This "hospital in the sky," as imagined by Arthur Radebaugh in the May 11, 1958 edition of his comic Closer Than We Think, operates under the assumption that the "weightlessness, irradiation and low temperatures of outer space" would allow for more effective treatment of patients.
The American Rocket Society has reported to President Eisenhower that practical medical science could benefit importantly from the weightlessness, irradiation and low temperatures of outer space. So we may find that some of tomorrow's hospitals may actually be anchored in the heavens.
One of these hospitals might be shaped like a disc atop elevator tubes leading to the control section. The mushroom-like disc would contain weightless operating rooms for treating heart and other organic troubles as well as bone diseases. It would also serve as a nucleus for crystal balls which, orbiting slowly, would utilize concentrated sunrays to treat cancer, skin diseases and similar ailments. There would also be experimental areas for the study of low temperature therapy — a challenging new field for medical investigation.
As always, thanks to Tom Z. for the full-color version of this Radebaugh panel.
This post originally appeared at Paleofuture.com.