The One-Way Mission to the Moon

1962: Fearing that the Soviets were going to beat the United States to the moon, two engineers from Bell Aerosystems Company, John Cord and Leonard Seale, proposed a way to make sure America got there first. Their idea was to send an astronaut on a one-way mission to the moon. After all, it's a lot easier to send a man to the moon if you don't have to worry about bringing him back.

They presented their idea at the meeting of the Institute of Aeronautical Sciences in Los Angeles and also published it in the Dec 1962 issue of Aerospace Engineering.

Read the entire article (pdf)

Their plan was for NASA to first land a series of unmanned cargo vehicles on the moon that would contain all the necessities for a lunar base. An astronaut would then make the journey to the moon and, after landing, assemble the base. Every month NASA would send a new cargo vehicle to resupply the astronaut with essentials — food, water, and oxygen. This would continue until NASA figured out a way to bring him back.

NASA, perhaps sensing that the public would perceive a one-way mission as an admission of defeat rather than a sign of victory, ignored the proposal.

Base for a one-way lunar mission

Although NASA ignored Cord and Seale's plan, it caught the attention of science-fiction writer Hank Searls, serving as the inspiration for his 1964 novel, The Pilgrim Project. Hollywood developed Searls' book into a 1968 movie, Countdown, directed by Robert Altman and starring James Caan and Robert Duvall.

In both the book and movie, NASA succeeds in landing an astronaut on the moon. The astronaut then discovers that the Soviets got there first — but all died.

Posted By: Alex - Wed Dec 06, 2023 - Comments (8)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Space Travel, 1960s

The Chicken Astronaut

Posted By: Paul - Tue Nov 21, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Emotions, Courage, Bravery, Heroism and Valor, Music, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1960s

Bishop in Space

Nov 1957: Lord Alastair Graham offered a solution for declining church attendance. Launch a bishop into space inside a sputnik.

For context, the Soviets had just a few days before (Nov 3, 1957) launched Sputnik 2 which carried the first living creature into space, a small dog named Laika. Graham's remark was evidently a reference to this.

However, while the Soviets had succeeded in getting Laika into space, they had made no plans for getting her back alive. It was a one-way trip. It's not clear that Graham realized this, but it definitely puts a different spin on his suggestion.

The Guardian - Nov 13, 1957

Posted By: Alex - Mon Nov 20, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Religion, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1950s

The Linden Springs Rocket Restaurant

The Linden Springs Rocket Restaurant, located in Staunton, Virginia, opened in 1959. A full-size, neon-lit rocket stood outside of it.

Going along with the theme of being a restaurant of the future, it boasted that it served food "cooked by radar." By this it meant that the food was microwaved.

This has to be one of the few times that a restaurant has actually bragged about serving microwave-cooked food.

image source: hippostcard.com

The restaurant went out of business in the 1970s, and the rocket was taken down. I haven't been able to find out where it ended up.

Staunton Daily News Leader - Nov 20, 1959

Staunton Daily News Leader - Nov 2, 1959

Staunton Daily News Leader - July 31, 1959

Posted By: Alex - Thu Nov 02, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: Restaurants, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1950s

Meat-Nik

Sep 1958: The National Live Stock and Meat Board's response to the launch of Sputnik was the creation of "Meat-Nik," aka "intercontinental bologna missile."

The National Provisioner - Sep 6, 1958

The National Provisioner - Sep 20, 1958

Posted By: Alex - Sun Oct 22, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Food, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1950s

GI Joe Does “2001:  A Space Odyssey”

Posted By: Paul - Fri Oct 13, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Movies, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Toys, 1970s

The Distant Galaxy

Spacey, man!

Posted By: Paul - Sun Sep 24, 2023 - Comments (0)
Category: Music, Space-age Bachelor Pad & Exotic, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Vinyl Albums and Other Media Recordings, 1960s

The Possibility of Life inside Stars

The conventional wisdom is that if sentient life exists elsewhere in the universe, it probably lives on another planet. But in 2020, the physicists Luis Anchordoqui and Eugene Chudnovsky argued that we should consider the possibility that life (including technologically advanced civilizations) might exist inside stars.

Their argument relies upon a very expansive view of the definition of life. They admit that biological life couldn't exist inside a star, but they argue that high-energy physics supplies various "nuclear objects" such as "strings, monopoles, and semipoles" that might be able to encode information and form a self-replicating system (i.e. life).

Their hypothesis is, of course, highly speculative, but they suggest it might provide an explanation for a previously unexplained phenomenon observed in some stars:


More info: Lehman College News Center; "Can Self-Replicating Species Flourish in the Interior of a Star"

Posted By: Alex - Sun Sep 10, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Aliens, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy

GI Joe Astronaut

As humanity ventures further into space, surely Hasbro could revive this toy.

Posted By: Paul - Sat Jul 01, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, Toys, Dolls and Stuffed Animals, 1960s

Glenda Lawrence, “America’s First Space Housekeeper”

Now that NASA has selected a new crew for the Moon mission, I hope they have not neglected to fill this role.

Glenda Lawrence America's First Space Housekeeper. She Will Be Preparing Food For The Apollo 11 Astronauts Armstrong Aldrin And Collins Whilst They Are In Quarantine.

Posted By: Paul - Tue Apr 04, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Domestic, Food, Spaceflight, Astronautics, and Astronomy, 1960s