From the Earth to the Moon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

**Title** **From the Earth to the Moon**

Author	Jules Verne
Original title	De la Terre à la Lune
Country	France
Language	French
Genre(s)	Science Fiction
Publisher
Released	1865

The projectile, as pictured in an engraving from the 1872 Illustrated Edition.

The firing of the columbiad.

For other uses, see From the Earth to the Moon (disambiguation).

From the Earth to the Moon (French: De la Terre à la Lune) is a humorous science fantasy story written in 1865 by Jules Verne and is one of the earliest entries in that genre. It tells the story of three well-to-do members of a post-American Civil War gun club who build an enormous sky-facing columbiad and ride a spaceship fired from it to the moon.

The story is also notable in that Verne attempted to do some rough calculations as to the requirements for the cannon and, considering the total lack of any data on the subject at the time, some of his figures are surprisingly close to reality. However, his scenario turned out to be impossible (for example, a cannon capable of firing a projectile out of the atmosphere would have to be very long or kill the passengers by acceleration alone).

The story bears similarities to the real-life Apollo program:

Verne's cannon was named the Columbiad; the Apollo 11 command module was named Columbia.
The spacecraft crew consisted of three persons in each case.
The physical dimensions of the projectile are very close to the dimensions of the Apollo CSM.
Verne's voyage blasted off from Florida, as did all Apollo missions.
Verne's astronauts splashed down in the ocean, at a spot close to where Apollo 11 also did.

The character of "Michel Ardan" in the novel was inspired by Nadar.

1 Misconceptions
2 Technical feasibility of a space cannon
3 Influence on popular culture
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Misconceptions

This is not a novel about space travel or lunar exploration. It is a novel about the process that goes into the planning and design of a trip to the Moon. It devotes chapters to discussions about the projectile, the size of the cannon, the angle the cannon would have to be at, picking a launch spot, and what materials to use.

The actual trip into space is covered in Around the Moon, the 1870 novel that Jules Verne wrote following Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.

[edit] Technical feasibility of a space cannon

Gerald Bull and the Project HARP proved after 1961 that a cannon can shoot a 180-kg projectile up to 180 kilometers of height and reach 32 percent of the needed escape velocity. Additionally, during the Plumbbob nuclear test series, a 900-kg capping plate made of steel was blasted away. Myths say that it entered outer space because it did reach a speed of between two and six times the escape velocity, but engineers believe it melted in the atmosphere. This incident in 1957 gave rise to the Project Orion study of spacecraft design.

[edit] Influence on popular culture

The novel inspired the first science fiction film, Le Voyage dans la Lune, made in 1902 by Georges Méliès (English title: A Trip to the Moon). In 1958, another film adaptation of this story was released, titled From the Earth to the Moon. It was one of the last films made under the RKO Pictures banner. The story also became the basis for the very loose adaptation Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (1967), a caper-style British comedy starring Burl Ives and Terry-Thomas.

The ride Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune, in Disneyland Paris, was originally based loosely on this novel, the ambience being that of the book being noted throughout the ride with its rivet and boiler plate effect. The ride includes the "Columbiad", which recoils with a bang of smoke as each car passes, giving riders the perception of being shot into space. The ride was refurbished in 2005 as part of the Happiest Celebration on Earth and is now called Space Mountain: Mission Two. Although the exterior of the ride was left with the original theme, the interior of the ride and the story line were changed.

In 1995 the BBC made a documentary about the creation of Space Mountain, called "Shoot For The Moon". The 44-minute programme followed Tim Delaney and his team in bringing the book From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne to life. The programme shows the development of the attraction, from conception over construction up to testing and fine-tuning the final attraction, including its soundtrack. The documentary, originally broadcast on BBC2 in the UK, was also aired on other channels in many countries.

The Space Mountain ride is also located next to the walk-through ride "Les Mystères du Nautilus" based on Walt Disney's adaptation of Jules Verne's other famous literary work Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.