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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.
Congress forcing a compromise(d) Space Shuttle design on NASA. Among other things, the space shuttle was the first human space vehicle to use solid rocket boosters. Solid rocket boosters were previously deemed unsafe for human space flight because once they're lit, they don't stop boosting until the fuel is gone. Liquid-fueled rockets can be shut off.