Eighty years ago today, on August 10, 1945 (July 3, 1945), Robert Goddard, the father of the missile, passed away. Dr. Robert Goddard at Clark University On August 10, 1945, Robert Goddard, the engineer who developed rockets into weapons and tools for space exploration, died today at his home in Baltimore at the age of 63. Goddard developed rockets during World War I while teaching at Clark University. Although he was snubbed by the government and mocked by the press, he persisted in his development work for decades. Goddard's inventions were adopted by German scientists, who built the V ¡¤ 2 missile and used them in European wars in recent years. On February 21, 1961, the Atlas spacecraft was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida with an improved booster