The American Rocket Society (ARS) began its existence on 4 April 1930, under the name of the American Interplanetary Society. It was founded by

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

writers G. Edward Pendray,

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, Nathan Schachner, and others. Pendray corresponded with

Willy Ley Willy Otto Oskar Ley (October 2, 1906 – June 24, 1969) was a German and American science writer and proponent of space exploration and cryptozoology. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor. Early life and Berlin y ...

of the German rocket society,

Verein für Raumschiffahrt The Verein für Raumschiffahrt ("''VfR''", ) was a German amateur rocket association prior to World War II that included members outside Germany. The first successful VfR test firing with liquid fuel (five minutes) was conducted by Max Valier a ...

, 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 6 April 1934. 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 France, 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 ...

(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 Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecra ...

(AIAA).

References and notes

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