"Frederick I. Ordway III's fascination with rockets and spaceflight began in the days long before NASA. He pursued his obsession, became one of the first to work in the fledgling industry, and along the way amassed an impressive, world-class collection of images of space art. His pictures depict scenes from works from the second century to the eve of the Space Age, in the late 1950s. Now, for the first time, in one full-color volume, the stars from his collection are brought together.". "Many of the pictures here have not been seen outside the collection in modern times; others appeared only in magazines during the early decades of the twentieth century: the original works are presented in this book in pristine glory. Images of early astronauts maneuvering their craft in Mars orbit; fantastic vehicles - with propulsion ranging from dewdrops (seventeenth century) to anti-gravity (nineteenth century) - abound. These realms are populated by heroes and scientists, dreamers and pioneers: a mix of the intentionally fantastic with the rigorously scientific."--BOOK JACKET.