"Collier's space program"...realistic or scifi?

"The Space City That Could Have Been, If Not For Wernher Von Braun"

by

Ron Miller

May 10th. 2013

io9

During the 1950s, Darrell C. Romick, a Goodyear Aircraft engineer and an early member of the American Rocket Society's spaceflight committee, presented several visionary papers. He outlined a future world of ion propulsion, re-usable launch vehicles, manned lunar missions and permanently occupied orbital colonies

And this was two decades before Gerard K. O'Neill proposed his famous L5 space colony plans.

Romick published this work at about the same time Wernher von Braun was making headlines with what has come to be known as the "Collier's space program". Not only was von Braun's vision of future spaceflight reproduced in books and magazines all over the world, the spacecraft he designed in conjunction with Chesley Bonestell became the gold standard for spaceships for many decades. They influenced everything from movies to TV (see Disney's "Man in Space" series for starters) [see below], from pulp magazines to toys.

Overwhelmed by all this publicity was Romick's plan, which made everything von Braun wanted to do seem picayune. Like von Braun, Romick's scenario depended on a three-stage space shuttle. Unlike von Braun, however, each stage of Romick's "Meteor" was a piloted, reusable spacecraft. The Meteor orbiter was the nucleus of the grandest part of Romick's scheme.

A series of orbiters would be launched into orbit. As each spacecraft arrived, they would be attached alternately nose-to-nose and tail-to-tail, eventually creating a long cylinder.

Around this core would be constructed an enormous space station, dwarfing the 200-foot wheel von Braun wanted to create. Romick's colony would consist of a huge, zero-gravity cylindrical "dry dock" over 1500 feet long and 1000 feet in diameter. It would have a total volume of about 3 billion square feet. At one end would be a 1500-foot rotating disc that would be inhabited by 20,000 people. A rotation rate of 2 rpm would provide 1g of artificial gravity. "Movement at [this rate]," Romick mused, "would give a somewhat majestic motion for this large wheel."

The distance around the perimeter of the giant wheel would be nearly a mile. Unlike the space station in "2001: A Space Odyssey", the floors would not appear to be curved. Indeed, "a room would have to be 13 feet long to give a 1 degree total change in floor level."

The colony's 82 floors would contain apartments, stores, churches, schools, gymnasiums and theaters as well as its own TV stations and newspapers.

Power would be derived from the 12 acres of solar panels that cover the main cylinder.
At a rate of two shuttle launches a day, he estimated that initial construction would take about four months with about three years required to bring the wheel to its final enlargement (though it would be in service continuously the entire time).

Romick also looked further ahead than von Braun in assuming that people would eventually want to travel into space not only as tourists but immigrants.

"The station", Romick claimed, would be "capable of providing safe, comfortable living accomodations similar to those on the ground for thousands of inhabitants, as well as affording them recreational facilities and cultural experiences not available on earth. The view from the living-room window would be sensational..."
Romick's design provided for quarter-gravity and zero-gravity gymnasiums, "which would be most interesting and stimulating."

Romick figured the round-trip cost to the space station for passengers to be $50,000 and mail at 75 cents an ounce going up and 15 cents coming down.

"A large, inhabited satellite terminal," Romick concluded, "can certainly be constructed—-a glistening 'city in the sky'...And it can be a visible symbol, as it grows of the great promise of new service, new knowledge, inspiration and accomplishment for all mankind. Its potential seems unlimited—a stepping-stone to the moon, to the planets, and beyond."

Two mid 50s films on space from Walt Disney

NASA's public appeal regarding von Braun's notes

It looks like that NASA is soliciting public opinion regarding Wernher von Braun's notes concerning early space history.

"NASA Wants Your Ideas for Digitizing Rocket Scientist's Notes"

by

Betsy Mason

June 26th, 2009

Wired

NASA is taking the rare step of reaching out to the public for help. The space agency is looking for the best way to analyze and electronically catalog a precious collection of notes that chronicle the early history of the human space flight program.

"We're looking for creative ways to get it out to the public," said project manager Jason Crusan. "We don't always do the best with putting out large sets of data like this."

The notes [pdf] are those of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, the fist director of NASA’s Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama and are typed with copious hand written notes in the margin. According to the official request for information [pdf], NASA needs ideas on what format to use, how to index the notes and how to create a useful database.

The unique nature and historical value of the data, literally discovered in boxes six months ago, is what motivated NASA to ask the public for ideas.

"It's first-hand insight on how management and engineering decisions were made on a real-time basis," Crusan said. "It's quite scrawled upon all over the place."

Von Braun was born in Germany and led the German army's "rocket team" which developed ballistic missiles. His V-2 missile was used on European targets during World War II. When it became clear to von Braun that Germany was going to lose the war, he surrendered himself, 500 of his best rocket scientists, plans and vehicles to the Allies. The team moved to the United States and worked on missile development for the U.S. Army.

In 1960, rocket development was shifted to NASA where von Braun headed Marshall Spaceflight Center and led the Saturn rocket project. In 1970 he moved to Washington D.C. to lead the strategic planning of the project and in 1972 he retired from NASA.

