From the Earth to the Moon

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For the 1998 HBO miniseries, see From the Earth to the Moon (HBO).

From the Earth to the Moon (French: De la Terre à la Lune) is a humorous science fiction 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 space ship 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).

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:

Verne's cannon was named the Columbiad while the Apollo 11 command module was named Columbia.
The spacecraft crew consisted of three people 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 the where Apollo 11 also did.

The character of "Michel Ardan" in the novel was inspired by Nadar. Image:FETMlaunch.jpg The novel inspired the first science fiction film, Le Voyage dans la Lune (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 ride Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune in Disneyland Paris, was originally based loosely on this novel, with the ambience being that of the book being noted throughout out 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 of 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 story line was changed.

In 1995 the BBC made a documentary about the creation of Space Mountain, called "Shoot For The Moon". It was a fascinating 44 minute program, following 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 was originally broadcast on BBC2 in the UK, but was also aired on other channels in many different 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 Vernes' other famous literary work, "20,000 Leagues under the Sea."

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