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

A Spacey Christmas to All

the holiday issue of Popular Electronics, 1958

Colonies to the Moon

Though heated arguments still rage among rocket engineers, in their discussions of the future, as to whether or not colonies will be established on the moon, and how these colonies will be transported through space to the earth's satellite, the only elaborately detailed plan yet presented publicly on a scientific basis for this purpose is that advance by Dr. Wernher von Braun. He proposes three tremendous space ships weighing more than 4,300 tons each, merely for a six week stay on the moon in space ships similar to that pictured here.

From the book "Worlds in Space"
by Martin Caidin
illustration by Fred L. Wolff
(1954)

Space Ship of 2038

Amazing_Stories_Dec39_BC, originally uploaded by PopKulture.

Concept art for a space ship one hundred years into the future, the year 2039.
From Amazing Stories, December 1938

Planet Stories

from Planet Stories

The Green Girl

greengirl, originally uploaded by twincovercollector.

Vintage paperback The Green Girl
Avon Fantasy Novel Number 2.
by Jack Williamson
Published by Avon in 1950
Cover artist unknown

What if? . . . When Meteorites Crash

from Amazing Stories,
June 1940

Every day thousands of meteorites bombard the earth. Most of them are tiny and harmless, but some have been huge. Meteor Crater, in Arizona, was caused by one of these. Another devestated an enormous region in Siberia. The Carolina craters are the remains of an ancient meteorite fall. What if such a meteorite, or meteorite swarm, was to fall in the vicinity of a large city? What if one fell into the ocean off New York? The catastrophe that would result would be one of the most terrible in history . . .

Space Race

Space Race, originally uploaded by Space Commander.

Strange Adventures on Other Worlds

from Planet Stories
Winter 1945

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.

British Space Rocket 1954

1954-space-rocket, originally uploaded by x-ray delta one.


from The Boy's Book of Jets
London: Thames Publishing Co., 1954

Mars Attacks - The Card Set

Mars Attacks- card set, originally uploaded by x-ray delta one.

No words needed to explain this classic set of bubblegum cards, published in 1962. Just gaze upon its vividly full color glory and enjoy.

Travel Between the Planets

The nuclear-powered space ship shown here in a dumb-bell design as often proposed by Arthur C. Clarke, ex-Chairman of the British Interplanetary Society, is the ideal design for travel between planets. The nuclear reactor contained in the heavily shielded smaller sphere is sufficient to propel the space ship in orbit-to-orbit journeys to and from the various planets. Here, two space taxis from the space ship are seen moving to the surface of a great asteroid (or planetoid) orbiting about the sun between Mars and Jupiter.

From the book "Worlds in Space"
by Martin Caidin
illustration by Fred L. Wolff
(1954)

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

Amazing Stories, Vol. 22, No. 10

Cover painting by James B. Settles, illustrating a scene from "The Brain"

Amazing Stories
Volume 22, Number 10
October, 1948

Individual orientation in space, under zero gravity conditions, will demand superb physical conditioning and control. Completely weightless, the spaceman will lose all reference as to what constitutes an "up" and "down."

illustration by Fred L. Wolff
"Worlds in Space"
by Martin Caidin
published 1954

Space Pilots: The First Trip To Space

illustration by John Polgreen
from Adventure in Space: Space Pilots by Willy Ley, 1957

Space Travel

illustration by John Polgreen
from Adventure in Space: Space Travel
by Willy Ley, 1957

Dynamic Science Fiction, Vol. 1, No. 4

illustration by Alex Shomberg

Dynamic Science Fiction
Vol. 1, No. 4
August 1953