fut/lnr_v_bw_o_n (1967, GE Missile & Space Dept advanced lunar city)
“A General Electric Missile and Space Department artist brings to life scientists’ visualization of the lunar city of the next century. As the drawing indicates, the lunar city would be a combined complex of surface and underground activity with modern moon men living mainly below the surface, protected from the extreme temperatures and dangerous cosmic rays.
At the extreme top left is the nuclear power station. To its right are ore and rock mines which will tap the anticipated mineral wealth of the moon. At top center is a large industrial complex which processes the ore into liquid hydrogen, oxygen and other substances necessary for maintenance of the lunar city.
Hovering overhead in the lunar sky is the moon orbiting station which serves as a transfer point for passengers shuttling between earth and moon. At the right upper center is a large lunar spaceport. The smooth landing surface is made of pulverized moon rock and man-made binder.
Inside the hollowed-out lunar city at lower left is a moving sidewalk which carries pedestrians at speeds up to 15 miles an hour. It is shown radiating out in three spokes from the balloon-like hub. The tall slab-like structures in the upper part of the city housing units. The rectangular dome-topped structure directly to the right is the moon university. Beneath the large dome at the left center of the city is a scientific research center. The dome at right houses moon farms for the growing of fruit and vegetables in a carefully simulated “earth” environment.
A park with an art gallery surrounding the central fountain is at the lower portion of the city center. To its left a moon citizen is shown hovering in a one-man winged “transport” made possible because of the moon’s low gravitational pull. Sets of high-intensity floodlights which recreate earth daylight in the cave lunar city are shown at various points of the cut-out drawing.
On the moon surface, at extreme lower right, is an astronomical observatory which will be able to view the heavens without the obstructed atmosphere of earth. Above the observatory is a roving moon vehicle. At right center is a complex radio antenna for the radio astronomical observation of the universe. To its left is the covered moving pedestrian sidewalk that brings the earth traveler from the spaceport to the subterranean lunar city.”
7.25" x 8.625". Although no watermark is visible, the paper has the thick, heavy "A KODAK PAPER" look & feel to it.
Online color versions of this image are spectacular.
And, as if all that wasn’t enough, there’s the following. Ostensibly?/Apparently? written by the artist himself, Roy Scarfo. Wonderful:
“ADVANCED LUNAR CITY
TheFutureinSpace is not only the science of future space travel, or building colonies and cities on other planets, but it is also about the development of the sciences here on Earth that are needed to get us there, live there, and survive there. In the case of the Advanced Lunar City, the political and sociological sciences will play a heavy part.
In early 1967 I received a call from The New York Times in reference to an article that Isaac Asimov had written about a possible lunar colony. Asimov, at that time, was an associate professor of biochemistry at the medical school of Boston University, and he had recently published his 80th book ranging from history and mathematics to science and science fiction. The title of his article was “After Apollo, A Colony on the Moon.” The Times asked me to read the article and to advise them of the possibilities of an illustration to accompany it. After doing so, I saw the chance to incorporate many concepts I had on a lunar colony into one large illustration.
I accepted the commission. I made several calls to Asimov, and we discussed the illustration. I received a green light from The Times to proceed with pencil roughs using my own imagination as to what the lunar colony would look like. At this point in time, a trip to the moon with three astronauts was still in the NASA planning stages. After about 50 pencil roughs, I realized I had enough material to create a full size city on the moon – not just a colony.
I called The Times in New York City and set up a meeting with Mike O’Keefe, my contact at The Times, and his editor of the magazine section. I was excited with the pencil roughs I had in my portfolio, but as I sat in the train on my way to the big city, I thought maybe I went to far with my concepts (which was a normal reaction to my work at that time).
Well, The Times people loved it, my worries were calmed. I received the OK to proceed with a pencil comprehensive for a full page in full color for The Times Magazine section. Traveling home on the train I thought of additional concepts I could include in the illustration, such as lunarites flying around the lunar city which could be made possible because of the low lunar gravity. I thought I’ve taken the whole concept this far, I’ll go for the brass ring!
I finished the pencil comp and returned to The Times, flying people and all, and they bought off on the whole concept. I could have flown home myself!
So what started as a lunar colony was now an advanced lunar city.
