2001: Building for Space Travel

From the prophetic vision of a lunar voyage in Fritz Lang’s science fiction film Woman in the Moon to the multistage rocket that propelled astronauts to the moon 40 years later, this bold, original work examines design for space travel in both fantasy and reality. A breathtaking look at the structures built to follow humankind’s dreams out into the cosmos, it accompanies an exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago and at the Museum of Flight in Seattle.

The 230 illustrations range from sci-fi film stills to computer-rendered images of rockets and space stations. The 14 essays look at our perceptions of the universe, the conquest of space, and the inhabitation of that wilderness before and after the advent of space travel. From the space station in Stanley Kubrick’s legendary intergalactic fantasy 2001: A Space Odyssey to NASA’s actual design for the orbiting International Space Station, these fresh, accessible perspectives on the traditionally scientific subject of space exploration offer new ways to look at one of the most significant accomplishments of our time.