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A key advance was the invention of the first liquid-fuelled rocket in 1926 by the American Robert Goddard in Auburn, Massachusetts. Goddard is considered to be one of the fathers of the modern rocket era.
Key Discoveries. Deep Space 1 was the first spacecraft to use an ion engine. Its successful missions to asteroid 9969 Braille and comet Borrelly using the revolutionary technology heralded a new age of ion-propelled spacecraft, such as NASA's Dawn, built for tricky flights to elusive space objects like comets and asteroids.