Combined sales of the roadsters, the Pontiac Solstice and the Saturn Sky, are expected to be short of 40, 000 vehicles a year.

FORBES: Water Wagons

The Saturn Outlook and Sky are produced domestically by GM.

CNN: The fate of four GM brands

And once the planets lined up in their orbits, Earth would "overtake" the others, meaning that Jupiter and Saturn would appear to change direction in the night sky.

BBC: Star of Bethlehem: The astronomical explanations

This spring, Saturn dealers got some sizzle, a roadster called the Sky.

FORBES: Saturn Rising?

Hughes's best explanation for this series of events is something known as a triple conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn - with the two planets coming close together in the sky three times over a short period.

BBC: Star of Bethlehem: The astronomical explanations

And the Solstice and Sky could polish the image of the struggling Pontiac and Saturn brands.

FORBES: Water Wagons

But against all the odds, on the 16 July 1969, just 30 months after the fatal fire - the first Saturn V rocket attempting to carry men from the surface of one world to another rose into the Florida sky.

BBC: The magic of Apollo