In Memory of Dandridge MacFarlan Cole

Some of you who have read my 2012 novel HOLLOW MOON may know that the asteroid colony ship at the centre of the story is named after Dandridge MacFarlan Cole, American aerospace engineer, futurist, lecturer and author who was born this day in 1921 in Sandusky, Ohio. Cole was an avid proponent of humankind's future in space and wrote several books and papers on the subject. In 1953, after seeing action in the Second World War followed by a spell teaching physics and astronomy, Cole took a job with the Martin Company in Baltimore; a post that later would see him help to design the Titan II, the launch vehicle for Gemini space capsules. Cole often promoted the idea of colonising the asteroids, which he believed could be hollowed out with habitable space on the inside, with the resulting space arks orbiting within the solar system or even being sent out on interstellar expeditions. He and artist Roy Scarfo collaborated on the book BEYOND TOMORROW: THE NEXT FIFTY YEARS IN SPACE (1965), a wonderful vision of future advancements in space exploration, space development and colonisation, all based on scientific feasability at that time. Dandridge MacFarlan Cole died tragically young on October 29, 1965. (Steph).