4 days ago
Missile on display in central Massachusetts park for decades moved to new home
A missile that has stood tall in an Auburn, Massachusetts park for more than 40 years has moved to a new home.
Crews used a crane to get the Polaris missile off the ground at Goddard Park near the Auburn Mall on Friday so it could be moved to the EcoTarium, a science museum in Worcester.
Goddard Park is named after Worcester native Robert Goddard, who is considered the father of modern rocketry.
The Auburn Select Board voted in July to donate the missile to the EcoTarium, which had expressed an interest in restoring it and using it for educational purposes as part of the museum's space exhibit.
Auburn town manager Dori Vecchio said at the meeting that the missile was "rotted from within" and there were concerns that it might fall down.
"We had anticipated originally refurbishing the missile rocket at Goddard Park," she said. "Unfortunately it has deteriorated to the point where it doesn't make any sense."
The fire department said the missile had a large split in the metal running down its side and "has become home to Bee Colonies from all over Central MA."
Goddard, a physicist who studied at WPI and Clark University, launched the first liquid-fueled rocket from Auburn in 1926. A NASA biography says Goddard's achievement was a key contribution to future space flight and "as significant to history as that of the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk."
Polaris missiles were the U.S. military's first submarine-based nuclear missiles. The tourism website notes that "Although visually satisfying, the missile is, awkwardly, a solid-fueled rocket," unlike Goddard's invention.
Vecchio said the town aims to make Goddard Park "more related to Dr. Robert Goddard" as Auburn prepares to mark the centennial of Goddard's launch next year.
