This is a partial collection of what I call my “rocketpunk” series: an ongoing series of photos which share the common theme of the dream of spaceflight, exploration, and the “future that might’ve been” had the dreams of the 1960s carried on according to then-current predictions. Photos of real objects and artifacts that prompt one to imagine a sort of lost golden age of spaceflight, much as antique photos of airships or Jules Verne book cover art might.
Some of these photos are of actual aircraft, spacecraft and launch vehicles or engines, while other videos are of observatories used to study the sky.
Griffith Observatory, Los Angeles
Delta upper stage with satellite payload and aerodynamic shroud, Goddard Spaceflight Center, MD
Delta launch vehicle, Goddard Spaceflight Center, MD
Sounding rocket, Goddard Spaceflight Center, MD
Radio Telescope, Greenbank Observatory, WV
Radio Telescope, Greenbank Observatory, WV
Radio Telescope, Greenbank Observatory, WV
Radio Telescope, Greenbank Observatory, WV
Radio Telescope, Greenbank Observatory, WV. This 300 ft wide dish is the largest steerable radio telescope in the world.
Radio Telescope, Greenbank Observatory, WV. This 300 ft wide dish is the largest steerable radio telescope in the world.
Apollo Command Module, Goddard Spaceflight Center, MD. lith print version 1
Sounding Rocket, Goddard Spaceflight Center, MD
Sounding Rocket, Goddard Spaceflight Center, MD
Jet Engine of a Boeing 707, Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Udvar Hazy Center, VA
Rocketdyne F1 Rocket Engine, Udvar Hazy Center, VA. Five of these enormous engines powered the first stage of the Saturn V launch vehicle.
Rocketdyne RS-25 Space Shuttle Main Engine, Udvar Hazy Center, VA. The Space Shuttle was powered by three of these extremely efficient reusable engines.
Delta Launch Vehicle Propulsion System Detail, Goddard Spaceflight Center, MD
Apollo Command Module, Goddard Spaceflight Center, MD. lith print version 2