Editing Conquest of Space (section)

==Production==
The science and technology portrayed in ''Conquest of Space'' were intended to be as realistic as possible in depicting the first voyage to Mars. The film's theatrical release poster tagline reads: "See how it will happen ... in your lifetime!"<ref name="Warren">Warren 1982 pp. 208-214</ref>

The title ''Conquest of Space'' is from the 1949 nonfiction book ''[[The Conquest of Space]]'', written by [[Willy Ley]] and illustrated by [[Chesley Bonestell]]. George Pal had hired Bonestell to be a technical adviser on ''[[Destination Moon (film)|Destination Moon]]''.<ref>Rattigan Script Stirs Anglo-American Project; Downs 'Dog's Life' Lead
Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 16 Sep 1949: 27.</ref> This was a huge hit and Pal used Bonestell again on ''When Worlds Collide''.

In May 1952 Pal announced he would make a film out of ''Conquest of Space''.<ref>GEORGE PAL PLANS NEW FILM ON SPACE: Science-Fiction Producer May Do Movie on Satellite That Hangs Out in Universe
By THOMAS M. PRYORS New York Times 21 May 1952: 22.</ref> George Pal bought the book's film rights at the suggestion of Ley.<ref name="Hickman">Hickman 1977 p. 87</ref>  Universal said they had a similar project, ''Space Island''.<ref>FILM WRITERS SEEK TO END R. K. O. SUIT: New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]05 June 1952: 39.</ref>

In June 1952 it was reported that Barré Lyndon, who wrote ''War of the Worlds'' for Pal, was working on a script.<ref>ZANUCK MAY FILM JESSEL LIFE STORY:  New York Times 28 June 1952: 11.</ref> In January 1953 Philip Yordan was working on the script.<ref>DISNEY FILMS SET TO GROW IN LENGTH:
By THOMAS M. PRYORSpecial to THE NEW YORK TIMES. New York Times 31 Jan 1953: 10.</ref> The following month Byron Haskin was named as director and Wernher von Braun would be a technical adviser.<ref>Phone Pole Problems Inspire Film Plan; Alex Nicol Hinted as Boxer
Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 2 Feb 1953: B9.</ref> James Hanlon did the final script.<ref>ColeenGray 'Arrow' Star; Pidgeon in 'Squadron;' Erin O'Brien-Moore Cast
Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 12 Sep 1953: 9.</ref>

Bonestell, noted for his photorealistic paintings showing views from outer space, worked on the film's space [[matte painting]]s.<ref name="Warren"/> The production design of ''Conquest of Space'' was closely modeled on the technical concepts of  [[Wernher von Braun]] and Bonestell's space paintings, which originally appeared in ''[[Collier's]]'' magazine and were reprinted in the 1952 Viking Press book ''[[Across the Space Frontier]]'', edited by Cornelius Ryan.<ref name=miller2016>Miller [https://books.google.com/books?id=GxWWDQAAQBAJ&q=conquest+of+space&pg=PT269 2016, pp. 60-69.]</ref>

The film also incorporated concepts from  von Braun's 1952 book ''[[The Mars Project]]'', as well as material appearing in the April 30, 1954, issue of ''Collier's'' magazine, "Can we get to Mars?" by von Braun, with Cornelius Ryan. This would later be incorporated into the 1956 Viking Press book ''The Exploration of Mars'' by Willy Ley, Wernher von Braun, and Chesley Bonestell.<ref name=miller2016/> All of these books mainly feature text that is straight popular science, with no fictional characters or story line.<ref name="Warren"/> In addition, according to director Byron Haskin, "We had Wernher von Braun on the set all the time...as a technical advisor".<ref>Haskin, Byron. Byron Haskin: An Interview by Joe Adamson. Metuchen, New Jersey: The Directors Guild of America and Scarecrow Press, 1984, p. 230.</ref><ref name=miller2016/>

Although the budget was $1.5 million, George Pal and Paramount decided not to use stars.<ref name="star">Pal Plans $1,500,000 Film Without Stars
Los Angeles Times 28 Nov 1953: A6.</ref> Walter Brooke turned down a five-year contract to appear in a soap opera to make the movie.<ref>Actor Turns Down TV for Movie Part
The Washington Post ]17 Jan 1954: L3.</ref> Eric Fleming was pulled out of the cast of ''[[My Three Angels (play)|My Three Angels]]'' on Broadway to appear in the film.<ref>DOWLING TO MAKE FILM OF HURRICANE:  New York Times (1923-Current file); New York, N.Y. [New York, N.Y]28 Nov 1953: 11.</ref>
Filming started 16 November 1954.<ref>Barbara Britton Stars With Hodiak; Ann Lee to Play on Broadway
Schallert, Edwin. Los Angeles Times 5 Aug 1953: B7.</ref>