company made radio transmitter tubes, and AT&T and RCA over his use of vacuum tube
technology. Goddard accepted only a consultant's fee from Collins when
the suit was dropped. Eventually the two big companies allowed the
country's growing electronics industry to use the De Forest patents
freely.
Rocket math
By
1912 he had in his spare time, using calculus, developed the
mathematics which allowed him to calculate the position and velocity of a
rocket in vertical flight, given the weight of the rocket and weight of
the propellant and the velocity (with respect to the rocket frame) of
the exhaust gases. In effect he had independently developed the Tsiolkovsky rocket equation
published a decade earlier in Russia. Tsiolkovsky, however, did not
account for gravity nor drag. For vertical flight from the surface of
Earth Goddard included in his differential equation the effects of
gravity and aerodynamic drag.
He wrote: "An approximate method was found necessary ... in order to
avoid an unsolved problem in the calculus of variations. The solution
that was obtained revealed the fact that surprisingly small initial
masses would be necessary ... provided the gases were ejected from the rocket at a high velocity, and also provided that most of the rocket consisted of propellant material."
His first goal was to build a sounding rocket
with which to study the atmosphere. Not only would such investigation
aid meteorology, but it was necessary to determine temperature, density
and wind speed as functions of altitude in order to design efficient
space launch vehicles. He was very reluctant to admit that his ultimate
goal was in fact to develop a vehicle for flights into space, since most
scientists, especially in the United States, did not consider such a
goal to be a realistic or practical scientific pursuit, nor was the
public yet ready to seriously consider such ideas. Later, in 1933,
Goddard said that "[I]n no case must we allow ourselves to be deterred
from the achievement of space travel, test by test and step by step,
until one day we succeed, cost what it may."
Illness
In early 1913, Goddard became seriously ill with tuberculosis
and had to leave his position at Princeton. He then returned to
Worcester, where he began a prolonged process of recovery at home. His
doctors did not expect him to live. He decided he should spend time
outside in the fresh air and walk for exercise, and he gradually
improved. When his nurse discovered some of his notes in his bed, he kept them, arguing, "I have to live to do this work."
It was during this period of recuperation, however, that Goddard
began to produce some of his most important work. As his symptoms
subsided, he allowed himself to work an hour per day with his notes made
at Princeton. He was afraid that nobody would be able to read his
scribbling should he
succumb.
Foundational patents
In the technological and manufacturing atmosphere of Worcester, patents
were considered essential, not only to protect original work but as
documentation of first discovery. He began to see the importance of his
ideas as intellectual property, and thus began to secure those ideas
before someone else did—and he would have to pay to use them. In May
1913, he wrote descriptions concerning his first rocket patent
applications. His father brought them to a patent lawyer in Worcester
who helped him to refine his ideas for consideration. Goddard's first
patent application was submitted in October 1913.
In 1914, his first two landmark patents were accepted and registered. The first, U.S. Patent 1,102,653, described a multi-stage rocket fueled with a solid "explosive material." The second, U.S. Patent 1,103,503, described a rocket fueled with a solid fuel (explosive material) or with liquid propellants (gasoline and liquid nitrous oxide). The two patents would eventually become important milestones in the history of rocketry. Overall, 214 patents were published, some posthumously by his wife.
Video clips of Goddard's launches and other events in his life
In the fall of 1914 Goddard's health had improved, and he accepted a
part-time position as an instructor and research fellow at Clark
University.
His position at Clark allowed him to further his rocketry research. He
ordered numerous supplies that could be used to build rocket prototypes
for launch and spent much of 1915 in preparation for his first tests.
Goddard's first test launch of a powder rocket came on an early evening
in 1915 following his daytime classes at Clark.
The launch was loud and bright enough to arouse the alarm of the campus
janitor, and Goddard had to reassure him that his experiments, while
being serious study, were also quite harmless. After this incident
Goddard took his experiments inside the physics lab in order to limit
any disturbance.
At the Clark physics lab Goddard conducted static tests of powder
rockets to measure their thrust and efficiency. He found his earlier
estimates to be verified; powder rockets were converting only about two
percent of the thermal energy in their fuel into thrust and kinetic
energy. At this point he applied de Laval nozzles,
which were generally used with steam turbine engines, and these greatly
improved efficiency. (Of the several definitions of rocket efficiency,
Goddard measured in his laboratory what is today called the internal efficiency
of the engine: the ratio of the kinetic energy of the exhaust gases to
the available thermal energy of combustion, expressed as a percentage.) By mid-summer of 1915 Goddard had obtained an average efficiency of 40 percent with a nozzle exit velocity of 6728 feet (2051 meters) per second.
Connecting a combustion chamber full of gunpowder to various
converging-diverging expansion (de Laval) nozzles, Goddard was able in
static tests to achieve engine efficiencies of more than 63% and exhaust
velocities of over 7000 feet (2134 meters) per second.
Few would recognize it at the time, but this little engine was a
major breakthrough. These experiments suggested that rockets could be
made powerful enough to escape Earth and travel into space. This engine
and subsequent experiments sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution were
the beginning of modern rocketry and, ultimately, space exploration. Goddard realized, however, that it would take the more efficient liquid propellants to reach space.
Later that year, Goddard designed an elaborate experiment at the
Clark physics lab and proved that a rocket would perform in a vacuum
such as that in space. He believed it would, but many other scientists
were not yet convinced. His experiment demonstrated that a rocket's performance actually decreases under atmospheric pressure.
In September 1906 he wrote in his notebook about using the repulsion of electrically charged particles (ions) to produce thrust. From 1916 to 1917, Goddard built and tested the first known experimental ion thrusters, which he thought might be used for propulsion in the near-vacuum conditions of outer space. The small glass engines he built were tested at atmospheric pressure, where they generated a stream of ionized air.
In his letter to the Smithsonian in September 1916, Goddard
claimed he had achieved a 63% efficiency and a nozzle velocity of almost
2438 meters per second. With these performance levels, he believed a rocket could vertically lift a weight of 1 lb (0.45 kg) to a height of 232 miles (373 km) with an initial launch weight of only 89.6 lbs (40.64 kg).
(Earth's atmosphere can be considered to end at 80 to 100 miles (130 to
160 km) altitude, where its drag effect on orbiting satellites becomes
minimal.)
The Smithsonian was interested and asked Goddard to elaborate
upon his initial inquiry. Goddard responded with a detailed manuscript
he had already prepared, entitled A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.
In January 1917, the Smithsonian agreed to provide Goddard with a five-year grant totaling US$5000. Afterward, Clark was able to contribute US$3500
and the use of their physics lab to the project. Worcester Polytechnic
Institute also allowed him to use its abandoned Magnetics Laboratory on
the edge of campus during this time, as a safe place for testing. WPI also made some parts in their machine shop.
Goddard's fellow Clark scientists were astonished at the
unusually large Smithsonian grant for rocket research, which they
thought was not real science.
