Shown Their Work / Radio

• The Clan of the Fiery Cross radio serial put Superman against the Ku Klux Klan, with accurate portrayals of their beliefs and rituals. Exposing their rituals and practices to public scrutiny was actually the whole point of that serial — due to a man named Stetson Kennedy who was attempting to undermine the Klan by exposing their secrets. The best part of the story? It worked. Superman essentially forced the Klan underground both in serial and real life. To reiterate - a fictional superhero forced a Real Life hate group underground through sheer charisma.
• This was the entire purpose of Dragnet. Actual police jargon and correct procedures were used. Jack Webb was a stickler for detail, down to finding out how many steps it took to get to various offices at the LAPD headquarters. In one episode, he even recorded a scene at the actual location where the original story took place.
• Journey into Space: Charles Chilton was interested in the idea of space travel and researched the then purely theoretical concept before writing the series. The prehistory of Earth and the movement of the stars over millennia are also discussed at length in Journey to the Moon / Operation Luna. Although there are numerous examples of Artistic License, Chilton's research is very much in evidence throughout the series.
  • In stark contrast to many science fiction works in the 1950s, the point is made in Journey to the Moon / Operation Luna that scientists believe that Mars is the only other planet in The Solar System that could possibly support or have supported any form of life.
  • There is a time delay when the crew communicates with Earth. It is of little over a second when the Luna exchanges messages with Control after landing on The Moon in Journey to the Moon / Operation Luna. In The Red Planet and The World in Peril, it grows longer as the fleet approaches Mars. It is of several minutes duration by the time that they land on the planet.
  • In Journey to the Moon / Operation Luna, Polaris is identified as the current pole star in 1965 but it is acknowledged that this status is not permanent. Jet is aware that Earth's axial precession cycle means that Vega was the pole star 13,000 years ago and will be again in 13,000 years' time, Thuban was the pole star 5,000 years ago and a star in the constellation Cepheus will be the pole star in 5,000 years' time.
  • Also in Journey to the Moon / Operation Luna, it is mentioned that there were four ice ages and that anatomically modern humans existed 200,000 years ago.
  • In The Red Planet, the climate, temperature, atmosphere and geography of Mars are accurately described, discounting purely science fiction elements.
  • In The World in Peril, it is mentioned that there are twelve moons of Jupiter, which was consistent with the best available data in 1955.

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