"The great scientific value of Professor Goddard's experiments", the Smithsonian press release stated, "lies in the possibility of sending recording apparatus to moderate and extreme altitudes", noting that the highest altitude of a balloon was 19 miles , and added that "Weather forecasting... would undoubtedly be improved if daily observations could be taken in the upper levels of the atmosphere" and that a craft could actually reach the Moon "Believes Rocket Can Reach Moon", The New York Times, January 12, 1920, p1