 Despite their being from radically different backgrounds, science student Richards described to Grimm his dream of building a space rocket to explore the regions of space around Mars; Grimm jokingly agreed to fly that rocket when the day came.The details of his life story have been modified over the decades.Prior to the stories published in the 1970s, Grimm, after earning multiple advanced degrees in engineering, served in the United States Marine Corps as a test pilot during World War II.