Rockets - The Magazine of Space Flight (Feb and Dec 1946)

 

The Rockets Journal was a post-war publication of the United States Rocket Society. There are several online issues here 

https://fanac.org/fanzines/Rockets/

Here is a biography of the controversial editor:

https://www.joshuablubuhs.com/blog/robert-l-farnsworth-as-a-fortean

I wanted to share a few selections from my copies. These were not for children but still inspirational to me about the will some people had about going into space. They were convinced that it was time to "dream of space." These are from the February 1946 issue.

These below are from the December, 1946 issue

Article about how atomic power might lead to space flight. (USRS = United States Rocket Society)

"Next Stop The Moon" Collier's Sept 7, 1946

I am fascinated by the Collier's "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" 8 magazine series (1952-1954). It laid out a well-articulated plan for the general public to understand America's possible future in space.

Recently I came across the Sept 7, 1946 issue of Collier's which also laid out a vision for how America might choose to explore space. Although not as visual as the 1950s Collier's (and not really for children), it is an interesting popularization of spaceflight.

"The first trip is not going to be a Sunday-afternoon picnic. It will be physically arduous and it will cost a tremendous sum of money..."

Pendray's primary employment was in public relations; however, he always was interested in rocketry. He was an early experimenter with liquid propulsion rockets. Pendray was a contemporary of Robert H. Goddard, whose papers he later edited with Goddard's widow. Pendray and his associates worked on the beginnings of rocket development and technology, which led to his founding of the American Interplanetary Society [which was renamed the American Rocket Society (ARS)] in 1930.

"He will need some kind of 'moon suit,' a highly developed, thoroughly planned, all-enclosing mobile shelter that will provide air at atmospheric pressure like a diver's suit."

"...therefore, control of the moon in the interplanetary world of the atomic future could mean military control of our whole portion of the solar system. Its dominance could include not only the earth but also Mars and Venus..."

"The same atomic power, however, could be used constructively in ferrying humans to the moon."

"The moon, therefore, is well worth studying these days. It may be the fortress of the next conquerer of the earth. It may also be the first stop on the interplanetary transportation system of the next century."

This is the Moon (1946)

Happy 400th post to me!

Yes this is the 400th post to this blog. 

I truly was not sure I had this many books (and ideas) to share.

So for my post today I share a book from 1946. Just post-WW 2 seems to me to be the expansion of non-fiction for children about space. I have found very few of these early books but happened across one I had not seen before. These early books are a sort of forced blend of a chapter like "Your trip to the moon" mixed with a bunch of more generic material on the history of the moon in mythology and astronomy.  I find this book particular "perfect" for its illustration of space suits that look like deep sea diving suits. It is this speculation in non-fiction that fascinates me in these books. 

As the jacket copy says "American boys and girls--and indeed boys and girls everywhere--may during their lifetime witness the building and launching of a space ship that would set off for the moon."

Cothren, Marion B. Illustrated by Kurt Wiese. This is the Moon. New York: Coward-McCann. (87 p.) 25 cm. Cloth, DJ. 1946.

"To shoot higher and higher way above the blue sky into a sea of empty space; to drop down on another world; to delve into its long-locked mysteries; then to come back with the story of your thrilling adventures--what a wonderful dream!"

Finally I need to include the last page of the book that encourages children to seek out planetariums as one of the few places they can learn more about this dream.  

A final happy surprise when I got this book was a bookmark made by some child (maybe as a class project). It is an early ticket to an amazing dream.