Who built the first rocket engine?

Answer 1

Robert H Goddard, of Worcester Mass, is credited with two major inventions in the Rocket field, plus several theoretical studies. the practical ones are the use of liquid fuel for rockets- which has advantages and disadvantages- the Army men preferred the long-storage-serviceable powder charges- familiar to all with mortar shels, fireworks etc, but liquid fuels have many advantages in space program use, they are not as handy as say, cartridges. ( pull the pin and drop it in). The other major invention of Goddard"s was the staging principle of multi-staged rockets to get uo the necessary velocity and height. Both were test fired around l926 the primitive two-stager only going 206 or 240 feet up= accounts differ, but the theory was sound. Goddard is considered to be the founder of modern rocketry, and the tunnel under the Hudson River on the Penn Central bears his name. The joke is it never has to be rfelined, the lining just Got Hard! pun intended, there is also a Gotthard (note spelling) tunnel in Switzerland once the longest intermountain type.