Long before we were build ballistic capsule , we were dreaming of them . And some of our early approximation about distance vehicles were middling fanciful , or even downright bizarre . Here are the most staggering and baffling starship designs from before we had spaceships .
Plus , as a bonus , a few images from the very early days of the Space Age , in good order after Sputnik launched in 1957 .
Above : A cover charge of a Science Wonder Stories cartridge clip from August 1929 , viaHeritage Auctions .
Poster and stills from Himmelskibet, Excelsior, a danish space opera from 1918
Thisrarely known European science fable classic that you in all likelihood have n’t seen is about Professor Planetarios and his work party traveling to Mars .
https://gizmodo.com/classic-european-scifi-movies-you-probably-havent-seen-5985554
( viaMarsmoviesandThomas Gladysz / SFGate )
A Frank R. Paul illustration for Air Wonder Stories, August 1929
( viaHeritage Auctions )
Poster and stills from the movie Frau Im Mond by Fritz Lang, 1929
( viaMoviemail )
Astounding Stories of Super-Science, March 1930, by Hans W. Wessolowski
( viaSpace Rubbish )
Cover art by Frank R. Paul for Air Wonder Stories, April 1930
( viaMoviePosterShop )
A Battle Cruiser from a Buck Rogers comic strip, June 1931
( viaGoToMars )
A Galactic Circle, by Howard V. Brown, Astounding Stories, August 1935
( viaComic Book Stories )
The Adventures of Buck Rogers No. 6 from June 1938
( viaThe Collector )
Spaceship of 2038, from Amazing Stories, 1938
( viaup - ship )
Ships from Flash Gordon comic strips, 1938-1939
( viaArt Contrarian )
Julian S. Krupa’s illustration on the cover of Amazing Stories, December 1939
( viaPulp Covers )
An illustration by Leo Morey on the cover of Amazing Stories, Feburary 1941
( viaPulpCovers )
An illustration of Frank R. Paul for Comet, May 1941
An illustration of Rudolph Belarski, Thrilling Wonder Stories, December 1942
A Yellow (Space) Submarine by Malcolm Smith, from Amazing Stories, May 1944
The Rocket Plane Is Here, from Science and Mechanics, June 1944
An illustration by Douglas Rolfe for “How Will You Talk to the Martians?” in Mechanix Illustrated, December 1947
( viaModern Mechanix )
Amazing Stories, February 1948, cover art by Malcolm Smith
( viaMy Comic Shop )
A Space Station, by Klaus Bürgle, 1949-1950
A disk - like artificial Sun Myung Moon 800 international mile above the Earth .
( viaRetro - Futurismus )
A Golden Starship on the cover of Other Worlds Science Stories, made by Malcolm Smith, July 1950
( viaVintage Pulps )
The cover of Cosmos, September 1953
Super Science Stories, November 1953, by H.R. Van Dongen
( viaThe Last gentleman’s gentleman on Earth )
Spaceships on the cover of the legendary sci-fi magazine If from 1955
( viaufunk )
Avro Project 1794, 1956
The whole declassified documentabout the conception is available here , but you could find moreflying saucer - like planing machine conceptshere .
https://gizmodo.com/real-life-flying-saucers-prove-that-the-truth-is-right-514253166
( viaNational Declassification Center / PDF )
Jack Gaughan’s illustration for Galaxy Magazine, December 1958, one year after Sputnik
( viaCollector Showcase )
Ready to start, from the cover of the Czech Věda a technika mládeži, September 1959
( viaplaneta - eden )
The cover of Space Flight – The Coming Exploration of the Universe by Lester Del Rey, 1959
( viaeBay )
Spaceships by Klaus Bürgle, 1961
Bonus: The first Americans on Mars, from Rockets to Explore the Unknown, 1964, illustrated by George Bakacs
( viaPaleofuture )
FuturismSpace
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