Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction – June, 1963 – Featuring “The Trouble With Telstar”, by John Berryman [John Schoenherr]

Condé Nast‘s iteration of Analog from late 1961 through August, 1980 – during which interval there were four variants of the magazine’s full title – included the large-format “bedsheet” Analog Science Fact -> Science Fiction, which was published from March, 1963, through March, 1965. I’ve always admired the aesthetics, simplicity, and minimalism of this cover design, which along with Life, Look, and Advertising Age, bespeaks of a publication you might find in the lobby of, say? … Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce / Sterling Cooper & Partners on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. Well come to think of it, in the alternate world of “Mad Men” Ken Cosgrove (one of the few distinctly likeable and even fewer ethical characters of the series) did write on the side – for Analog’s competitor Galaxy. Y’know, the story about the woman who laid an egg, and, the clumsy (or malicious?) robot who broke the bridge between two worlds. For which efforts he was admonished by Roger Sterling.

So, here’s the cover of the June, ’63 issue of Analog. John Schoenherr’s painting is lovely. Though the exterior Telstar wasn’t gold in color (perhaps the artist wanted to suggest sunlight reflecting off a white surface?), the juxtaposition of the satellite, astronaut, and X-20 Dyna-Soar spaceplane, all set against a sparkling impression of one of our galaxy’s spiral arms in the background – notice that the background is very, very dark blue, but not pure black? – makes a great canvas. A caveat: I haven’t read this story, which has only reprinted in two anthologies edited by John W. Campbell, Jr. As described at GoodReads it, “centres on an engineer who travels into space to repair an elusive fault in the indicated Communications satellite (the first experimental AT&T Telstar satellite had been launched into orbit by NASA in July 1962).”