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retro futurism
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retro futurism
fellow lady astronaut trainees
RIP Janet Dietrich, One of the “Mercury 13” Women Astronaut Trainees
Janet Christine Dietrich has died. In 1961, along with her twin sister, Marion, and eleven other women, Dietrich passed the same battery of physical tests as the men chosen by NASA to become America’s first astronauts. But Dietrich, and the rest of the so-called “Mercury 13” never flew in space—indeed, they were never allowed to complete their training. More »
retro futurism
A Fleet of Atomic-Electric Space Ships Embark For Mars, 1957
Earlier this week we showed you the wonderful “cosmic soap opera” from Disney’s “Mars and Beyond” television show from 1957. This much more serious clip shows what a future expedition to Mars might look like. The spaceships (conceptualized by Ernst Stuhlinger and Werner von Braun) were 500 feet in diameter and powered by electricity generated by the atomic reactor carried in the tail. This meant they could operate continuously over a period of years. Each carried a small landing craft for descent to the Martian surface, and had quarters for 20 men (in 1957, there was no mention of female astronauts). P.S. The sound is a little faint, crank it up or use your headphones.
retro futurism
A Nerdy Scientist and a Hot Secretary on Mars in 1957
On December 4, 1957, the Disneyland TV show broadcast “Mars and Beyond,” a 53-minute exploration of the Red Planet’s history and future, as well as its impact on pop culture. A nerdy scientist, a hot secretary with a secret, and a Martian robot in tennis shoes (a la Warner Brother’s Marvin the Martian), plus awesome animation, and a surprising twist at the end make the show’s parody of pulp science fiction well worth a look. More »
retro futurism
A Vibrator-Shaped Space Station (1961)
In the 1960s, Fortune magazine was filled with ads from corporations eager to capitalize on the fact that produced one astro-widget or another for the space program. Usually these are somewhat familiar looking - Apollo capsules or LEMs - but here's one that doesn't seem to have made it off the adman's drawing board. Boldly eschewing the familiar phallic rocket shape, it's smoother, rounder, altogether more like a space-age vibrator. Get a closer look after the jump. More »
retro futurism
Space Travel Predictions from Look Magazine, 1957
In December 1957, only two months after the Soviets launched Sputnik, Look magazine presented a timetable predicting the future of American space travel. "If you have a life expectancy covering the remainder of the 20th century, you will live to see man land on the moon," it stated confidently. At the time, the U.S. space program had yet to successfully launch a satellite of its own. Perhaps as a result, Look's timeline was surprisingly cautious. More »
retro futurism
Venus Is Loaded With Candy and Ice Cream Is Found Upon Mars! 1959
Snack your way through the universe with this drive-in movie intermission film from 1959. No wonder they call it the Milky Way—it's filled with nougat and other delicious treats.
retro futurism
The Cartoon that Introduced Sputnik to America, 1957
I love the industrial animation used in this newsreel introducing Americans to Sputnik, the first artificial satellite, launched by the Soviets on October 4, 1957. Despite fears of red space supremacy, Americans immediately started eating sputnikburgers and talking about pupniks (Sputnik II carried a dog into space), whatniks, beatniks, and spoofniks ... but I digress.
triviagasm
The Triumphant Journeys of Martian Robots
Since 1960 we've been attempting to explore the red planet, and along the way there have been countless failures and lost spacecraft that attest to just how hard it is to fly those 35 million miles from here to there. However, there have also been success stories, like the twin rovers Opportunity and Spirit, who have both overcome mechanical problems, braved dust storms, and sent back enormous amounts of data. Today, after being threatened with a shutdown due to budget cuts, the Martian rovers got a reprieve. They'll be rolling along for many months to come. To celebrate, check out our list of Martian robots and landers who have already served their robotic duty as our slaves, erm we mean allies, on the red planet. More »
concept art
One of the best parts of video-game classic Mass Effect was the ability to take your ship to different planets throughout the galaxy, and actually touch down, get out and explore the places. A new game, The Tomorrow War, takes that concept and expands on it exponentially, giving you a virtual sandbox of systems and worlds to explore. Of course, if you have to dole out some Soviet-style ass-kicking in the process, then so be it. At least you'll be tooling around in this cruiser that looks a lot like the U.S.S. Sulaco from Aliens. Check out a full gallery of new images from this game below.