The lunar city I envisioned was mainly below the surface, where an atmosphere like Earth’s could be created, safe from the extremes of temperature and cosmic rays. The main source of power would be a nuclear power station (1) that would be capable of supplying all of the city’s energy needs. Mines would be drilled and blasted out of the lunar mountains (2) and the ore would be transported to an industrial complex (3) where it would be processed into liquid hydrogen, oxygen, and other minerals. I placed an orbiting space station (4) in a lunar orbit which would be used as a transfer point for travelers between Earth and the lunar city. A large lunar space port (5) would be constructed from a composition of crushed lunar rock combined with a binder. The moving sidewalks (6) would be divided into three belts, each moving at a five mph difference (5mph, 10mph, and 15 mph). Lunarites and visitors, depending upon how fast they need to reach their destination, would step from one belt to the other. I would stay on the 5 mph belt which would give me the time to enjoy the lunar splendor looking out through the transparent walkways.
Apartments and condominiums (7) would house the permanent residents (lunarites). The residences would be equipped with the most advanced conveniences, such as self-cleaning dishes and carpets, bathrooms that stay clean, windows that never get dirty, and programmable paint that changes color with one click, all made possible through nanotechnology. 3-D TV screens in each apartment would keep lunarites in contact with family and friend back on Earth.
A medical center is shown (8) with the latest medical equipment that science can provide.
A lunar university (9) would provide an education in astronomy and the space sciences that no university on Earth could match because of the moon’s non-existing atmosphere. A radio antenna (10) would provide scientists and students with a clear listening post for the study of the galaxy and the communications with other worlds. The research center (11) would also have laboratories in the lunar orbiting station where they could develop and communicate new knowledge in biotechnology, nanotechnology, bioinformatics, and a host of other sciences. The farming of fruits, vegetables, and other foods (12) will be accomplished in a completely controlled environment.
Strap on your wings and sail (13) for entertainment or transportation. This should be possible because of the Moon’s gravitational pull.
I could not have completed this piece without an art gallery (14) placed in a park setting. Not only would the space art of lunarites be on exhibit, but also 3-D art and holography.
At about this point I started to think about sports, which was almost my downfall. How far could you hit a baseball? Throw a football? How high should a basketball hoop be? Next thought - running? Jumping? Gymnastics? My next thought – “Lunar Olympics”! (15) that would bring people from every corner of the earth to the Moon. I became so engrossed with the concept I stopped work on the Advanced Lunar City and started sketches of an Olympic City on the Moon. I obtained field specifications for many of the sports from the Olympic Committee and started working with engineers on what the fields and arenas would be like on the Moon. I created many sketches, but I had to stop. My mind was boggled, but more important, I had to finish the Advanced Lunar City illustration.
I have never gone back to those sketches. I did express this concept to the people at The Times, and they were very interested in the piece, but I was too involved at the time with other projects. I still think of visitors in spaceships from many countries landing at the lunar spaceport on their way to the Lunar Olympics in the Advanced Lunar City.
Banks of lighting fixtures (16) would be built into the ceiling of the underground facility and would be controlled by a central plant. An astronomical observatory (17) would provide perfect viewing of the galaxy. And finally, what would life be like without getting into the family lunar rover (18) and going for a Sunday drive?
All the technology needed to build this advanced lunar city exists today. Will the Lunar City ever be built? Count on it!!
The full page Advanced Lunar City appeared in the May 28, 1967, issue in Section 6 of the New York Times Magazine on page 31. The original illustration now hangs on the walls of Columbia University in New York City, presented to them on behalf of my son Gunny, who graduated in 1999.”
Above at:
thefutureinspace.com/blog/index.cfm?section=blog&fuse...
Credit: BEYOND TOMORROW/Roy Scarfo blogsite? A wonderful & insightful site with LOTS of amazing works by Mr. Scarfo! If only they were of higher resolution. Not complaining, merely wishful thinking.
Finally, a subsequent, ‘religiously correct’, although glaringly, not racially correct version:
believermag.com/the-chapel-on-the-moon/
Credit: “THE BELIEVER” magazine? website
Wonderful, at the always wonderful "Dreams of Space - Books and Ephemera" website:
Credit: John Sisson
Last, but NOT least:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=VDcalR4BoGw&feature=youtu.be
Credit: FLYPMedia/YouTube
fut/lnr_v_bw_o_n (1967, GE Missile & Space Dept advanced lunar city)
“A General Electric Missile and Space Department artist brings to life scientists’ visualization of the lunar city of the next century. As the drawing indicates, the lunar city would be a combined complex of surface and underground activity with modern moon men living mainly below the surface, protected from the extreme temperatures and dangerous cosmic rays.
