Yes, it was.

Actually it had several rockets that they intended to use in the final stage of the moon descent, but in the end they've used them to de-orbit and return to Earth (actually they wanted to de-orbit toward the Moon, but the manoeuver didn't worked as planed).

No, it didn't crash on the Moon.

Actually while above the far side of the Moon they've caught a glimpse of a landscape (moonscape?) and in those few seconds they've seen some features that could have been interpreted as vegetation, but the issue remains unanswered in the book.

IMO is more science than fiction; IIRC the first chapters of the book contain a detailed calculation of the escape velocities, fire angle, transit times, propelant parameters, etc, etc...I'd love to see such OOM calculations on the ATM section of this very board.

Yes

No, it had rockets for lunar landing and take off

No - thrown of course by earth's second satellite

No

For 1865 it was great science - give the man a break!


In fact, most of what purports to be science fiction nowadays is about as scientific, being fantasy by another name. Bring back Asimov,Clarke, Niven, and Ian M.Banks!
John[/quote]

Niven pulls more fast ones than Verne ever did and has dated a lot faster.

Jon

Moon-based radiotelescope planned
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=19248
Leiden -- EADS SPACE Transportation and the Netherlands Foundation for Astronomy ASTRON/LOFAR signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday in Leiden, Netherlands. The companies want to test the feasibility of a long wave radio telescope on the moon. A Dutch and German preliminary study should be the first phase. The program is then likely to be expanded in a second phase to include other European participants through ESA. EADS SPACE and ASTRON are therefore contributing to a European moon program.

Italy plans telescope on moon
http://www.physorg.com/news9589.html
Italy plans to build a telescope on the moon to expand its knowledge of the universe, the Italian News Agency ANSA says.


aboout the ATV

Flight profile
'Jules Verne' will be the first of 8 ATVs planned to be launched from 2006 throughout the following ten years. The 20,7 tonnes ATV is well protected at the top of Ariane 5 during the three minutes of high pressure aerodynamic ascent.
http://www.spaceflight.esa.int/proje...el=11&page=380
The 20.7-tonne cargo ship can interrupt the rendezvous at any time  by stopping its motion and by flying away from the 120-ton ISS.
'Jules Verne' will demonstrate all these capabilities and re-supply ISS with 6.7 tonnes of water, refuelling propellant for the station, and dry cargo such as bags.
When the docking is achieved, 'Jules Verne' will be an intrinsic part of the ISS for up to six months.

The European Robotic Arm (ERA)
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEM838OVGJE_index_0.html

atv power point presentation
http://www.astron.nl/p/news/LO/ATV-Vortrag.ppt

Successful downlink communication test for ATV from ISS
http://www.esa.int/esaHS/SEMUSSM65LE_index_0.html
27 March 2006
Earlier this month, 352 kilometres above the Earth, over three orbital passes, the proximity communication link - indispensable for the first Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) rendezvous with the International Space Station (ISS) - was able to transmit "loud and clear" signals from the Station to two ground stations in Spain during a downlink test.

Europe set for bigger station role
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5186646.stm

Esa has promised five ATV cargo ships to the space station project through to 2015.

Jules Verne in space? Jules Verne was never in space...

It's concievable that a gun-launched vehicle, even one containing humans, could survive a shot to the moon. There would have to be provisions, of course, such as saline-immersed astronauts (to take the incredible g-forces), a very lengthy gun with staged, sealable compartments (boom-----boom----boom---boom--boom-boomboom!), and a lunar orbiter/lander capable of withstanding the acceleration.

But it's certainly doable.

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. A human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

ATV on track for 2007 debut

http://www.nasaspaceflight.com/content/?cid=4677

Verne missed the fact that when you open a hatch there would be explosive decompression, however, no one attempts to breath in a vacuum.

If I recall Verne also predicted the splashdown as the Columbiad shell is found floating off the California coast by a passing steamer.

I also seem to recall there was a lot of debate in the second half of the book as to whether the moon's craters were volcanic or meteoric in origin. Apparently that was a major source of scientific controversy back then.

Agreed, but you forgot Heinlein, one of the more hard-science SF writers of all time. True, some of his work was out there, but much of the earlier stuff has come to pass in many ways.

And my favorite works by JV include 20,000 Leagues and The Mysterious Island, both unabridged.

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. A human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

ATV during acoustic test in ESTEC
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMCKHZ7QQE_FeatureWeek_0.html
The ATV resupply ship is Europe's main contribution for the operational phase of the ISS programme. The first flight is due in 2007. The ATV will be launched by Ariane 5 every 15-18 months and will remain docked to the ISS for six months, as a pressurized and integral part of the Station, providing an additional 43 cubic-metres of volume accessible to the crew. At the end of its mission, it will be loaded with up to 6500 kg of waste. After undocking, it will be sent on a re-entry trajectory leading to its disintegration in the atmosphere.

Jules Verne goes hot and cold

http://www.physorg.com/news85317725.html

Worldwide testing and ISS traffic push ATV launch to autumn 2007
http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=22192

As launch window has revived this thread:

Other authors due for recognition:

Rudyard Kipling? Bet you didn't expect him? But he was an enormously wide ranging author, who wrote SF and fantasy as well as hard journalism, epic poetry and excellent novels. In particular, his "With the Night Mail" matches the finest of the hard SF writers, and "Puck" with any fantasist. John Campbell thought highly of him, John Brunner put together a collection of his SF stories.
But I suppose he's not a runner as he never wrote of space travel.

JOhn

Yeah! Although I'm sure it took Back to the Future Part III to bring his name into the limelight.

Mysterious Island was always one of my most favorite novels.

__________________
I am Mugs, of the Alien clan of Usa, Nordamerica, a Terran, of Sol. A human.

Whoever says "perception is reality" is daft. It's merely an abstraction, and often not a very good one.

??? JV was in the limelight long before then. The allusion would not have worked unless JV was a name well known the to viewers of that movie. In fact he would be the only SF writer of the period whose name is widely known today.

Not only have manynof his books been continuously in print, there may been many film versions (of varying quality) of different ones - Round the World in 80 days, Jourrey to the Centre of the Earth, 20,000 Leagues to the Bottom of the Sea. Duering the Apollo period there was an enormous revival of interest in From the Earth to the Moon and Round the Moon.

"Have no trouble" is not the word I'd use -- they nearly die, but from cold, not from decompression. Which is forgivable -- I don't think anyone in 1860's knew what low pressure actually does. Or high pressure, for that matter.

__________________
Fiction has to be plausible. Reality is under no such constraint.

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMQ2AMJC0F_index_0.html
Space Truckin by Deep Purple ?
Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon
Star Trekkin'! We come in peace! (shoot to kill, shoot to kill, men!)
2000 Light Years from Home from the Rolling Stones ?
Rocket Man by Elton John.
prodigy Out Of Space
Astronomy by Metallica
musical version of war of the worlds ?
The Planets by Holst

"From the tea-Rooms of Mars ..to the Hell-holes of Uranus" by Landscape