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Show ILLUSTRATION 6Y By JOHN B. STEVENSON s S i I Americans are still catching their breath over the comfort and speed of jet air p: .' 1 within 10 years they may be, experiencing an even more fantastic means of spanning the nation and circling the world. The recent successes of our Mercury astronauts have meaning not only for space but for you andefin e flights of the future. Ballistic flight is now feasible for the commercial air traveler; and rocket-motchambers for passengers al ready are in the drawingstageFlf tur prog-- " ress continues, you may make a transcontinental flight in the same way Alan B, Shepard, Jr., and Virgil I.Grissom made their historic suborbital flights though in much Y more comfort and safety. Here's how your ) 1970 flight might go : X travelyet J ,V. - t1 I1 rv- KpTULA Miry I I JO ... V. -V ' ' ' Jong-distanc- or j : - I.. i-- 1 ; ' t Suppose you have come M the JVashingtori, D.C., space port for a trip to San Diego," Calif. You sit in the waiting room and look out onto the port, which CQvers half a city block. It has six main areas the terminal building you are in, one landing apron, a ship i Win ' ' - l - parking area, an underground propellant factory; and two fueling and launching pads. In the basement are subway and rapid-trans- -, it stops; across the street, a helicopter depot and a multilevel parking lot. Prcflishting the Ship l You sit watching passengers, luggage, and cargo come off a liner which has just landed. Its rotor blades are feathered and begin folding up into the, nose pylon housing. As soon as everything a large lift truck moves the liner from the landing apron to the parking area where technicians will give it a and turn the motor preliminary check-ocompartment back over. The lift truck then moves a ship which is ready- - to be fueled over to a launching pad. As the lift truck backs away, jacfcs come up from the pad and lift the ship a couple of feet so that the landing legs can be retracted. The n clamps are secured, and a splash shield duct is raised from the blast tunnel inlet to the ship's motor nozzle so that no exhaust flame hits the paduntil the" clamps are released. The propellant crew begins its work as the pilot goes aboard. The ship on the other pad is ready; a voice from the terminal public-addresystem announces: "Passengers for San Diego please i . T "Tl is! off, ut hold-dow- This spaceship is type you may travel in by 1970. Rotary blades help and orient it for descent; legs cushion re-ent- ry landing. Ajif Urumoves ship to launching pad. ss Don't think our astronaut successes have meaning only for spacemen: Family Weekly. September 3, 1961 |