Prelude to Space
Last updated October 31, 2026
Arthur C. Clarke's first novel describes the final months before humanity's first crewed flight to the Moon. A historian joins the international team preparing the spacecraft Prometheus for launch. Moving between offices in London and a launch site in the Australian desert, he records the scientists, engineers and astronauts at work and the public debate around the project. Written in the late 1940s, the novel is a realistic and hopeful portrait of the coming space age.
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