Space Age

Space Age Fetishism Getting Silly New Moniker: Atompunk

Are you obsessed with Sputnik, the Space Race, Googie architecture and radioactive powers for superheroes? Look out, it seems like your fetish is about to get a name: “Atompunk.” According to a mailing list from the Netherlands, Atompunk is devoted to the cultural period (mostly of the United States) of between 1945 to 1965. While…

L.A. Cancels The Future!

This futuristic-looking gas station in L.A. was supposed to be completed in June 2007, but the client became “indecisive.” Did United Oil decide that an optimistic, future-looking design wasn’t the right look for a gas station in this day and age? Or did they wake up and realize that “futuristic,” in this case, means “retro”…

50 Consumer Technologies Developed by NASA in the Last 50 Years

Every year NASA publishes a new edition of their Spinoff magazine, a periodical that outlines NASA-based technologies that have disseminated into everyday devices, improving our lives beyond giving us some nifty new desktop wallpapers. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Spinoff, and to celebrate, NASA has created a “best of” list (that we pasted…

Coney Island’s AstroLand Park Closing, A Victim Of The Real Future

For almost 50 years, AstroLand in Coney Island has been a symbol of our optimism about the Space Age and the conquest of the final frontier. But the park is closing this coming Sunday, a victim of a different vision of the future. Developers failed to reach an agreement with the park’s owner, Carol Albert,…

Space and National Security (1963)

The 1963 U.S. Air Force film Space and National Security envisioned futuristic wars conducted in space. The clip above is taken from the fascinating NOVA episode, Astrospies. Many thanks to Matt Chapman of Homestarrunner.com for bringing this clip to our attention. As Matt points out, the “non-animation animation” is similar in style to many of…

A Glimpse Into 2056 (1956)

The March 10, 1956 Ames Daily Tribune (Ames, IA) ran this story about a local play called Futurama 2056. The entire piece appears below. Food in capsules, clothes you can throw away – these are a few of the features of the future to be seen in the play, “Futurama 2056,” which will be presented…

2063 A.D. Book (1963)

Due to popular demand, I have uploaded a free PDF of the book 2063 A.D. in its entirety. To purchase a print copy of the book you can find it at my Lulu storefront. For those just joining us, 2063 A.D. was a book published in 1963 by General Dynamics Astronautics. The book asked politicians,…

Rocket Ship (1956)

This cross section of a rocket ship appeared in the 1956 book The Complete Book of Space Travel. The space suit we looked at back in December can be seen hanging up at the rear of the ship. See also: The Complete Book of Space Travel (1956) Wernher von Braun’s Space Shuttle (1950s) Space Suit…

James B. Utt on Space Travel (1963)

California congressman James B. Utt wrote a short piece for the time capsule book 2063 A.D., which was buried in 1963. The honorable James B. Utt first says that he could not even make an uneducated guess as to the future of space travel but then, in true politician form, makes one anyway. His contribution…

The U.S. Needs A Space Race With China

China plans to launch 15 rockets, 17 satellites and a crewed spaceship during 2008. But that’s not going to be enough to scare the United States into launching a new space race. And the U.S. really, really needs a new space race to get us to take space exploration seriously again. China’s ramped-up space plans…

The Ultimate Necessity of Space Travel (1959)

Philip N. Shockey wrote a piece for the March-May, 1959 issue of Space Journal titled, “The Ultimate Necessity of Space Travel.” Shockey makes the case for a trip to the moon and eventually further into space as a necessity brought about by the eventual destruction of Earth a few billion years from now. That trip…

Space Suit (1956)

This image of the space suit of the future appeared in the 1956 book The Complete Book of Space Travel. For anyone that has ever been to the Minnesota History Center you may also recognize it as part of the space exhibit there. See also: The Complete Book of Space Travel (1956) Closer Than We…

Wernher von Braun’s Space Shuttle (1950s)

These illustrations by Fred Freeman show Wernher von Braun’s concept for a space shuttle in the 1950s. The illustrations can be found in the book Visions of Spaceflight: Images from the Ordway Collection. To provide safety in case of a malfunction of the reusable upper stage – von Braun’s 1950s shuttle concept – crew and…

Edmund G. Brown’s Californifuture (1963)

Today we continue our look into the time capsule and booklet titled 2063 A.D. Buried by General Dynamics Astronautics in 1963, there is some question as to where it may now reside, as the General Dynamics Astronautics building has been torn down. Some guessed that it would be at the San Diego Air & Space…

The first person on Mars may be a woman, says a Kansas op-ed. For the first time ever, two female space shuttle commanders on separate missions met up in space. But NASA is facing questions about its plans to end the space shuttle program in 2010. [Kansas.com, KHOU.com]

Super Lasers Of The Cold War

By the early 1980s, the Soviet Union will have a fleet of space shuttles far superior to our own, plus a network of space stations and a second fleet of orbital vehicles to service them. Oh, and mega laser weapons. That was the prediction in a 1974 book Soviet Conquest From Space. How did Peter…

China Will Win The Next Space Race

What will it take to launch another space age to replace the one that ended with the Cold War? Maybe another space race. China is ramping up its efforts to put people back on the Moon, launch more lunar orbiters, and build its own space station. Already, China is challenging the U.S.’ domination of space…

Closer Than We Think! Boytopia (1960)

This Closer Than We Think! strip ran in the March 13, 1960 Chicago Tribune. Community center planners are getting ready to meet tomorrow’s challenges. For proof, look at “Boytopia,” the concept of the Boys’ Clubs of America for the age of automation and space travel. Such centers would teach youngsters the mechanics of space travel,…

Fashionable Shoes For Space Travel

An Italian company called Geox is marketing shoes and outerwear that are packed with patented technologies invented for use by astronauts in space. A semi-permeable membrane lines each shoe and jacket. The membrane is riddled with micro-pores big enough to vent sweat, but small enough to prevent water from getting into the shoe. Geox’s shoes…

Space Age Lunch Boxes (1950s and 60s)

The Smithsonian has an online exhibit which includes these lunch boxes from the late 1950s and early 1960s. The satellite lunch box from 1958 shows a torodial space station, which is featured prominently in the short film Challenge of Outer Space. Excerpts from the Smithsonian website appear below each picture. Satellite Lunch Box (1958) The…