Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics

First edition

Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics^[1] is a short, modestly technical introduction to space exploration written by Arthur C. Clarke, and published in 1950. 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.

Overview

The book includes ten chapters:

• Historical Survey
• The Earth's Gravitational Field
• The Rocket
• The Problem of Escape by Rocket
• The Earth-Moon Journey
• Interplanetary Flight
• The Atomic Rocket
• Spaceships and Space Stations
• Subsidiary Problems
• Opening Frontiers

A short mathematical appendix is provided (for the benefit of readers not versed in the calculus), plus a bibliography and index, for a total of 164 pages. It includes also many figures and diagrams, and 15 plates (now largely of historical interest, showing how far space exploration has advanced since 1950).

References

1. Interplanetary Flight: An Introduction to Astronautics. London: Temple Press, 1950