This looks like a must for any collectors of space-age memorabilia: Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race, 1957-1962 by Megan Prelinger. We are familiar with Megan’s husband Rick’s amazing Prelinger Archives, the premier collection of industrial films from the 50s and 60s. The accompanying article in the New York Times by science writer Dennis Overbye provides a nice overview of the book along with a multimedia slideshow with images. Check it out..
Archive for the ‘Retrofuture Images’ Category
Reaching for the Stars When Space Was a Thrill
Tuesday, March 9th, 2010The Beagle Has Landed: Charles Schulz and NASA
Sunday, March 1st, 2009The world of cartooning briefly intersected with space program. This article was originally published January 3, 2000, a month before Schulz’s death. If you happen to be in Santa Rosa, CA before July 20th check out The Charles M. Schulz Museum which is hosting an exhibit called “To The Moon: Snoopy Soars with NASA.”
Snoopy fans take note: the celebrated flying ace isn’t going to retire his aviator’s wings when Charles Schulz ends the daily Peanuts comic strip this week. The unofficial mascot of NASA for over three decades will continue his association.
The beloved beagle first won fame battling the Red Baron aboard the Sopwith Camel. In 1968, he began his historic collaboration with the space program to promote safety awareness.
At the time, NASA had 200,000 workers engaged in the Apollo moon landings. The space agency realized it needed a respected and universally loved symbol to keep spirits high. Schulz, a space buff, was happy to help out. It wasn’t long before Snoopy’s engaging smile was appearing on stickers and posters encouraging workers to “Keep Apollo the Symbol of Excellence.”
NASA’s gambit was a hit with workers. “Snoopy Given Credit for Apollo Success” read a headline the Oklahoma City Times in 1969.
Inspired by the goodwill that Snoopy’s role engendered, NASA’s top brass decided to pay tribute to the affable pooch and his owner Charlie Brown during the Apollo 10 mission in May 1969.
Utilizing the code names “Charlie Brown” for the Command Capsule and “Snoopy” for the Lunar Module, Apollo 10 was an elaborate full dress rehearsal for the historic lunar landing of Apollo 11 two months later, executing all the maneuvers of that mission except the moon landing itself.
Commander of the mission Thomas P. Stafford, explained why Snoopy was being honored. “We’re going to the moon to find out all these facts and kind of snoop around,” Stafford jested, “(That’s why) the lunar module’s going to be called Snoopy.”
The crew of the mission—Stafford (seen holding Snoopy, right) John W. Young, and Eugene A. Cernan—were happy to embrace their cartoon counterparts. “We are just like everyone anyone else,” Cernan told a reporter. “We are human beings and we like (Snoopy), too.”
As might be expected, the code names provided some moments of levity during the mission. One slightly surreal exchange went as follows
CAPCOM: “Snoopy-Charlie—this is Houston. Good readback, Snoopy, over.”
SNOOPY: “Houston, this is Snoopy. Charlie Brown’s trying to call you.”
Several months after Apollo 10, when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon, Snoopy appeared in Schulz’s daily Peanut strip declaring “I did it! I’m the first beagle on the moon!”
The fruitful association between Schulz and the space agency continued after Apollo. When a stuffed Snoopy found its way on shuttle flight in 1990, mission commander Dan C. Brandenstein simply explained: “We had trained with Snoopy so it made sense to take him with us.”
Despite the retirement of the daily Peanuts comic strip, the intrepid beagle’s winning attitude remains a symbol of excellence at NASA.
Officials at the space agency maintain there is no plan to discontinue “The Silver Snoopy”—presented to employees who have made extraordinary contributions to space travel.
The highly coveted pin, bearing the likeness of the heroic beagle, will remain a lasting tribute to Snoopy’s legacy in space.
Fred T. Jane: Illustrator of the Future
Wednesday, February 25th, 2009
An avatar of the information age, Fred T. Jane is a obscure figure today. But as an illustrator, writer, self-publisher and a gamer (yes, a gamer) Jane was well ahead of his time.
From his birth in 1865 to his death in 1916 Jane was witnessed a crucial period of change which saw the discovery of X-rays, the rise of automobiles, aviation and telecommunications.
It was Jane’s fascination with naval warships in his hometown of Portsmouth England that inspired him to begin sketching. The detailed drawings he made eventually lead to the publication of All the World’s Fighting Ships in 1898 (more on that publication below).
In addition to his straight-forward depictions of ships and airplanes, Jane dabbled in
prophetic illustrations including a series created for Pall Mall magazine in 1894-5 called “Guesses at Futurity.”
As seen in the images accompanying this post, Jane’s imaginative renderings of the year 2000 in Pall Mall included futuristic depictions of cyber-cafes, energy-efficient lighting, and bio-engineered foods. The latter concept was captured in an illustration called “A Dinner Party A.D. 2000, Menu of Chemical Foods” (pictured right).
Guests are offered pellets of nutrition by waiters dressed in Egyptian costumes. It’s an odd but arresting tableau. The strange helmet-like listening cones which hover above guests’ heads are perhaps piping the modern sounds of Debussy’s recently-debuted “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun.” Or maybe they’re blow dryers. We can only guess along with Jane.
Other drawings in the series include one in which the latest news is revealed by a man unspooling a long scroll (notice the widescreen TV which looks like a flat panel) and another with dirigibles employed for street lighting.
These fanciful renditions are quite unlike the illustrations which would make Jane wealthy and famous. Those technical drawings identified warships and armaments of different armies of the world. All The World’s Fighting Ships became the authoritative guide of ship recognition. Six years after the Wright Brothers first flight, Jane also began publishing All the World’s Aircrafts. These publications endure to this day.
What distinguishes Jane’s achievements in our day and age was his love of gaming and modeling. To accompany the war games he designed Jane made lovingly-crafted miniature scale models of ships. His contributions to the field helped establish modeling as a hobby.
The “Guesses to Futurity” illustrations hint at Jane’s intuitive grasp of what modern machines provided to the public beyond their utilitarian purpose: they were g
rist for the imagination. In this way Jane really was a pioneer of how we consume and digest technological change.
Jane’s Information Group, the company he founded, is still a leading source on armaments, defense, geopolitics, transport and police industries. Jane also had a hand in founding the MI5, the British spy agency and the Boy Scouts and devised a code of signals adapted by the British Navy. Not bad for a guy who barely made it past 50.
We will feature more of Jane’s “Guesses at Futurity” drawings in a future post. Until then if you want more history on this fascinating figure click here.
Waterproof Furniture
Wednesday, February 4th, 2009This Popular Mechanics illustration circa 1950 is a Retrofuture classic.
