The First Three or 2001 (1971)

This is a pleasant Russian fictional story about some of the first children to become astronauts.  Given that I can't read the text I am reduced to sharing some interesting stylized illustrations.

The First Three or 2001. Mikhalkov. Moscow. 23 cm. 64 p. 1971.

As I said this book seems to be about 3 children (brothers and sister?) who are invited to go to Mars. They will be the first children who will go there. Titov German Stepanovich is chief of the General Agency Interplanetary Links (he is on picture with children).

 Introducing the characters

 The complexity of the rockets suggests that maybe these are longer distance vehicles (outer solar system or interstellar?)

 How many of you seeing the side view of the ship behind the professor think Star Trek?

 There is an implied stereotype in that the female is serving the males food. 
One of my readers corrected me: "the girl Natasha is showing to the boys tomatoes from greenhouse of cosmoplane."

 I do love seeing the computers and their paper tape. Who wants jet packs, I miss computers that spurt streamers.

A final painting of our frontier waiting to be explored.