Displaying items by tag: childhood inspiration

In September of 1975, a new science-fiction series appeared on British television. Created and produced by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson, Space: 1999 followed the trials and tribulations of the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha, after the Moon is accidentally blown out of Earth’s orbit and sent hurtling out into interstellar space. Though the series only ran for two seasons, it picked up a loyal following thanks to a strong cast led by Martin Landau and Barbara Bain (Mission: Impossible), as well as compelling and high-concept storytelling. But one of the show’s greatest strengths was a production design aesthetic that seemed far more plausible and realistic than those of other sci-fi franchises. And no design from Space: 1999 exemplifies this more clearly than the show’s iconic spacecraft, the Eagle Transporter.

Science fiction has certainly shown us other examples of compelling spacecraft on TV and the big screen, including Star Trek’s USS Enterprise and the Millennium Falcon of Star Wars fame. But for anyone interested in spaceflight at the time, the Eagle Transporter—used by the Alphans to shuttle between the Earth and Moon, to travel around the surface, and visit alien planets—seemed like a vehicle that could actually be built, flown, and perform as depicted. That’s because its design has much more in common with NASA’s Lunar Excursion Module (LEM)—which in reality delivered astronauts to the lunar surface six times between 1969 and 1972—than the Enterprise, the Falcon, or any other spacecraft that sci-fi enthusiasts had seen before or since. It’s only natural then that the Eagle has gained a legion of fans over the years. In fact, the author of this review is one of them. [Read on here...]