ROCKET TO THE MOON?


The favorite theme of science fiction is no longer a fantasy-latest advances in rocket research make it a distinct possibility.
BY WILLY LEY
Charter Member of British Interplanetary Society and Author of Rockets—Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere
THE STORY OF THE MOON GUN
WITH the exception of an occasional comet, our moon is the nearest of all celestial bodies. Its average distance, in round figures, is 240,000 miles. Sometimes it is distant by 13,000 miles more, sometimes, when the moon is closer in its orbital gyrations, it is almost 20,000 miles less. The average, or mean, of all the possible distances is 240,000 miles; or, if you want to be more precise, 238,900 miles.
As astronomical distances go, this is very close indeed; it is not even very far when a purely terrestrial yardstick is applied. I know a Hollywood producer who, for business reasons, has to come to New York five times every year. After eight years of flying to New York five times a year and back, he will have travelled the whole distance to the moon. Taken as one trip, it would be 900 hours on a fast transport, 600 hours on a modern fighter plane.