I’m all for learning “moon talk”! Image via x-ray delta one.

It’s hard to imagine rocketing straight up to 202,000 feet altitude… but then again, it’s hard (for me) to imagine a U. S. Army Air Force, though I know perfectly well there was one (paging Mr. von Braun….)

A very uplifting HAHAHA I MAKE JOKE recruiting advertisement from 1947. For more awesome retro-space advertisements, I highly recommend Megan Prellinger’s book, Another Science Fiction: Advertising the Space Race 1957-1962.

Image via The Retronaut. Hat tip to @terrazoom for the link!

A Japanese moon-lander concept, circa 1971 for your Friday. Image via x-ray delta one.

I admit, I’m a sucker for space toys, especially awesome retro space toys, like the Ideal Astro Base shown above (buy it on Etsy! It looks like a blast!! No, I’m not being punny on purpose.)

Astro Base was a toy made by the Ideal company in the early 1960′s. The toy ran on 4 D Cell batteries. Other than a power switch, it had several features that includes the following modes of operation:

Astro Scope: Switch to Astro Scope and a scene of spaceships, rockets, and jets rotates through a view finder just below a radar dome on the top of the toy. A button on the console let the user ‘fire’ at objects seen on the screen, which would pause the rotating images and emit a machine-gun style sound.

Space Lock: A crane emerges out of the hatch on one side of the toy. This crane has a hoist operation that can be used to raise or lower a plastic astronaut figure, or other objects that the user may have that can be connected to the hook at the end of a chain. The main purpose of this crane is to insert or remove the astronaut from a scout car.

Scout Car: The scout car can be plugged into a port on the console and controlled by a two position switch marked Turn and Drive that can actually be used to steer the vehicle with a bit of practice. The scout car also has missiles that can be launched.

Ideal made two variations of the Astro Base. The original all-red version featured a lighted Astro Scope that illuminated the pictures spinning around the Astro Scope. Ideal Toys discontinued this version and offered the common red and white version.
— CollectToys.net

I also liked this Moon Patrol XT-978 Tank, because I’m amused at the mental image of tooling around the lunar surface… in a tank. Any tank, really, but especially one with bodacious tail-fins!

I have no proof, but somehow I doubt the Girl’s Own Paper from February 1958 had moon rockets on it. (If such a Paper existed, that is.) Needless to say, I would have bought this one, were I there at the time — just one shilling, can’t be beat! Image via x-ray delta one.

When I found this uber-realistic representation of THE FUTURE OF NUTRITION, naturally my mind turned to that other space food. No no, not this kind of space food. I mean that kind. The Star Trek kind. Quivering blue cubes. Extremely colorful, non-food-looking food.

Except that sometimes, even on Google Images, you strike out. “Space food”? Too general. “Star Trek food”? The USS Enterprise made of various cured meat products. Also some waffles. “Star Trek space food”? More of the same. “Star Trek scary space food” — SURELY THAT MUST DO THE TRICK. But alas. (However, Spock says hi.)

So instead, you get this. You’re welcome.

Addendum: Even with the refined, precise search term “star trek tos scary space food”, I came up with a lot of TOS stills (none with food, scary or otherwise), someone’s bruised foot, and an animated cartoon of a cat eating a cookie. Bravo, Intarwebs, bravo.

Space food image (top) courtesy of x-ray delta one.

Some terrific Soviet space propaganda for your Tuesday. See the rest at DVICE.

Artwork by Chelsey Bonestell, 1950

A rocket launches from California, hopefully headed for the Moon, in 1950. (Those were the days. Rockets launched all the time, from everywhere!) Image via x-ray delta one.

To Other Worlds! - Detgiz, Russia

A beautiful illustration from the 1950s of a Russian expedition to the lunar surface. Ah, that retro-future! Image courtesy of Dark Roasted Blend.

Digital artwork by Franco Brambilla

I’ve featured Franco Brambilla once before, with his terrific alien-invaded vintage postcards. He was kind enough to point me to this image: a rocket in a roundabout? Indeed, the aliens have landed! (Maybe it’s a monument.)