Founding of AAS

The initial catalyst for a U.S. Society committed to the advancement of astronautics was clearly provided by the creation of the Staten Island Interplanetary Society (SIIS) on April 2, 1952. The first organization of its kind in the United States, this local group was sponsored by the Staten Island Museum and aspired to emulate the British Interplanetary Society. The Staten Island Interplanetary Society was the idea of Hans J. Behm, assistant science curator at the Staten Island Museum. Behm had been interested in astronomy and meteorology since he was a child, but when he was elected a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society (BIS) in 1952, he “became addicted to space flight.” Behm’s involvement with the BIS and other space activities instilled in him a desire to promote American knowledge, interests and participation in the coming age of space flight. He decided to hold a meeting at the Museum to try to organize a U.S. “interplanetary society.” The purpose of this new society would be to study the future possibilities of interplanetary travel. With the assistance of the Museum’s science curator, Robert Mathewson, a meeting was scheduled and publicized for April 2, 1952. An ad for the meeting placed in the Staten Island Advance on March 31, 1952, read: “Problems of rocket propulsion, navigation and physiology in planet-hopping will be discussed.” Eleven members were present at this organization’s charter meeting. The public reaction to the announcement of the formation of such an interplanetary society was pleasantly surprising to Behm, who received many letters and even donations. One representative of the SIIS spoke about the group on the radio and the Associated Press issued an article on the society’s creation.

One of the eleven charter members of the SIIS was James H. Rosenquist of RCA World Communications Corporation, who was also a member of the BIS. Rosenquist had an interest in rockets and space travel and he and Joseph Golden, also of RCA, often talked about space flight, radio communications and communication satellites. These men felt that existing societies were not creating as an enthusiastic feeling about space as the BIS and other societies were in their respective countries. They envisioned a new, unique society in the United States that would conduct activities for both professional engineers and scientists and “educated laymen.” The society would be solely devoted to the promotion of space flight and would generate public support for a U.S. space program. Although the American Rocket Society (ARS) and the British Interplanetary Society both had admirable programs, Rosenquist believed that a new national organization was needed: one whose purpose would be to aid in designing a national space program that would consequently advance knowledge in many disciplines.

Rosenquist supported Behm’s idea about serving public interests, as “newspapers were full of ‘flying saucers’, science fiction and space ships, and there was a need to give the public more in the way of science knowledge and less in the way of science fiction.” When interest and attendance of the Staten Island Interplanetary Society began to fall off after three more meetings in April, May and June of 1952, Behm and Rosenquist became even more determined to organize and implement a national society focused on interplanetary travel and astronautics; the SIIS did not have the visibility necessary to sustain itself. They believed that a truly national interplanetary society was needed and decided to move their activities to New York City in hope of gaining more members.

The SIIS members had lofty goals for a U.S. interplanetary society. They knew that advancements in technology and basic knowledge and the generation of many new ideas were needed in order to have human or robotic orbital flights and planetary exploration space flights. Many problems in various fields and disciplines would need to be identified and solved. They believed that solving the problems associated with space flight and exploration would lead to advanced in knowledge of virtually every scientific field, from astronomy and biology to physics and geology. The subsequent application of this new knowledge to space fields and non-space-related fields would undoubtedly benefit humankind, as these were not only problems of engineering and science. Rather, they were also problems of bringing together people from industry, government and academia, and people of many nations. Rosenquist and Behm saw this society as an opportunity to educate the public, thus membership would be open to anyone interested in serious space flight, but renowned professionals were also needed in the organization so that it could speak with a strong voice for a national space program. These basic goals and visions conceived before the founding of the AAS still characterize the Society.

It was not until late in the summer of 1953 that they made any serious attempts to bring their dreams to fruition, however. Behm got the much-needed consent and moral support of starting an astronautical society from Joseph Chamberlain, director of the Hayden Planetarium, and Frank Forrester, assistant director. A series of meetings between Behm and Rosenquist then took place in which they proposed plans and courses of actions. Together, they drafted an invitation letter sent November 5, 1953, calling “the first meeting of an American counterpart to the British Interplanetary Society” at the American Museum of Natural History on November 20, 1953. This invitation was sent to 150 select people across the country–fellows and members of BIS in the New York City area and some members of the ARS who were among the recognized leaders in the interplanetary field. Although the letter caught some by surprise (Arthur Clarke and James Harford of the BIS and ARS wrote, wondering why they were starting a new society), the positive response was overwhelming. They received letters of interest and enthusiasm from across the nation. Thirty-five people attended the founding meeting. A subsequent meeting was held on December 11, 1953, that resulted in the formation of committees to plan the organization and to draw up a constitution and bylaws to present to a second general meeting scheduled for January 22, 1954. Behm named himself acting chairman and Rosenquist the assistant chairman. The purpose of the new organization was to educate the public and persuade the U.S. Government to commence a space program. The preamble of the constitution of this new organization stated in part that its purpose was “to publicly disseminate and support as many of the creditable proposals for the conquest of space as possible.” Or, as described in a letter to Fred Ordway from Rowena Thacher, one of the principal objectives of the yet-to-be-named AAS would be “to provide clear and reliable information to the public on a subject that has been too often distorted and romanticized.”

Thus, on January 22, 1954, the American Astronautical Society was founded by 37 individuals intent on championing serious proposals for space flight. The individuals at this first meeting represented a variety of backgrounds, from the aerospace industry to scientific institutions. Although the meeting took place in the New York State Civil Defense Commission, there were representatives present from at least six states (New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland and Rhode Island). The proposed constitution, based on constitutions of several existing scientific societies, was adopted, officers were nominated and elected, and the motion to incorporate was passed. Hans Behm was elected president of the new organization and served in this role through 1954. A membership committee was tasked with recruiting new members.

The new AAS Board of Directors held its first meeting on February 3, 1954. It was at this meeting that aviation and space writer Martin Caidin presented detailed plans for a journal, Astronautics (later called Journal of Astronautics), of which he became the first editor. The American Astronautical Society received its certificate of incorporation from New York State on February 17, 1954.