At the extreme top left is the nuclear power station. To its right are ore and rock mines which will tap the anticipated mineral wealth of the moon. At top center is a large industrial complex which processes the ore into liquid hydrogen, oxygen and other substances necessary for maintenance of the lunar city.
Hovering overhead in the lunar sky is the moon orbiting station which serves as a transfer point for passengers shuttling between earth and moon. At the right upper center is a large lunar spaceport. The smooth landing surface is made of pulverized moon rock and man-made binder.
Inside the hollowed-out lunar city at lower left is a moving sidewalk which carries pedestrians at speeds up to 15 miles an hour. It is shown radiating out in three spokes from the balloon-like hub. The tall slab-like structures in the upper part of the city housing units. The rectangular dome-topped structure directly to the right is the moon university. Beneath the large dome at the left center of the city is a scientific research center. The dome at right houses moon farms for the growing of fruit and vegetables in a carefully simulated “earth” environment.
A park with an art gallery surrounding the central fountain is at the lower portion of the city center. To its left a moon citizen is shown hovering in a one-man winged “transport” made possible because of the moon’s low gravitational pull. Sets of high-intensity floodlights which recreate earth daylight in the cave lunar city are shown at various points of the cut-out drawing.
On the moon surface, at extreme lower right, is an astronomical observatory which will be able to view the heavens without the obstructed atmosphere of earth. Above the observatory is a roving moon vehicle. At right center is a complex radio antenna for the radio astronomical observation of the universe. To its left is the covered moving pedestrian sidewalk that brings the earth traveler from the spaceport to the subterranean lunar city.”
7.25" x 8.625". Although no watermark is visible, the paper has the thick, heavy "A KODAK PAPER" look & feel to it.
Online color versions of this image are spectacular.
And, as if all that wasn’t enough, there’s the following. Ostensibly?/Apparently? written by the artist himself, Roy Scarfo. Wonderful:
“ADVANCED LUNAR CITY
TheFutureinSpace is not only the science of future space travel, or building colonies and cities on other planets, but it is also about the development of the sciences here on Earth that are needed to get us there, live there, and survive there. In the case of the Advanced Lunar City, the political and sociological sciences will play a heavy part.
In early 1967 I received a call from The New York Times in reference to an article that Isaac Asimov had written about a possible lunar colony. Asimov, at that time, was an associate professor of biochemistry at the medical school of Boston University, and he had recently published his 80th book ranging from history and mathematics to science and science fiction. The title of his article was “After Apollo, A Colony on the Moon.” The Times asked me to read the article and to advise them of the possibilities of an illustration to accompany it. After doing so, I saw the chance to incorporate many concepts I had on a lunar colony into one large illustration.
I accepted the commission. I made several calls to Asimov, and we discussed the illustration. I received a green light from The Times to proceed with pencil roughs using my own imagination as to what the lunar colony would look like. At this point in time, a trip to the moon with three astronauts was still in the NASA planning stages. After about 50 pencil roughs, I realized I had enough material to create a full size city on the moon – not just a colony.
I called The Times in New York City and set up a meeting with Mike O’Keefe, my contact at The Times, and his editor of the magazine section. I was excited with the pencil roughs I had in my portfolio, but as I sat in the train on my way to the big city, I thought maybe I went to far with my concepts (which was a normal reaction to my work at that time).
Well, The Times people loved it, my worries were calmed. I received the OK to proceed with a pencil comprehensive for a full page in full color for The Times Magazine section. Traveling home on the train I thought of additional concepts I could include in the illustration, such as lunarites flying around the lunar city which could be made possible because of the low lunar gravity. I thought I’ve taken the whole concept this far, I’ll go for the brass ring!
I finished the pencil comp and returned to The Times, flying people and all, and they bought off on the whole concept. I could have flown home myself!
So what started as a lunar colony was now an advanced lunar city.