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The Tomorrow War Looks Good Today
One of the best parts of video-game classic Mass Effect was the ability to take your ship to different planets throughout the galaxy, and actually touch down, get out and explore the places. A new game, The Tomorrow War, takes that concept and expands on it exponentially, giving you a virtual sandbox of systems and worlds to explore. Of course, if you have to dole out some Soviet-style ass-kicking in the process, then so be it. At least you'll be tooling around in this cruiser that looks a lot like the U.S.S. Sulaco from Aliens. Check out a full gallery of new images from this game below.
More »
retro futurism
Cocktails in Space on "Your Trip to Mars," 1952
Movies about the red planet may be currently on the wane, but back in 1952, Mars still fascinated the general public. In August of that year, Major Alexander P. de Seversky imagined "Your Trip to Mars" for readers of Pageant magazine. "The date, while still somewhat hypothetical, is certainly well before the year 2000 A.D.," opined Seversky. He envisioned a "cigar-shaped vessel" powered by the "direct thrust" of an atomic-powered engine, traveling at a cruising speed of 1,660,000 miles an hour that would whisk sightseers to Mars in just 41 hours—and getting there was half the fun. Take a luxury cruise to outer space after the jump.More »
cj7 review
Attack of the Cute Alien in Stephen Chow's CJ7
Stephen Chow's E.T.-inspired CJ7 opens this weekend, and although it's been critically kicked around like the lowest dog on Earth, we loved the cute little thing. It's not your typical science fiction movie, and it's not even a typical Stephen Chow movie, who is best known for comedies like Kung Fu Hustle and Shaolin Soccer. But this tale of a boy and his cute alien friend was the most fun we've had going to the theater in a long time. Spoilers and clips below. More »
9:04 AM on Thu Mar 6 2008
By Kevin Kelly
2,585 views,
11 comments
Latest by n/a: I know the clips above were subtitled, but does anyone know if the US release is dubbed? I'd love to take my 6-year-old, and if it's dubbed, that's a no-brainer, but if it's subtitled, I'm not sure that he'd get more »
planetcrackers
Planet-Mining And Giant Parasites In "Dead Space"
Dead Space, a new game from Electronic Arts, brings parasitic "we want to kill you, kill you, kill you" aliens back into fashion just in time for next Halloween. In the far future, humans have depleted all of the natural resources on Earth, so private corporations begin sending out enormous ships called "Planetcrackers" that carve off enormous chunks of planets, and then mine them down to their bare essentials. Of course, as often happens in these games, this pisses off an "ancient and malevolent force" who decides to start unleashing hell. In space. More »
concept art
The addictive fantasy puzzle game Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords has just made the leap into science fiction. Game-maker Infinite Interctive recently announced Galactrix, which mixes portions of Hexic, Tetris and Bejeweled with outer space battles between all kinds of spaceships. Plus you can challenge other players to puzzle duels, and there will be extremely cool aliens. Find out more and check out the gallery inside.
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Bejeweled + Science Fiction = Galactrix
The addictive fantasy puzzle game Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords has just made the leap into science fiction. Game-maker Infinite Interctive recently announced Galactrix, which mixes portions of Hexic, Tetris and Bejeweled with outer space battles between all kinds of spaceships. Plus you can challenge other players to puzzle duels, and there will be extremely cool aliens. Find out more and check out the gallery inside.
More »
space rock opera
Russian Space Pirates Melt Your Synapses With Rock
Russian translation circuits: inoperable. We may not know what this band from the motherland is singing about in this science fiction-themed music video, but we do know that a band of crazy space pirates are invading a fleet of women clad in silver jumpsuits. Everybody parades around and sings the chorus of the song while their ship rolls back and forth. Oh, and their ship looks like the interior was designed by whoever did the interior of the old TARDIS from Doctor Who. More »
retro futurism
Brigitte Bardot Croons Alien Love Song
Here's another scifi song to take to that barren asteroid with you: Brigitte Bardot singing Serge Gainsbourg's "Contact." "A meteorite has pierced my heart," chants Brigitte in this tale of wounded interplanetary love, "I need a transfusion of mercury. ... Remove my spacesuit ..." More »
retro futurism
Junior Spacemen Beg Mothers to Buy Vegetable Juice They Won't Drink
In what must be the most unappetizing breakfast combination since soylent green and cream soda, two junior spacemen (no girls allowed!) chase their Cheerios with V-8 juice in this commercial from 1960. Why? Because they needed a box top and can label to get a "moon rocket" game. More »
triviagasm
