The Hayden Letters: Edwin’s Letter Sketches Blueprints for Future Space Travel

by AMNH on

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In 1950, the Museum’s Hayden Planetarium began accepting reservations for the first trip into space as part of a publicity campaign for its exhibition Conquest of Space. Letters poured in from around the world with requests to book trips to the Moon, Mars, Jupiter, and beyond, capturing the public’s passion and curiosity for space exploration. One would-be space traveler even drew detailed diagrams of how he would get to space, what he would wear, and where he would live—appearing to anticipate some of the designs highlighted in Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration.

Though interplanetary tourism is not yet possible, our fascination with space travel persists. Discover what the future holds for space exploration in the Museum’s exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration.

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In a traveling exhibition, a model of an astronaut climbing on red-colored rocks wearing a spacesuit called BioSuit, a prototype by MIT professor Dava Newman.
BioSuit, ™ a form-fitting next generation spacesuit prototype by MIT aeronautics and astronautics professor Dava Newman, is on view in the exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration at the American Museum of Natural History. These suits are made up of a tight, stretchy fabric made of spandex, nylon, and a new, patented polymer that replaces compressed air, making them lighter and more maneuverable. The suits maintain pressure even when torn and are custom-fitted using a laser scanner. It doesn't look too far off from Edwin's 1952 vision.
© AMNH\D. Finnin