Both Atlas' Space Squadron and Speed Carter: SpaceMan had "future history" features...
...covering from the then-present (1950s) to the future (early 2000s) as this tale about the first manned ICBM in 1961 (yes, 1961) demonstrates!
The writer of this tale from Atlas' Space Squadron #3 (1951) is unknown, but the artist is Werner Roth.
The Famous Explorers of Space feature ran in all five issues of Space Squadron and the single issue of Space Worlds that used up material left homeless when Space Squadron was cancelled.
When Speed Carter: SpaceMan came along a couple of years later, writer Hank Chapman ignored everything done in Space Squadron, producing stories that often contradicted "history" established in the earlier series...
In 2004, we reached Venus and Mercury!
Then, in 2007, men reached another planet...
You do remember this stuff, don't you?
It was only a few years ago!
Didn't quite work out that way, did it?
Damn!
This story from Speed Carter: SpaceMan #3 (1953) references the previous Famous Explorers tales in its' first paragraph, mentioning the explorations of Venus and Mercury.
Written by Hank Chapman, and illustrated by Al Eadeh.
Note: the astronauts in this story, which takes place three generations in the "past" of Speed Carter, have different uniforms and lower-end technology than what's shown in the Speed Carter tales.
Space Squadron also presented "future history tales" about the guy who was young, hotshot Jet Dixon's crusty Commander-in-Chief when he was a young hotshot pilot...
...rocketing thru the Solar System in the 1970s!
(Yes, I said 1970s!)
While the writer for this never-reprinted tale from Atlas' Space Squadron #3 (1951) is unknown, the artist should be familiar to Speed Carter: SpaceMan fans...Joe Maneely, Speed's designer/co-creator and primary illustrator for the first half of his run!
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