The Space Ark is Ready

Chesley Bonestell's concept painting of the space ark for the movie When Worlds Collide,
from the Fawcett publication The Mystery of Other Worlds Revealed, 1952

Mr. Smith Goes to Venus

Launch Chesley Bonestell's "Mr. Smith Goes to Venus"

Originally published by Coronet magazine, March, 1950

This page contains an article featuring some rarities by the celebrated space artist Chesley Bonestell. As stated by the author: "Bonestell did art for dozens of Hollywood movies, including Destination Moon, When Worlds Collide, and Conquest of Space. [The article] describes a family’s trip to Venus. Bonestell did the art work for the movie, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, hence the title of the piece."

Special thanks to Resources for Science Fiction Writers for sharing this article.

Bonestell, Up Close

Closeups of the work of Chesley Bonestell paintings, based upon the ideas of Wernher von Braun. From the photographers of LIFE magazine.

Space Station

Detail of the Space Station in earth orbit, as proposed by Dr. Wernher von Braun

The Space Station with a space taxi just leaving its landing berth . . . the two men on the outside of the station are secured by lines hooked to holding rings which are provided for this purpose. These two men follow the rotation of the Space Station and if not fastened to it would be thrown off tangentially.

The Space Station is 1075 miles above the Pacific Ocean, above a point 800 miles south bu east of the Galapagos Islands. The visual angle of the picture is 50 degrees, the horizon 3000 miles away, and the area of the picture about 4 million square miles . . . The area that would be visible from the station at any moment is a circle with a diameter of 6000 miles, or about 29 million square miles.

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

First Trip to Our Moon

The first trip to our moon will be without landing, in a ship designed to travel in space only, taking off near the Space Station and returning to it. Here the round-the-moon ship is some 240,000 miles from earth, 50 miles above the lunar surface. The large crater is Aristillus (diameter 35 miles); the other crater is Autocylus; the distant mountains are the lunar Apennines.

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

Conquest of Space - 1955

See How it will Happen in Your Lifetime! the bold teaser states . . . Conquest of Space, the 1955 movie produced by George Pal. The plot depicts a voyage to Mars, pulling from all science and technology of the day to be as realistic as possible.

As stated on Wikipedia, "Conquest of Space was based on The Conquest of Space, a non-fiction 1949 book illustrated by Chesley Bonestell and written by Willy Ley. Bonestell is noted for his photorealistic paintings of views from outer space, and worked on the space background art for the movie. The film also incorporated material from Wernher von Braun's 1952 book The Mars Project. The two books are straight popular science, with no story line.

The entire movie revolves around the struggle to endure the long trip, and the struggle to survive on Mars until a return to Earth was possible, with the underlying theme questioning whether mankind has the right to explore the heavens, or is he setting out as an invader to worlds not his own.





Directed by: Byron Haskin
Produced by: George Pal
Starring: Walter Brooke, Eric Fleming, Mickey Shaughnessy
Distributed by: Paramount Pictures
Release date: April 20, 1955 (U.S. release)

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

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

The Collier's Space Flight Series

For the early part of the decade a series of stories featured in eight issues of Colliers, penned by the brightest rocket scientists of the day and brilliantly illustrated by Chesley Bonestell, sparked the imagination of the American public. For a summary of the Colliers series of articles concerning the possibilities of manned spaceflight, launch: The Ugly Spaceship.

Man Will Conquer Space Soon (March 22, 1952)

Man on the Moon/The Journey/Inside the Moon Ship (Oct 18, 1952)

(not featured on cover)
Man on the Moon/Inside the Lunar Base (Oct 25, 1952)

World's First Space Suit (Feb 28, 1953)

(not featured on cover)
Testing the Men in Space (March 7, 1953)

How Man Will Meet Emergency In Space Travel (March 14, 1953)

Baby Space Station (June 27, 1953)

Can We Get to Mars?/Is There Life on Mars? (April 30, 1954)

Jet Assisted Moon Rocket

all paintings by Chesley Bonestell,
from The Mystery of Other Worlds Revealed, 1952