Taken from the cover flap of the novel THE SECRET OF SATURN'S RINGS by Donald Wollheim:
Only one scientist realized the danger that threatened Earth when the Terraluna Corporation started deep-core mining operations on the moon. Dr. Emanuel Rhodes and his teen-age son, Bruce, saw that continued blasting at the moon's core would weaken the satellite's brittle structure to the extent that the small planet's breakup would be assured. The subsequent bombardment of Earth by meteorites would put an end to man!
But Terraluna's profit-hungry officials would not understand the scientist's conclusions. It was for the sake of humanity that Dr. Rhodes and his son started for Saturn's rings to prove to mankind that what had once been a hospitable and prosperous planet was now nothing more than a dangerous phenomenon.
Breath-takingly realistic in detail, this story of the Rhodes' flight into outer space explodes with action, intrigue and suspense. Terraluna spies conspired to wreck their ship. Outposts of the huge corporation fired on the courageous little crew. And in the whirling maelstrom of rock that make up Saturn's rings, danger and disaster lay in anxious wait. How Bruce outwitted the hostile elements to save his father, stranded helplessly on a bit of airless rock, leads to a surprise climax when the two discover ancient evidence of intelligent creatures. The relationship of their discovery to the Earth and its satellite presents a fascinating theory and space yarn that you won't put down until the very last page.
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It's been 44 years since I've read this book, so I hope memory serves here. A technical inaccuracy: As I recall, part of the plan to reach Saturn involved attaching the ship to the asteroid Hidalgo and 'riding' it to the vicinity of Saturn as an earthside mariner would ride a current. This is unnecessary in space. A ship capable of matching the asteroid's course can just be set on a trajectory for Saturn, no need to involve a big rock unless the crew wants to mine it on the way.
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