(FRANCE - BOURGET FIELD - MAY 22,1967)-  RUSSIA DEMONSTRATED ITS LEAD IN HEAVY LIFT ROCKETS
WHEN A R-7 / VOSTOK BOOSTER , SIMILAR TO THIS ONE, ORBITED YURI GAGARIN ON APRIL 12, 1961.  THE
RUSSIANS ARE SHOWING, FOR THE FIRST TIME, THE THREE-STAGE ROCKET AT THE PARIS AIR SHOW 1967.  
THE FIRST ICBM AND SATELLITE LAUNCHER, THE R-7 WAS A RUGGED DESIGN.   WHEN ARRIVING BY SHIP AT
ROUEN, FRANCE, OBSERVERS WERE FASCINATED TO NOTE THAT THE CORE AND CONICAL BOOSTERS
WERE UNLOADED WITH CABLES ATTACHED TO OPPOSITE ENDS, AND WORKMEN COULD WALK THE LENGTH
OF THE EMPTY STAGES.  BY CONTRAST, THE U.S. ATLAS WAS OF SUCH LIGHT CONSTRUCTION THAT IT HAD
TO BE KEPT PRESSURIZED AT ALL TIMES TO PREVENT IT FROM COLLAPSING OF ITS OWN WEIGHT.
IN LATE 1967 THE R-7 / VOSTOK WAS PUT ON DISPLAY IN MOSCOW