From the Earth to the Moon, Direct in Ninety-Seven Hours and Twenty Minutes: and a Trip Round It

by Jules Verne

  CHAPTER XIX.

  A STRUGGLE AGAINST THE IMPOSSIBLE.

  For a long time Barbicane and his companions looked silently and sadlyupon that world which they had only seen from a distance, as Moses sawthe land of Canaan, and which they were leaving without a possibility ofever returning to it. The projectile's position with regard to the moonhad altered, and the base was now turned to the earth.

  This change, which Barbicane verified, did not fail to surprise them.If the projectile was to gravitate round the satellite in an ellipticalorbit, why was not its heaviest part turned towards it, as the moon turnshers to the earth? That was a difficult point.

  In watching the course of the projectile they could see that on leavingthe moon it followed a course analogous to that traced in approachingher. It was describing a very long ellipse, which would most likelyextend to the point of equal attraction, where the influences of theearth and its satellite are neutralized.

  Such was the conclusion which Barbicane very justly drew from factsalready observed, a conviction which his two friends shared with him.

  "And when arrived at this dead point, what will become of us?" askedMichel Ardan.

  "We don't know," replied Barbicane.

  "But one can draw some hypotheses, I suppose?"

  "Two," answered Barbicane; "either the projectile's speed will beinsufficient, and it will remain for immovable on this line of doubleattraction--"

  "I prefer the other hypothesis, whatever it may be," interrupted Michel.

  "Or," continued Barbicane, "its speed will be sufficient, and it willcontinue its elliptical course, to gravitate for ever around the orb ofnight."

  "A revolution not at all consoling," said Michel, "to pass to the stateof humble servants to a moon whom we are accustomed to look upon as ourown handmaid. So that is the fate in store for us?"

  Neither Barbicane nor Nicholl answered.

  "You do not answer," continued Michel impatiently.

  "There is nothing to answer," said Nicholl.

  "Is there nothing to try?"

  "No," answered Barbicane. "Do you pretend to fight against the impossible?"

  "Why not? Do one Frenchman and two Americans shrink from such a word?"

  "But what would you do?"

  "Subdue this motion which is bearing us away."

  "Subdue it?"

  "Yes," continued Michel, getting animated, "or else alter it, and employit to the accomplishment of our own ends."

  "And how?"

  "That is your affair. If artillerymen are not masters of their projectilethey are not artillerymen. If the projectile is to command the gunner,we had better ram the gunner into the gun. My faith! fine savants! whodo not know what is to become of us after inducing me--"

  "Inducing you!" cried Barbicane and Nicholl. "Inducing you! What do youmean by that?"

  "No recrimination," said Michel. "I do not complain; the trip has pleasedme, the projectile agrees with me; but let us do all that is humanlypossible to do to fall somewhere, even if only on the moon."

  Illustration: AROUND THE PROJECTILE WERE THE OBJECTS WHICH HAD BEEN THROWN OUT.

  "We ask no better, my worthy Michel," replied Barbicane, "but means failus."

  "We cannot alter the motion of the projectile?"

  "No."

  "Nor diminish its speed?"

  "No."

  "Not even by lightening it, as they lighten an overloaded vessel?"

  "What would you throw out?" said Nicholl. "We have no ballast on board;and indeed it seems to me that if lightened it would go much quicker."

  "Slower."

  "Quicker."

  "Neither slower nor quicker," said Barbicane, wishing to make his twofriends agree; "for we float in space, and must no longer considerspecific weight."

  "Very well," cried Michel Ardan in a decided voice; "then there remainsbut one thing to do."

  "What is it?" said Nicholl.

  "Breakfast," answered the cool, audacious Frenchman, who always broughtup this solution at the most difficult juncture.

  In any case, if this operation had no influence on the projectile'scourse, it could at least be tried without inconvenience, and even withsuccess from a stomachic point of view. Certainly Michel had none butgood ideas.

  They breakfasted then at two in the morning; the hour mattered little.Michel served his usual repast, crowned by a glorious bottle drawn fromhis private cellar. If ideas did not crowd on their brains, we mustdespair of the Chambertin of 1853. The repast finished, observationsbegan again. Around the projectile, at an invariable distance, werethe objects which had been thrown out. Evidently, in its translatorymotion round the moon, it had not passed through any atmosphere, forthe specific weight of these different objects would have checked theirrelative speed.

  On the side of the terrestrial sphere nothing was to be seen. The earthwas but a day old, having been new the night before at twelve; and twodays must elapse before its crescent, freed from the solar rays, wouldserve as a clock to the Selenites, as in its rotary movement each of itspoints after twenty-four hours repasses the same lunar meridian.

  On the moon's side the sight was different; the orb shone in all hersplendour amidst innumerable constellations, whose purity could not betroubled by her rays. On the disc, the plains were already returning tothe dark tint which is seen from the earth. The other part of the nimbusremained brilliant, and in the midst of this general brilliancy Tychoshone prominently like a sun.

