The Goddard Project

Happy National Engineers Week! “We tend to hear much more about the splendors returned than the ships that brought them or the shipwrights. It has always been that way. Even those history books enamored of the voyages of Christopher Columbus do not tell much about the builders of the Nina the Pinta and the Santa Maria or about the principle of the caravel. These spacecraft their designers builders navigators and controllers are examples of what science and engineering set free for well-defined peaceful purposes can accomplish. Those scientists and engineers should be role models for an America seeking excellence and international competitiveness. They should be on our stamps.” ― Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space Photo of Robert Goddard and the first liquid-propellant rocket (his design), from almost 100 years ago. In fact, March 16 will be 99 years since that first rocket launch! 🚀🚀 #NationalEngineersWeek #rocketscience #rocketlaunch #spaceindustry #RobertGoddard #rocketscientist #spaceinnovation

𝗘𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗞𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗚𝗼𝗱𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 was the wife of Robert H. Goddard, one of the founding fathers [an American] of Modern Rocketry. While he was conducting his experiments and launching [initially attempting to] rockets, Esther photographed and filmed every launch. (As well as deciphered his notes, which she alone could read, stamped out the brush fires that were the results of his launchings, kept his account books, sewed the parachutes he used in his launchings… 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦, see comment for link). After he died, she fought to get patent rights and recognition for his work (as rockets manufacturing (missiles) was beginning to be a fast industry as well as non-missiles rockets, like for ‘Apollo’ missions). Ultimately, Robert H. Goddard received 214 patents, 131 secured posthumously through Esther's efforts! Esther died in 1982 and got to see men be launched and even walk on the Moon! 🚀 👩🚀 Her husband who passed away in 1945 sadly died 15 years before all the missions of the late ‘50s and ‘60s happened. Imagine if he could have lived to see what happened in the first #SpaceRace, and what is currently being developed today in this #NewSpace age and #SpaceIndustry. "𝐼𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒹𝒾𝒻𝒻𝒾𝒸𝓊𝓁𝓉 𝓉𝑜 𝓈𝒶𝓎 𝓌𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝒾𝓈 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓈𝓈𝒾𝒷𝓁𝑒, 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒹𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓂 𝑜𝒻 𝓎𝑒𝓈𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒾𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒽𝑜𝓅𝑒 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝑜𝒹𝒶𝓎 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓁𝒾𝓉𝓎 𝑜𝒻 𝓉𝑜𝓂𝑜𝓇𝓇𝑜𝓌." - 𝑅𝑜𝒷𝑒𝓇𝓉 𝐻𝓊𝓉𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈 𝒢𝑜𝒹𝒹𝒶𝓇𝒹 (𝟣𝟪𝟪𝟤-𝟣𝟫𝟦𝟧) Today, #WomeninScience day, is a day to acknowledge and celebrate women in science, whatever role they played. We know what we know today about Robert Goddard, because his wife documented it all. 📝 💡 ** March 16, 2026 will be a centennial celebration of the 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗦𝗽𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗵, the world's first successful launch of a liquid-fueled rocket (that happen on U.S. soil 100 years ago) by Robert Goddard. Please have a look at our website to learn more or get involved in this initiative!

On this day in 1903, brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, successfully flew the first airplane. It began with 12 seconds that took humanity to the skies for the very first time. 66 years later, humanity watched a man walk on the Moon for the first time. In the 1500s, genius Leonardo DaVinci could only use his imagination about any concept of flight, but he did, and even wrote "the Codex on the Flight of Birds" pertaining to all things flight, from gravity, to the mechanical machinery needed (before machines were even really invented). Between the first #flight to the skies by the Wright brothers and the #SpaceEra of the 1960s, in 1926, Robert Goddard successfully launched the first liquid-fueled, liquid-propelled rocket. Humanity has always wanted to go to the skies, and beyond, to the stars. We currently are beginning to experience the latter. What a great time it is to be alive!! If only Leonardo could see what humanity has achieved. #spaceflight #OTD #innovation #aerospace #futurism