Decades later, rocket scientists who knew how much it cost to research
and develop rockets said that he had received little financial support.
Two years later, at the insistence of Dr. Arthur G. Webster, the
world-renowned head of Clark's physics department, Goddard arranged for
the Smithsonian to publish the paper, A Method..., which documented his work.
While at Clark University, Goddard did research into solar power
using a parabolic dish to concentrate the Sun's rays on a machined piece
of quartz, that was sprayed with mercury,
which then heated water and drove an electric generator. Goddard
believed his invention had overcome all the obstacles that had
previously defeated other scientists and inventors, and he had his
findings published in the November 1929 issue of Popular Science.
Goddard's military rocket
Goddard loading a bazooka in 1918
Not all of Goddard's early work was geared toward space travel. As
the United States entered World War I in 1917, the country's
universities began to lend their services to the war effort. Goddard
believed his rocket research could be applied to many different military
applications, including mobile artillery, field weapons and naval torpedoes.
He made proposals to the Navy and Army. No record exists in his papers
of any interest by the Navy to Goddard's inquiry. However, Army Ordnance
was quite interested, and Goddard met several times with Army
personnel.
During this time, Goddard was also contacted, in early 1918, by a
civilian industrialist in Worcester about the possibility of
manufacturing rockets for the military. However, as the businessman's
enthusiasm grew, so did Goddard's suspicion. Talks eventually broke down
as Goddard began to fear his work might be appropriated by the
business. However, an Army Signal Corps officer tried to make Goddard cooperate, but he was called off by General George Squier of the Signal Corps who had been contacted by Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, Charles Walcott. Goddard became leery of working with corporations and was careful to secure patents to "protect his ideas." These events led to the Signal Corps sponsoring Goddard's work during World War I.
Goddard proposed to the Army an idea for a tube-based rocket
launcher as a light infantry weapon. The launcher concept became the
precursor to the bazooka.
The rocket-powered, recoil-free weapon was the brainchild of Goddard as
a side project (under Army contract) of his work on rocket propulsion. Goddard, during his tenure at Clark University, and working at Mount Wilson Observatory for security reasons, designed the tube-fired rocket for military use during World War I. He and his co-worker, Dr. Clarence N. Hickman successfully demonstrated his rocket to the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, on November 6, 1918, using two music stands for a launch platform. The Army was impressed, but the Compiègne Armistice was signed only five days later, and further development was discontinued as World War I ended.
The delay in the development of the bazooka and other weapons was
a result of the long recovery period required from Goddard's serious
bout with tuberculosis. Goddard continued to be a part-time consultant
to the U.S. Government at Indian Head, Maryland,
until 1923, but his focus had turned to other research involving rocket
propulsion, including work with liquid fuels and liquid oxygen.
Later, the former Clark University researcher Dr. Clarence N. Hickman, and Army officers Col. Leslie Skinner and Lt. Edward Uhl continued Goddard's work on the bazooka. A shaped-charge
warhead was attached to the rocket, leading to the tank-killing weapon
used in World War II and to many other powerful rocket weapons.
A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes
In
1919 Goddard thought that it would be premature to disclose the results
of his experiments because his engine was not sufficiently developed.
Dr. Webster realized that Goddard had accomplished a good deal of fine
work and insisted that Goddard publish his progress so far or he would
take care of it himself, so Goddard asked the Smithsonian Institution if
it would publish the report, updated with notes, that he had submitted
in late 1916.
In late 1919, the Smithsonian published Goddard's groundbreaking work, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes.
The report describes Goddard's mathematical theories of rocket flight,
his experiments with solid-fuel rockets, and the possibilities he saw of
exploring Earth's atmosphere and beyond. Along with Konstantin Tsiolkovsky's earlier work, The Exploration of Cosmic Space by Means of Reaction Devices, which was not widely disseminated outside Russia,
Goddard's report is regarded as one of the pioneering works of the
science of rocketry, and 1750 copies were distributed worldwide.
Goddard also sent a copy to individuals who requested one, until his
personal supply was exhausted. Smithsonian aerospace historian Frank
Winter said that this paper was "one of the key catalysts behind the
international rocket movement of the 1920s and 30s."
Goddard described extensive experiments with solid-fuel rocket engines burning high-grade nitrocellulose smokeless powder. A critical breakthrough was the use of the steam turbine nozzle invented by the Swedish inventor Gustaf de Laval. The de Laval nozzle allows the most efficient (isentropic) conversion of the energy of hot gases into forward motion.
By means of this nozzle, Goddard increased the efficiency of his rocket
engines from two percent to 64 percent and obtained supersonic exhaust
velocities of over Mach 7.
Though most of this work dealt with the theoretical and
experimental relations between propellant, rocket mass, thrust, and
velocity, a final section, entitled "Calculation of minimum mass
required to raise one pound to an 'infinite' altitude," discussed the
possible uses of rockets, not only to reach the upper atmosphere but to escape from Earth's gravitation altogether.
He determined, using an approximate method to solve his differential
equation of motion for vertical flight, that a rocket with an effective
exhaust velocity
of 7000 feet per second and an initial weight of 602 pounds would be
able to send a one-pound payload to an infinite height. Included as a thought experiment
was the idea of launching a rocket to the Moon and igniting a mass of
flash powder on its surface, so as to be visible through a telescope. He
discussed the matter seriously, down to an estimate of the amount of
powder required. Goddard's conclusion was that a rocket with starting
mass of 3.21 tons could produce a flash "just visible" from Earth,
assuming a final payload weight of 10.7 pounds.
Goddard eschewed publicity, because he did not have time to reply
to criticism of his work, and his imaginative ideas about space travel
were shared only with private groups he trusted. He did, though, publish
and talk about the rocket principle and sounding rockets,
since these subjects were not too "far out." In a letter to the
Smithsonian, dated March 1920, he discussed: photographing the Moon and
planets from rocket-powered fly-by probes, sending messages to distant
civilizations on inscribed metal plates, the use of solar energy in
space, and the idea of high-velocity ion propulsion. In that same
letter, Goddard clearly describes the concept of the ablative heat shield,
suggesting the landing apparatus be covered with "layers of a very
infusible hard substance with layers of a poor heat conductor between"
designed to erode in the same way as the surface of a meteor.
Every vision is a joke until the first man accomplishes it; once realized, it becomes commonplace.
–Response to a reporter's question following criticism in The New York Times, 1920.
Publicity and criticism
The
publication of Goddard's document gained him national attention from
U.S. newspapers, most of it negative. Although Goddard's discussion of
targeting the moon was only a small part of the work as a whole (eight
lines on the next to last page of 69 pages), and was intended as an
illustration of the possibilities rather than a declaration of intent,
the papers sensationalized his ideas to the point of misrepresentation
and ridicule. Even the Smithsonian had to abstain from publicity because
of the amount of ridiculous correspondence received from the general
public. David Lasser, who co-founded the American Rocket Society (ARS), wrote in 1931 that Goddard was subjected in the press to the "most violent attacks."
