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3 A Brief History of Space Flight
3.4.3 American Space Research Organizations
In the 1930s and 1940s, the space research organizations in the United States mainly
including the Interplanetary Society in New York, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of
Caltech, Cleveland Rocket Society and Yale University Rocket Club, among which
the Interplanetary Society (later renamed Rocket Society) and the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory played an important role in promoting the U.S. rocketry and astronautics
development.
3.4.3.1 The American Rocket Society
In the early twentieth century, the explosion of space fantasy was a double-edged
sword for spaceflight advocates, which inspired young people to believe in the possibility of space travel but convinced many adults that the idea was absurd, especially
in the United States. In April 1930, the American Interplanetary Society (AIS) was
founded in the city of New York by 12 science fiction writers or spaceflight advocates, including David Lasser (1902−1996) who was an editor at the monthly fiction
magazine Science Wonder Stories, George Edward Pendray (1901−1987) who was
an editor at the newspaper New York Herald-Tribune, and Murray Fletcher Pratt
(1897−1956) who was a science fiction and fantasy writer. Lasser was elected as
the first president of the AIS, and Pendray as the first secretary-general and Lasser’s
deputy. Among the 12 members of the AIS, there was one woman member, Leatrice
May Gregory, who was Pendray’s first wife. The purpose of founding the AIS was
to promote the American interests and experiments toward interplanetary expedition
and travel. However, the fact that the magazine editors or fantasy writers predominated was unique to the United States, which reflected that with the exception of
Robert Goddard, the genre’s flourishing and the dearth of serious space theoreticians. As soon as the AIS was founded, Lasser sent an invitation letter to Goddard,
asking him to make an academic lecture for the membership and join the AIS and
to provide help and guidance for them to carry out the studies on rocket’s technology, but Goddard replied that he refused. The AIS was lack of both members
with a professional background in science and the expert’s help, and consequently,
it could only carry out some publicity and popularization of knowledge related to
space flight. Meanwhile, they also created a Journal of the American Interplanetary
Society, which mainly published the articles on the interplanetary travels and the
latest development in international rocket researches.
In 1931, both Pendray and his first wife visited the German Society for Space
Flight and met Willy Ley in Berlin, as well as looked around the rocket test conducted
by the French astronautic pioneer Robert Esnault-Pelterie. They were excited by the
achievements of European liquid rocket researches and experiments. Pendray began
to recognize that the AIS should not only stay in scientific fantasy and endless
discussion but also started to develop rockets. By popularizing and publicizing the
knowledge on rocketry and astronautics for more than one year, the AIS had a certain
3 A Brief History of Space Flight
3.4.3 American Space Research Organizations
In the 1930s and 1940s, the space research organizations in the United States mainly
including the Interplanetary Society in New York, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory of
Caltech, Cleveland Rocket Society and Yale University Rocket Club, among which
the Interplanetary Society (later renamed Rocket Society) and the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory played an important role in promoting the U.S. rocketry and astronautics
development.
3.4.3.1 The American Rocket Society
In the early twentieth century, the explosion of space fantasy was a double-edged
sword for spaceflight advocates, which inspired young people to believe in the possibility of space travel but convinced many adults that the idea was absurd, especially
in the United States. In April 1930, the American Interplanetary Society (AIS) was
founded in the city of New York by 12 science fiction writers or spaceflight advocates, including David Lasser (1902−1996) who was an editor at the monthly fiction
magazine Science Wonder Stories, George Edward Pendray (1901−1987) who was
an editor at the newspaper New York Herald-Tribune, and Murray Fletcher Pratt
(1897−1956) who was a science fiction and fantasy writer. Lasser was elected as
the first president of the AIS, and Pendray as the first secretary-general and Lasser’s
deputy. Among the 12 members of the AIS, there was one woman member, Leatrice
May Gregory, who was Pendray’s first wife. The purpose of founding the AIS was
to promote the American interests and experiments toward interplanetary expedition
and travel. However, the fact that the magazine editors or fantasy writers predominated was unique to the United States, which reflected that with the exception of
Robert Goddard, the genre’s flourishing and the dearth of serious space theoreticians. As soon as the AIS was founded, Lasser sent an invitation letter to Goddard,
asking him to make an academic lecture for the membership and join the AIS and
to provide help and guidance for them to carry out the studies on rocket’s technology, but Goddard replied that he refused. The AIS was lack of both members
with a professional background in science and the expert’s help, and consequently,
it could only carry out some publicity and popularization of knowledge related to
space flight. Meanwhile, they also created a Journal of the American Interplanetary
Society, which mainly published the articles on the interplanetary travels and the
latest development in international rocket researches.
In 1931, both Pendray and his first wife visited the German Society for Space
Flight and met Willy Ley in Berlin, as well as looked around the rocket test conducted
by the French astronautic pioneer Robert Esnault-Pelterie. They were excited by the
achievements of European liquid rocket researches and experiments. Pendray began
to recognize that the AIS should not only stay in scientific fantasy and endless
discussion but also started to develop rockets. By popularizing and publicizing the
knowledge on rocketry and astronautics for more than one year, the AIS had a certain