The New Earth
The only thing that’s more amazing than the announcement of Gliese 581c is the artwork that the Daily Mail used to illustrate it.
The new planet is apparently a 1950s cover to Fantasy & Science Fiction. Really the only thing missing there is a tri-tailfinned rocket and someone in a bubble-headed spacesuit. Maybe the way to kick-start a new space program isn’t with Apollo-era iconography, but with pulp SF guns, girls, and ghouls.
Somewhere out there Chesley Bonestell is grinning…