February 24th, 1949 - 252 Miles Into Space

On this date - February 24th, 1949 - a V-2 rocket soared upward at 5,100 miles per hour and set a new record at 252 miles above the earth's surface

At 3.14 p.m. on February 24, 1949, this two stage Bumper rocket, a V-2 with a smaller WAC-Corporal in its nose, attained a speed of 5,100 miles an hour and an altitude of 252 miles. For the first time in history a man-made object had entered empty space.

from "Worlds in Space" by Martin Caidin, 1954

Tales of Tomorrow

The attacking spaceship looks like it was taken straight from the fantastic Pyro Plastics Space Fleet X-300 Space Cruiser toy!

"Tales of Tomorrow"
Volume Number 6
published by John Spencer & Co., London
(February) 1953
112 pages

Worlds of Fantasy

"Worlds of Fantasy"
Volume Number 8
Published by John Spencer & Co., London
1953
108 pages

The Interstellar Zoo

Higher life form from the Tau Ceti star system, a race that has 28 sexes

illustration by Edd Cartier
From Travelers of Space
edited by Martin Greenberg
published by Gnome Press, 1951

Also seen in Life on Other Worlds, The Mysteries of Other Worlds Revealed

Rocket Slide Ramp-Up

The 1951 movie When Worlds Collide effectively depicts the rocket slide ramp-up and lift-off of a rocket ship. It's probably one of the most thrilling take-offs ever filmed. The climatic scene builds as the rocket accelerates down and then blasts upward into the sky moments before the rogue planet Zira hammers into the ill-fated earth.