The Outer Periphery

A collection of over 75 patent illustrations for functioning spacecraft and spaceflight technologies, designed by amateurs, hobbyists, sci-fi enthusiasts, engineers, and cranks. Ranging from “somewhat plausible” to “completely off the wall,” these drawings beautifully capture the delirious optimism of the space age.

In the years between Sputnik and Challenger, sitting in your garage drafting a design for, say, a rotating spacecraft that produced an electric dipole on four rotating spherical conducting domes seemed not just like an interesting hobby, but an obligation to the future of humankind.

Paperback. 100 pages.

About the Author

Andy Sturdevant (he/him) is a writer, artist, and designer living in Minneapolis. He is the author of four full-length nonfiction books, including the Minnesota Book Award-nominated book Closing Time: Saloons, Taverns, Dives and Watering Holes of the Twin Cities (with Bill Lindeke). Andy has written about art, history and culture for a variety of Twin Cities-based publications and websites, including ArchitectureMN, Mpls. St. Paul, MinnPost, MAS Context, mnartists.org, Apology, The Smudge, The Growler and others. He is the founder and publisher of Birchwood Palace Industries, a small press dedicated to short-form nonfiction and reference works.