Weekly Reader-April 28 (1952)

Another early Weekly Reader with predictions about spaceflight. "When will we reach outer space?"

 I really enjoy looking at the reading comprehension questions and the 'questions for discussion'. It sparks the imagination for what it might have been like to contemplate spaceflight when it seemed so far off.

Could not resist this advertisement for Playtime Weekly Reader (summer edition). I remember doing this one summer just to get something in the mail every week.

Our Place in Space (1960)

Our Place in Space was a school text from Australia. It was part of a series of readers for the classroom. Because this is pretty obscure it is hard to catalog effectively so this is what I have. But it is fun to review it and add some scans of the great illustrations.

I blogged about this almost 10 years ago. 
https://dreamsofspace.blogspot.com/2010/07/our-place-in-space-1960.html


Our Place in Space (Pictorial Social Studies). Sydney: Australian Visual Education Pty. Ltd. (32 p.) 1960.

 Canals with water (and vegetation) on Mars.

 I like the repetition of the theory that there once was a planet between Mars and Jupiter and that is the asteroid belt.

 This illustration seems to imply that that the moons of Jupiter have enough atmosphere to "fly" vertically. (Thunderbird 7 activate!)

Forget my jet pack, where is my moonbus! That is one sporty vehicle.

The Moon (1963)

The Moon was last seen here Monday, March 16, 2009 (so here is a fuller Moon). It was a translation into English in 1963 of a popular 1961 Italian book. It was about how the Moon formed, what conditions we would find on the Moon, and a brief guide to how we would travel there.

Rocca, Angelo. Illustrated by Fedini. The Moon. New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce. (58 p.) 1963.

 I find it fascinating that at the time (1961) there was still not a clear popular understanding of how the craters were formed.

 This is one of those standard illustrations but I like the realistic Moon surface combined with the cartoon figure.

 Showing some of the satellites were exploring space with already. Satellites were the way we might get information about what we might find on the Moon.

 A early Apollo-type lander

A much more complicated lander than was seen only 8 years later.

Man's Reach Into Space (1959)

On with the re-runs/re-scans! Last seen here Friday, October 2, 2009 Man's Reach Into Space was more of an aerospace medicine book than a spaceflight book. It concentrated on the limits of the human/pilot body and how we could see if we could survive.

Gallant, Roy A. Illustrated by Ames, Lee J. Man’s Reach into Space. Garden City, NY: Garden City Books. (152 p.) 1959.

The book has full Double-page drawings that are spectacular. This one depicts the sound absorbing chambers used to learn about perception.

The massive centrifuge

The "rocket sled" to explore the effects of extreme g-forces.

One of my favorite "optimistic" illustrations. The color pallet is amazing.

Cats in space!!!

The extreme variety in predictions what future rocket might look like.

The rapid evolution in what a space suit might look like based on the aerospace testing programs.