The future of the past!

Remember when the future was actually supposed to be pretty awesome? Not the one inhabited by punk rockers wearing shoulder pads, but the one where we routinely travelled the highways and biways of outer space. I was thinking back on this after I picked up this awesome book from 1959, "Space Flight" from the "Golden Library of Knowledge" This is actually the 1961 edition, but since the "GLK" specialized in "factual books for young readers" one can only assume it was even more factual than in it's original debut. And what great facts! As you can see, rocket ships were going to enjoy the sleek, clean conical design of an aircraft nose-cone, only the size of a 30 storey building! Had to have lots of fins, of course, for the coolness factor as much as the aerodynamics. Astronauts, you get to look out of a super-sleek cockpit. While inside the cockpit, though, be sure to stay buckled in. Uh oh! Looks like Bob forgot, now he's floating around the cockpit like a dead goldfish. It's nice to know the future saw astronauts enjoying white-bread sandwiches with the crusts cut off....and is that a Coke they're drinking? Looks like the golden Library was looking for some product placement! Of course, you don't want to just look outside, you want to toot around, and for that you need your own jet-powered space-suit. these were so much more streamlined than the clunky things "NASA" ended up making....and whatever happened to those claw-things on the hands and feet? Were the astronauts of the future encouraged to avoid trimming their finger- and toe-nails? BUUUUT seriously. I love these old books, the art is crisp and clean, and the vision of the future couldn't fail to inspire young minds. For those afraid the future was going to be a boys-only club, "Space Flight" assures us there will be room for space-girls too! Quote: "Girls will also want to go into the Space Service. they will probably do at least as well as men. For long and difficult trips, women may be preferred, since it has been proved that they are able to stand monotony better than men." Must be all the hours they have to spend listening to guys talk about their favorite sports.