Goddard Project

Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926 in Auburn, Massachusetts. It rose 41 feet during a 2.5 second trip.

In 1899, when he was 17, Robert H. Goddard climbed a tall cherry tree in his family’s yard in Worcester, Massachusetts to prune its dead limbs. He wrote later that as he looked toward the fields to the east, he “imagined how wonderful it would be to make a device which had even the possibility of ascending to Mars.”

In 1926, Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket and watched it rise 41 feet during a 2.5 second trip.

The challenge for the international community today is enlarge its environmental perspective to encompass outer space as well as Earth. It needs to match Goddard’s scientific vision and ingenuity with ethical perspective and public activity designed to safeguard the integrity of the space environment for future use and exploration.

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The Goddard Project is sponsored by the Worcester Area Mission Society (WAMS), an arm of the United Church of Christ. It is directed by the Rev. Robert Bachelder ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) who authored the first essay on space policy to appear in a major theological journal. WAMS’ office is located in Auburn, Massachusetts, down the road from where Goddard launched his rocket.