"Ready for launching."

This launch scene featured as the lead image of the "Baby Space Station" article in the 25 June 1953 issue of Collier's, the penultimate issue of the famed "Man Will Conquer Space Soon!" series. It was captioned in that article: "Ready for launching. Rocket is divided into three sections (separated by red bands), each with its own set of motors. Lower two will be cast off when their power is spent. Only the topmost cone—equipped with TV cameras, other instruments—will get to 200-mile orbit."

More detail is given in the following pages, "Before take-off, the satellite vehicle will resemble one of today's high-altitude rockets, except that it will be about three times as big—150 feet tall, and 30 feet wide at the base. After take-off it will become progressively smaller, because it actually will consist of three rockets—or stages—one atop another, two of which will be cast away after delivering their full thrust" (p. 38).