Picked this up mainly 'cause it's such a cool-looking old pulp paperback (1955). The contents are just about exactly what you'd expect from the packaging - it's definitely a 'boys'' adventure story in space... from back in the day when rockets were tall, pointy, and powered by jet fuel, and new planets were open to capitalist exploitation by bold and manly explorers....
Our Hero graduates from the Space Academy and is assigned to the Solar Queen, a Free Trader ship. The crew buys trading rights to a sight-unseen planet at public auction.
Will the planet be a worthless wasteland - or the site of valuable artifacts from long-dead civilisations?