On January 12, 1920, a front-page story in The New York Times,
"Believes Rocket Can Reach Moon", reported a Smithsonian press release
about a "multiple-charge, high-efficiency rocket." The chief application
envisaged was "the possibility of sending recording apparatus to
moderate and extreme altitudes within the Earth's atmosphere", the
advantage over balloon-carried instruments being ease of recovery, since
"the new rocket apparatus would go straight up and come straight down."
But it also mentioned a proposal "to [send] to the dark part of the new
moon a sufficiently large amount of the most brilliant flash powder
which, in being ignited on impact, would be plainly visible in a
powerful telescope. This would be the only way of proving that the
rocket had really left the attraction of the earth, as the apparatus
would never come back, once it had escaped that attraction."
New York Times editorial
On January 13, 1920, the day after its front-page story about Goddard's rocket, an unsigned New York Times
editorial, in a section entitled "Topics of the Times", scoffed at the
proposal. The article, which bore the title "A Severe Strain on
Credulity", began with apparent approval, but soon went on to cast serious doubt:
As a method of sending a missile to the higher, and even
highest, part of the earth's atmospheric envelope, Professor Goddard's
multiple-charge rocket is a practicable, and therefore promising device.
Such a rocket, too, might carry self-recording instruments, to be
released at the limit of its flight, and conceivable parachutes would
bring them safely to the ground. It is not obvious, however, that the
instruments would return to the point of departure; indeed, it is
obvious that they would not, for parachutes drift exactly as balloons
do.
The article pressed further on Goddard's proposal to launch rockets beyond the atmosphere:
[A]fter the rocket quits our air and really starts on its
longer journey, its flight would be neither accelerated nor maintained
by the explosion of the charges it then might have left. To claim that
it would be is to deny a fundamental law of dynamics, and only Dr.
Einstein and his chosen dozen, so few and fit, are licensed to do that.
... Of course, [Goddard] only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out
daily in high schools.
The basis of that criticism was the then-common belief that thrust
was produced by the rocket exhaust pushing against the atmosphere;
Goddard realized that Newton's third law (reaction) was the actual
principle and that thrust was possible in a vacuum.
Aftermath
A week after the New York Times editorial, Goddard released a signed statement to the Associated Press, attempting to restore reason to what had become a sensational story:
Too much attention has been concentrated on the proposed
flash pow[d]er experiment, and too little on the exploration of the
atmosphere. ... Whatever interesting possibilities there may be of the
method that has been proposed, other than the purpose for which it was
intended, no one of them could be undertaken without first exploring the
atmosphere.
In 1924, Goddard published an article, "How my speed rocket can propel itself in vacuum", in Popular Science, in which he explained the physics and gave details of the vacuum experiments he had performed to prove the theory.
But, no matter how he tried to explain his results, he was not
understood by the majority. After one of Goddard's experiments in 1929, a
local Worcester newspaper carried the mocking headline "Moon rocket
misses target by 238,7991⁄2 miles."
Though the unimaginative public chuckled at the "moon man," his
groundbreaking paper was read seriously by many rocketeers in America,
Europe, and Russia who were stirred to build their own rockets. This
work was his most important contribution to the quest to "aim for the
stars."
Goddard worked alone with just his team of mechanics and
machinists for many years. This was a result of the harsh criticism
from the media and other scientists, and his understanding of the
military applications which foreign powers might use. Goddard became
increasingly suspicious of others and often worked alone, except during
the two World Wars, which limited the impact of much of his work.
Another limiting factor was the lack of support from the American
government, military and academia, all failing to understand the value
of the rocket to study the atmosphere and near space, and for military
applications. As Germany became ever more war-like, he refused to
communicate with German rocket experimenters, though he received more
and more of their correspondence.
'A Correction'
Forty-nine years after its editorial mocking Goddard, on July 17, 1969—the day after the launch of Apollo 11—The New York Times
published a short item under the headline "A Correction." The
three-paragraph statement summarized its 1920 editorial and concluded:
Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed
the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th Century and it is now
definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as
in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error.
First liquid-fueled flight
Goddard
began considering liquid propellants, including hydrogen and oxygen, as
early as 1909. He knew that hydrogen and oxygen was the most efficient
fuel/oxidizer combination. Liquid hydrogen was not readily available in
1921, however, and he selected gasoline as the safest fuel to handle.
First static tests
Robert
Goddard, bundled against the cold weather of March 16, 1926, holds the
launching frame of his most notable invention — the first liquid-fueled
rocket.
Goddard began experimenting with liquid oxidizer, liquid fuel rockets in September 1921, and successfully tested the first liquid propellant engine in November 1923. It had a cylindrical combustion chamber, using impinging jets to mix and atomize liquid oxygen and gasoline.
In 1924–25, Goddard had problems developing a high-pressure piston pump
to send fuel to the combustion chamber. He wanted to scale up the
experiments, but his funding would not allow such growth. He decided to
forego the pumps and use a pressurized fuel feed system applying
pressure to the fuel tank from a tank of inert gas, a technique used today. The liquid oxygen, some of which evaporated, provided its own pressure.
On December 6, 1925, he tested the simpler pressure feed system.
He conducted a static test on the firing stand at the Clark University
physics laboratory. The engine successfully lifted its own weight in a
27-second test in the static rack. It was a major success for Goddard,
proving that a liquid fuel rocket was possible. The test moved Goddard an important step closer to launching a rocket with liquid fuel.
Goddard conducted an additional test in December, and two more in
January 1926. After that, he began preparing for a possible launch of
the rocket system.
First flight
Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled (gasoline and liquid oxygen) rocket on March 16, 1926, in Auburn, Massachusetts.
Present at the launch were his crew chief Henry Sachs, Esther Goddard,
and Percy Roope, who was Clark's assistant professor in the physics
department. Goddard's diary entry of the event was notable for its
understatement:
March 16. Went to Auburn with S[achs] in am. E[sther] and
Mr. Roope came out at 1 p.m. Tried rocket at 2.30. It rose 41 feet
& went 184 feet, in 2.5 secs., after the lower half of the nozzle
burned off. Brought materials to lab. ...
His diary entry the next day elaborated:
March 17, 1926. The first flight with a rocket using
liquid propellants was made yesterday at Aunt Effie's farm in Auburn.
...
Even though the release was pulled, the rocket did not rise at first,
but the flame came out, and there was a steady roar. After a number of
seconds it rose, slowly until it cleared the frame, and then at express
train speed, curving over to the left, and striking the ice and snow,
still going at a rapid rate.
The rocket, which was later dubbed "Nell", rose just 41 feet during a
2.5-second flight that ended 184 feet away in a cabbage field,
but it was an important demonstration that liquid fuels and oxidizers
were possible propellants for larger rockets. The launch site is now a National Historic Landmark, the Goddard Rocket Launching Site.
