The American Rocket Society (ARS) began its existence on , under the name of the American Interplanetary Society. It was founded by

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

writers G. Edward Pendray, David Lasser, Laurence Manning, Nathan Schachner, and others. Pendray corresponded with

Willy Ley Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William (given name), William or Wilhelm (name), Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Aames (born 1960), American ...

of the German rocket society, Verein für Raumschiffahrt, and visited him in 1931. The members originally conducted their own rocket experiments in New York and New Jersey. The society printed its own journal. The AIS did pioneering work in testing the design requirements of liquid-fueled rockets, with a number of successful test launches of ARS rockets occurring in this period and pointing the way to the United States space program. Its name was changed to American Rocket Society on . In 1936, the American Rocket Society and its member Alfred Africano were awarded the Prix d'Astronautique by the

Société astronomique de France The Société astronomique de France (SAF; ), the French astronomical society, is a non-profit association in the public interest organized under French law ( Association loi de 1901). Founded by astronomer Camille Flammarion in 1887, its purpose ...

(French Astronomical Society) in recognition of their pioneering tests with liquid fueled rockets. The ''Journal of the American Rocket Society'' was published from 194553. Membership increased rapidly in the 1950s as the government funded "upper air research", and by the end of the decade it had reached 21,000. In early 1963, the ARS merged with the Institute of the Aerospace Sciences to become the

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics The American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) is a professional society for the field of aerospace engineering. The AIAA is the U.S. representative on the International Astronautical Federation and the International Council of ...

(AIAA).

References and notes

{{Authority control Rocketry 1930 establishments in the United States American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Scientific organizations established in 1930 Organizations disestablished in 1963