Manchester Interplanetary Society
The MIS was a Manchester, UK, club formed on June 9, 1936, by Harry Turner, Stanley Davies, Malcolm Wade, Eric Burgess (president) and others, “its aim being the forwarding of the science of astronautics for commercial use, by experimentation or other means,” according to Turner in Tomorrow 3 (Autumn 1937, p. 20). Its OO was The Astronaut.
Members’ early, unsuccessful rocket experiments led to several injuries and an appearance in police court.
Although the club was oriented around rocketry, its members were also interested in science and science fiction. Davies went by train to London to hear H. G. Wells speak. Turner became a well-known actifan. Burgess immigrated to America and worked for NASA.
- “The British Interplanetary Society and its origins in Manchester and Liverpool” by Gurbir Singh.
- “Manchester first Rocket Scientists” (podcast with Turner’s wife, Marion Turner, and son, Philip H. Turner).
- “Manchester Interplanetary Society and Stanley Davis” (podcast with Davies’ daughter).
| Club | 1936—1940s |
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