At the moment of ignition ("T minus zero") of the solid rocket boosters, the Titan IIIM rocket and its top-secret military payload are poised to leap upward from Space Launch Complex 6 at Vandenberg AFB.
Painting 7B is an accurate representation of the Titan III/MOL/Gemini-B stack in front of the Umbilical Tower, with the Mobile Service Tower moved back to minimize launch damage. This dramatic and detailed view suggests that the danger of the rocket launch is minimized by the complex supporting infrastructure in place to make it safe, aided by the mountain range isolating the outside world from the launch site.
This view is so similar to an artist's concept published in April 1968 in a trade journal (at right) that Jacobe must have used it as the basis for his painting. If so, he modified the relative locations of support buildings at left and removed the mountain behind the launch pad, perhaps to focus attention on the launch itself.
Source.
- SLC-6 illustration from: Burnham, Frank A., "MOL/Titan III-M: A Status Report," Aerospace Technology, April 22, 1968, pp. 30-35 (illustration on p. 34).