Viewers familiar with more modern rocket designs may find it
difficult to distinguish the rocket from its launching apparatus in the
well-known picture of "Nell". The complete rocket is significantly
taller than Goddard but does not include the pyramidal support structure
which he is grasping. The rocket's combustion chamber is the small cylinder at the top; the nozzle
is visible beneath it. The fuel tank, which is also part of the rocket,
is the larger cylinder opposite Goddard's torso. The fuel tank is
directly beneath the nozzle and is protected from the motor's exhaust by
an asbestos cone. Asbestos-wrapped aluminum tubes connect the motor to the tanks, providing both support and fuel transport.
This layout is no longer used, since the experiment showed that this
was no more stable than placing the combustion chamber and nozzle at the
base. By May, after a series of modifications to simplify the plumbing,
the combustion chamber and nozzle were placed in the now classic
position, at the lower end of the rocket.
Goddard determined early that fins alone were not sufficient to
stabilize the rocket in flight and keep it on the desired trajectory in
the face of winds aloft and other disturbing forces. He added movable
vanes in the exhaust, controlled by a gyroscope, to control and steer
his rocket. (The Germans used this technique in their V-2.) He also
introduced the more efficient swiveling engine in several rockets,
basically the method used to steer large liquid-propellant missiles and
launchers today.
Lindbergh and Goddard
After launch of one of Goddard's rockets in July 1929 again gained the attention of the newspapers, Charles Lindbergh learned of his work in a New York Times article. At the time, Lindbergh had begun to wonder what would become of aviation
(even space flight) in the distant future and had settled on jet
propulsion and rocket flight as a probable next step. After checking
with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and being assured that Goddard was a bona fide physicist and not a crackpot, he phoned Goddard in November 1929. Professor Goddard met the aviator soon after in his office at Clark University.
Upon meeting Goddard, Lindbergh was immediately impressed by his
research, and Goddard was similarly impressed by the flier's interest.
He discussed his work openly with Lindbergh, forming an alliance that
would last for the rest of his life. While having long since become
reluctant to share his ideas, Goddard showed complete openness with
those few who shared his dream, and whom he felt he could trust.
By late 1929, Goddard had been attracting additional notoriety
with each rocket launch. He was finding it increasingly difficult to
conduct his research without unwanted distractions. Lindbergh discussed
finding additional financing for Goddard's work and lent his famous name
to Goddard's work. In 1930 Lindbergh made several proposals to industry
and private investors for funding, which proved all but impossible to
find following the recent U.S. stock market crash in October 1929.
Guggenheim sponsorship
In the spring of 1930, Lindbergh finally found an ally in the Guggenheim family. Financier Daniel Guggenheim
agreed to fund Goddard's research over the next four years for a total
of $100,000 (~$1.9 million today). The Guggenheim family, especially Harry Guggenheim, would continue to support Goddard's work in the years to come. The Goddards soon moved to Roswell, New Mexico
Because of the military potential of the rocket, Goddard,
Lindbergh, Harry Guggenheim, the Smithsonian Institution and others
tried in 1940, before the U.S. entered World War II, to convince the
Army and Navy of its value. Goddard's services were offered, but there
was no interest, initially. Two young, imaginative military officers
eventually got the services to attempt to contract with Goddard just
prior to the war. The Navy beat the Army to the punch and secured his
services to build variable-thrust, liquid-fueled rocket engines for
jet-assisted take-off (JATO) of aircraft. These rocket engines were the precursors to the larger throttlable rocket plane engines that helped launch the space age.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin
wrote that his father, Edwin Aldrin Sr. "was an early supporter of
Robert Goddard." The elder Aldrin was a student of physics under
Goddard at Clark, and worked with Lindbergh to obtain the help of the
Guggenheims. Buzz believed that if Goddard had received military support
as Wernher von Braun's team had enjoyed in Germany, American rocket technology would have developed much more rapidly in World War II.
Lack of vision in the United States
Before
World War II there was a lack of vision and serious interest in the
United States concerning the potential of rocketry, especially in Washington.
Although the Weather Bureau was interested beginning in 1929 in
Goddard's rocket for atmospheric research, the Bureau could not secure
governmental funding. Between the World Wars, the Guggenheim Foundation was the main source of funding for Goddard's research. Goddard's liquid-fueled rocket was neglected by his country, according to aerospace historian Eugene Emme, but was noticed and advanced by other nations, especially the Germans.
Goddard showed remarkable prescience in 1923 in a letter to the
Smithsonian. He knew that the Germans were very interested in rocketry
and said he "would not be surprised if the research would become
something in the nature of a race," and he wondered how soon the
European "theorists" would begin to build rockets.
In 1936, the U.S. military attaché in Berlin asked Charles Lindbergh to
visit Germany and learn what he could of their progress in aviation.
Although the Luftwaffe showed him their factories and were open
concerning their growing airpower, they were silent on the subject of
rocketry. When Lindbergh told Goddard of this behavior, Goddard said,
"Yes, they must have plans for the rocket. When will our own people in
Washington listen to reason?"
Most of the U.S.'s largest universities were also slow to realize
rocketry's potential. Just before World War II, the head of the
aeronautics department at MIT, at a meeting held by the Army Air Corps to discuss project funding, said that the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) "can take the Buck Rogers Job [rocket research]." In 1941, Goddard tried to recruit an engineer for his team from MIT but couldn't find one who was interested. There were some exceptions: MIT was at least teaching basic rocketry,
and Caltech had courses in rocketry and aerodynamics. After the war,
Dr. Jerome Hunsaker of MIT, having studied Goddard's patents, stated
that "Every liquid-fuel rocket that flies is a Goddard rocket."
While away in Roswell, Goddard was still head of the physics
department at Clark University, and Clark allowed him to devote most of
his time to rocket research. Likewise, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) permitted astronomer Samuel Herrick
to pursue research in space vehicle guidance and control, and shortly
after the war to teach courses in spacecraft guidance and orbit
determination. Herrick began corresponding with Goddard in 1931 and
asked if he should work in this new field, which he named astrodynamics. Herrick said that Goddard had the vision to advise and encourage him in his use of celestial mechanics
"to anticipate the basic problem of space navigation." Herrick's work
contributed substantially to America's readiness to control flight of
Earth satellites and send men to the Moon and back.
Roswell, New Mexico
Charles Lindbergh
took this picture of Robert H. Goddard's rocket, when he peered down
the launching tower on September 23, 1935, in Roswell, New Mexico.
Goddard towing a rocket in Roswell
With new financial backing, Goddard eventually relocated to Roswell, New Mexico, in summer of 1930,
where he worked with his team of technicians in near-isolation and
relative secrecy for years. He had consulted a meteorologist as to the
best area to do his work, and Roswell seemed ideal. Here they would not
endanger anyone, would not be bothered by the curious and would
experience a more moderate climate (which was also better for Goddard's
health).
