From the Earth to the Moon

Credits and rights

Original writer

Jules Verne

Publisher of this edition

BoingyBooks Classics

Original publisher

Project Gutenberg

Adaptation credits

John Shoufler / BoingyBooks Classics — digital edition

Original source / edition

From the Earth to the Moon (1865)

License

Public Domain

License link

https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

Rights and adaptation notice

This work is in the public domain. John Shoufler published this digital edition through BoingyBooks Classics. The original work remains public domain and may be copied, adapted, and shared.

From the Earth to the Moon by Jules Verne (1865)

After the Civil War, the Baltimore Gun Club decides to fire a projectile at the Moon — and three men volunteer to ride inside it. Verne's remarkably prophetic novel predicted the Apollo program with uncanny accuracy.

Historical Significance:
Published in 1865, Verne's novel predicted: the launch site in Florida (near Cape Canaveral), a crew of three Americans, the use of a cannon-like launch system, weightlessness in space, a splashdown in the Pacific, and the cost approximately matching NASA's Apollo budget (adjusted for inflation). NASA's actual trajectory to the Moon was almost identical to Verne's fictional one. The novel, written 104 years before Apollo 11, is the most prophetic work of science fiction ever written. Georges Méliès' 1902 film A Trip to the Moon was based partly on this novel.

This public domain classic was originally published in 1865. Free to read and share.