Name: CHESLEY BONESTELL (1888-1986)
Brand: THREE-STAGE LAUNCH VEHICLE DESIGNED TO SEND THE BABY SPACE STATION INTO ORBIT
Price: 50000.00 USD
Availability: SoldOut

CHESLEY BONESTELL (1888-1986)
THREE-STAGE LAUNCH VEHICLE DESIGNED TO SEND THE BABY SPACE STATION INTO ORBIT
signed Chesley Bonestell (lower right)
oil on board
21³⁄₈ x 16⁵⁄₈ in. (54.3 x 42.2 cm.) (sight)
Executed circa 1953.

Chesley Bonestell (1888-1986), California.
Frederick I. Ordway III (1927-2014), Huntsville, Alabama; acquired from the above on 15 August 1964.
Acquired by the late owner from the above, 2003.

Wernher von Braun and Cornelius Ryan, "Baby Space Station," Collier's, 27 June 1953, p.33, illustrated (Schuetz 116).
Willy Ley and Wernher von Braun, The Exploration of Mars (New York, 1956), p. 89, pl. XVII, illustrated (Schuetz 167).

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Lot Essay

"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).