From the Earth to the Moon

Author	Jules Verne
Original title (if not in English)	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.

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. Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (713x1024, 320 KB) Source: http://www. ... Jules Verne. ... Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Image File history File links FETMprojectile. ... Image File history File links FETMprojectile. ... Image File history File links FETMlaunch. ... Image File history File links FETMlaunch. ... The Columbiad was an artillery piece invented by Colonel George Bomford, US Army, in 1811. ... From the Earth to the Moon can refer to: From the Earth to the Moon, a novel written by Jules Verne From the Earth to the Moon (HBO): a TV series This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Science fantasy is a mixed genre of story which contains some science fiction and some fantasy elements. ... 1865 (MDCCCLXV) is a common year starting on Sunday. ... Jules Verne. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... The Columbiad was an artillery piece invented by Colonel George Bomford, US Army, in 1811. ...

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). Acceleration is the time rate of change of velocity, and at any point on a velocity-time graph, it is given by the slope of the tangent to that point In physics or physical science, acceleration (symbol: a) is defined as the rate of change (or derivative with respect to...

Most interestingly, his estimate of the cost of the project in 1865 dollars is near the cost of the Apollo 11 flight in 1969 dollars. The story bears further similarities to the real-life Apollo program: Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. ... Year 1969 (MCMLXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1969 calendar). ... Description Role: Earth and Lunar Orbit Crew: 3; CDR, CM pilot, LM pilot Dimensions Height: 36. ...

• 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.
• 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. Nadar (self-portrait). ...

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. Space exploration is the physical exploration of outer-Earth objects and generally anything that involves the technologies, science, and politics regarding space endeavors. ...

It is a more engineering-oriented version of the same sort of story as Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honneamise.

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. Around the Moon, Jules Vernes sequel to A Trip to the Moon, is a science fiction novel continuing the trip to the moon which left the reader in suspence after the previous novel. ... Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne (1828–1905), published in 1870 under the title Vingt mille lieues sous les mers. ...

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. This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... Project HARP, short for High Altitude Research Project, was a joint project of The Pentagon and the Canadian Department of National Defence created with the goal of studying ballistics of re-entry vehicles at low cost; whereas most such projects used expensive (and failure-prone) rockets, HARP used a very... Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on mission STS-71 In physics, for a given gravitational field and a given position, the escape velocity is the minimum speed an object without propulsion, at that position, needs to have to move away indefinitely from the source of the field, as opposed to falling... The Smoky shot of Operation Plumbbob. ... An artists conception of the NASA reference design for the Project Orion spacecraft powered by nuclear propulsion. ...

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. Le Voyage dans la lune is a 1902 French science fiction black and white silent film known in its English language release as A Trip to the Moon. ... Georges Méliès (December 8, 1861 – January 21, 1938), full name Maries-Georges-Jean Méliès, was a French filmmaker famous for leading many technical and narrative developments in the earliest cinema. ... Categories: Movie stubs | 1902 films | French films | Science fiction films | Steampunk ... The classic opening logo of RKO Radio Pictures. ... Jules Vernes Rocket to the Moon (aka Rocket to the Moon) is a 1967 British science fiction comedy directed by Don Sharp and produced by Harry Alan Towers. ... Burl Icle Ivanhoe Ives (14 June 1909 – 14 April 1995) was an acclaimed American folk music singer, author, and actor. ... Terry-Thomas (left) and Clive Morton in a scene from Lucky Jim (1957) Terry-Thomas (Thomas Terence Hoare-Stephens) (14 July 1911 - 8 January 1990) was a distinctive British comic actor of the 1950s and 1960s. ...

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. Space Mountain is the name given to a popular genre or series of enclosed roller coaster rides at five Disney theme parks around the world. ... Castle of the Sleeping Beauty in Disneyland Park Disneyland Resort Paris is a theme park in Marne-la-Vallée, near Paris. ... The Happiest Homecoming on Earth, marketed outside of the United States of America as the Happiest Celebration on Earth is the eighteen-month long celebration hosted by The Walt Disney Company in honor of the fiftieth birthday of the American theme park Disneyland. ...

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. 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC (and also informally known as the Beeb or Auntie) is one of the largest broadcasting corporations in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the UK alone and with a budget of more than £4 billion. ... Space Mountain is the name given to a popular genre or series of enclosed roller coaster rides at five Disney theme parks around the world. ... Jules Verne. ... // In film formats, the sound track is the physical area of the film which records the synchronized sound. ... BBC Two (or BBC2 as it was formerly styled) was the second UK television station to be aired by the BBC. History The channel was scheduled to begin at 7:20pm on April 20, 1964 and show an evening of light entertainment, starting with the comedy show The Alberts and...

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. For the company founded by Disney, see The Walt Disney Company. ... Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne (1828–1905), published in 1870 under the title Vingt mille lieues sous les mers. ...

See also

• Lilith (moon)
• Verneshot
• Moon in art and literature

Lilith is a hypothetical natural satellite of Earth. ... A verneshot is a hypothetical volcanic eruption event which launches an extremely large rock into a sub-orbital trajectory. ... The Moon has been the subject of many works of art and literature and the inspiration for countless others. ...

External links

• From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon, available at Project Gutenberg. (English)
• From the Earth to the Moon - in HTML format.
• Jules Verne Moon Gun at Encyclopedia Astronautica, an analysis and comparison to Apollo.
• Gallery of images, from the 1874 edition, from the Smithsonian Institution