Many people have had and still have misconceptions about the basic principle of rocket propulsion. Here is a comment of an unknown editorial writer of the renowned New York Times from January 13, 1920, about the pioneer of US astronautics, Robert Goddard, who at that time was carrying out the ?rst experiments with liquid propulsion engines:
Professor Goddard … does not know the relation of action to reaction, and of the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react – to say that would be absurd. Of course he only seems to lack the knowledge ladled out daily in high schools.