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New York TimesJonathan O’Callaghan

Goddard at 100: 'Nell', a two‑second launch that began modern rocketry

On March 16, 1926, Robert H. Goddard’s liquid‑oxygen/gasoline rocket “Nell” lifted off from an Auburn, Massachusetts cabbage patch and flew for roughly two seconds. A century later, the rocket’s fragments, legacy and its line to satellites, Moon missions and commercial rockets are being reexamined.

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