In the Museum: Buck Rogers in the 21st Century The reality of
spaceflight is tangible; a spacecraft or flight spare enables us
to preserve the technology involved in a Mars landing so that
future generations can understand how it was done. But how do
you preserve a "sensation" so that future generations will
appreciate its impact on society? - By Bob Craddock - Air &
Space magazine, May 2002 Philip Frances Nowlan may not be one of
the biggest names in science fiction, but he is the creator of
one of the biggest science fiction cartoon characters—Buck
Rogers, a figure synonymous with spaceflight. Rogers has found a
permanent home at the National Air and Space Museum; in 1996,
the Museum acquired a wide-ranging collection of memorabilia
that documents this pop culture icon. In an article entitled
“Armageddon—2419 A.D.,” which he wrote for the August 1927 issue
of Amazing Stories, Nowlan introduced Anthony “Buck” Rogers, an
ordinary man whose job is to inspect abandoned coal mines for
radioactive gases. On one i