21.12.08

Arrival of the Supply Ship

Detail of the arrival of a supply ship, as propased by Dr. Wernher von Braun, to the earth-orbiting Space Station

The Third Stage of one of the rocket ships which originally established the station; next to the Third Stage, one of the small space taxis; in the forground another space taxi near the astronomical observatory . . . The men in space suits near the Third Stage and near the Observatory are floating freely.


painting by Chesley Bonestell
from Across the Space Frontier
edited by Cornelius Ryan

1952

19.12.08

The Complete Book of Outer Space

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The Complete Book of Outer Space

Edited by Jeffrey Logan
Illustrator Frank R. Paul et al.
Cover artist Chesley Bonestell
Published by Maco Magazine Corp. (book form by Gnome Press)
Publication date 1953
144 pages
Originally priced for $.75

Contents:
  1. Preface, by Kenneth MacLeish
  2. "A Preview of the Future: Introduction", by Jeffrey Logan
  3. "Development of the Space Ship", by Willy Ley
  4. "Station in Space", by Wernher von Braun
  5. "Space Medicine", by Heinz Haber
  6. "Space Suits", by Donald H. Menzel
  7. "The High Altitude Program", by Robert P. Haviland
  8. "History of the Rocket Engine", by James H. Wyld
  9. "Legal Aspects of Space Travel", by Oscar Schachter
  10. "Exploitation of the Moon", by Hugo Gernsback
  11. "Life Beyond the Earth", by Willy Ley
  12. "Interstellar Flight", by Leslie R. Shepard
  13. "The Spaceship in Science Fiction", by Jeffrey Logan
  14. "Plea for a Coordinated Space Program", by Wernher von Braun
  15. "The Flying Saucer Myth", by Jeffrey Logan
  16. "The Panel of Experts"
  17. "Chart of the Moon Voyage"
  18. "Chart of the Voyage to Mars"
  19. "Timetables and Weights"
  20. "A Space Travel Dictionary"
Profusely illustrated with photos and drawings, published both as a paperback magazine and a hardbound book. A collection of essays about space exploration, life beyond Earth and flying saucers.

White Sands

Backbone of the American postwar rocket and upper atmosphere research effort was the wartime German V-2 rocket, of which 100 were shipped to the United States after the war and 68 were fired in varied experimental shots.

From the book "Worlds in Space"
by Martin Caidin,
1954

12.12.08

A Warning and an Ultimatum


The Day the Earth Stood Still
Company:
20th Century Fox
Director:
Robert Wise
Year: 1951


Cast: Sam Jaffe, Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, Hugh Marlowe, Billy Gray, Frances Bavier, Lock Martin, Elmer Davis, H.V. Kaltenborn, Drew Pearson, Gabriel Heatter

Plot:
A visitor from outer space lands his saucer in Washington, D.C. and announces to the people of Earth that they must live peacefully or faces the consequences as a threat to other planets.

The movie is based on a story by Harry Bates - “Farewell to the Master” which was originally published in the October 1940 issue of Astounding. You can read this in its entirety: Farewell to the Master.

Score: Bernard Hermann utilize the eerie and other-worldly theremin for the first time for the soundtrack of a screen production. You can hear a sample of this music here.





The Day the Earth Stood Still Desktop Wallpaper 1024 x 768


Moon Landing Under Earthlight


artist thomas voter's conception of a moon landing is shown, inset against actual photo of moon. note size of earth.

from The Mystery of Other Worlds Revealed, Fawcett Books, 1952

11.12.08

"They've Landed"


On January 4, 1954 the Lux Radio Theater presentated it's own transcribed adaptation of "The Day The Earth Stood Still." And as in the original 1951 movie, the part of the other-worldy main character, Klaatu, is played by Michael Rennie. The radio version stays faithful to the no-nonsense movie, seeming almost to be using the same shooting script, although be it slightly shortened for the alotted air time.

Thanks to nomig.net for providing this radio play for free downloading.

8.12.08

The Douglas Skyrocket

The Navy Skyrocket high-speed research plane

The Skyrocket just moments after being dropped by a B-29 mothership


The Douglas D558-2 Skyrocket
  • Role: Experimental high-speed research aircraft
  • Manufacturer: Douglas Aircraft Company
  • First flight: 4 February 1948
  • Primary user: U.S. Navy
  • Number built: 3
  • Developed from: D-558-1 Skystreak (straightwing)

General CharacteristicsRemove Formatting from selection
  • Crew: one pilot
  • Length: 42 ft 0 in (12.8 m)
  • Wingspan: 25 ft 0 in (7.6 m)
  • Height: 22 ft 8 in (3.8 m)
  • Wing area: 175 ft² (16.2 m²)
  • Empty weight: 9,421 lb (4,273 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 15,266 lb (6,923 kg)
  • Powerplant:
    • 1× Westinghouse J34-WE-40 turbojet, 3,000 lbf (13 kN)
    • 1× Reaction Motors XLR-8-RM-5 rocket engine, 6,000 lbf (27 kN)

