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On January 13, 1920, an anonymous New York Times editorial challenged Robert H. Goddard’s proposal to explore extreme altitudes with rockets, arguing that a rocket could not work in a vacuum. NASA identifies that reasoning as erroneous: a rocket does not need air to push against. On July 17, 1969—the day after Apollo 11 launched—the Times acknowledged the mistake in a three-paragraph item titled “A Correction.”
What the Times said about Goddard in 1920
The editorial appeared in the Times’ “Topics of the Times” column in response to Goddard’s 1919 Smithsonian publication, A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. Goddard discussed using rockets to study the upper atmosphere and the possibility of a rocket reaching the Moon. The newspaper’s objection was that a rocket would have nothing to push against in a vacuum. NASA recounts the episode and identifies that reasoning as mistaken in its history of Goddard’s first liquid-fueled rocket; NASA’s Project Apollo bibliography places the 1919 monograph and the January 1920 editorial in context.
The editorial was anonymous, according to NASA; the available accounts do not establish a named author. The criticism also concerned a proposal, not a successful spaceflight: Goddard’s early work aimed toward high-altitude research, and the Moon was a possibility he discussed.
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A rocket produces thrust by expelling propellant. The exhaust moves one way, and the rocket is pushed the other way; surrounding air is not required. The Times’ premise—that a rocket must push against air to move—confused rocket propulsion with mechanisms such as a propeller, which does rely on a surrounding fluid.
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Goddard’s 1926 test was not a spaceflight
Goddard went on to launch the first liquid-fueled rocket on March 16, 1926, from a farm in Auburn, Massachusetts. NASA reports that the experimental flight lasted 2.5 seconds, reached 41 feet, and landed 184 feet from the launch point. Those figures describe a small early test, not a rocket reaching space. NASA also reports that a 1917 Smithsonian Institution grant of $5,000 supported five years of Goddard’s early research.
What the 1969 correction acknowledged
On July 17, 1969, one day after Apollo 11 lifted off for the Moon, the Times printed a three-paragraph item under the heading “A Correction.” Its concluding statement, reproduced by NASA, said:
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“Further investigation and experimentation have confirmed the findings of Isaac Newton in the 17th Century, and it is now definitely established that a rocket can function in a vacuum as well as in an atmosphere. The Times regrets the error.”
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The sequence matters: Apollo 11 launched on July 16; the correction appeared the next morning, before the mission’s lunar landing. NASA identifies the item as a correction. Although the episode is sometimes described as a retraction, the newspaper’s own headline was “A Correction.” The historical accounts establish when it appeared, but do not document the editors’ private reason for publishing it that day.
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The dates at a glance
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 1917 | Smithsonian Institution grant reported by NASA: $5,000 to support five years of Goddard’s early research. |
| 1919 | Goddard publishes A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes. |
| January 13, 1920 | The Times’ anonymous “Topics of the Times” editorial challenges the idea that rockets could work in a vacuum. |
| March 16, 1926 | Goddard launches the first liquid-fueled rocket, an early experimental flight in Auburn, Massachusetts. |
| July 16, 1969 | Apollo 11 lifts off for the Moon. |
| July 17, 1969 | The Times publishes “A Correction,” acknowledging that rockets can function in a vacuum. |
NASA’s Goddard account, updated August 22, 2024, provides the flight and grant figures as well as the correction’s text. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum offers additional historical context in “Who Was the Original Rocket Man?”.
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- DECADES OF NEW YORK BASEBALL HISTORY: Celebrate the history of New York baseball through authentic newspaper coverage, featuring legendary players and unforgettable moments. This newspaper history book captures generations of New York baseball exactly as originally reported.
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