PRELIMINARY CHAPTER
THE FIRST PART OF THIS WORK, AND SERVING AS A PREFACE TO THE SECOND
During the year 186-, the whole world was greatly excited by ascientific experiment unprecedented in the annals of science.The members of the Gun Club, a circle of artillerymen formed atBaltimore after the American war, conceived the idea ofputting themselves in communication with the moon!-- yes, withthe moon-- by sending to her a projectile. Their president,Barbicane, the promoter of the enterprise, having consulted theastronomers of the Cambridge Observatory upon the subject, tookall necessary means to ensure the success of this extraordinaryenterprise, which had been declared practicable by the majorityof competent judges. After setting on foot a publicsubscription, which realized nearly L1,200,000, they began thegigantic work.
According to the advice forwarded from the members of theObservatory, the gun destined to launch the projectile had to befixed in a country situated between the 0 and 28th degrees ofnorth or south latitude, in order to aim at the moon when at thezenith; and its initiatory velocity was fixed at twelve thousandyards to the second. Launched on the 1st of December, at 10hrs.46m. 40s. P.M., it ought to reach the moon four days after itsdeparture, that is on the 5th of December, at midnightprecisely, at the moment of her attaining her perigee, that isher nearest distance from the earth, which is exactly 86,410leagues (French), or 238,833 miles mean distance (English).
The principal members of the Gun Club, President Barbicane,Major Elphinstone, the secretary Joseph T. Maston, and otherlearned men, held several meetings, at which the shape andcomposition of the projectile were discussed, also the positionand nature of the gun, and the quality and quantity of powderto be used. It was decided: First, that the projectile shouldbe a shell made of aluminum with a diameter of 108 inches and athickness of twelve inches to its walls; and should weigh19,250 pounds. Second, that the gun should be a Columbiadcast in iron, 900 feet long, and run perpendicularly intothe earth. Third, that the charge should contain 400,000 poundsof gun-cotton, which, giving out six billions of litres of gas inrear of the projectile, would easily carry it toward the orb of night.
These questions determined President Barbicane, assisted byMurchison the engineer, to choose a spot situated in Florida,
[email protected] 7' North latitude, and
[email protected] 3' West (Greenwich) longitude.It was on this spot, after stupendous labor, that the Columbiadwas cast with full success. Things stood thus, when an incidenttook place which increased the interest attached to this greatenterprise a hundredfold.
A Frenchman, an enthusiastic Parisian, as witty as he was bold,asked to be enclosed in the projectile, in order that he mightreach the moon, and reconnoiter this terrestrial satellite.The name of this intrepid adventurer was Michel Ardan. He landedin America, was received with enthusiasm, held meetings, sawhimself carried in triumph, reconciled President Barbicane tohis mortal enemy, Captain Nicholl, and, as a token ofreconciliation, persuaded them both to start with him inthe projectile. The proposition being accepted, the shapeof the projectile was slightly altered. It was made of acylindro-conical form. This species of aerial car was lined withstrong springs and partitions to deaden the shock of departure.It was provided with food for a year, water for some months,and gas for some days. A self-acting apparatus supplied thethree travelers with air to breathe. At the same time, on oneof the highest points of the Rocky Mountains, the Gun Club hada gigantic telescope erected, in order that they might be ableto follow the course of the projectile through space. All wasthen ready.
On the 30th of November, at the hour fixed upon, from the midstof an extraordinary crowd of spectators, the departure took place,and for the first time, three human beings quitted the terrestrialglobe, and launched into inter-planetary space with almost acertainty of reaching their destination. These bold travelers,Michel Ardan, President Barbicane, and Captain Nicholl, ought tomake the passage in ninety-seven hours, thirteen minutes, andtwenty seconds. Consequently, their arrival on the lunar disccould not take place until the 5th of December at twelve at night,at the exact moment when the moon should be full, and not on the4th, as some badly informed journalists had announced.
