The first modern rocket launched 100 years ago, beginning a century of both innovations and challenges for spaceflight

Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926, in Massachusetts, marking the beginning of modern rocketry that would eventually power human missions to the Moon. Goddard's pioneering rocket flew for only 42 seconds, reached just 184 feet in height, and sustained damage that created more skeptics than believers at the time. The launch initiated a century of space innovation that saw the U.S. spend nearly $26 billion on the Apollo program to land astronauts on the Moon in 1969. However, public support for manned space programs evaporated almost immediately after Apollo 11's triumph due to Vietnam War concerns, economic inflation, and social inequality. President Richard Nixon subsequently slashed NASA's budget and canceled three remaining lunar missions, forcing the agency to abandon expensive rockets like the Saturn V in favor of the more versatile but problematic Space Shuttle program.