That was in fact an innovation that followed the German V2 — dropping the framework structure of the rocket in favor of relying solely on the skin of the tank u

That was in fact an innovation that followed the German V2 — dropping the framework structure of the rocket in favor of relying solely on the skin of the tank under pressure to give structural integrity of the rocket. "The tank of the Atlas consisted of stainless steel which was no thicker than a dime at any point. Generals, and later congressmen, worrying about what would happen if somebody dropped a wrench on such a tank were conducted to a test version of the "stainless steel balloon" that was stiffened by pressure and offered a choice of assorted mallets to see whether they could dent it. In each case the general or congressman grew tired before he had even succeeded in producing a mark that could be seen." Willy Ley's "Rocket's, Missiles and Men in Space" https://archive.org/details/rocketsmissilesm00leyw https://archive.org/details/rocketsmissilesm00leyw