Happy Birthday Jules Verne
Explanation:
Sunday marks the 170th anniversary of the birth of
Jules Verne (born in Nantes, France on the 8th of February, 1828).
Inspired by a lifelong fascination with machines,
Verne wrote visionary works about
"Extraordinary Voyages" including
such terrestrial travels as
Around the World in 80 Days,
Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea.
In 1865 he published the story of three adventurers who undertook a journey
From the Earth to the Moon.
Verne's characters rode a
"projectile-vehicle"
fired from a huge cannon constructed in Florida.
Does that sound familiar?
A century later,
the Saturn V rocket and NASA's
Apollo program finally
turned this work of fiction into fact, propelling
adventuresome trios on what
was perhaps Verne's most extraordinary voyage.
This stirring floodlit view shows the Apollo 9 space-vehicle
atop its Saturn V.
Launched from
a spaceport in Florida in 1969,
the Apollo 9 crew were
the first to test all lunar landing hardware in space .
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
