After being fired out of the giant Columbiad, the bullet-shaped projectile
along with its three passengers, Barbicane, Nicholl and Michel Ardan, begins
the five-day trip to the moon. After a close collission with meteor the three
astronauts discover that the gravitational force of this satellite has sent
them into an orbit around the moon. As Barbicane, Ardan and Nicholl begin
geographical observations with opera glasses. They gain spectacular views of
Tycho, one of the greatest of all craters on the moon. But then the projectile
begins to move slowly away from the moon, towards the 'dead point', a place of
which the gravitational attraction of the moon and earth becomes equal. Michel
Ardan then hits upon the idea of using the rockets fixed to the bottom of the
projectile, but the rockets are fired too late and the projectile falls to the
earth at a speed of 115,200 miles per hour.
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All books by Jules Verne