The lunar city I envisioned was mainly below the surface, where an atmosphere like Earth’s could be created, safe from the extremes of temperature and cosmic rays. The main source of power would be a nuclear power station (1) that would be capable of supplying all of the city’s energy needs. Mines would be drilled and blasted out of the lunar mountains (2) and the ore would be transported to an industrial complex (3) where it would be processed into liquid hydrogen, oxygen, and other minerals. I placed an orbiting space station (4) in a lunar orbit which would be used as a transfer point for travelers between Earth and the lunar city. A large lunar space port (5) would be constructed from a composition of crushed lunar rock combined with a binder. The moving sidewalks (6) would be divided into three belts, each moving at a five mph difference (5mph, 10mph, and 15 mph). Lunarites and visitors, depending upon how fast they need to reach their destination, would step from one belt to the other. I would stay on the 5 mph belt which would give me the time to enjoy the lunar splendor looking out through the transparent walkways.
Apartments and condominiums (7) would house the permanent residents (lunarites). The residences would be equipped with the most advanced conveniences, such as self-cleaning dishes and carpets, bathrooms that stay clean, windows that never get dirty, and programmable paint that changes color with one click, all made possible through nanotechnology. 3-D TV screens in each apartment would keep lunarites in contact with family and friend back on Earth.
A medical center is shown (8) with the latest medical equipment that science can provide.
A lunar university (9) would provide an education in astronomy and the space sciences that no university on Earth could match because of the moon’s non-existing atmosphere. A radio antenna (10) would provide scientists and students with a clear listening post for the study of the galaxy and the communications with other worlds. The research center (11) would also have laboratories in the lunar orbiting station where they could develop and communicate new knowledge in biotechnology, nanotechnology, bioinformatics, and a host of other sciences. The farming of fruits, vegetables, and other foods (12) will be accomplished in a completely controlled environment.
Strap on your wings and sail (13) for entertainment or transportation. This should be possible because of the Moon’s gravitational pull.
I could not have completed this piece without an art gallery (14) placed in a park setting. Not only would the space art of lunarites be on exhibit, but also 3-D art and holography.
At about this point I started to think about sports, which was almost my downfall. How far could you hit a baseball? Throw a football? How high should a basketball hoop be? Next thought - running? Jumping? Gymnastics? My next thought – “Lunar Olympics”! (15) that would bring people from every corner of the earth to the Moon. I became so engrossed with the concept I stopped work on the Advanced Lunar City and started sketches of an Olympic City on the Moon. I obtained field specifications for many of the sports from the Olympic Committee and started working with engineers on what the fields and arenas would be like on the Moon. I created many sketches, but I had to stop. My mind was boggled, but more important, I had to finish the Advanced Lunar City illustration.
I have never gone back to those sketches. I did express this concept to the people at The Times, and they were very interested in the piece, but I was too involved at the time with other projects. I still think of visitors in spaceships from many countries landing at the lunar spaceport on their way to the Lunar Olympics in the Advanced Lunar City.
Banks of lighting fixtures (16) would be built into the ceiling of the underground facility and would be controlled by a central plant. An astronomical observatory (17) would provide perfect viewing of the galaxy. And finally, what would life be like without getting into the family lunar rover (18) and going for a Sunday drive?
All the technology needed to build this advanced lunar city exists today. Will the Lunar City ever be built? Count on it!!
The full page Advanced Lunar City appeared in the May 28, 1967, issue in Section 6 of the New York Times Magazine on page 31. The original illustration now hangs on the walls of Columbia University in New York City, presented to them on behalf of my son Gunny, who graduated in 1999.”
Above at:
thefutureinspace.com/blog/index.cfm?section=blog&fuse...
Credit: BEYOND TOMORROW/Roy Scarfo blogsite? A wonderful & insightful site with LOTS of amazing works by Mr. Scarfo! If only they were of higher resolution. Not complaining, merely wishful thinking.
Finally, a subsequent, ‘religiously correct’, although glaringly, not racially correct version:
believermag.com/the-chapel-on-the-moon/
Credit: “THE BELIEVER” magazine? website
Wonderful, at the always wonderful "Dreams of Space - Books and Ephemera" website:
Credit: John Sisson
Last, but NOT least:
m.youtube.com/watch?v=VDcalR4BoGw&feature=youtu.be
Credit: FLYPMedia/YouTube