The Outer Periphery

Edited by Andy Sturdevant. Published by 50 Watts Books. 

Softcover, 100 pages, B&W, 1960-2025 (2025 Printing)

he Outer Periphery: Amateur Spacecraft Designs from the U.S. Patent Office / by Andy Sturdevant / ISBN 9781957625065 / a 100-page paperback, 5.5 x 8.5 inches, published in June 2025 by 50 Watts Books & Birchwood Palace Industries.

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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.