Elon Musk Just Called This Forgotten Rocket Pioneer ‘Ahead Of His Time’ After the New York Times Mocked H
Musk Honors Goddard’s Early Rocket Vision
Musk made the remark on X while responding to a post showing a statue of Goddard in Roswell, New Mexico, where the physicist conducted experiments. “He was ahead of his time,” Musk wrote.
Goddard launched the world’s first successful liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926, from his relative’s farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. Fueled by gasoline and liquid oxygen, the 10-foot vehicle flew for 2.5 seconds, climbed 41 feet and landed 184 feet away in a cabbage patch. NASA compares the flight’s significance with the Wright brothers’ breakthrough.
His wider work produced patents for liquid propulsion and multistage rockets. Goddard also developed fuel pumps, gyroscopic guidance and steering systems that became standard rocket technology.
Goddard’s Breakthroughs Outlasted Years Of Ridicule
Recognition came slowly. In 1920, The New York Times mocked Goddard’s suggestion that rockets could function in a vacuum and reach the moon, saying he lacked knowledge “ladled out daily in high schools.” The newspaper published “A Correction” in July 1969, one day after Apollo 11 launched.
Goddard kept working. Smithsonian and Guggenheim funding helped him move his laboratory to Roswell in 1930. National Park Service records show he later launched a gyroscope-equipped rocket to 4,800 feet and received dozens of patents.
SpaceX Extends Goddard’s Vision Toward Mars
Starship’s latest test released 20 advanced Starlink satellites before completing the spacecraft’s best reentry yet. SpaceX aims to recover and relaunch both stages, extending the reusable model pioneered by Falcon 9.
A century after Goddard’s tiny rocket cleared a cabbage patch, Musk’s assessment fits the historical record. Ideas once dismissed as impossible now power missions to orbit, the moon and potentially Mars.
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