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		Syldavia Launch Site [47/144] Title: Tintin Calculus' Rocket - Syldavia Launch Site Catalog Number: SF-105 Original: Digital Print: 8.5 x 11 & 13 x 19 Limited Edition Prints Available Print w/Frame: Custom Order Created: 2004 Updated: 2007 Caption: Calculus' rocket has a nuclear engine. Plutonium is used to propel the rocket but not during take off and landing so as to not irradiate the launching pad. Calculus uses a auxiliary engine working with a mix of azotic acid and aniline. Calculus' rocket is launched from the Sprodj Atomic Research Center in Syldavia. Exploration of space was reliably predicted by Belgian cartoonist Herge's adventures of Tintin in the two volumes 1953 and 1954. In the book Tintin and his friends leave the Earth's atmosphere in a nuclear powered rocket that takes them to the unexplored surface of the moon. Tintin is the first person to walk on the surface of the moon. The famous 'first step for humanity' originates from this adventure. Meticulously researched at the time by Herge. Who had no access to the secret space programmes being pursued in the USSR and the USA. To honour Herge in 1982 astrophysicists named a planet after him. These popular books have stood the test of time and are still of interest for all ages. The above spaceship is based on the original 1953 adventures of Tintin books, design and was re-created using Strata 3d Pro computer graphic program. The model parts where made with Illustrator and imported into Strata and were either extruded or skinned. Textures maps in the scene are made with Photoshop 7.0.