It was the first time a spacecraft had ever come back to earth tailfirst, although similar landings have been made on Mars and the moon.

With their swept-back wings, forward-mounted canards, or stabilizers, and pusher propellers, they look a little as if they should be moving through the air tailfirst.

Object of the system is to enable Columbia River salmon to pursue their four-year life cycle: hatch in gravel beds in the river's upper tributaries, grow several inches, drift down to the ocean tailfirst, get to weigh anywhere from 10-to 60 lb., swim back up the Columbia River to spawn and die exactly where they started.

As Cadet Tom Corbett snapped orders into the intercom and his unit-mates responded by smooth co-ordinated action, the giant rocket cruiser Polaris slowly arched through Earth's atmosphere, first nosing up to lose speed and then settling tailfirst toward its destination—the spaceport at Space Academy, U.S.A.

There was no doubt he had uncovered the nose cone of the missile which had re-entered the earth's atmosphere tailfirst!