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Fantascience Digest, v. 2, issue 4, May-June 1939

Page 21

FANTASCIENCE DIGEST                         Page 21

                  TRIP TO THE MOON 
                  By Milton A. Rothman


   The girders of the space ship arch up and around, interlaced in complicated pattern with pipes, conduits, and machinery. The pilot enters the door and strides over to the control panel. He signals the stations around the ship, and one by one the crew responds, their lights on the control board changing color as they check in. The controls are set, the master switch thrown, and the lights of the ship flicker as a roar sounds from without. The whining wind from without responds hollowly, and through a porthole the earth is seen receding with fantastic rapidity. Its continents, outlined in green and brown, embroidered with white clouds, contract, and ythe ship is off in space, en route to the moon.

   The ship lands on the moon, in the center of a large crater. It is before dawn, and the sky is flecked densely with stars, with the earth hanging motionless above, to one side. The sun rises slowly and the tips of the mountains on the west side of the crater become tinged with light as the sun's rays reach across and illumine them. Presently the entire crater is flooded with light, and the towering mountains are seen encircling the ship in all directions.

   The motionless earth is directly in the path of the crossing sun. The brilliant orb, haloed by a pearly corona continues its motion until it passes directly behind the planet. The atmosphere of the earth tinges the sun's light a dull crimson, and the crater's rim takes on a ruddy hue. The sun is entirely eclipsed, and no light but the bloody rays that have passed through the earth's atmosphere remains to brighten the moon. Finally the sun passes from behind the earth, and all is light again, until at the end of the lunar day the sun sets again, and the light fades, lingering briefly like a sparkling gem at the tip of the highest mountain on the eastern horizon.

   The space ship again prepares for flight; the rockets roar, and the vessel shoots towards earth, floating silently through the void until the roar of the atmosphere is heard around the ship.
   
   I saw that.

   I sat in a space ship, saw all the fantastic machinery, heard the rockets roar, saw the earth through the porthole, saw the crater of the moon, and the earth eclipsing the sun, and saw the sun rise and set on the moon.

   So did quite a few thousand other people in Philadelphia during the months of April and May, 1939.

   For the topic of the lecture at the Fels Planetarium in the Franklin Institute was: "A trip to the Moon." And it happened exactly as I described. Even more so.

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FANTASCIENCE DIGEST Page 21 TRIP TO THE MOON By Milton A. Rothman The girders of the space ship arch up and around, interlaced in complicated pattern with pipes, conduits, and machinery. The pilot enters the door and strides over to the control panel. He signals the stations around the ship, and one by one the crew responds, their lights on the control board changing color as they check in. The controls are set, the master switch thrown, and the lights of the ship flicker as a roar sounds from without. The whining wind from without responds hollowly, and through a porthole the earth is seen receding with fantastic rapidity. Its continents, outlined in green and brown, embroidered with white clouds, contract, and ythe ship is off in space, en route to the moon. The ship lands on the moon, in the center of a large crater. It is before dawn, and the sky is flecked densely with stars, with the earth hanging motionless above, to one side. The sun rises slowly and the tips of the mountains on the west side of the crater become tinged with light as the sun's rays reach across and illumine them. Presently the entire crater is flooded with light, and the towering mountains are seen encircling the ship in all directions. The motionless earth is directly in the path of the crossing sun. The brilliant orb, haloed by a pearly corona continues its motion until it passes directly behind the planet. The atmosphere of the earth tinges the sun's light a dull crimson, and the crater's rim takes on a ruddy hue. The sun is entirely eclipsed, and no light but the bloody rays that have passed through the earth's atmosphere remains to brighten the moon. Finally the sun passes from behind the earth, and all is light again, until at the end of the lunar day the sun sets again, and the light fades, lingering briefly like a sparkling gem at the tip of the highest mountain on the eastern horizon. The space ship again prepares for flight; the rockets roar, and the vessel shoots towards earth, floating silently through the void until the roar of the atmosphere is heard around the ship. I saw that. I sat in a space ship, saw all the fantastic machinery, heard the rockets roar, saw the earth through the porthole, saw the crater of the moon, and the earth eclipsing the sun, and saw the sun rise and set on the moon. So did quite a few thousand other people in Philadelphia during the months of April and May, 1939. For the topic of the lecture at the Fels Planetarium in the Franklin Institute was: "A trip to the Moon." And it happened exactly as I described. Even more so.