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[The Blog of Phileas Fogg: 1883 onwards] April 14th 1884

From: Harry Hayfield <harryhayfield~at~googlemail.com>
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:02:11 -0700 (PDT)
To: jvf~at~gilead.org.il

Well, I suppose I should have guessed this might happen! Guess what I
read in this morning's Times? A very detailed letter (open I maight
point out) from Cambridge University on the merits of a projectile
being launched into space. It's a rather long letter so I'll try and
summarise it as best I can. It's basically answering five questions.

Question 1: Is it possible to transmit a projectile into space?
Answer: Yes; provided it possess an initial velocity of 1,200 yards per
second

Now having consulted this box of tricks it's brought up something
called "escape velocity" which is just a complicated way of saying how
fast something needs to go to prevent being pulled back down again. In
laymen's terms anything that wants to go into space must travel faster
than 1,200 yards a second (or as most people might recognise it 2,448
miles per hour)

Question 2: What is the exact distance which separates the earth from
its satellite?
Answer: Because the moon moves around the earth in a not perfect circle
it varies. It can be as close as 218,657 miles or as far away as
247,552 miles. Therefore if an attempt were to made to go to the moon
(which would draw the line for me!) the 247,000 figure would be the
best one to use

Question 3: What will be the period of transit of the projectile when
endowed with sufficient initial velocity? and, consequently, at what
moment ought it to be discharged in order that it may touch the moon at
a particular point? (or to put it simply how long would it take to get
there?)
Answer: If said object continued travelling at just under 2,500 miles
per hour about nine hours. But that ignores the fact that things start
to slow down, so therefore they estimate it would take about 84 hours
or so (a little under 4 days) but as a precaution they advise allowing
97 hours or so

Question 4: At what precise moment will the moon present herself in the
most favorable position to be reached by the projectile? (You know, I'm
liking this line of questioning even less)
Answer: October 4th 1884 (in other words about four months time)

Question 5: What point in the heavens ought the cannon to be aimed at
which is intended to discharge the projectile? (Cannon???)
Answer: They seem to suggest somewhere that is between the equator and
28° north or south. Let's have a look at my globe and see where that
lies. That would mean Mexico, Florida, the top part of Africa, Arabia,
India and China. Well, gives them a nice shortlist to consider.

Question 6: What place will the moon occupy in the heavens at the
moment of the projectile's departure?
Answer: Well, to be honest I can't understand the answer!

I suppose it's all in the hand of President Grant now. Thank goodness
I've got the Budget to look forward to shortly. I still can't shake the
feeling that everyone in that room wants me to be on board!

--
Posted By Harry Hayfield to The Blog of Phileas Fogg: 1883 onwards on
4/13/2009 11:38:00 PM

Received on Tue 14 Apr 2009 - 02:02:19 IDT

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