But an unforeseen circumstance, viz., the detonation producedby the Columbiad, had the immediate effect of troubling theterrestrial atmosphere, by accumulating a large quantity ofvapor, a phenomenon which excited universal indignation, for themoon was hidden from the eyes of the watchers for several nights.
The worthy Joseph T. Maston, the staunchest friend of the threetravelers, started for the Rocky Mountains, accompanied by theHon. J. Belfast, director of the Cambridge Observatory, andreached the station of Long's Peak, where the telescope waserected which brought the moon within an apparent distance oftwo leagues. The honorable secretary of the Gun Club wishedhimself to observe the vehicle of his daring friends.
The accumulation of the clouds in the atmosphere prevented allobservation on the 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th of December.Indeed it was thought that all observations would have to be putoff to the 3d of January in the following year; for the moonentering its last quarter on the 11th, would then only presentan ever-decreasing portion of her disc, insufficient to allowof their following the course of the projectile.
At length, to the general satisfaction, a heavy storm clearedthe atmosphere on the night of the 11th and 12th of December,and the moon, with half-illuminated disc, was plainly to be seenupon the black sky.
That very night a telegram was sent from the station of Long'sPeak by Joseph T. Maston and Belfast to the gentlemen of theCambridge Observatory, announcing that on the 11th of Decemberat 8h. 47m. P.M., the projectile launched by the Columbiad ofStones Hill had been detected by Messrs. Belfast and Maston--that it had deviated from its course from some unknown cause,and had not reached its destination; but that it had passed nearenough to be retained by the lunar attraction; that itsrectilinear movement had been changed to a circular one, andthat following an elliptical orbit round the star of night ithad become its satellite. The telegram added that the elementsof this new star had not yet been calculated; and indeed threeobservations made upon a star in three different positions arenecessary to determine these elements. Then it showed that thedistance separating the projectile from the lunar surface "might"be reckoned at about 2,833 miles.
It ended with the double hypothesis: either the attraction ofthe moon would draw it to herself, and the travelers thus attaintheir end; or that the projectile, held in one immutable orbit,would gravitate around the lunar disc to all eternity.
With such alternatives, what would be the fate of the travelers?Certainly they had food for some time. But supposing they didsucceed in their rash enterprise, how would they return?Could they ever return? Should they hear from them?These questions, debated by the most learned pens of the day,strongly engrossed the public attention.
It is advisable here to make a remark which ought to be wellconsidered by hasty observers. When a purely speculativediscovery is announced to the public, it cannot be done with toomuch prudence. No one is obliged to discover either a planet,a comet, or a satellite; and whoever makes a mistake in such acase exposes himself justly to the derision of the mass.Far better is it to wait; and that is what the impatient JosephT. Maston should have done before sending this telegram forth tothe world, which, according to his idea, told the whole resultof the enterprise. Indeed this telegram contained two sorts oferrors, as was proved eventually. First, errors of observation,concerning the distance of the projectile from the surface ofthe moon, for on the 11th of December it was impossible to seeit; and what Joseph T. Maston had seen, or thought he saw, couldnot have been the projectile of the Columbiad. Second, errors oftheory on the fate in store for the said projectile; for in makingit a satellite of the moon, it was putting it in directcontradiction of all mechanical laws.
One single hypothesis of the observers of Long's Peak could everbe realized, that which foresaw the case of the travelers (ifstill alive) uniting their efforts with the lunar attraction toattain the surf
ace of the disc.
Now these men, as clever as they were daring, had survived theterrible shock consequent on their departure, and it is theirjourney in the projectile car which is here related in its mostdramatic as well as in its most singular details. This recitalwill destroy many illusions and surmises; but it will give atrue idea of the singular changes in store for such anenterprise; it will bring out the scientific instincts ofBarbicane, the industrious resources of Nicholl, and theaudacious humor of Michel Ardan. Besides this, it will provethat their worthy friend, Joseph T. Maston, was wasting histime, while leaning over the gigantic telescope he watched thecourse of the moon through the starry space.