You are viewing a single comment's thread.

view the rest of the comments →

2
4

[–] HuginnOgMuninn [S] 2 points 4 points (+6|-2) ago  (edited ago)

Godard is Googles answer for 'who invented the rocket'. He certainly built a few prototypes, theorized about space travel. But he is not the inventor of the rocket. His 'rockets' didn't have a turbopump until after 1935, when Von Braun had created the first true rocket.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbopump#Early_development

The inventor of the idea of rockets is Konstantin Tsiolkovsky. He created the Tsiolkovsky equation, still used today. He took the idea of space travel and inserted actual calculations, and wrote at length about the technical aspects of various space travel mechanisms that are being used today, a decade before Godard.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantin_Tsiolkovsky

When asked "Who invented the rocket", I'll say either Tsiolkovsky or Von Braun, it's debatable, but Godards only claim to being the inventor is being american.

0
1

[–] robot7247 0 points 1 point (+1|-0) ago 

Perhaps exploited and implemented Goddard's & Tsiolkovsky's concepts is a better description?

In that regard there is no question that Braun and his team did that, AKA the V2.

0
0

[–] HuginnOgMuninn [S] ago 

It's hard to say exactly what a distinguishes a rocket from a non rocket. Lines drawn in the sand might seem completely arbitrary. But the ideas surrounding the field of rocketry were uniformly delineating space travel, escaping earths gravity, traveling among the celestial bodies, the ultimate expression of exploration. When deconstructing a concept, it's purpose and it's definitions matter. What is a rocket capable of, what is it used for?

We know the first rocket capable of escaping earths gravity was the V2, so, I'd say, V2 was the first rocket. I would say what Goddard built was projectiles. What we now recognize as a key component of precise control and power is the Turbopump, and I wouldn't call a rocket without a turbopump a rocket, but more importantly, a rocket without a turbopump can't fulfil it's purpose, or defining characteristics.

Additionally, describing the function of an object is not the same as creating the fully formed object.

1
-1

[–] WyattMale 1 point -1 points (+0|-1) ago  (edited ago)

The technology of the A4/V2 was literally decades ahead of anything Goddard ever built...