The Third Stage

The Third Stage of a rocket ship on its way to the orbit of the station in space. The painting shows the Third Stage at the instant of separation from the Second Stage; the later, its fuel supply expended and its parachute out, is dropping off. At this instant the ship is 39.8 miles above the Pacific, 332 miles from the launching site on Johnston Island, and 900 miles west of Honolulu.

Painting by Chesley Bonestell
from Across the Space Frontier, edited by Cornelius Ryan, 1952