Fun

The Anderson Solar System

Space exploration is a key theme of many Gerry Anderson series and feature films. But where exactly have our intrepid Anderson astronauts been in our own solar system. Chris Thompson and Jack Knoll have created this infographic to map the exploration taken up by the space heroes of tomorrow…

Planet mapThe main thing that can be learnt from this map of the solar system is that, for the most part, Gerry wanted the space exploration in his shows and films to believable. In the 1960’s the race was on for mankind to reach the Moon which is why so many Anderson organisations have established lunar complexes. Mars also serves as the home for many adversaries in the Anderson universe. Gerry could sense that the red planet was just within humanity’s reach, and so he wanted to speculate about what might be waiting for us there.

Beyond that, the rest of the solar system predominantly features only in comic strips, particularly the adventures of the Zero-X crew. One can only speculate that this is because Gerry’s strive for realism and credibility extended to not wanting to present the planets of our solar system erroneously when they had yet to be explored by real life astronauts. As a result, the crew of Fireball XL5 or the inhabitants of Moonbase Alpha are left to trek through parts of space that we have never seen (and will probably never see as they don’t appear to exist!). Extrasolar bodies of note have therefore been included here.

But are there any parts of our solar system that Jack and Chris may have missed out in their creation of this Ander-system map? Leave a comment down below with your thoughts!

 

Written by
Jack Knoll

I've been a Gerry Anderson fan from birth, growing up on the repeats of Thunderbirds, Stingray and Captain Scarlet in the early 2000's. I'm also a fan of Doctor Who and other cult TV series including The Prisoner and Danger Man. I enjoy writing on a range of topics from across the Gerry Anderson back-catalogue from behind the scenes insights to fun and entertaining reviews. In my spare time I'm also a writer and film-maker.

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