Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-21
ROCKETS SUCCESS
ISSEEN BY SCIENCE
Smithsonian Experts Hope to
Gain Valued Data From
Outer Space.
BY OSCAR LEIDING.

Associated Prese science Eoltcr
A day when rockets might be sent
As far into the atmosphere As man de-
sires. is foreseen by Smithsonian Insti-
tuition scientists as the result OF DR..
r. H. Goddards moon rocket" tests
in Massachusetts, the last OF which
alarmed Worcester three days ago.
The institution has spent more than
xl2 00O in the last II years in backing
the experiments and DR.. C. G. AoDot
its secretary, yesterday mace puoic
from Or. Goddard's official report Inc
Importance of the recent explosive
test. -
No such wild project as going to
the moon is contemplated" DIR. Aooot
said. we wish to create a methoo 10
Gather meteorological and atmospheric
data in outer space. which man can NOT
reach by aerial navigation, oailoons' Oh
delicate Instruments will be carried In
the completed rocket. whlcn VIII oe
equipped with parachute. Wnen INC
force of the propellant is expenoeo tne
rocket, if everything goes as p 4fsn Gu
will float gently to earth ana tne m
xtruments will be returned unnarmeo.
what the ultimate value OF the ROCKET
1s tn mankind is a question OF interest
ING conjecture to scientists. as N mas
been throughout the years to ncuoh
writer's and inventors with Jules
Verne imagination.
Initial Experiment.
DR.. Abbot asserted that the rocket
recent fight compared with the nrst
f5icht of DR.. S. P, Langley's englne-pro-
>nelled airplane. May 6. 1895, over tns
Potomac. That pilotless craft ne" nail
q mile. Ah.,.
.,t,aS ".Oh we'll what good is a
f,sIf-n,i,e living machine?' The answer
is that in 1927, Lindbergh few a 5000
ro,le living machine and the other Day
Mendeil and Reinhart few an lB,OuO-
mile flying machine. .ry.,,
"Similarly. il any one now says. Wen,
what GOOD is a l.000-foot flying rocket?
the answer is that, like Langleys nrst
flight. it demonstrates the success OF
q new method of propulsion In the az
mosphere. .,.. na
carrying more fuel. rockets built on
eXact;v the same principle as Dr..
Goddarcl's will soon fly as high as we
like and bring back precious RECORDS.
Instead of high explosives. propti-
sion is furnished by the steady COM
bIstion of hydrocarbons in liquid oxy.
gen. DR.. Goddard's conquest OF All
the difficulties of burning hydrocaf-
hons in liquid oxygen for the f1rst TIME
eyperlmentally overcsme the problem
of high fight.
"The last remaining obstacle in de-
vising = suitable rocket" DR.. Abbott
said, has been passed in seven stages
OF development. There remains now
only the snail work of perfecting. IN
field trials the guiding mechanism 70
insure continuously vertical night. ana
of adding automatic recording instru-
ments for observation.
Goal of Rocket.
Through the medium OF the rocket
science seeks to secure four Things:
SAMPLES of the upper air for chemical
ANALYSIS: measurements OF temperature
and pressure in distant space; camera
sncctographs of the sun, beyond tne
ozone LAYER which now cuts out the
region of the ultra violet. and measure
rents at will of the condition Of the
atmosphere for aviation. j..
This Last problem. of course. Is OF
great practical interest" DR.. Abbot said.
"A rocket which could be set to explore
the meteorological condition OF the AR
at any height. and to bring back It's
record TO within mile of the starting
point and within an hour OF its send
ing, would be boon to aviation. =,
sounding balloons. although they
can rise Is or 20 miles. often drift 100
miles from their starting point and may
never be recovered with their recording
apparatus, or only after days or weeks.
DIR. Goddard proposed the develop
ment of the rocket to the Smithsonian
in 1916. He had already worked upon
the problem for several years. He
showed by mathema tics that 1t is pos
sible for a rocket to carry SUFFICIENT high,
mower explosive to propel itself beyond
the atmosphere. which extends upward
at least 200 miles. and even to 60 be-
yond recovery Of the earth's gravita-
ton. It would then become man.
made meteor in outer space.
with automatic stabilizers TO insure
vertical fight already designed. all mat
remains to complete the rocket Will be
the design Of automatic apparatus 70
record meteorological measurements,
camera to photograph the suns spec
trlln and air samplers.