Space: Solid Success

For sheer pyrotechnics and power, there had never been a rocket launch like it. From Complex 40 at Cape Kennedy last week, Air Force Titan IIIC, the heaviest and most powerful rocket system ever launched, blasted off in a mighty torrent of flame and smoke, and with a deafening roar soared out of sight. Though U.S. hopes to close the rocket gap with the Soviet Union rode on the new Titan, the competition this time was not so much international as it was between solid rocket fuels and liquids.

The launch was a...

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