This Just In...In 1955

You can make that date for a trip to the moon around 1975. According to industrial designers of the American Iron and Steel Institute, development of new steels, able to withstand temperatures and corrosive conditions never before experienced, will enable huge man-carrying rockets to knife through the earth’s atmosphere into outer space, where our conquest of space will begin with establishment of space stations, fully manned and intricately equipped, and supply and launching bases for further exploration into the mysteries of space. If you are interested in flying saucers, the first practical flying saucer may turn out to be this plane that will carry passengers at speeds of 600 miles an hour. Six pivoting jet engines mounted around the edge of the plane will lift it up – and land it – almost vertically. ~ American Iron and Steel Institute, 1955

h/t Louis Cesar

Imagining Floating Rocket Trains

Future Rocket Train, H. W. McCauley - Amazing Stories, January 1939 (Back Cover)

A floating rocket train - excited about the magnetic properties of cobalt steel, the folks at Amazing Stories envisioned the possibility of this futuristic mode of transportation. Note the streamlined auto designs and the Art Deco style of the building on the lower left - all part of the fascinating design culture of the 1930s.

The Burroughs B205 Control Console: A Star Of Film and Television

The iconic Burroughs B205 computer control console.

The B205 was first introduced in 1956 and was considered one of the industry leaders in computer science.

The flashing lights, shiny knobs, and toggle switches on the control console made it ideal for 1960s era sci-fi films and television programs. Most notably in the television series, Lost In Space, beginning in 1965:

The flight controls for the Jupiter 2 - the Burroughs B205 figure prominently on deck.

The B205 was also the favorite control console in Batman, the original television series beginning in 1966.

Robin does something at the Navigational Aid Computer - the B205 looks busy as well.

The B205 was multifunctional in Batman - here it's used as the Voice-Control Batmobile Relay-Circuit

Before the Burroughs B205 debuted in the Lost In Space television series it appeared in the 1959 sci-fi horror/adventure film, The Angry Red Planet.

Here the B205 slumbers aboard the M-1 spaceship surrounded by the crew of the first mission to Mars.

The Burroughs B205 was also used as one of a time machine's main control consoles in the 1964 sci-fi action/romance film, Time Travelers.

Overeager Steve Connors (Philip Carey) prepares for countdown to a time machine test with the B204 at his fingertips.

Burroughs' B205 system was designed specifically to cope with the full range of electronic computing problems in the fields of business industry, science and government.

The Burroughs B205 business office set up.

The B205 employed for use by the United Gas Corporation

The researchers and developers at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Laboratory in Corona, CA also utilized the B205 in their work.

So there you have it - the Burroughs B205 command console as film and television star. There were more appearances for this computer icon which also included the just as recognizable B205 tape drive. The Burroughs' design seemed to encapsulate the general vision of the computerized future at the time. While in reality it may have turned out a whole lot different, the B205 inspired generations of creative and curious people to pursue serious careers in computer science.

Kind Of, Sort Of - Walter Cronkite Describes 2001 In 1967 (Video)

In the 1960s imaginative creatives put a lot of thought and idealism into what they envisioned life would be like in the 21st century. This video, hosted by Walter Cronkite and produced by educational publishers McGraw-Hill, is a display of the most popular prototype concepts designed during the 1960s. It's all quite mod, with a great deal of energy and material conservation and efficiency in mind. Some concepts came fairly close to the actuality of 2001, but the variables that the designers, engineers, and other creatives had no control over - politics and economics - drastically affected much of their good-natured optimism. 

Personally, I think the 2001 in 1967 was way cooler than the 2001 of 2001. Still, there's a lot of the 21st century left - it's hard to be as excited about the future as the folks were mid-twentieth century, but maybe down the line humans will rediscover that ability to imagine and create a fabulous future.