CLARKE, Arthur C. "Interplanetary Flight" [Harper & Brothers, 1951] 1st US Edition

"Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics" by Arthur C. Clarke [Harper & Brothers, 1951]. Illustrated with sixteen pages of photographs and fourteen diagrammatic line drawings. First American edition, first printing. Hardcover with original dust jacket. Jacket very worn but now protected in mylar. Book cloth is clean with just light rubbing at head/tail of spine, one small scratch, and one small stain. Internally tight with occasional spotting in text. Good+ and uncommon.

Summary: "Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics" is a short, modestly technical introduction to space exploration. It includes material accessible to readers with a high-school level of science and technical education, covering the elements of orbital mechanics, rocket design and performance, various applications of Earth satellites, a discussion of the more interesting and accessible destinations in the Solar System (such as they were understood at the time of writing), and in a final chapter covering the rationale and value of human expansion off the Earth.