Space Article Reprints

[George Thomas Wilson]

Space Article Reprints

 

Note: This Discussion was originally posted in the Ephemera group.  It was somehow lost (I probably accidentally deleted it).  It was originally entitled “Recurring Themes in NGM Article Reprints (Part II).  I was going to make a copy of it and post it here, but since its gone, I am recreating it as well as possible.  If anyone knows of any space-related article reprints that I missed, please let me know in the comments below.

 

Over the years National Geographic printed articles about certain topics again and again.  These articles would be reprinted as individual articles because of their popularity.  One of my favorite recurring themes is the articles about space exploration (currently I have thirteen of these reprints).  Here is a list of all space-related article reprints documented by Roger Nathan with photos and descriptions of the ones in my possession.  Nathan lists 26 space-related articles between 1939 and 1978 that were reissued as Article Reprints.  There was one he missed, about Skylab, making a total of 27 space-related article reprints.  Here they are in chronological order:

 

News of the Universe

July 1939

[Not in my collection]

 

The Heavens Above

July 1943

[Not in my collection]

 

Space Satellites, Tools of Earth Research

April 1956

[Not in my collection]

 

Rockets Explore the Air Above Us

April 1957

[Not in my collection]

 

Exploring Our Neighbor World, the Moon

February 1958

[Not in my collection]

 

First Color Portraits of the Heavens

May 1959

[Not in my collection]

 

Cape Canaveral’s 6,000-mile Shooting Gallery

October 1959

This fifty-one-page article discusses the missile test range from Cape Canaveral to the South Atlantic.  It contains nine black-and-white and thirty-seven color photographs.

 

Exploring Tomorrow with the Space Agency

July 1960

This forty-two-page article documents NASA’s space program including Project Mercury and the X-15.  It contains five black-and-white and thirty-six color photographs.

 

Countdown for Space

May 1961

This thirty-three-page article discusses Project Mercury’s upcoming manned spaceflights and the testing leading up to them.  It contains sixteen black-and-white and twenty-six color photographs.

 

The Flight of Freedom 7

September 1961

This twenty-nine-page set of three articles reviews the suborbital flight of Alan B. Shepard in the Mercury capsule Freedom 7.  It contains two black-and-white and thirty-six color photographs.

 

John Glenn’s Three Orbits in Friendship 7

June 1962

This thirty-six-page article reviews the orbital flight of John Glenn in the Mercury capsule Friendship 7.  It contains one black-and-white and thirty-seven color photographs.

 

I Fly the X-15

September 1962

[Not in my collection]

 

Mariner Scans Lifeless Venus

May 1963

This eleven-page article chronicles the mission of Mariner II, the first ever exploration of another planet, in this case, Venus.

 

The Solar Eclipse from a Jet

November 1963

[Not in my collection]

 

Florida Rides a Space-age Boom

December 1963

[Not in my collection]

 

Footprints on the Moon

March 1964

This forty-six-page article discusses Project Apollo and its upcoming missions to the Moon.  It contains one black-and-white and forty-two color photographs.

 

The Moon Close Up

November 1964

[Not in my collection]

 

The Sun

November 1965

[Not in my collection]

 

Surveyor: Candid Camera on the Moon

October 1966

This fifteen-page article discusses the Surveyor I mission, America’s first soft landing on the Moon.  It contains twenty-two photographs and drawings.

 

The Earth from Orbit

November 1966

This twenty-eight-page article discusses the photography of the Earth’s surface by the American Gemini astronauts from orbit. It contains twenty-eight color photographs and eleven maps of the areas of the planet photographed.

 

“A Most Fantastic Voyage”: The Story of Apollo 8’s Rendezvous with the Moon

May 1969

[Not in my collection]

 

First Explorers on the Moon: The Incredible Story of Apollo 11

December 1969

This sixty-three-page set of five articles documents the flight of Apollo 11 – the first manned landing on the Moon.  It contains seventy-two color photographs and drawings.

 

Voyage to the Planets

August 1970

[Not in my collection]

 

Journey to Mars

February 1973

This thirty-six-page article discusses the flight of Mariner 9 – the first Mars orbiter.  The probe mapped the entire surface of the planet, and a supplement map of Mars is included with the reprint.  It contains thirty-six photographs and drawing.

 

Skylab – Outpost on the Frontier of Space

October 1974

This sixty-one-page article documents Skylab, America’s first space station, and the three Apollo crews that visited it.  It contains eighty photographs and drawings.

 

Mars: Our First Close Look

January 1977

This thirty-page article documents the missions of Viking 1 and Viking 2 – comprised of two Mars orbiters and the first two successful Mars landers.  It contains thirty-nine photographs and drawings.

 

Aluminum, the Magic Metal

August 1978

[Not in my collection]

 

Tom Wilson