"𝙄𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙗𝙡𝙚, 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙢 𝙤𝙛 𝙮𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙤𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙧𝙤𝙬." That phrase could not be more true for hashtag #space innovation and the industry as a whole. 🚀 🛰️ And the quote came from non other than the "Father of Modern Rocketry", Robert H. Goddard - the man who is said to have ushered in the hashtag #SpaceAge. Why "Father of Modern Rocketry"? Because he was the first to successfully launch a liquid-fueled rocket in 1926. In March 2026, it will be 100 years since that first liquid-fueled rocket! Imagine everything that's happened since in the hashtag #SpaceSector in the past 70 years: there was a hashtag #SpaceRace in the '60s, rockets were launched to orbit and to the Moon! Men landed on the Moon! There was a space shuttle, massive telescopes were launched, a hashtag #SpaceStation was built, men and women astronauts started to have a regular and constant stay on the hashtag #ISS... And now, a commercial industry plays a huge part, hashtag #Satellites galore are being launched to benefit our lives here on Earth, SpaceX alone and all its doing, etc., etc... But it all started with humans dreaming of going to the stars, defying gravity that keeps us grounded on Earth, and wanting to explore the next frontier. Goddard, an engineer, inventor... dreamer, worked on just that his whole life. On March 2026, we, at The Goddard Project will celebrate the centennial of that first successful rocket-fueled launch, and along the way, and even post celebration date, our mission is to inspire and to showcase Today and Tomorrow's Goddards with: hashtag #STEMEducation and hashtag #STEMInspiration! Please, have a look at this flipping book, it describes our whole mission by just going through images. And please share with those who would find this interesting. We are looking for donations (tax-deductible contributions), yes, but also for big players, for contributors to the centennial minutes (especially if you're in the space industry and/or have been inspired by something pertaining to it, and more.... Here are some of the projects and items coming soon: ➡️ Robert and Esther Goddard Center for Innovat ➡️ Space train (in person or with a QR code) ➡️ Goddard First Launch Space Centennial Commemorative stamps ➡️ Space Centennial Minutes (we need your participation!) ➡️ Goddard's biography rights bought and book soon to be in print again ➡️ Immersive programs to come ➡️ STEM Education inspiration and curriculum ➡️ And merchandise (including a vest pin in the shape of Goddard's rocket!! www.thewondermission.org https://lnkd.in/eHQn9Nmj

Makenzie Lystrup, PhD, Director of NASA's NASA Goddard Space Flight Center shared these words the other day. 100% with her! And why we do what we do with The Goddard Project! 🚀 🚀 #TomorrowsGoddards #STEMInspiration #STEMEducation #Goddard #RocketScience #Space #SpaceIndustry

We'll have a table at both the Space Tourism Conference (May 22) and the International Space Development conference hosted by the National Space Society next week in Los Angeles! Come down to the Sheraton Gateway LAX for an incredible lineup of speakers, aerospace companies, and space luminaries charting a course for the stars. Say hello to our founder Charles Slatkin and learn more about our First Launch Centennial celebration. 🚀 Friends of The Goddard Project can use code ST24NSS as a partner discount code when registering for the Space Tourism Conference - visit https://lnkd.in/eSB_nAsH to secure your seat. See you there, space friends! #Space #STEM #aerospace #spacetravel #NASA #nonprofit #STEMeducation

A note from our founder, Charles Slatkin: As we celebrate National Space Day, I encourage the space community to think about the many creative ways we can all leverage the upcoming Dr. Robert Goddard’s "First Launch Centennial" on March 16, 2026 in order to inspire our next generation of scientists, engineers, explorers, and dreamers. To learn more about our goals at The Goddard Project and get involved, visit our website! #rocketlaunch #space #STEM #stemeducation #nonprofit #NationalSpaceDay #smithsonian #spaceforce #NASA #ISS #future #futuretech #spacex

Today in #spacehistory: the Saturn I and Saturn I-B test stand at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, having made its first test firing on April 29, 1960. Robert Goddard's dream of spaceflight in practical motion! The Saturn I and I-B were the first large rockets to have multiple engines mounted on a single stage. Testing is essential to getting things right in #space and NASA has a number of large-scale testing facilities around the US, with many providing public tours for space enthusiasts. We'll feature these sites prominently on our Space Trail project as we champion historic moments and the great minds that make space travel possible. Photo courtesy of Above Space

Did you know that the James Webb Space Telescope was built at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center? We love seeing new images that this impressive telescope beams back to us here on Earth! Thank you to all the modern-day Goddards who worked to make this telescope a reality. This photo is of NGC 5468, a spiral galaxy located ~130 million light-years from Earth, and combines data from both the Hubble and JWST. This is the farthest galaxy in which Hubble identified Cepheid variable stars, which are important when measuring the expansion rate of the universe. #space #astrophotography #telescope #aerospace #americanhistory #SpaceProgram

On #EarthDay, we look forward to the future of what our modern-day Goddards are currently building to preserve our planet for future generations. We invite our followers to consider how the legacy of heroes past continues to shape today's global solutions and how we can continue that work in sustainable, inclusive ways. 🌍🌱🌳 #STEM #STEMEducation #GlobalCommunity #ThoughtLeadership