The Mars Project.

VON BRAUN, Wernher.

$12,500.00

Item Number: 123721

Urbana: University of Illinois, 1953.

First edition of this classic work. Quarto, original cloth, illustrated. Presentation copy, inscribed by the author on the half-title page, “To Bob Mabon from one space man to another- Wernher von Braun.” Near fine in a very good dust jacket with some small chips. First editions are rare, signed and inscribed examples exceptionally so, this is the first example we have seen.

This classic on space travel was first published in 1953, when interplanetary space flight was considered science fiction by most of those who considered it at all. Here the German-born scientist Wernher von Braun detailed what he believed were the problems and possibilities inherent in a projected expedition to Mars. Today von Braun is recognized as the person most responsible for laying the groundwork for public acceptance of America's space program. When President Bush directed NASA in 1989 to prepare plans for an orbiting space station, lunar research bases, and human exploration of Mars, he was largely echoing what von Braun proposed in The Mars Project.