Flights into the Future (1953)

Flights into the Future is basically a science fiction anthology for children. It has stories by A.M. Low, Jules Verne, Harry Harper, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It looks like many of the other British annuals.



Flights into the future. London, Thames Pub. Co. 125 p. illus., 28 cm. Cloth, DJ

What makes it interesting are the color illustrations (by Long?). They are not from the stories but rather illustrate a version of the British Interplanetary Society's (B.I.S.) plans for a moon landing.



The BIS was a group of rocket fans who included many of Britain's "space thinkers" including Arthur C Clarke. Their idea for a moon-lander was this "bug-shaped" pod.





Also of note are the "diving-suit" spacesuits.



I like how this suggests that exploration of the moon will be like exploring any foreign place. You collect samples and explore.




I especially like this fake article. We will land on the moon sometime after the year 2000. It suggests the only way we will know if people have landed on the moon will be because of reflected sunlight signals back to earth. At the time people were not sure how radio might work over very long distances. And of course the only way we would get to the moon would be in a "atom-powered rocket."