First Edition, First Printing. Dust jacket and book are clean, has a very good binding, no marks or notations.

First Edition, First Printing. Dust jacket and book are clean, has a very good binding, no marks or notations.

xiv, 304 [2] pages. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. Foreword by Charles

xiv, 304 [2] pages. Illustrations. Bibliography. Index. Foreword by Charles "Pete" Conrad, Jr. (Astronaut), and Foreword by Wolfgang H. Demisch. George Harry Stine (March 26, 1928-November 2, 1997) was one of the founding figures of model rocketry, a science and technology writer, and (under the name Lee Correy) a science fiction author. Upon his graduation he went to work at White Sands Proving Grounds, first as a civilian scientist and then, from 1955-1957, at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Missile Test Facility as head of the Range Operations Division. After White Sands, Stine was employed at several other aerospace companies, finally ending up at Martin working on the Titan project. Stine also founded the National Association of Rocketry (initially called the Model Missile Association) and wrote the safety code which became its centerpiece; he served as its president until the late 1960s. Stine wrote the Handbook of Model Rocketry in 1965, which went on through seven editions. This is one of the late G. Harry Stine's most important books. The subject of the book is how to greatly reduce the cost of getting to orbit. Part I describes the historical development of the idea of a completely reusable single-stage-to-orbit (SSTO) vehicle that is considered technically feasible by some (but not by others) and which has yet to be built. Part II describes the fascinating inside story of the Delta Clipper-the first fully reusable rocket ever built and successfully flown. Of particular importance is not the technology of the Delta Clipper but the design and managerial philosophy that produced large gains on relatively small budgets. This is one of the most important messages of the book. Part III describes in more general terms what are the characteristics of airline-like operations for SSTO vehicles: complete reusability and rapid turn-around, flight safety and reliability comparable to existing airlines, and ground crew, support facilities, and overall economics also comparable to airline paradigms.