100 years after Robert Goddard's first liquid-fueled rocket, NASA is using the technology to return astronauts to the moon

Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926, and many of the propulsion principles from that work remain in use today. NASA's Artemis 2 will use liquid-propulsion systems on the Space Launch System to carry four astronauts on a 10-day lunar flyby, with a planned rollout to the pad on March 19 and a launch window of April 1–6.

One hundred years after Robert Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket from a field in Auburn, Massachusetts, NASA is preparing a crewed lunar mission that relies on the same basic propulsion ideas. Goddard's March 16, 1926 flight reached about 40 feet and introduced concepts that later supported orbital launches. Many technologies traced to his work—such as turbopumps, gimbaling engines and gyroscopic guidance—are part of modern launch vehicles. NASA's Artemis 2 is scheduled as a crewed shakedown flight for Orion around the moon. Key details: - Robert Goddard's 1926 test used liquid oxygen and gasoline and rose roughly 40 feet from a cabbage field in Auburn, Massachusetts. - Technologies associated with Goddard's development include turbopumps, gimbaled engines and gyroscopic guidance; NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center is named after him. - NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) is about 322 feet (98 meters) tall and combines a liquid-fueled core stage with solid rocket boosters; solid boosters are not extinguishable once ignited, while liquid engines allow throttle and controlled thrust. - Artemis 2 will carry astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Jeremy Hansen on a roughly 10-day mission around the moon and back; the SLS is scheduled to roll to Launch Complex-39B on March 19 with a launch window of April 1–6. Summary: Goddard's early liquid-fuel experiment established engineering principles that remain central to modern rocketry and to NASA's current lunar plans. Artemis 2 is intended as a crewed test of Orion around the moon, with a pad rollout planned for March 19 and a launch window from April 1–6; later Artemis missions are planned for the mid-2020s, including a rendezvous and docking phase and a later crewed lunar landing.