FITCHBURG SENTINEL, Mass. Aug. 18, 1958 

* Pioneer 0 - Able 1 space probe
* Attempt to be 1st to orbit the Moon
* Cape Canaveral launching failure
* Space race with the Soviet Union 

The top of the front page has a two column heading: "Moon Rocket Fails, Shatters" with lead-in: "Will Try Again in Sept." and photo. (see images) 
Complete with 12 pages, light toning at the margins, a little spine wear, nice condition.

Background: The Pioneer 0 launch failure at Cape Canaveral—which captivated global newspaper headlines on August 18, 1958, following its dramatic explosion just 77 seconds into flight the previous day—holds profound historical significance as the world's very first attempted lunar mission and a definitive trial by fire for the early United States space program. Orchestrated by the U.S. Air Force and ARPA just months before NASA officially opened its doors, the mission aimed to leapfrog the Soviet Union in the Space Race by utilizing an experimental Thor-Able rocket to send a primitive photographic probe into lunar orbit. When a first-stage turbopump gearbox failed at 50,000 feet, the resulting catastrophic explosion plunged the high-stakes mission into the Atlantic Ocean. This failure carried immense historical weight: it was the first space launch to feature live television pool coverage, thrusting the volatile, dangerous reality of early rocketry directly into the public consciousness and fundamentally altering how the military and future space agencies managed media relations. Furthermore, while the mission ended in disaster, this brave attempt laid the immediate operational, tracking, and technological groundwork for the iconic Pioneer program, symbolizing the transition from military ballistic missile development to the dedicated civilian scientific exploration of the solar system.