Rocket Ship X #1

When American Army Lieutenant Jock Macready tangles with a mysterious German civilian at a Berlin cabaret, he stumbles into a military intelligence operation far larger than a bar fight. Tasked with keeping close watch on the torch singer Gretchen Bauer, Macready finds himself drawn into a web of alien technology, a deranged scientist's plans for conquest, and a one-way ticket aboard a rocket ship bound for the cosmos. "Out of This World" rockets across the page with espionage, exotic weapons, and the kind of interplanetary stakes that make 1951 science fiction soar.

This educational feature traces the history of Halley's Comet, the famous celestial visitor that has returned to Earth's skies approximately every seventy-five years since recorded history began, including its memorable appearance in 1066 during William the Conqueror's invasion of England. Learn how astronomer Edmund Halley observed the comet in 1682, calculated its orbital period, and made a bold prediction about its return—a prediction that would be vindicated within a month of his calculated date. Discover the sheer scale of this cosmic wanderer, whose tail stretched an astounding 90 million miles during its last approach.

Professor John Pearson returns from a scientific expedition to the South Pacific with an ivy specimen he plants at the Botanical Museum—but this is no ordinary plant. After the museum's zoo animals are found drained of blood, Pearson discovers the ivy is a radiation-mutated carnivore that grows at terrifying speed, especially when exposed to water. As the creature spreads through the city's sewers and streets, consuming everything in its path, Pearson and his colleague Tom Anderson race against time to find a way to stop it before humanity is completely overrun.

When an experimental time machine misfires, aeronautical engineer Tod Kramer and his fellow traveler Vivian Foote are catapulted not into the Civil War past, but eighty-five years forward into 2035—materializing aboard a space vessel bound for the Moon. There, they discover humanity faces an unexpected crisis: the robots assigned to harvest energy on the lunar surface have rebelled, and Kramer and Vivian find themselves pressed into service as shock troops to suppress the uprising. What unfolds is a desperate mission to confront machines that have turned against their creators.

"Our Atomic Future" presents an optimistic vision of tomorrow powered by atomic energy—from atomic-driven ocean liners and interplanetary rockets to cars that need only an annual fuel refill and subways running at virtually no cost to riders. The story explores imaginative applications of atomic power, from powering jet planes and creating new materials to reshaping geography itself, while acknowledging that the enormous expense and remaining unknowns mean these marvels remain distant dreams. A fascinating glimpse into 1951's atomic-age hopes and the long road ahead before such technology becomes everyday reality.