The details of von Braun’s role in the German army (he received an honorary SS rank from Heinrich Himmler) and his conversion to a NASA pioneer are still being assessed, and his notes are considered a historically valuable source of information about Marshall.

"He was significantly important in the formation of the Apollo program," Crusan said.

If you have ideas, let NASA know. If that’s not your cup of tea, perhaps you can help NASA find a location for it's 40th anniversary "Salute to Apollo: The Kennedy Legacy" party or sell them that automated torque wrench calibration system you've been meaning to put on Craigslist.


Спутник-1 or Sputnik-1--science; politics

Close, but no cigar

Deceased--Charles H. Schneer

Deceased--Ernst Stuhlinger

Deceased--Konrad Dannenberg

Von Braun sketches for sale

Deceased--Charles H. Schneer

Ray Harryhausen, left, and Charles H. Schneer sit in front of several of Ray's designs about the time of the release of "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" in 1977.

Charles H. Schneer
May 5th, 1920 to January 21st, 2009

"In addition to producing most of Harryhausen's films, Schneer produced the biographical film "I Aim at the Stars," on the life of physicist Wernher von Braun...."

"Charles H. Schneer, film producer, dies at 88"

Schneer, the producer of 25 films, was best known for his collaboration on several movies with special effects genius Ray Harryhausen.

by

Jon Thurber

January 25th, 2009

Los Angeles Times

Charles H. Schneer, a film producer best known for his influential collaboration on several movies with special effects genius Ray Harryhausen, has died. He was 88.

Schneer died Wednesday at a hospice in Boca Raton, Fla., according to his daughter Stacey Schneer Lee. Schneer, who most recently had been living in Delray Beach, Fla., had been ill for several years, his daughter said in a news release.

Schneer was the producer of 25 films, including "Hellcats of the Navy," the only film to star Ronald Reagan and Nancy Davis, the future president and first lady.Schneer began his three-decade partnership with Harryhausen in 1955 with the fantasy film "It Came From Beneath the Sea" about a giant octopus that destroys the Golden Gate Bridge. The idea for the film, with stop-motion animation by Harryhausen, was Schneer's.

"Charles and Ray were an ideal couple. They were both enthusiastic about doing fantasy films at a time when fantasy films were not being taken seriously by the studios," Arnold Kunert, Harryhausen's agent and close friend, told The Times. "Schneer, in his wisdom, believed in Ray's talent as a stop-motion animation artist."

According to Harryhausen's website, by the end of the 1950s the two men had made a conscious break away from science fiction and embraced the fertile world of fantasy, myth and fairy tales.

That decision resulted in several memorable films, including "Jason and the Argonauts," (1963), "The 3 Worlds of Gulliver" (1960), "The 7th Voyage of Sinbad" (1958), "The Golden Voyage of Sinbad" (1974) and "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" (1977). Their last film together was "Clash of the Titans" (1981).

"He functioned as a producer in the best sense of producing," said film critic and historian Leonard Maltin. "Ray is an artist, and creative people like that really need someone to facilitate the business end of things so they can focus on what they do best. That's how their partnership thrived."

But according to Kunert, Schneer was more than just the money man. He was heavily involved in the creative end.

"Charles had a habit of going through the newspaper and clipping out ideas from feature stories about extraterrestrials and unusual phenomena," Kunert said. "He brought the idea for 'Earth vs. the Flying Saucers' to Ray's attention, and Ray came up with the artwork and worked on the story and, of course, created all the visual effects. Charles was a collaborator in many ways."

In the preface to his book "Ray Harryhausen: An Animated Life," written with Tony Dalton, Harryhausen said Schneer's enthusiasm for making movies was "unbounded" and called his longtime friend "the unsung hero" of his career in films.

"He would supply the practical element . . . and always knew what would work and what wouldn't," Harryhausen wrote. "Without his help and foresight, much of what we planned together would not have seen the light of day."

Schneer was born May 5, 1920, in Norfolk, Va., but spent some of his youth growing up in Mount Vernon, N.Y. He graduated from Columbia University and started his career at Columbia Pictures. During World War II he produced training films as a member of the U.S. Army Signal Corps Photographic Unit stationed on Long Island.

In addition to producing most of Harryhausen's films, Schneer produced the biographical film "I Aim at the Stars," on the life of physicist Wernher von Braun, one of the leading figures in the development of the U.S. space program. He went on to produce the film version of the musical "Half a Sixpence" starring Tommy Steele.

Schneer moved to London in 1960, where he remained for the next 45 years, relocating to Florida in 2005. Besides filmmaking, he chaired the London events committee for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, of which he was an active member.

In addition to his daughter Stacey and another daughter, Lesley Silver, he is survived by his wife of 68 years, Shirley; his sister, Babette Schneer Katz; three grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.


