The above vehicle developed its 1,000 mile per hour speed using atomic engines. The cover painting depicts the flying lab as a hybrid rocketship aircraft having a hangar for sortie craft. Note the heliocopter and pair of jets emerging from the open doors of the hangar positioned beneath the fuselage in the aft section of the flying lab. The artist shows the altitude of the flying lab as orbital. Certainly, the heliocopter could not operate in orbit. The rotors require air for lift and propulsion. If a rocket designer were to compute the mass of the flying lab and the thrust required to reach orbit, the specific impulse (Isp) of Tom Swift's flying lab's engines and fuel is astounding.