With the construction of the new Museum building on the Mall literally dozens of exciting and fascinating astronautical artifacts have been acquired, some just a few months before our opening in July 1976. All major artifacts on exhibit at the opening are described herein with brief historical summaries. F. C. Durant III Assistant Director, Astronautics January 13, 1976 Robert H. Goddard’s Rockets: March 16, 1926, and 1941 [Illustration: 1. Robert H. Goddard beside his liquid-fuel rocket prior to launch on March 16, 1926.] [Illustration: 2. “It looked almost magical as it rose, without any appreciable greater noise or flame, as if it said, ‘I’ve been here long enough; I think I’ll be going somewhere else’....”—Robert H. Goddard.] [Illustration: 3. Rocket with turbopumps on its assembly frame in the Goddard shop at Roswell, New Mexico, 1940.] Robert H. Goddard contributed the first major astronautical breakthrough on our way to space exploration—a liquid-propellant rocket. A replica of the first successful rocket of this type is displayed in this hall as is Dr. Goddard’s last sounding rocket design. The first of Dr. Goddard’s successful rockets was launched on March 16, 1926. It traveled to an altitude of 12.5 meters (41 feet) powered by liquid oxygen and gasoline. Its flight lasted 2.5 seconds with an average speed in flight of about 96.6 kilometers (60 miles) per hour. Part of the rocket’s nozzle was burned away during the flight, and other parts were damaged by ground impact; however, pieces of the original rocket were reassembled and flown again on April 3, 1926. The last and most advanced of Dr. Goddard’s liquid-propellant rockets were those tested between 1939 and 1941. This series incorporated most of the basic principles and elements later used in all long-range rockets and space boosters. Design improvements for this series included a fuel system that used turbopumps to force propellants from the tanks to the combustion chamber. The rocket on display did not fly, because a malfunction in the umbilical cord caused the engine to shut down shortly after ignition. The March 16 rocket replica is from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. The 1941 rocket is from Mrs. Robert H. Goddard. Sputnik 1 [Illustration: 4. Model of _Sputnik 1_, the first man-made object to be placed in Earth-orbit.] _Sputnik 1_, the first man-made object to be placed in orbit around Earth, was launched by the USSR on October 4, 1957. A 29-meter (96-foot) rocket with 510,037 kilograms (1,124,440 pounds) of thrust boosted _Sputnik 1_ into orbit. The satellite’s orbital and radio data provided scientists with information on atmospheric and electron densities. _Sputnik 1_ transmitted temperature data for 22 days before its batteries ran down. The 83.5-kilogram (184-pound) satellite reentered the earth’s atmosphere and burned up on January 4, 1958.