Space Beckons

From the book "Worlds in Space"

by Martin Caidin

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)

Rocket Scientist

Dr. Werner Von Braun with model of rocket rover
Photographer: Ralph Crane
by the photographers of LIFE magazine

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.

Dr. von Braun - LIFE 1957

Missile expert Wernher von Braun standing with some concept art of future space projects.

Location:	Huntsville, AL, US
Date taken:	November 1957
Photographer:	Walter Sanders

Dr. Wernher Von Braun

Rocket scientist Dr. Wernher Von Braun watching technician check the interior body unit of a Redstone missile before it is to be test fired; this unit carries all guidance & control instruments plus a warhead, at Redstone Missile HQ.

Location:	Huntsville, AL, US
Date taken:	November 04, 1957
Photographer:	Walter Sanders

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

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

Inside the von Braun Rocket

A three-stage rocket ship prior to take-off from its base on Johnston Island in the Pacific Ocean. The ship rests on a movable platform; it is boarded, loaded, and fueled from a stationary structure not shown in the picture. For today's comparatively small rockets the firing table is stationary and the Gantry crane movable; for large rockets this procedure will be reversed.

The von Braun three-stage rocket
from "Across the Space Frontier"
Edited by Cornelius Ryan
illustration by Rolf Klep
1952

Disney's Man in Space

Guide ship XR-1 maneuvers small cargo rocket into the space orbit.
from Walt Disney's Man in Space, Dell comic No. 716, 1956

Into Outer Space

Advertisment for the new selection of authentically recreated Strombecker space craft model kits, after those seen in Disney's "Man in Space" designed by Wernher von Braun.

from the Royal Air Force Flying Review, October 1959

Man in Space - The Ferry Rocket

Man in Space is an episode of Disneyland which originally aired on March 9, 1955 and later, was edited into a featurette to play in theaters.

The episode was converted into a 32 page comic book ("Dell Comics" (#716)) in 1956. Under the title Walt Disney's Man in Space: A Science Feature from Tomorrowland.

It was also made into a "Tomorrowland adventure" book for classroom use in 1959 as Man in Space: A Tomorrowland Adventure.

On a Pillar of Radioactive Gas

Take-off! On a pillar of flaming, radioactive exaust gases, the nuclear space ship thunders off the earth and starts its journey through space to the moon. At the left is the gantry crane employed for servicing the great space ship and at far right can be seen the control center from where the take-off operations are directed.

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

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

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

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)

What If?...

What if history played out the way one pioneering visionary had dreamed of it?

Man Conquers Space - The Conquest of Moon and Mars

What if America had followed through with Dr. Wernher von Braun's original, expensive and ambitious vision of travelling to the Moon, and then on to Mars beginning with the resources and science available in the 1950's? This filmmaker attempts to put the whole story together on the screen of that grand vision.

Disney's Man In Space

Disney's Man in Space - Conquest of Space - Launch! Von Braun's vision comes alive in 1955 with a little help from the Disney animators. This clip features a retriever rocket and a wheel-type space station.

Launch eight segments of this historic film: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75vX6O8paGo

Worlds in Space

dust jacket for the London-published edition

"Worlds in Space"
by Martin Caidin
illustrated by Fred L. Wolff
published 1954
Sidgwick and Jackson, London
212 pages, 64 plates (16 photographs, 48 drawings)

Contents:

1. This is how we stand
2. Robots into space
3. The weakest link–man
4. The first space ships
5. The space satellite
6. Earth below
7. Expedition across space
8. On the moon to stay
9. Fortress in the sky?
10. Beyond the moon
    

"Five years have passed since February 24th, 1949, when 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...[Worlds in Space] tells the history of rocket development thus far and reveals the steps by which man will eventually travel to other planets."

dust jacket of American edition


hard cover embellishment

"The three-stage space ship envisioned by Dr. Wernher von Braun, who has been carrying out an extensive publicity campaign in favour of space travel now. Von Braun's three-stage space ship is designed to carry a crew of about six men and 34 tons of cargo to an orbit 1,075 miles above the earth, where a space satellite will be assembled, to whirl about the earth at a velocity of 15,840 miles per hour."

illustration by Fred L. Wolff


"A combination of proposals from both sides of the Atlantic. The space satellite depicted in its final stages of construction is the design proposal of von Braun, the space ships indicated a variation of a delta-wing suggestion by R. A. Smith of the British Interplanetary Society."

illustration by Fred L. Wolff