The locals valued personal privacy, knew Goddard desired his, and when
travelers asked where Goddard's facilities were located, they would
likely be misdirected.
By September 1931, his rockets had the now familiar appearance of a smooth casing with tail-fins. He began experimenting with gyroscopic
guidance and made a flight test of such a system in April 1932. A
gyroscope mounted on gimbals electrically controlled steering vanes in
the exhaust, similar to the system used by the German V-2
over 10 years later. Though the rocket crashed after a short ascent,
the guidance system had worked, and Goddard considered the test a
success.
A temporary loss of funding from the Guggenheims, as a result of
the depression, forced Goddard in spring of 1932 to return to his
much-loathed professorial responsibilities at Clark University. He remained at the university until the autumn of 1934, when funding resumed. Because of the death of the senior Daniel Guggenheim, the management of funding was taken on by his son, Harry Guggenheim.
Upon his return to Roswell, he began work on his A series of rockets, 4
to 4.5 meters long, and powered by gasoline and liquid oxygen
pressurized with nitrogen. The gyroscopic control system was housed in
the middle of the rocket, between the propellant tanks.
The A-4 used a simpler pendulum system for guidance, as the
gyroscopic system was being repaired. On March 8, 1935, it flew up to
1,000 feet, then turned into the wind and, Goddard reported, "roared in a
powerful descent across the prairie, at close to, or at, the speed of
sound." On March 28, 1935, the A-5 successfully flew vertically to an
altitude of (0.91 mi; 4,800 ft) using his gyroscopic guidance system. It
then turned to a nearly horizontal path, flew 13,000 feet and achieved a
maximum speed of 550 miles per hour. Goddard was elated because the
guidance system kept the rocket on a vertical path so well.
In 1936–1939, Goddard began work on the K and L series rockets,
which were much more massive and designed to reach very high altitude.
The K series consisted of static bench tests of a more powerful engine,
achieving a thrust of 624 lbs in February 1936.
This work was plagued by trouble with chamber burn-through. In 1923,
Goddard had built a regeneratively cooled engine, which circulated
liquid oxygen around the outside of the combustion chamber, but he
deemed the idea too complicated. He then used a curtain cooling method
that involved spraying excess gasoline, which evaporated around the
inside wall of the combustion chamber, but this scheme did not work
well, and the larger rockets failed. Goddard returned to a smaller
design, and his L-13 reached an altitude of 2.7 kilometers (1.7 mi;
8,900 ft), the highest of any of his rockets. Weight was reduced by
using thin-walled fuel tanks wound with high-tensile-strength wire.
Goddard experimented with many of the features of today's large
rockets, such as multiple combustion chambers and nozzles. In November
1936, he flew the world's first rocket (L-7) with multiple chambers,
hoping to increase thrust without increasing the size of a single
chamber. It had four combustion chambers, reached a height of 200 feet,
and corrected its vertical path using blast vanes until one chamber
burned through. This flight demonstrated that a rocket with multiple
combustion chambers could fly stably and be easily guided.
In July 1937 he replaced the guidance vanes with a movable tail section
containing a single combustion chamber, as if on gimbals (thrust vectoring).
The flight was of low altitude, but a large disturbance, probably
caused by a change in the wind velocity, was corrected back to vertical.
In an August test the flight path was corrected seven times by the
movable tail and was captured on film by Mrs Goddard.
From 1940 to 1941, Goddard worked on the P series of rockets,
which used propellant turbopumps (also powered by gasoline and liquid
oxygen). The lightweight pumps produced higher propellant pressures,
permitting a more powerful engine (greater thrust) and a lighter
structure (lighter tanks and no pressurization tank), but two launches
both ended in crashes after reaching an altitude of only a few hundred
feet. The turbopumps worked well, however, and Goddard was pleased.
When Goddard mentioned the need for turbopumps, Harry Guggenheim
suggested that he contact pump manufacturers to aid him. None were
interested, as the development cost of these miniature pumps was
prohibitive. Goddard's team was therefore left on its own and from
September 1938 to June 1940 designed and tested the small turbopumps and
gas generators to operate the turbines. Esther later said that the pump
tests were "the most trying and disheartening phase of the research."
Goddard was able to flight-test many of his rockets, but many
resulted in what the uninitiated would call failures, usually resulting
from engine malfunction or loss of control. Goddard did not consider
them failures, however, because he felt that he always learned something
from a test.
Most of his work involved static tests, which are a standard procedure
today, before a flight test. He wrote to a correspondent: "It is not a
simple matter to differentiate unsuccessful from successful experiments.
... [Most] work that is finally successful is the result of a series of
unsuccessful tests in which difficulties are gradually eliminated."
General Jimmy Doolittle
Jimmy Doolittle
was introduced to the field of space science at an early point in its
history. He recalls in his autobiography, "I became interested in rocket
development in the 1930s when I met Robert H. Goddard, who laid the
foundation. ... While with Shell Oil I worked with him on the
development of a type of fuel. ... "
Harry Guggenheim and Charles Lindbergh arranged for (then Major)
Doolittle to discuss with Goddard a special blend of gasoline. Doolittle
flew himself to Roswell in October 1938 and was given a tour of
Goddard's shop and a "short course" in rocketry. He then wrote a memo,
including a rather detailed description of Goddard's rocket. In closing
he said, "interplanetary transportation is probably a dream of the very
distant future, but with the moon only a quarter of a million miles
away—who knows!" In July 1941, he wrote Goddard that he was still
interested in his rocket propulsion research. The Army was interested
only in JATO at this point. However, Doolittle and Lindbergh were
concerned about the state of rocketry in the US, and Doolittle remained
in touch with Goddard.
Shortly after World War II, Doolittle spoke concerning Goddard to an American Rocket Society
(ARS) conference at which a large number interested in rocketry
attended. He later stated that at that time "we [in the aeronautics
field] had not given much credence to the tremendous potential of
rocketry." In 1956, he was appointed chairman of the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) because the previous chairman, Jerome C. Hunsaker,
thought Doolittle to be more sympathetic than other scientists and
engineers to the rocket, which was increasing in importance as a
scientific tool as well as a weapon. Doolittle was instrumental in the successful transition of the NACA to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) in 1958. He was offered the position as first administrator of NASA, but he turned it down.
