The Brick Moon

Infobox short story
name = The Brick Moon
author = Edward Everett Hale
country = United States
language = English
series =
genre = Science fiction
published_in = The Atlantic Monthly
publication_type = magazine
publisher =
media_type = Print (Paperback)
pub_date = 1869

"The Brick Moon" is a short story by Edward Everett Hale, published serially in "The Atlantic Monthly" starting in 1869. [cite web | url = http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1633 | title = The Brick Moon and Other Stories by Edward Everett Hale | publisher = Project Gutenberg] [cite web | url = http://cdl.library.cornell.edu/cgi-bin/moa/pageviewer?frames=1&cite=http%3A%2F%2Fcdl.library.cornell.edu%2Fcgi-bin%2Fmoa%2Fmoa-cgi%3Fnotisid%3DABK2934-0024-50&coll=moa&view=50&root=%2Fmoa%2Fatla%2Fatla0024%2F&tif=00005.TIF | title = Contents - The Atlantic monthly. Volume 24, Issue 141 | publisher = Cornell University Library] It is a work of speculative fiction containing the first known depiction of an artificial satellite.

Synopsis

"The Brick Moon" is written as if it were a journal. It describes the construction and launch into orbit of a sphere, 200 ft. in diameter, built of bricks. It is intended as a navigational aid, but is accidentally launched with people aboard. It thus also provides the first known fictional description of a space station.

Related works

In 1865 Jules Verne had published his novel, "From the Earth to the Moon", which includes the notion of human spaceflight, but not the idea of an artificial satellite.

In 1979 the Wagner College Planetarium presented a public show which incorporated an adaptation by planetarium director Thomas Wm. Hamilton of "The Brick Moon".

References