In 1950 , the Hayden Planetarium kick upstairs its Modern showing , “ Conquest of Space , ” by soliciting letters for the public to reserve a seat on the first trip into blank . Thelettersall make for an entertaining read , but one in particular stuck out for me . A varsity letter from a person name Arthur described how he ’d like to locomote to Venus to obtain out for himself if there really aredinosaurs there .
Gentlemen :
I would like to submit my name for an app for a place head trip to Venus . I have always been concerned in this major planet , and would care to find out for myself if there are really dinosaurs living on it . Ancient brute have been a constant source of interest with me , and , providing the theory is right , I would be thrilled to see a tyranosaurus or a thunder lizard “ in the flesh . ” Astronomy also holds a topographic point of honor among my pastimes , and the urge to travel beyond the land has always been in me .
dinosaur ? On Venus ? Where would Arthur get such an idea ? There have been a turn of science fiction level set on Venus , but it seems plausible that he puzzle the idea of a dinosaur - filled planet from a futuristic story in the March 1950 issue ofCoronetmagazine , call up “ Mr Smith Goes to Venus . ”
The story ( which strangely does n’t accredit any author ) tells of a fellowship in the year 2500 who take a holiday on the satellite Venus . The introduction explains that the harnessing of nuclear energy just might hold the Florida key to world-wide peace and locomotion to distant planets .
Today , the world brook on the threshold of the Atomic Age . Many people revere that the dazzling new king may make for the most destructive wars in history . In this mid - century year of 1950 , weapons are still far in advance of other developing within the infinitely complex world of the atom . However , for the many who consider that atomic exponent can be the key to adult male ’s most magnificent achievements , this story will have special import as a glimpse into the future — a glimpse into an age when the atom may stand for cosmopolitan peace — and a holiday to Venus for the neighbors next room access .
What ’s interesting to recollect is that when this narration was release in 1950 , commercial plane travelling in the United States was still in its babyhood . Most families had never been on a carpenter’s plane , rent alone a rocket to Venus .
The account include an illustration of brochures from the hereafter shoot a line “ big game hunting ” on Venus . A mid - one C styleraygunis seen pointing down at a triceratops . But dinosaur were n’t just to be trace for sport . They would also be retrieve in zoos on Venus :
The Venopolis Zoo was one of the most mythologic attractions of Venus . rich perdition separated visitors from the lumber dinosaurs and other prehistorical beasts . Still , Mrs. Smith was uncomfortable being so close to the dragonlike creatures , and breathed well again only when they had go on to the awe-inspiring exhibits of brilliantly plumaged birds , and to the little brute enclosures . The children were disappointed that there was no Reptile House , but so far no serpents had been found on Venus .
Chesley Bonestelldid the illustrations — 25 pages worth — for the story . Bonestell was a fecund artist who is credit with aid fuel American interest in space geographic expedition with his incredibly captivating space art . Perhaps most notably , he did illustrations for Wernher von Braun ’s fifties Collier ’s series which laid out the opening of spaceflight .
This berth in the beginning appear atSmithsonian.com .
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