| The
dream of space travel and exploration of the solar system took a great leap forward
in the 1950's with the publication of photo-realistic illustrations that pictured
man's conquest of space. This
scene is meant to capture that look and feel of those early space artists like
Chesley Bonestell, Rolf Klep, Fred Freeman that interpretated the hard math and
physics and put to paper the dreams of such engineers and scientists as Robert
Goddard, Werner von Braun, Willy Ley, and just a decade or two later, thousands
of NASA personnel that would put men into Earth orbit and then on the Moon - a
prelude to accomplishing and continuing our dreams of space travel and exploration. The
nuclear-powered 'Mars-Liner' pictured here floats above Mars prior to a landing
on the Red Planet and is reminscent of those early interpretations of how man
might accomplish such feats. This view reflects much of what we surmised at the
time of how Mars and it's inner satellite, Phobos, might appear close-up.
The methods and equipment believed to be the answer to man's exploration of space
and other planets some fifty-years ago may appear somewhat fanciful now
a half-century later - but those earlier theories, the math,
and the physics necessary to accomplish man's dreams proved to be a solid foundation. And
those romantic views of needle-nosed, winged space-craft encouraged generations
of young scientists and engineers to take up the challenge of sending man to space,
to the Moon, soon to Mars, and someday to other planets, even to other star systems. |