Welcome to the National Space Trail
Welcome to the National Space Trail
Welcome to the National Space Trail
Welcome to the National Space Trail
EVERY STEP TELLS A STORY
What is the Space Trail?
Like Boston’s famous 'Freedom Trail,' the new 'National Space Trail' is a virtual and physical roadmap/tour of sites around the United States that were instrumental in the history and the continuing quest of science inspiration, education, and space exploration.
The Trail Starts Here
Join us on first leg of the Trail in Massachusetts
with Dr. Robert Goddard “Father of the Space Age"
The Father of the Space Age,
Dr. Robert Goddard’s house
1 Tallawanda Drive, Worcester, MA
Known as “Maple Hill” this is the Multi-generational home of the Goddards. Dr. Goddard was born in 1882 in the 2nd-floor bedroom and did all his principal research and early testing while living there and teaching at Clark University.
South High School (now The Godard School for Science
and Technology)
14 Richards Street, Worcester, MA
Goddard attended South High School, and his talents were recognized early, and he was encouraged by his physics and math teachers, Calvin Andrews and Miss Fields. He prospered at South and graduated as class valedictorian in 1904.
Mechanics Hall
321 Main St, Worcester, MA
South High held their graduation ceremonies at Mechanics Hall, At the conclusion of his speech he closed with a quote that he became famous for.
At his graduation ceremony in 1904, he gave his class oration as valedictorian. In his speech, entitled "On Taking Things for Granted", Goddard included a section that would become emblematic of his life:
"Just as in the sciences we have learned that we are too ignorant to safely pronounce anything impossible, so for the individual, since we cannot know just what are his limitations, we can hardly say with certainty that anything is necessarily within or beyond his grasp. Each must remember that no one can predict to what heights of wealth, fame, or usefulness he may rise until he has honestly endeavored, and he should derive courage from the fact that all sciences have been, at some time, in the same condition as he, and that it has often proved true that the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow.
“It is difficult to say what is impossible,
for the dream of yesterday
is the hope of today
and the reality of tomorrow.”
Robert H. Goddard
After graduation, Goddard served on WPI's Physics Department faculty for two years and then did advanced study at Clark University. During this time, he continued to use WPI facilities for his experiments. Legend has it that while using a lab in the Salisbury lab, explosions caused some damage, and he was then moved to the Magnetic Lab (now Skull Tomb). Even here, neighbors complained of hearing loud noises.
Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Skull Tomb
100 Institute Road Worcester, MA
Clark University
950 Main St, Worcester, MA
Robert Goddard attended Clark University as a special student in physics, earning an A.M. in 1910 and a Ph.D. in 1911 Goddard received his M.A. degree in physics from Clark University in 1910, and then stayed at Clark to complete his Ph.D. in physics in 1911. He spent another year at Clark as an honorary fellow in physics, \His position at Clark allowed him to further his rocketry research. He ordered numerous supplies that could be used to build rocket prototypes for launch and spent much of 1915 in preparation for his first tests.
Later that year, Goddard designed an elaborate experiment at the Clark physics lab and proved that a rocket would perform in a vacuum such as that in space.
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Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) Goddard Hall Building
100 Institute Road Worcester, MA
Goddard enrolled at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1904. He quickly impressed the head of the physics department, A. Wilmer Duff, with his thirst for knowledge, and Duff took him on as a laboratory assistant and tutor. Even as an undergraduate student, Goddard dreamed of space flight, submitting an article, "Possibility of Investigating Interplanetary Space,"
Despite his scientific interests, Goddard seems to have been popular among classmates, being elected class vice president and president and serving as editor of the class yearbook.
The Goddard Library opened in 1969. Buzz Aldrin attended the ceremony and cut the ribbon. Aldrin's father, who had been a friend and student of Robert Goddard, also attended the opening. The Goddard Libray houses Goddard’s archives of photos, films, blueprints etc.
Goddard Memorial Library
950 Main St, Worcester, MA
Goddard launched the world's first liquid-fueled (gasoline and liquid oxygen) rocket on March 16, 1926, in Auburn, Massachusetts. Present at the launch were his crew chief Henry Sachs, Esther Goddard, and Percy Roope, who was Clark's assistant professor in the physics department. Goddard's diary entry of the event was notable for its understatement:
The rocket, which was later dubbed "Nell", rose just 41 feet (12.5 meters) during a 2.5-second flight that ended 184 feet (56 meters) away in a cabbage field,[62] but it was an important demonstration that liquid fuels and oxidizers were possible propellants for larger rockets. The launch site is now a National Historic Landmark, the Goddard Rocket Launching Site.
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Goddard Launch Site
20 Upland St, Auburn, MA
Next Stops on the Space Trail
We’re making great progress on the first 8–10 sites of The National Space Trail, starting in Worcester and Auburn, MA.
NEXT, we plan to expand statewide, then nationwide.
A steering committee will help identify new sites and raise funds to bring them to life with interactive web links.
TO CONTINUE GROWING we’re seeking donations and sponsorships
to support installations at deserving sites that lack funding.
Interested in sponsoring, volunteering, or suggesting a site?
REACH OUT at: info@thewondermission.org
— we’d love your involvement at any level.
