It’s Valentine’s Day, and this is a valentine to humanity, sort of. In honor of last week’s Falcon Heavy Launch by SpaceX, we’re reading a space exploration article from 1920. What was it like to imagine reaching space at such an early date? Let’s find out together in this episode of Public Domain Theater 3000.

Be sure to support the show at www.patreon.com/deadideaspod to get your portrait drawn!

Music and graphic design by Rachel Westhoff. Maps, pics, references and more at http://www.deadideas.net.

References

Bowie, D. (1971). “Life On Mars.”  [Recorded by David Bowie]. On Hunky Dory. London: Trident Studios.

Bowie, D. (1969). “Space Oddity.” [Recorded by David Bowie]. On Space Oddity. London: Trident Studios.

Dockril, P. (2018, Feb 12). “SpaceX Hid a Secret Payload Aboard Falcon Heavy, and It Sounds Amazing.” Science Alert. https://www.sciencealert.com/spacex-launched-second-secret-payload-designed-last-millions-years-tesla-arch

“Falcon Heavy Test Flight.” (2018). SpaceX.com. http://www.spacex.com/webcast

“Live: Starman Driving in Space After Successful Heavy Falcon Launch SpaceX Real Time Updates.” (2018, Feb 7). Youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3niFzo5VLI

Pappalardo, J. (2018, Feb 6). “Elon Musk’s Space Tesla Isn’t Going to Mars. It’s Going Somewhere More Important.” Popular Mechanics. https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a16571489/elon-musk-space-tesla-mars/

“Rockets to Explore Space.” (1920, Mar 13). The Literary Digest. http://unz.org/Pub/LiteraryDigest-1920mar13-00028