Battle For the Moon / Original Illustration painting for June, 1982 Science Digest article

The Hearst Corporation, 1982. Soft cover. Fine. Leonard, Tom. 1982 original painting by Tom Leonard as lead illustration of Christopher Simpson's article, "Battle for the Moon" in the June, 1982 issue of Science Digest (see that related scan). Acrylic of Mars". Overall canvas size 13" x 19", image area 9 1/4" x 13 1/4" (see scan). Acrylic painting on canvas stretched around wood frame. Signed by Leonard, off-image in the margin. See scans. Fine. A stylish illustration for Simpson's article presaging a hypothetical upcoming battle for mineral and land rights on the moon, this based largely on technologically valuable minerals - titanium, beryllium, vanadium, cobalt, manganese, uranium, and chromium - for which the moon was known or expected to be important source at the time (1982); since then, of course, its value as a prospective source of Helium 3 for use in fusion energy production has, at least in theory, trumped all those. The issue of Science Digest itself is not included; scan of the relevant page in it is included for reference. L308