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…