2-840-028 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

This is a 1-inch solid fuel rocket built and tested by U.S. rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard during 1917-1918 for the U.S. Army for potential use as a weapon during World War I. The experiments were undertaken near the Mount Wilson Observatory in Pasadena, California. Later, a trial was made before Army officers at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Aberdeen, Maryland, on 6 November 1918. The trials went well and this model reached about 750 yards. However, the following day the armistice was signed that ended the war as well as the Army's interest in this project. Goddard switched to liquid propellants in 1921. This object was donated to the Smithsonian by the Daniel and Florence Guggenheim Foundation for the Promotion of Aeronautics in 1985.