Performance

  • Maximum speed: 720 mph, 1,250 mph when air-launched (1,160 km/h, 2,010 km/h when air-launched)
  • Stall speed: 160.1 mph (257.7 km/h)
  • Service ceiling: 16,500 ft (5,030 m)
  • Rate of climb: 22,400 ft/min, 11,100 ft/min under rocket power only (6,830 m/min., 3,380 m/min under rocket power only)
  • Wing loading: 87.2 lb/ft² (426 kg/m²)
  • Thrust/weight (jet): 0.39

7.12.08

The Third Stage


The Third Stage of a rocket ship on its way to the orbit of the station in space. The painting shows the Third Stage at the instant of separation from the Second Stage; the later, its fuel supply expended and its parachute out, is dropping off. At this instant the ship is 39.8 miles above the Pacific, 332 miles from the launching site on Johnston Island, and 900 miles west of Honolulu.

Painting by Chesley Bonestell
from Across the Space Frontier, edited by Cornelius Ryan, 1952

6.12.08

Spa-a-a-ce Patrol!

Space Patrol: an entertaining space adventure radio program primarilly aimed at kids, starring Buzz Cory and Cadet Happy. There was also a version which simultaneously aired on television.

Broadcast History: September 18, 1950 - March 19, 1955 (129 episodes) ABC, 30 minutes, Mondays and Fridays at 5:30 pm.

"This is Earth - the year 2100. New York is the headquarters of Space Patrol and men from Earth, Mars and Venus live and work there as guardians of peace. This is the story of those men, whose courage and daring make the universe safe for us all."

Space Patrol outlined the exploits of Commander Buzz Corey (Ed Kemmer), who was placed in charge of a thirtieth-century police-keeping force operating from a man-made planet known as Terra. The jurisdiction of the Patrol included Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Venus and Mercury, collectively known as the United Planets. Assisting Corey was his protégé Cadet Happy (Lyn Osborne), a youthful sidekick prone to uttering the exclamation “Smokin’ rockets!”

Space Patrol debuted as a series on television before also becoming a popular radio program. The show was one of a myriad of kiddy adventures that dotted television’s landscape back in the 1950s, along with its outer space brethren Captain Video and his Video Rangers, Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, and Tom Corbett, Space Cadet. It debuted as a fifteen-minute local show on KECA-TV in Los Angeles on March 9, 1950 and made its radio debut over ABC beginning September 18th as a twice-a-week (Mondays and Fridays) offering at 5:30 pm until January 8, 1951. It then returned to radio Saturday evenings at 7:00 pm beginning on August 18th before switching to a 10:30 am morning timeslot about a month later; remaining there until its final airing on March 19, 1955. The television version ended July 2 the previous year succombing to the trendy cowboy western.

Listen: Space Patrol Radio

The Past Through Tomorrow


The Past Through Tomorrow
by Robert A. Heinlein
A collection of his Future History stories

  • "Life-Line", 1939; a month before "Misfit"
  • "Misfit", 1939
  • "The Roads Must Roll", 1940
  • "Requiem", 1940
  • "'If This Goes On—'", 1940
  • "Coventry", 1940
  • "Blowups Happen", 1940
  • "Universe", 1941
  • "Methuselah's Children", 1941; extended and published as a novel, 1958
  • "Logic of Empire", 1941
  • "'—We Also Walk Dogs'", 1941
  • "Space Jockey", 1947
  • "'It's Great to Be Back!'", 1947
  • "The Green Hills of Earth", 1947
  • "Ordeal in Space", 1948
  • "The Long Watch", 1948
  • "Gentlemen, Be Seated!", 1948
  • "The Black Pits of Luna", 1948
  • "Delilah and the Space Rigger", 1949
  • "The Man Who Sold the Moon", 1950
  • "The Menace From Earth", 1957
  • "Searchlight", 1962

2.12.08

Disney's Mars and Beyond


And after Disney's celebrated "Man in Space" there comes in 1957 the continuing "Mars and Beyond."






For the complete series, begin your journey here: Mars and Beyond.



The Foundation Trilogy


The Foundation Trilogy
by Isaac Asimov
1951

Three classics of science fiction:
  • Foundation
  • Foundation and Empire
  • Second Foundation
"When the Galactic Empire began to die, when the ends of the Galaxy reverted to Barbarism and dropped away, Hari Seldon and his band of psychologists planted a colony—the Foundation—to incubate art, science, and technology, and form the nucleus of the Second Empire.

The course of the Foundation's growth was plotted according to the science of psychohistory—conditions were arranged to bring about a series of crises forcing it to move rapidly along the route to future Empire . . ."

Mr. Asimov
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