The twelve crew members take a freight elevator to the crew quarters. Anderson turns on the lights and the crew take their stations. Many animals have been brought aboard earlier including a dog, a pair of cats and monkeys, and a cage of birds. They are all wearing their space suits, but don their helmets for take-off. Ruskin records the first log entry just before take-off. Anderson grabs the control switch and launches the ship. After launch, we see the crew and animals react to the G-forces of acceleration. The crew occupy two decks on the ship. At 1500 miles above the Earth they switch to atomic power. Doctors Bomark and Hamid perform post-launch medical exams on the crew. Murdock asks Rochester about the equipment used to take pictures of the Earth. The only crew member who is not qui