Science Fiction

The early visionaries all drew inspiration from science fiction, especially Jules Verne. His 1865 novel From the Earth to the Moon featured a gigantic cannon in Florida that fired a capsule around the Moon. While this made for a good story, the visionaries knew the huge acceleration would have crushed Verne’s travelers.

Early science fiction movies were the first realistic depictions of spaceflight. In a few cases, rocket pioneers were movie consultants.