  Barbicane had no means of estimating the projectile's speed, butreasoning showed that it must uniformly decrease, according to the laws ofmechanical reasoning. Having admitted that the projectile was describingan orbit round the moon, this orbit must necessarily be elliptical;science proves that it must be so. No motive body circulating round anattracting body fails in this law. Every orbit described in space iselliptical. And why should the projectile of the Gun Club escape thisnatural arrangement? In elliptical orbits, the attracting body alwaysoccupies one of the foci; so that at one moment the satellite is nearer,and at another farther from the orb around which it gravitates. When theearth is nearest the sun she is in her perihelion; and in her aphelionat the farthest point. Speaking of the moon, she is nearest to the earthin her perigee, and farthest from it in her apogee. To use analogousexpressions, with which the astronomers' language is enriched, if theprojectile remains as a satellite of the moon, we must say that it isin its "aposelene" at its farthest point, and in its "periselene" at itsnearest. In the latter case, the projectile would attain its maximum ofspeed; and in the former its minimum. It was evidently moving towardsits aposelenitical point; and Barbicane had reason to think that itsspeed would decrease up to this point, and then increase by degrees asit neared the moon. This speed would even become _nil_, if this pointjoined that of equal attraction. Barbicane studied the consequences ofthese different situations, and thinking what inference he could drawfrom them, when he was roughly disturbed by a cry from Michel Ardan.

  "By Jove!" he exclaimed, "I must admit we are downright simpletons!"

  "I do not say we are not," replied Barbicane; "but why?"

  "Because we have a very simple means of checking this speed which isbearing us from the moon, and we do not use it!"

  "And what is the means?"

  "To use the recoil contained in our rockets."

  "Done!" said Nicholl.

  "We have not used this force yet," said Barbicane, "it is true, but wewill do so."

  "When?" asked Michel.

  "When the time comes. Observe, my friends, that in the position occupiedby the projectile, an oblique position with regard to the lunar disc,our rockets, in slightly altering its direction, might turn it from themoon instead of drawing it nearer?"

  "Just so," replied Michel.

  "Let us wait, then. By some inexplicable influence, the projectile isturning its base towards the earth. It is probable that at the pointof equal attraction, its conical cap will be directed rigidly towardsthe moon; at that moment we m
ay hope that its speed will be _nil_; thenwill be the moment to act, and with the influence of our rockets we mayperhaps provoke a fall directly on the surface of the lunar disc."

  "Bravo!" said Michel. "What we did not do, what we could not do on ourfirst passage at the dead point, because the projectile was then endowedwith too great a speed."

  "Very well reasoned," said Nicholl.

  "Let us wait patiently," continued Barbicane. "Putting every chance onour side, and after having so much despaired, I may say I think that weshall gain our end."

  This conclusion was a signal for Michel Ardan's hips and hurrahs. Andnone of the audacious boobies remembered the question that they themselveshad solved in the negative. No! the moon is not inhabited; no! the moonis probably not habitable. And yet they were going to try every thing toreach her.

  One single question remained to be solved. At what precise moment theprojectile would reach the point of equal attraction, on which thetravellers must play their last card. In order to calculate this towithin a few seconds, Barbicane had only to refer to his notes, andto reckon the different heights taken on the lunar parallels. Thus thetime necessary to travel over the distance between the dead point andthe south pole would be equal to the distance separating the north polefrom the dead point. The hours representing the time travelled overwere carefully noted, and the calculation was easy. Barbicane found thatthis point would be reached at one in the morning on the night of the7th--8th of December. So that, if nothing interfered with its course,it would reach the given point in twenty-two hours.

  The rockets had primarily been placed to check the fall of the projectileupon the moon, and now they were going to employ them for a directlycontrary purpose. In any case they were ready, and they had only to waitfor the moment to set fire to them.

  "Since there is nothing else to be done," said Nicholl, "I make aproposition."

  "What is it?" asked Barbicane.

  "I propose to go to sleep."

  "What a motion!" exclaimed Michel Ardan.

  "It is forty hours since we closed our eyes," said Nicholl. "Some hoursof sleep will restore our strength."

  Illustration: "THESE PRACTICAL PEOPLE HAVE SOMETIMES MOST OPPORTUNE IDEAS."

  "Never," interrupted Michel.

  "Well," continued Nicholl, "every one to his taste; I shall go to sleep."And stretching himself on the divan, he soon snored like a forty-eightpounder.

  "That Nicholl has a good deal of sense," said Barbicane, "presently Ishall follow his example." Some moments after his continued base supportedthe captain's barytone.

  "Certainly," said Michel Ardan, finding himself alone, "these practicalpeople have sometimes most opportune ideas."

  And with his long legs stretched out, and his great arms folded underhis head, Michel slept in his turn.

