to_the_moon.jpg
 
To The Moon
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 Title:
To The Moon

Catalog Number:
SF-052

Original:
Digital

Created:
1997

Caption:
The three huge moonships streaking through space at 19,500 miles per hour on their way to the moon are each 9 feet taller then the Statue of Liberty and consists mainly of clusters of fuel tanks. These tanks are made of a flexible plastic. The fuel, pressurized to 1 pound per square inch, rigidly inflates them. More than half the fuel is carried in the four big spherical tanks (3,136 tons of propellants).

The spherical tanks carry the fuel needed for the departure from earth orbit and will be discarded when empty. The next set of four large blue tanks contains fuel for the landing on the moon. They will be jettisoned on the lunar surface. The remaining smaller cylindrical tanks are for the return trip, as well as containing an emergency reserve.

At the opposite end of each ship are thirty rocket engines, developing a combined thrust of 470 tons. Twelve are on hinged mountings, so they can be used for steering.

The original art is computer generated. The Moonships are made in Ray Dream Designer 4.1, the space background and rocket engine thrust made with Photoshop 3.0.
 

[Saturn]
fuel_tank_separation.jpg