Launch history
Between 1926 and 1941, the following 35 rockets were launched:
Date
Type
Altitude in feet
Altitude in meters
Flight duration
Notes
March 16, 1926
Goddard 1
41
12.5
2.5 s
first liquid rocket launch
April 3, 1926
Goddard 1
49
15
4.2 s
record altitude
December 26, 1928
Goddard 3
16
5
unknown
July 17, 1929
Goddard 3
90
27
5.5 s
record altitude
December 30, 1930
Goddard 4
2000
610
unknown
record altitude
September 29, 1931
Goddard 4
180
55
9.6 s
October 13, 1931
Goddard 4
1700
520
unknown
October 27, 1931
Goddard 4
1330
410
unknown
April 19, 1932
-
135
41
5 s
February 16, 1935
A series
650
200
unknown
March 8, 1935
A series
1000
300
12 s
March 28, 1935
A series
4800
1460
20 s
record altitude
May 31, 1935
A series
7500
2300
unknown
record altitude
June 25, 1935
A series
120
37
10 s
July 12, 1935
A series
6600
2000
14 s
October 29, 1935
A series
4000
1220
12 s
July 31, 1936
L series, Section A
200
60
5 s
October 3, 1936
L-A
200
60
5 s
November 7, 1936
L-A
200
60
unknown
4 thrust chambers
December 18, 1936
L series, Section B
3
1
unknown
Veered horizontally immediately after launch
February 1, 1937
L-B
1870
570
20.5 s
February 27, 1937
L-B
1500
460
20 s
March 26, 1937
L-B
8000-9000
2500–2700
22.3 s
Highest altitude achieved
April 22, 1937
L-B
6560
2000
21.5 s
May 19, 1937
L-B
3250
990
29.5 s
July 28, 1937
L-series, Section C
2055
630
28 s
Movable tail
steering
August 26, 1937
L-C
2000
600
unknown
Movable tail
November 24, 1937
L-C
100
30
unknown
March 6, 1938
L-C
525
160
unknown
March 17, 1938
L-C
2170
660
15 s
April 20, 1938
L-C
4215
1260
25.3 s
May 26, 1938
L-C
140
40
unknown
August 9, 1938
L-C
4920 (visual) 3294 (barograph)
1500 1000
unknown
August 9, 1940
P-series, Section C
300
90
unknown
May 8, 1941
P-C
250
80
unknown
Some of the parts of Goddard's rockets
Analysis of results
As
an instrument for reaching extreme altitudes, Goddard's rockets were
not very successful; they did not achieve an altitude greater than
2.7 km in 1937, while a balloon sonde had already reached 35 km in 1921. By contrast, German rocket scientists had achieved an altitude of 2.4 km with the A-2 rocket in 1934, 8 km by 1939 with the A-5, and 176 km in 1942 with the A-4 (V-2) launched vertically, reaching the outer limits of the atmosphere and into space.
Goddard's pace was slower than the Germans' because he did not
have the resources they did. Simply reaching high altitudes was not his
primary goal; he was trying, with a methodical approach, to perfect his
liquid fuel engine and subsystems such as guidance and control so that
his rocket could eventually achieve high altitudes without tumbling in
the rare atmosphere, providing a stable vehicle for the experiments it
would eventually carry. He had built the necessary turbopumps and was on
the verge of building larger, lighter, more reliable rockets to reach
extreme altitudes carrying scientific instruments when World War II
intervened and changed the path of American history. He hoped to return
to his experiments in Roswell after the war.
Though by the end of the Roswell years much of his technology had
been replicated independently by others, he introduced new developments
to rocketry that were used in this new enterprise: lightweight
turbopumps, variable-thrust engine (in U.S.), engine with multiple
combustion chambers and nozzles, and curtain cooling of combustion
chamber.
Although Goddard had brought his work in rocketry to the attention of the United States Army,
between World Wars, he was rebuffed, since the Army largely failed to
grasp the military application of large rockets and said there was no
money for new experimental weapons.
German military intelligence, by contrast, had paid attention to
Goddard's work. The Goddards noticed that some mail had been opened, and
some mailed reports had gone missing. An accredited military attaché to the US, Friedrich von Boetticher, sent a four-page report to the Abwehr
in 1936, and the spy Gustav Guellich sent a mixture of facts and
made-up information, claiming to have visited Roswell and witnessed a
launch. The Abwehr was very interested and responded with more questions about Goddard's work. Guellich's reports did include information about fuel mixtures and the important concept of fuel-curtain cooling, but thereafter the Germans received very little information about Goddard.
The Soviet Union had a spy in the U.S. Navy Bureau of
Aeronautics. In 1935, she gave them a report Goddard had written for the
Navy in 1933. It contained results of tests and flights and suggestions
for military uses of his rockets. The Soviets considered this to be
very valuable information. It provided few design details, but gave them
the direction and knowledge about Goddard's progress.
Annapolis, Maryland
Navy
Lieutenant Charles F. Fischer, who had visited Goddard in Roswell
earlier and gained his confidence, believed Goddard was doing valuable
work and was able to convince the Bureau of Aeronautics in September
1941 that Goddard could build the JATO unit the Navy desired. While
still in Roswell, and before the Navy contract took effect, Goddard
began in September to apply his technology to build a variable-thrust
engine to be attached to a PBY
seaplane. By May 1942, he had a unit that could meet the Navy's
requirements and be able to launch a heavily loaded aircraft from a
short runway. In February, he received part of a PBY with bullet holes
apparently acquired in the Pearl Harbor
attack. Goddard wrote to Guggenheim that "I can think of nothing that
would give me greater satisfaction than to have it contribute to the
inevitable retaliation."
In April, Fischer notified Goddard that the Navy wanted to do all
its rocket work at the Engineering Experiment Station at Annapolis.
Esther, worried that a move to the climate of Maryland would cause
Robert's health to deteriorate faster, objected. But the patriotic
Goddard replied, "Esther, don't you know there's a war on?" Fischer also
questioned the move, as Goddard could work just as well in Roswell.
Goddard simply answered, "I was wondering when you would ask me."
Fischer had wanted to offer him something bigger—a long range
missile—but JATO was all he could manage, hoping for a greater project
later. It was a case of a square peg in a round hole, according to a disappointed Goddard.
Goddard and his team had already been in Annapolis a month and
had tested his constant-thrust JATO engine when he received a Navy
telegram, forwarded from Roswell, ordering him to Annapolis. Lt. Fischer
asked for a crash effort. By August, his engine was producing 800 lbs
of thrust for 20 seconds, and Fischer was anxious to try it on a PBY. On
the sixth test run, with all bugs worked out, the PBY, piloted by
Fischer, was pushed into the air from the Severn River. Fischer landed
and prepared to launch again. Goddard had wanted to check the unit, but
radio contact with the PBY had been lost. On the seventh try, the engine
caught fire. The plane was 150 feet up when flight was aborted. Because
Goddard had installed a safety feature at the last minute, there was no
explosion and no lives were lost. The problem's cause was traced to
hasty installation and rough handling. Cheaper, safer solid fuel JATO
engines were eventually selected by the armed forces. An engineer later
said, "Putting [Goddard's] rocket on a seaplane was like hitching an
eagle to a plow."
In its 1942 crash effort to perfect an aircraft booster,
the Navy was beginning to learn its way in rocketry. In similar efforts,
the Army Air Corps was also exploring the field [with GALCIT].
