Question

In 1903 and 1911, Tsiolkovsky published two volumes of Exploration of Outer Space by Means of Rocket Devices in which he explained that a multistage rocket would be needed to achieve escape velocity. . . Meanwhile, an American physics professor from Massachusetts named Robert Goddard was working on some calculations of his own. In 1916, he sent a proposal to the Smithsonian Institution which theorized how a rocket could operate in space without the need for air. The Smithsonian was so pumped by his research that they sent him a $5,000 grant to see his work in action. On March 16, 1926, Goddard successfully launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket.

Read the excerpt from The Race to Space: Countdown to Liftoff

The dates in the passage organize it into

Answer 1

chronological order. The passage begins with Tsiolkovsky's publications in 1903 and 1911, followed by Goddard's work and proposal to the Smithsonian Institution in 1916, leading up to his successful rocket launch in 1926. This sequence of events highlights the progression of ideas and achievements in rocketry leading up to the first successful launch of a liquid-fueled rocket.