Ready for Lift Off

San Francisco's Embarcadero is the launching pad for an unusual art sculpture that is set to blast off next week.

Until then, most of the rocket sits in an Oakland warehouse waiting to be installed. The team of artists covered the entire project in an aluminum sheets.

The Raygun Gothic Rocket Ship is a 40 foot silver vessel straight out of a Jules Verne novel.

Artist Alan Rorie swears behind a mischevious grin that it's a real rocket, capable of liftoff.

"To us these are big toys. Big erector sets. And then we get to go out and put em together," Rorie said.

Built by the Oakland art collective "5 Ton Crane" made its premier at the BurningMan Arts Festival last year.   It's already made stops in San Mateo and Moffett Field.

Now, the Port of San Francisco and Black Rock Arts, which is Burning Man's public arts wing, helped arrange for it to take up the spot on the Embarcadero formerly occupied by the giant spider.

The artists will install it next Tuesday, with a dedication party scheduled for Friday August 6. The Rocket ship will hover on the Embarcadero for the next 14 months.

Parts of a "rocket stop" that will sit next to the rocket on the Embarcadero with information on the project, as well as flight times and routes.

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