Towards the Moon (Colour Litho)

Towards the Moon. From the base in Cape Canaveral, Florida (USA), the Pioneer I was launched, a four-stage Thor-Able rocket that was supposed to reach the Moon. After covering 127,000 kilometers, just under a third of the distance, the fireball, not having enough speed to overcome Earth's gravity, fell back and finally disintegrated meeting the atmosphere, above the Pacific Ocean. The experiment, although not successful, has beaten every record in terms of speed and distance and opened up wonderful new possibilities for space flights. Illustration for Courier Sunday, 26 October 1958.