Chapter I
FROM EARTH TO THE MOON
Ever since man has been upon the Earth he has observed the stars in the heavens and wondered about them. As he watched their movement across the heavens night after night, his curiosity has been awakened and he has wondered just what these diamonds in the sky were made of and what they were like.
As his curiosity has grown, man has worked constantly seeking an answer to these questions of his mind. Thus he has developed the telescope from its first crude beginning to the present large two hundred inch in the Hale Observatory on Mount Palomar.
Hand in hand with the developing of the telescope for the past quarter of a century has gone the development of the airplane, and with it the ever mounting hope in man's heart that soon he will be able to make a trip to his nearest neighbor in the sky, the Moon.
This in spite of the fact that for centuries man on Earth has been taught that there is no atmosphere on the Moon. Yet as the telescopes had been developed to greater and greater size and perfection, storms had been observed around the Moon. Also from time to time a state of what scientists called atmospheric movements had been noted. Thus even when our plans for making this trip were first being worked out, we were of the firm conviction that the Moon did have atmosphere of some kind. What we did not know was; what is the consistency of the Moon's atmosphere?
We were sure that it contains a certain amount of oxygen, for as Dr. Johnston said, "even if the Moon is all rock, rock in itself contains and gives off oxygen."
Also we knew that there couldn't be any kind of atmosphere anywhere without it containing oxygen. Therefore, since the Moon had rock in it and since we had seen storms around it, there was no question in our minds as to whether oxygen was there. The question was concerning its quantity; was there a sufficient amount to supply the needs of Earth men like us?
Now after twenty odd years of work and constant improvements, the ship which we hope and believe will take us to the Moon on the first leg of an interplanetary space journey is ready. Included in her equipment are the latest improvements in radio, radar, television, photography and all types of instruments that the best minds of science, using the finest laboratories on Earth, have been able to develop for our safety in making such a trip. The ship herself has pressure equalizers built in her. These are so constructed that they automatically balance the pressure within the ship to conform with the various stratas of atmospheric pressure in space through which we will have to pass on this trip. Because of these equalizers, we have no fear of our ship exploding in air due to pressure differences within and without. Also there is an instrument with which we can measure the oxygen content of the Moon's atmosphere before even opening the doors of the ship to venture out upon the Moon.
For ourselves we have specially made suits that will support and protect our bodies through any type of pressure. By using our oxygen masks we expect to be able to keep alert during the entire trip and at the same time, by controlling our oxygen intake while carefully watching our pressure gauge, to acclimate our bodies so they can quickly become accustomed to activity in the lighter pressure we expect to find on the Moon. As a precaution, we are taking along an extra supply of oxygen, several large tanks full, to enable us to stay at least a short time upon the surface of the Moon after making this long and hazardous trip, should we find upon arrival there that our calculations have been wrong and the atmosphere is such that we are unable to breathe or move about without it.