Space travel has never been billed {{U}}(31) {{/U}} a first-class affair, but back in 1939 it was deemed downright uncivilized in the February 20, 1939, issue of TIME. The article summarized the British Interplanetary Society's prediction of {{U}}(32) {{/U}} astronauts would forgo on their {{U}}(33) {{/U}} to the moon. Topping the list: smoking and water for washing-and there would be just enough coffee to keep the navigators from" {{U}}(34) {{/U}} asleep over their interminable calculations."
　　By 1951 space {{U}}(35) {{/U}} plans had become more grandiose. Famed rocket scientist Wernher von Braun predicted {{U}}(36) {{/U}} a successful Mars {{U}}(37) {{/U}} could be accomplished with {{U}}(38) {{/U}} few as 46 rockets in a round trip that would take three years, in a later {{U}}(39) {{/U}} with TIME, yon Braun affirmed. "Man belongs {{U}}(40) {{/U}} he wants to go-and he'll do plenty well when he gets there."
　　With the {{U}}(41) {{/U}} War heating up, the space {{U}}(42) {{/U}} became an historic rivalry between United States and the Soviets. TIME heralded the {{U}}(43) {{/U}} seven Mercury astronauts as men of destiny. Soviet astronaut Yuri Gagarin {{U}}(44) {{/U}} TIME's cover {{U}}(45) {{/U}} he became the first human in space on April 12, 1961, but the article {{U}}(46) {{/U}} described the event in heroic terms also lamented the U. S. S.R. triumph as an American propaganda defeat. {{U}}(47) {{/U}} than a year later when John Glenn's flight put America back in the space race, TIME lauded Friendship 7's success as a triumph for the entire free world.
　　In 1969 TiME covered the culmination of the Apollo program {{U}}(48) {{/U}} a special package, "To the Moon," calling the {{U}}(49) {{/U}} flight "the most momentous journey since 1492." The next week's issue featured a cover story celebrating Neil Armstrong's "giant leap for mankind," asserting that the success of the mission was "a shining reaffirmation of the optimistic premise that {{U}}(50) {{/U}} man imagines he can bring to pass."