Schematics of Vanguard TV-0, as depicted on the Hachette UK hardback edition of Trigger Mortis and illustrated by Joy Cohn.
The Vanguard was a semi-fictitious thee-stage American space rocket designed and constructed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) at its rocket launch site on Wallops Island, Virginia. Likely based on the real-world Vanguard TV-2 and TV-3, the rocket plays a pivotal role in Anthony Horowitz's 2015 James Bond continuation novel Trigger Mortis, which takes place in 1957 at the beginning of the Soviet-American space race.
History[]
During 1957[1], the Vanguard space rocket was constructed by the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and prepared for launch at its site at Wallops Island, located on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, United States. The majority of the engineers working for the Vanguard Operations Group (VOG) were provided by the Glenn L. Martin aerospace manufacturing company.[2] The silver-white rocket was comprised of three stages - engine, power plant and solid-fuel propellant rocket. On the day of the test flight the rocket carried a 6.4 inch 'grapefruit' satellite weighing 4 lbs.[3] Should the rocket pose a danger by developing a fault or leaving its appointed trajectory, it can be remotely destroyed by a 'panic button' (nicknamed "Trigger Mortis") in the central control office.[3] Prior to its final assembly, a German supervisor named Thomas Keller was bribed by SMERSH operative, Jason Sin, to sabotage the rocket's propulsion system. During the resulting malfunction and self-destruct, Sin hoped to stage a fake debris crash in New York, destroying the Empire State Building with a subterranean bomb. To this end he constructed the upper half of a replica Vanguard, which would be found among the carnage. While his plan is foiled by 007, the Vanguard rocket still malfunctions post-launch and is destroyed using "Trigger Mortis".
Behind the scenes[]
Completed model Vanguard TV-0 alongside the UK hardback edition.
The cover of the Hachette hardback edition of Trigger Mortis (2015) features artwork and cut-away diagrams of the Vanguard TV-0 (Test Vehicle Zero), the first sub-orbital test flight of a Vanguard rocket as part of the Project Vanguard. Unlike the later multi-stage rocket featured in the novel, TV-0 was a refurbished one-stage Viking 13 rocket. Conceived of by Steve Marking, art director for Orion Publishing, and created by Joy Cohn & Niels Jahn Knudsen of Niels Paper Models, the novel's dust-jacket could be cut out and shaped into a paper model of the rocket.[4] According to Cohn, the original mockup was for the 1957 Vanguard TV-1, but was subsequently changed to the TV-0 - a simpler rocket design for inexperienced model builders.[5]
See also[]
References[]
- ↑ Horowitz, Anthony (2015). "Chapter 15: Follow the Money", Trigger Mortis (in English). Hachette UK, p.185. ISBN 9781409159155. “[this counterfeit note is] at least seven years old ... Back in 1950 they made a few changes to the design.”
- ↑ Horowitz, Anthony (2015). "Chapter 13: The Man in Charge", Trigger Mortis (in English). Hachette UK, p.158. ISBN 9781409159155.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Horowitz, Anthony (2015). "Chapter 13: The Man in Charge", Trigger Mortis (in English). Hachette UK, pp.162-163. ISBN 9781409159155.
- ↑ "This book you can judge by its cover". Niels Paper Models (c.2015). Retrieved on 2018-05-30.
- ↑ 009 (November 19, 2015). Exclusive Interview with Joy Cohn – ‘Trigger Mortis’ Cover Illustrator. Artistic Licence Renewed. Retrieved on 2018-05-30.