Goddard, The Documentary (Brian Chick, director)

This is the documentary about Robert Goddard's life-influences — about the science of early rocket engineering — and about the path to the planets led by an American from humble beginnings. The film also follows what NASA calls a "technological archeological dig" as NASA engineers experience revelations and tribulations during the reconstruction project of Goddard's first liquid fueled rocket. The story has taken the production crew to Roswell, New Mexico, NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, and the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Other filming locations pertinent to the story were located in Massachusetts, Michigan, Tennessee and New Hampshire.

Fifteen scientists, engineers and historians were interviewed on-camera including Goddard's most recent biographer, David Clary — Michael Ball from London, England who created the first precise replica of the world's first liquid propellant rocket — and Konrad Dannenberg, one of the original German rocket engineers brought over to the United States after World War II.

Currently in post-production, this documentary has been shot in the high definition format, Sony HD-CAM. It includes selections from the 5000 photographs and the 112 minutes of film shot by Esther Goddard, Robert's wife and assistant since early in his career. The Goddard documentary contains striking CGI imagery including illustrative 3D modeling and animations by Keith Hodgdon.

We invite you to view the Goddard trailer — a condensation of three years of shooting into eight minutes.