Leaving Earth

Argosy 1 and 2 are accelerated into a Marsbound transfer orbit by their NERVA nuclear boosters. This burn adds 3.8 meters per second to the Earth's orbital speed around the sun, breaking the ships out of Earth orbit and injecting them on a long elleptical solar orbit. Most of the boost phase takes place in orbital night. Dawn comes as the combined ships rise in their outbound trajectory. They will be in continuous daylight from now until they enter orbit around Mars.

Rendered and modeled in Lightwave 10 and Photoshop CS 3

Thanks for taking a look!