  But this sleep could be neither peaceful nor lasting, the minds of thesethree men were too much occupied, and some hours after, about seven inthe morning, all three were on foot at the same instant.

  The projectile was still leaving the moon, and turning its conical partmore and more towards her.

  An explicable phenomenon, but one which happily served Barbicane's ends.

  Seventeen hours more, and the moment for action would have arrived.

  The day seemed long. However bold the travellers might be, they weregreatly impressed by the approach of that moment which would decideall--either precipitate their fall on to the moon, or for ever chainthem in an immutable orbit. They counted the hours as they passed tooslow for their wish; Barbicane and Nicholl were obstinately plunged intheir calculations, Michel going and coming between the narrow walls,and watching that impassive moon with a longing eye.

  At times recollections of the earth crossed their minds. They saw oncemore their friends of the Gun Club, and the dearest of all, J. T. Maston.At that moment, the honourable secretary must be filling his post onthe Rocky Mountains. If he could see the projectile through the glass ofhis gigantic telescope, what would he think? After seeing it disappearbehind the moon's south pole, he would see them reappear by the northpole! They must therefore be a satellite of a satellite! Had J. T. Mastongiven this unexpected news to the world? Was this the denouement of thisgreat enterprise?

  But the day passed without incident. The terrestrial midnight arrived.The 8th of December was beginning. One hour more, and the point of equalattraction would be reached. What speed would then animate the projectile?They could not estimate it. But no error could vitiate Barbicane'scalculations. At one in the morning this speed ought to be and would be_nil._

  Besides, another phenomenon would mark the projectile's stopping-point onthe neutral line. At that spot the two attractions, lunar and terrestrial,would be annulled. Objects would "weigh" no more. This singular fact,which had surprised Barbicane and his companions so much in going, wouldbe repeated on their return under the very same conditions. At thisprecise moment they must act.

  Already the projectile's conical top was sensibly turned towards thelunar disc, presented in such a way as to utilize the whole of the recoilproduced by the pressure of the rocket apparatus. The chances were infavour of the travellers. If its speed was utterly annulled on this deadpoint, a decided movement towards the moon would suffice, however slight,to determine its fall.

  "Five minutes to one," said Nicholl.

  "All is ready," replied Michel Ardan, directing a lighted match to theflame of the gas.

  "Wait!" said Barbicane, holding his chronometer in his hand.

  At that moment weight had no effect. The travellers felt in themselvesthe entire disappearance of it. They were very near the neutral point,if they did not touch it.

  "One o'clock," said Barbicane.

  Michel Ardan applied the lighted match to a train in communication withthe rockets. No detonation was heard in the inside, for there was no air.But, through the scuttles Barbicane saw a prolonged smoke, the flames ofwhich were immediately extinguished.

  Illustration: ARDEN APPLIED THE LIGHTED MATCH.

  The projectile sustained a certain shock, which was sensibly felt in theinterior.

  The three friends looked and listened without speaking, and scarcelybreathing. One might have heard the beating of their hearts amidst thisperfect silence.

  "Are we falling?" asked Michel Ardan, at length.

  "No," said Nicholl, "since the bottom of the projectile is not turningto the lunar disc!"

  At this moment, Barbicane, quitting the scuttle, turned to his twocompanions. He was frightfully pale, his forehead wrinkled, and his lipscontracted.

  "We are falling!" said he.

  "Ah!" cried Michel Ardan, "on to the moon?"

  "On to the earth!"

  "The devil!" exclaimed Michel Ardan, adding philosophically, "well, whenwe came into this projectile we were very doubtful as to the ease withwhich we should get out of it!"

  And now this fearful fall had begun. The speed retained had borne theprojectile beyond the dead point. The explosion of the rockets could notdivert its course. This speed in going had carried it over the neutralline, and in returning had done the same thing. The laws of physicscondemned _it to pass through every point which it had already gonethrough_. It was a terrible fall, from a height of 160,000 miles, and nosprings to break it. According to the laws of gunnery, the projectilemust strike the earth with a speed equal to that with which it left themouth of the Columbiad, a speed of 16,000 yards in the last second.

  But to give some figures of comparison, it has been reckoned that anobject thrown from the top of the towers of Notre Dame, the height ofwhich is only 200 feet, will arrive on the pavement at a speed of 240miles per hour. Here the projectile must strike the earth with a speedof 115,200 miles per hour.

  "We are lost!" said Michel coolly.

  "Very well! if we die," answered Barbicane, with a sort of religiousenthusiasm, "the result of our travels will be magnificently spread.It is His own secret that God will tell us! In the other life the soulwill want to know nothing, either of mac
hines or engines! It will beidentified with eternal wisdom!"

  "In fact," interrupted Michel Ardan, "the whole of the other world maywell console us for the loss of that inferior orb called the moon!"

  Barbicane crossed his arms on his breast, with a motion of sublimeresignation, saying at the same time,--

  "The will of heaven be done!"