Compared to Germany's massive program, these beginnings were small, yet
essential to later progress. They helped develop a nucleus of trained
American rocket engineers, the first of the new breed who would follow
the professor into the Age of Space.
In August 1943, President Atwood at Clark wrote to Goddard that the
university was losing the acting head of the Physics Department, was
taking on "emergency work" for the Army, and he was to "report for duty
or declare the position vacant." Goddard replied that he believed he was
needed by he Navy, was nearing retirement age, and was unable to
lecture because of his throat problem, which did not allow him to talk
above a whisper. He regretfully resigned as Professor of Physics and
expressed his deepest appreciation for all Atwood and the Trustees had
done for him and indirectly for the war effort.
In June he had gone to see a throat specialist in Baltimore, who
recommended that he not talk at all, to give his throat a rest.
The station, under Lt Commander Robert Truax, was developing another JATO engine in 1942 that used hypergolic propellants, eliminating the need for an ignition system. Chemist Ensign Ray Stiff had discovered in the literature in February that aniline and nitric acid burned fiercely immediately when mixed. Goddard's team built the pumps for the aniline fuel and the nitric acid oxidizer and participated in the static testing. The Navy delivered the pumps to Reaction Motors
(RMI) to use in developing a gas generator for the pump turbines.
Goddard went to RMI to observe testing of the pump system and would eat
lunch with the RMI engineers. (RMI was the first firm formed to build rocket engines and built engines for the Bell X-1 rocket plane and Viking (rocket). RMI offered Goddard one-fifth interest in the company and a partnership after the war.
Goddard went with Navy people in December 1944 to confer with RMI on
division of labor, and his team was to provide the propellant pump
system for a rocket-powered interceptor because they had more experience
with pumps. He consulted with RMI from 1942 through 1945. Though previously competitors, Goddard had a good working relationship with RMI, according to historian Frank H. Winter.
The Navy had Goddard build a pump system for Caltech's use with
acid-aniline propellants. The team built a 3000-lb thrust engine using a
cluster of four 750-lb thrust motors. They also developed 750-lb engines for the Navy's Gorgon guided interceptor missile (experimental Project Gorgon).
Goddard continued to develop the variable-thrust engine with gasoline
and lox because of the hazards involved with the hypergolics.
Despite Goddard's efforts to convince the Navy that liquid-fueled
rockets had greater potential, he said that the Navy had no interest in
long-range missiles.
However, the Navy asked him to perfect the throttleable JATO engine.
Goddard made improvements to the engine, and in November it was
demonstrated to the Navy and some officials from Washington. Fischer
invited the spectators to operate the controls; the engine blasted out
over the Severn at full throttle with no hesitation, idled, and roared
again at various thrust levels. The test was perfect, exceeding the
Navy's requirements. The unit was able to be stopped and restarted, and
it produced a medium thrust of 600 pounds for 15 seconds and a full
thrust of 1,000 pounds for over 15 seconds. A Navy Commander commented
that "It was like being Thor, playing with thunderbolts." Goddard had
produced the essential propulsion control system of the rocket plane.
The Goddards celebrated by attending the Army-Navy football game and
attending the Fischers' cocktail party.
This engine was the basis of the Curtiss-Wright XLR25-CW-1 two-chamber, 15,000-pound variable-thrust engine that powered the Bell X-2 research rocket plane. After World War II, Goddard's team and some patents went to Curtiss-Wright
Corporation. "Although his death in August 1945 prevented him from
participating in the actual development of this engine, it was a direct
descendent of his design." Clark University and the Guggenheim Foundation received the royalties from the use of the patents.
In September 1956, the X-2 was the first plane to reach 126,000 feet
altitude and in its last flight exceeded Mach 3 (3.2) before losing
control and crashing. The X-2 program advanced technology in areas such
as steel alloys and aerodynamics at high Mach numbers.
V-2
Don't you know about your own rocket pioneer? Dr. Goddard was ahead of us all.
–Wernher von Braun, when asked about his work, following World War II
In the spring of 1945, Goddard saw a captured German V-2 ballistic missile,
in the naval laboratory in Annapolis, Maryland, where he had been
working under contract. The unlaunched rocket had been captured by the
US Army from the Mittelwerk factory in the Harz mountains and samples began to be shipped by Special Mission V-2 on 22 May 1945.
After a thorough inspection, Goddard was convinced that the
Germans had "stolen" his work. Though the design details were not
exactly the same, the basic design of the V-2 was similar to one of
Goddard's rockets. The V-2, however, was technically far more advanced
than the most successful of the rockets designed and tested by Goddard.
The Peenemünde rocket group led by Wernher von Braun may have benefited from the pre-1939 contacts to a limited extent, but had also started from the work of their own space pioneer, Hermann Oberth;
they also had the benefit of intensive state funding, large-scale
production facilities (using slave labor), and repeated flight-testing
that allowed them to refine their designs. Oberth was a theorist and had
never built a rocket, but he tested small liquid propellant thrust
chambers in 1929-30 which were not advancements in the "state of the
art." In 1922 Oberth asked Goddard for a copy of his 1919 paper and was sent one.
Nevertheless, in 1963, von Braun, reflecting on the history of
rocketry, said of Goddard: "His rockets ... may have been rather crude
by present-day standards, but they blazed the trail and incorporated
many features used in our most modern rockets and space vehicles".
He once recalled that "Goddard's experiments in liquid fuel saved us
years of work, and enabled us to perfect the V-2 years before it would
have been possible."
After World War II von Braun reviewed Goddard's patents and believed
they contained enough technical information to build a large missile.
Three features developed by Goddard appeared in the V-2: (1)
turbopumps were used to inject fuel into the combustion chamber; (2)
gyroscopically controlled vanes in the nozzle stabilized the rocket
until external vanes in the air could do so; and (3) excess alcohol was
fed in around the combustion chamber walls, so that a blanket of
evaporating gas protected the engine walls from the combustion heat.
The Germans had been watching Goddard's progress before the war
and became convinced that large, liquid fuel rockets were feasible.
General Walter Dornberger,
head of the V-2 project, used the idea that they were in a race with
the U.S. and that Goddard had "disappeared" (to work with the Navy) as a
way to persuade Hitler to raise the priority of the V-2.
Goddard's secrecy
Goddard avoided sharing details of his work with other scientists and preferred to work alone with his technicians. Frank Malina, who was then studying rocketry at the California Institute of Technology,
visited Goddard in August 1936. Goddard hesitated to discuss any of his
research, other than that which had already been published in Liquid-Propellant Rocket Development. Theodore von Kármán,
Malina's mentor at the time, was unhappy with Goddard's attitude and
later wrote, "Naturally we at Caltech wanted as much information as we
could get from Goddard for our mutual benefit. But Goddard believed in
secrecy. ... The trouble with secrecy is that one can easily go in the
wrong direction and never know it."