I Aim at the Stars

"Screen: About von Braun: I Aim at the Stags' Opens at the Forum"

by

Bosley Crowther

October 20th, 1960

The New York Times

HOWEVER one may think or feel emotional about the case of Dr. Wernher von Braun, Hitler's former V-2 rocket expert who is now an American citizen and head of our George G. Marshall Space Flight Center, one is not likely to have one's attitude changed by "I Aim at the Stars." This Columbia film drama about the scientist opened at the Forum yesterday.

In the way of examination of the ethical reasoning by which the fabricator of the Nazis' deadliest missiles is now warmly accepted on our side, the film is conspicuously fuzzy and takes its stand on the none too certain ground that Dr. von Braun's driving interest from boyhood was simply to develop rockets that could reach out into space.

The possibility of reaching intently into the depths of his scientist's mind and comprehending his certainly complex motivations is not achieved in this poorly written film. Anyone looking for clear, white light on his personal drama will not find it in "I Aim at the Stars."

At the same time, the balance of feeling for or against Dr. von Braun is not likely to be tipped in either direction by the peculiar emotionalism in this film. From the beginning he is held up as a hero, a dedicated space pioneer, who is misunderstood by his parents, by his fiancée, by the German ordnance engineers and by the S. S. chief, Heinrich Himmler, who tries to make him out an enemy of the Third Reich.

But, particularly, he is suspected and angrily and viciously reviled by an American Army officer who has lost his wife and child in the London V-2 raids. In Germany and later in America, this officer badgers Dr. von Braun until the latter assists in launching our first Explorer satellite into space. Then he generously hails the scientist as the faultless hero he has been made to appear.

Obviously, this making a "heavy" of a character who loudly articulates the understandable emotional attitude of many Americans and British toward former Nazi scientists will not assist in changing whatever feeling the resentful may have about Dr. von Braun.

Nor is the performance of Curt Jurgens in the principal role likely to agitate much sympathy for the scientist. His Dr. von Braun is a stolid, generally uncommunicative man who looks toward the sky without expression and only once or twice gets mad. He even stares stolidly at his pretty fiancée, played flabbily by Victoria Shaw.

As to the other qualities of the picture, it is a sluggish and plot-logged affair in which a pretty German secretary of the hero turns out to be a British spy who takes up with the angry American major and follows the transplanted missile scientists right through to Cape Canaveral. She is played by Gia Scala, stiffly and solemnly. James Daly plays the major and Herbert Lom is a Nazi scientist who won't desert.

Except for some actuality pictures of V-2 rockets going berserk off their pads and a gratifying sequence showing the bombing of the Nazi rocket launching base at Peenemuende, there is little in this made-in-England drama to interest or convince anyone. Its synthetic brand of hero worship may be annoying and offensive to some.

The Cast

I AIM AT THE STARS, screen play by Jay Dratler, from a story by George Froeschel. U. Wolter and H. W. John; directed by J. Lee Thompson; produced by Charles H. Schneer and presented by Columbia Pictures. At the Forum Theatre. Broadway and Forty-seventh Street. Running time: 107 minutes.

Wernher von Braun . . . . . Curt Jurgens
Maria . . . . . Victoria Shaw
Anton Reger . . . . . Herbert Lom
Elizabeth Beyer . . . . . Gia Scala
Maj. William Taggert . . . . . James Daly
Mischke . . . . . Adrian Hoven
Young von Braun . . . . . Gunther Mruwka
Horst . . . . . Arpad Diener
Baron von Braun . . . . . Hans Schumm
Baroness von Braun . . . . . Lea Seidel
Professor Oberth . . . . . Gerard Heinz
Captain Dornberger . . . . . Karel Stepanek
Dr. Neumann . . . . . Peter Capell

Von Braun sketches for sale

Some cool sketches by Wernher von Braun will be up for auction today.

"Von Braun Sketches to be Auctioned"

by

Clara Moskowitz

October 14th, 2008

Space.com

Sketches, diagrams, and letters from the pioneering rocket scientist Wernher von Braun will be auctioned off Wednesday.

German-born Von Braun is most famous in America for leading the project to design the rockets, including the Saturn V, that enabled America to land on the moon.

Bonhams auction agency in New York will auction 35 documents von Braun created for a series of articles called "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" that ran in Collier's magazine between March 22, 1952 and April 30, 1954. Some of the plans and sketches, such as a diagram of a three-stage satellite vehicle, were created as source material for illustrations accompanying the article. The whole collection is estimated to value between $15,000 and $25,000.

"Reading von Braun's thoughts and speculations on the future of space travel and seeing his handwritten diagrams and sketches, some of which are surprisingly basic, is rather amazing and a clear testament to his spirit of exploration," said Bonhams spokesperson Staci Smith.

Despite his significant contributions to America's space program, von Braun's legacy is clouded by his association with Germany's Nazi Party during World War II. He led the team that developed Germany's V-2 rocket weapon, and was an honorary officer in Hitler's SS police force.

After the war, von Braun and members of his German rocket team immigrated to America, and von Braun became a U.S. citizen in 1955. He joined NASA and served as the first director of NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., helping to guide America's quest for the moon and inspire public support for the space program.