Moon landings in fiction

For other uses, see Moon landing (disambiguation).

Humans have imagined Moon landings long before the science and technology existed to actually perform them.

Because of its extreme difficulty and otherworldly nature, a successful Moon landing is viewed as being among humanity's greatest achievements.^[1] A Moon landing combines three essential elements: science, a description of "what" to do that conforms to the physical laws of the universe; technology, a means of "how" to do it using engineering and machines; and finally imagination, the human compulsion of "why" to do it.

Particularly in the United States, works of fiction helped to create the will to go the moon by creating a narrative that allowed people to feel good about themselves and their country in the face of the turbulent events of the 1950s and 1960s, when the Cold War was at its height.^[2] There was Soviet interest in science fiction literature and cinema, too, during the first half of the 20th Century—but it tended to focus on Mars landings rather than Moon landings.^[3] Key examples include the novel Red Star (1908) by Alexander Bogdanov and the film Aelita (1924) by Yakov Protazanov.

Well before the technology and knowledge of physical laws became sufficiently advanced to allow manned space-flight, going to the Moon was the dream of many people. It is not surprising,^{[says who?]} then, that with the passage of time, the idea of a Moon landing became a common trope in science fiction literature and cinema. Below is a partial list of notable "Moon landings" depicted in works of art.

Title	Author	Nationality	Release date	"Launch vehicle"	Notes
True History	Lucian	Greece	79 AD	Sailing ship lifted by waterspout	The first science fiction novel, with humans observing a war between aliens on the Moon and on the Sun.
The Divine Comedy	Dante Alighieri	Italy	1321	Beatrice, a ghostly guide	Dante discovers that the Moon is the First Sphere of Heaven, inhabited by souls who abandoned their vows and so were deficient in the virtue of fortitude.
Somnium	Johannes Kepler	Holy Roman Empire	1634	Walking across "shadow bridge"	Written by the astronomer who discovered that planets and moons travel in orbits, "The Dream" describes beings living on the Moon.
Histoire Comique de la Lune	Cyrano de Bergerac	France	1657	Multi-stage rocket	After meeting biblical figures and giants, Cyrano goes on trial to prove mankind is intelligent in this satirical, humorous romp.
The Conquest of the Moon	Washington Irving	United States	1809	?	Beings from the Moon land on Earth and enslave Earthlings in a political satire about early treatment of Native Americans
"The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall"	Edgar Allan Poe	United States	1835	Balloon	Poe's contribution predated but was overshadowed by the "Great Moon Hoax" of 1835, when an American newspaper reported the supposed discovery of life on the Moon.
From The Earth To The Moon	Jules Verne	France	1865	Cannon in Florida	A gun club produces a manned cannon projectile, with many eerie similarities to the eventual NASA Apollo program. Made into a French opera in 1875 and a film version in 1958, in addition to the classic Méliès 1902 film version listed below. The fate of the astronauts is explored in the sequel Around The Moon (1870). A key inspiration to Konstantin Tsiolkovsky and Hermann Oberth.
On The Moon	Konstantin Tsiolkovsky	Russia	1892	Rocket	One of over 500 space-oriented works produced by Tsiolkovsky, here the Moon is seen as an African veldt with numerous types of roaming alien wildlife.
The First Men In The Moon	H.G. Wells	United Kingdom	1901	Antigravity paint	Astronauts are captured by lunar inhabitants, with one left behind during an escape back to Earth. There was a 1919 film adaptation and a 1964 film adaptation, in addition to the classic Méliès 1902 version listed below. A key inspiration to Robert H. Goddard.
A Trip to the Moon	Georges Méliès	France	1902	Cannon projectile	The first science fiction film ever made includes the now iconic image of a spaceship landing in the eye of the Man in the Moon.
Woman In The Moon	Fritz Lang	Germany	1929	Rocketship "Friede"	This movie by the director of the earlier science fiction classic Metropolis depicts two men and a woman going to the Moon to find gold. A key inspiration to then-17-year-old Wernher von Braun.
Münchhausen	Josef von Báky	Germany	1943	fantastic hot air balloon	In this fantasy film, the ageless Baron Münchhausen travels to the moon with his servant, where the time is shown to run much quicker – so that the servant ages and dies.
Rocket Ship Galileo	Robert Heinlein	United States	1948	Atomic rocket	In this classic young adult novel, teenagers make the first voyage to the Moon only to find defeated Nazis have already made the trip.
Destination Moon	George Pal	United States	1950	Atomic rocket	A movie adaptation of Rocket Ship Galileo featuring adults vs. nature instead of teens vs. Nazis.
Man Will Conquer Space Soon!	Wernher von Braun, Chesley Bonestell	United States	1952	Multistage rockets	A famous series of articles printed in Collier's, a popular American news magazine.
Explorers on the Moon	Herge	Belgium	1954	Rocket	Europe's beloved comic book hero Tintin reaches the Moon.
Man and the Moon	Wernher von Braun, Walt Disney	United States	1955	Lunar Reconn Ship RM-1	Part of a famous Disney television docufiction series that included Man in Space and Mars and Beyond, now available on DVD.
The Outward Urge	John Wyndham	Great Britain	1959	Lunar Reconn Ship RM-1	Predicted simultaneous US and Soviet moon landings in the 2020s.
Apollo at Go	Jeff Sutton	United States	1963	Saturn V	Realistic fictional portrayal of the then-upcoming first Apollo Moon landing, ending with discovery of single-cell life on the Moon.
2001: A Space Odyssey	Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke	United Kingdom	1968	Commercial Pan Am Space Clipper	Epic science fiction film showing lengthy, detailed Moon landing scene with enormous impact among an audience anticipating actual Apollo landings in less than a year.

References

1. ^ "A President Issues NASA's First Historic Challenge". NASA. http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/jfk_speech.html. Retrieved 2009-11-17. 
2. ^ "The Moon was the perfect surface for a rewrite". London: Times Online. 2009-07-03. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/article6625971.ece. Retrieved 2009-11-17. 
3. ^ "From the Cradle to The Grave: Cosmonaut Nostalgia in Soviet and Post-Soviet Film". NASA. http://ntrs.nasa.gov/archive/nasa/casi.ntrs.nasa.gov/20090013344_2009012009.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-17.