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Concept Art, tang, advertising, retro futurism, rockets, space, space porn, space shuttle

Rocket Porn Sexes Up The Space Shuttle

Why is there a rocket racing ahead of the space shuttle in this 1971 Tang ad? Maybe it's because the sleek-but-functional space shuttle concept art just doesn't look scifi enough on its own. Or maybe this is a symbolic baton-passing from the Apollo missions to the coming shuttle era. Either way, the space shuttle didn't look nearly this vivid and space-opera by the time it actually existed. Image by Wishbook. [Fanboy.com]

6:30 AM on Mon Dec 31 2007
By charliejane
868 views
3 comments

Comments

jayerandom2 at 07:45 AM on 01/02/08
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I'm not sure I should trust a science fiction blog whose writers aren't geek enough to recognize early Space Shuttle proposals on sight. The upper vehicle is the shuttle orbiter; the lower one is the external tank, in one of its original incarnations as a recoverable vehicle that would fly back to the launch site on its own.
Charlie Jane Anders at 08:56 AM on 01/02/08
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@JayeRandom: I stand corrected. The external tank just looks so much like the space shuttle design we finally ended up with. It's funny that we lost the cool rocket.
aspiringexpatriate at 10:09 PM on 01/02/08
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The tang ad used the proposal image? Good move by tang.