For nearly two millennia, storytellers have devised some ingenious methods to get their characters to the Moon. Here are just a few highlights:

• Giant waterspout: True History, Lucian of Samosata, ca. 2nd century AD

• A “shadow bridge”: Somnium, Johannes Kepler, 1634

• Multi-stage rocket*: Histoire Comique de la Lune, Cyrano de Bergerac, 1657

• Lunarium**: A Voyage to the Moon, George Tucker, 1827

• Balloon: “The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfall,” Edgar Allan Poe, 1835

• Giant Cannon: From the Earth to the Moon, Jules Verne, 1865

• Antigravity metal: First Men in the Moon, H.G. Wells, 1901

*This is the first mention of a multi-stage rocket in literature.

**A metal that is only partially antigravitational: it is repelled by the Earth but attracted by the Moon.



The story is framed as Kepler’s dream. The main character, the young son of an Icelandic woman who might be a witch, is fascinated by astronomy and serves as a stand-in for Kepler himself. Much of the book is a riveting (and in some ways accurate) account of the boy’s journey through space to the Moon, including whom he encounters and what he observes.In the tale, there exists an omnipresent aether that fills the void between Earth and the Moon. It's very cold, so humans must rely on summoned demons to keep them warm. The human travelers must also plug their noses with damp sponges to help them breathe. The trip is so stressful that they must be put in suspended animation. Kepler’s descriptions of how the Earth would look from the Moon are surprisingly accurate, even by today’s standards. Overall, the science in Somnium is remarkable for its time.Most subsequent stories about lunar journeys were satires, like George Tucker’s 1827 work: A Voyage to the Moon. But writers also began treating tales of lunar voyages a bit more seriously. Edgar Allan Poe’s 1835 story, "The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall," was a mix of satire and serious speculative fiction. The imaginative breakthrough came three decades later from the pen of French writer Jules Verne: From the Earth to the Moon (1865), followed by Around the Moon (1870).In Verne's work, members of the post-Civil War Baltimore Gun Club use an arguably scientific method — a giant cannon — to shoot their travelers around the Moon. But they don’t land. Instead, they experience a series of misadventures while in orbit around the Moon before eventually making their way back to Earth.On the other hand, the two protagonists of H.G. Wells’ 1901 novel The First Men in the Moon use a “hand-waving science” method of travel. But they actually land on the Moon, explore it, and return. In the story, an eccentric physicist named Cavor plans to land on the Moon in a ship of his own design powered by a metal he invented with antigravity properties called “cavorite.” After enlisting the reluctant help of an English businessman named Bedford, they build a steel sphere with glass windows and sliding cavorite shutters. Sliding these open and closed allows them to “steer” the ship to the Moon.Off they go, weightlessness on the way. They land safely on the Moon (which has a breathable atmosphere) and explore its surface. They then drunkenly enter the Moon’s underground caverns, where they are promptly captured by insectoid extraterrestrials called Selenites. After more harrowing experiences, the two men escape and make their way back to the lunar surface. They split up, looking for their ship, but Cavor is injured. Bedford reluctantly leaves the Moon, alone. Later, home and safe, Bedford learns that scientists are receiving radio transmissions from Cavor, who is still alive and still trapped in the Moon.