A hundred years ago, the scientific consensus asserted that space travel wasn’t just difficult — it was physically impossible. The successful return of the Artemis II astronauts has proven, once again, that the science was wrong.
The first nonfiction book in English to explore and promote the possibility of interplanetary space flight was published in 1931. “The Conquest of Space” by David Lasser, president of the recently formed American Interplanetary Society, was privately published because so many scientists and publishers at the time believed that space travel wasn’t just science fiction but science fantasy.
The American Interplanetary Society had been formed by Lasser and a few others in April 1930 for the purpose of discussing the possibility of space flight and conducting experiments on the best types of fuels to achieve the goal. In 1934, the society changed its name to the American Rocket Society in hopes of appealing to more people, who might be intrigued by rockets but thought interplanetary travel was an unrealistic dream.
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