vis it why may it if not yet be tile moon possible by PROF ERNEST GREEN dodar A M AN men visit tile the moon C in any age but the pres present tnt tins this question if seriously asked would mould have been ansu answered ered by a chorus of jeers so far beyond the pale of possibilities has tile the visiting 1 I of other worlds aguas app appeared cared that writers of fiction lime have felt free fre to treat tile the idea describing thrilling journeys journe yit through spice space in impossible vehicles nevertheless the thought of exploring distant planets pausing en route to view the further side aide of the moon so go tan turned from froin us la is one that fires arcs the alie human inja gina nation trost profoundly ulie 1 I he moral that can be said is that it now looks looka as difficult to us as aa tile the crossing r of fit he great atlantic must once have baic appeared to flip naked savage upon its shore the impossibility of the savage bedame the triumph of columbus and the day dream of the nineteenth century may maj bearne the achievement even eien of tile the twentieth A bod on the flip births equator is traveling 0 with the earths rotation at a speed of more than a thousand miles an hour if relieved of gravity it vioda not fly suddenly off on like a cannon ball and disappear into space for several seconds its rise froin the surface of the earth would mould be so slow as aa to be prati practically cally imperceptible amill omill owing to the small difference between a straight tangent line and the faiths slow elow curvature gradually bolever hove bo mever vcr its apparent upward velocity would increase so as to lift it some 6 yards the first minute and moro more than a hundred miles the first hour it mould travel miles the distance between the earth and the moon in ill ten days and if suitably exposed to the earths attraction acting as aa a brake flifle screened from that of the moon its landing could be made gentle and safe strangely ello enough ulli the attitude of the lunar surface in ili relation to the earth makes the return voyage absolutely impossible save by a tedious roundabout journey of many months involving in C fit lie circumnavigation of mars tile tho query may now arise what is the moon good for even if man da in reaching ita it c know it to bo be a bairn rocky world without air or moisture un Grell ably coll cold fit at night and below tile fre freezing frenzina ezina point even at noon however men could abide there for a tune time in thick vv ailed airtight air tight houses and could valk malk out of doors in airtight air tight divers suits scientists m find in the he lunar wastes ft a flesh field fol foi exploration astronomers could plant telescopes there free from their most serious hindrance tho the earths atmosphere of the ie wealthy althy find class mould not fail to lo visit the satellite and costly bote hotels Is must be maintained f for or their then it is quite probably aliat veins of precious metals lids of diamonds diamondi and an abundance of sulphur might bo be discovered on a world of so BO highly volcanic a I 1 lie J oie going ma inac seem filled i with ith the stuff that dreams aie mado made of vet roost most of the are arc based on the hard facts of mathematics and physics history is not alaways particular to follow the precise path laid out for it by yet in tile lon long tun run it never fails to achieve larger lar r e r things than tile seer dared to predict Is 18 it too much to suppose that after visiting the queen of nig night it our only near neighbor plon pioneers cers will try the long iong voyage to venus mars and other planets pianola of our finding sonic of them even more interesting moro more inviting arid and bior more useful to man than the pale moon aich fist first tempted him to try III ins wings in outer space