However, at an earlier point, von Kármán said that Malina was "highly
enthusiastic" after his visit and that Caltech made changes to their
liquid-propellant rocket, based on Goddard's work and patents. Malina
remembered his visit as friendly and that he saw all but a few
components in Goddard's shop.
Goddard's concerns about secrecy led to criticism for failure to
cooperate with other scientists and engineers. His approach at that time
was that independent development of his ideas without interference
would bring quicker results even though he received less technical
support. George Sutton, who became a rocket scientist working with von
Braun's team in the late 1940s, said that he and his fellow workers had
not heard of Goddard or his contributions and that they would have saved
time if they had known the details of his work. Sutton admits that it
may have been their fault for not looking for Goddard's patents and
depending on the German team for knowledge and guidance; he wrote that
information about the patents was not well distributed in the U.S. at
that early period after World War II, though Germany and the Soviet
Union had copies of some of them. (The Patent Office did not release
rocket patents during World War II.) However, the Aerojet Engineering Corporation, an offshoot of the Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory at Caltech (GALCIT), filed two patent applications in Sep 1943 referencing Goddard's U.S. Patent 1,102,653 for the multistage rocket.
By 1939, von Kármán's GALCIT had received Army Air Corps funding
to develop rockets to assist in aircraft take-off. Goddard learned of
this in 1940, and openly expressed his displeasure at not being
considered.
Malina could not understand why the Army did not arrange for an
exchange of information between Goddard and Caltech since both were
under government contract at the same time. Goddard did not think he
could be of that much help to Caltech because they were designing rocket
engines mainly with solid fuel, while he was using liquid fuel.
Goddard was concerned with avoiding the public criticism and
ridicule he had faced in the 1920s, which he believed had harmed his
professional reputation. He also lacked interest in discussions with
people who had less understanding of rocketry than he did, feeling that his time was extremely constrained.
Goddard's health was frequently poor, as a result of his earlier bout
of tuberculosis, and he was uncertain about how long he had to live
He felt, therefore, that he hadn't the time to spare arguing with other
scientists and the press about his new field of research, or helping
all the amateur rocketeers who wrote to him. In 1932 Goddard wrote to H. G. Wells:
How many more years I shall be able to work on the
problem, I do not know; I hope, as long as I live. There can be no
thought of finishing, for "aiming at the stars", both literally and
figuratively, is a problem to occupy generations, so that no matter how
much progress one makes, there is always the thrill of just beginning.
Goddard spoke to professional groups, published articles and papers
and patented his ideas; but while he discussed basic principles, he was
unwilling to reveal the details of his designs until he had flown
rockets to high altitudes and thus proven his theory.
He tended to avoid any mention of space flight, and spoke only of
high-altitude research, since he believed that other scientists regarded
the subject as unscientific.
GALCIT saw Goddard's publicity problems and that the word "rocket" was
"of such bad repute" that they used the word "jet" in the name of JPL
and the related Aerojet Engineering Corporation.
Many authors writing about Goddard mention his secrecy, but
neglect the reasons for it. Some reasons have been noted above. Much of his work was for the military and was classified.
There were some in the U.S. before World War II that called for
long-range rockets, and in 1939 Major James Randolph wrote a
"provocative article" advocating a 3000-mile range missile. Goddard was
"annoyed" by the unclassified paper as he thought the subject of weapons
should be "discussed in strict secrecy."
However, Goddard's tendency to secrecy was not absolute, nor was he totally uncooperative. In 1945 GALCIT was building the WAC Corporal
for the Army. But in 1942 they were having trouble with their liquid
propellant rocket engine's performance (timely, smooth ignition and
explosions). Frank Malina went to Annapolis in February and consulted
with Goddard and Stiff, and they arrived at a solution to the problem
(hypergolic propellant), which resulted in the successful launch of the
high-altitude research rocket in October 1945.
During the First and Second World Wars, Goddard offered his
services, patents, and technology to the military, and made some
significant contributions. Just before the Second World War several
young Army officers and a few higher-ranking ones believed Goddard's
research was important but were unable to generate funds for his work.
Toward the end of his life, Goddard, realizing he was no longer
going to be able to make significant progress alone in his field, joined
the American Rocket Society and became a director. He made plans to
work in the budding US aerospace industry (with Curtiss-Wright), taking
most of his team with him.
Personal life
On June 21, 1924, Goddard married Esther Christine Kisk (March 31, 1901 – June 4, 1982),
a secretary in Clark University's President's office, whom he had met
in 1919. She became enthusiastic about rocketry and photographed some of
his work as well as aided him in his experiments and paperwork,
including accounting. They enjoyed going to the movies in Roswell and
participated in community organizations such as the Rotary and the
Woman's Club. He painted the New Mexican scenery, sometimes with the
artist Peter Hurd,
and played the piano. She played bridge, while he read. Esther said
Robert participated in the community and readily accepted invitations to
speak to church and service groups. The couple did not have children.
After his death, she sorted out Goddard's papers, and secured 131
additional patents on his work.
Concerning Goddard's religious views, he was raised as an Episcopalian, though he was not outwardly religious.
The Goddards were associated with the Episcopal church in Roswell, and
he attended occasionally. He once spoke to a young people's group on the
relationship of science and religion.
Goddard's serious bout with tuberculosis weakened his lungs,
affecting his ability to work, and was one reason he liked to work
alone, in order to avoid argument and confrontation with others and use
his time fruitfully. He labored with the prospect of a shorter than
average life span.
After arriving in Roswell, Goddard applied for life insurance, but when
the company doctor examined him he said that Goddard belonged in a bed
in Switzerland (where he could get the best care).
Goddard's health began to deteriorate further after moving to the humid
climate of Maryland to work for the Navy. He was diagnosed with throat
cancer in 1945. He continued to work, able to speak only in a whisper
until surgery was required, and he died in August of that year in Baltimore, Maryland. He was buried in Hope Cemetery in his home town of Worcester, Massachusetts.
Legacy
Influence
Goddard was credited with 214 patents for his work; 131 of these were awarded after his death.
The Dr. Robert H. Goddard Collection and the Robert Goddard
Exhibition Room are housed in the Archives and Special Collections area
of Clark University's Robert H. Goddard Library.
A small memorial with a statue of Goddard is located at the site
where Goddard launched the first liquid-propelled rocket, now the
Pakachoag golf course in Auburn, Massachusetts.
In season 11, episode 10 of Murdoch Mysteries, Goddard is played by Andrew Robinson and is described as a rocket scientist and chief scientist for a pneumatic tube public transport system in 1900s Toronto, Canada.
New Goddard prototype experimental reusable vertical launch and landing rocket from Blue Origin is named after Goddard.
Rocket, an ale made by the Wormtown Brewery of Worcester, Massachusetts is named in Robert Goddard's honor.
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