Destination Moon (Tintin)
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| Destination Moon (Objectif Lune) |
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 Cover of the English edition |
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| Publisher | Casterman |
|---|---|
| Date | 1953 |
| Series | The Adventures of Tintin (Les aventures de Tintin) |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Hergé |
| Artist(s) | Hergé |
| Original publication | |
| Published in | Tintin |
| Date(s) of publication | March 30, 1950 - September 7, 1950 / April 4, 1952 - October 22, 1952 |
| Language | French |
| ISBN | ISBN 2-203-00115-1 |
| Translation | |
| Publisher | Methuen |
| Date | 1959 |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-7497-0467-5 |
| Translator(s) | Leslie Lonsdale-Cooper and Michael Turner |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | Land of Black Gold, 1950 |
| Followed by | Explorers on the Moon, 1954 |
Destination Moon (French: Objectif Lune) is the sixteenth of The Adventures of Tintin, a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero. Destination Moon is the first part of one of the four multi-book stories in the Tintin series, the other part being Explorers on the Moon (On a marché sur la Lune).
It is one of two latter-day Tintin albums (the other being The Castafiore Emerald) that is not structured as a straightforward adventure story[citation needed]; instead, it is an episodic sequence of events surrounding the development of a moon rocket. There is, however, a subplot involving espionage to hold the episodes together.
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[edit] Synopsis
Tintin's friend Professor Calculus has been secretly commissioned by the Syldavian government to build a rocket ship which will fly to the moon. Tintin and Captain Haddock agree to join the expedition (even though Captain Haddock didn't want to, as usual). Upon arriving in Syldavia, they are taken to the Sprodj Atomic Research Centre (referred to simply as the Centre in the story), headed by the scientist Mr. Baxter. They are escorted by the "ZEPO", a special security force designed to protect the Centre from outsider threats. While working for Syldavia Calculus is flanked by the engineer Frank Wolff who works in the Centre and accompanies Tintin and Haddock around the facility. Prof. Calculus reveals that the Syldavian government invited nuclear physics scientists from other countries to work for the Centre, which was created four years earlier when large uranium deposits were discovered in the area. The Centre is entirely dedicated to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Calculus heads the Centre's astronautics department since this is his primary area of expertise.
While in the Centre, they soon come to realize the purpose to the ZEPO: they are designed specifically to block a foreign power that is also interested in the project. On one particular night, spies are parachuted into areas surrounding the facility and the Centre is placed on red alert. The security staff later arrest and interrogate two men dressed in Greek dance costumes, but in fact they are actually the Thompson twins, whom Tintin instantly recognizes and clears. The pair remain in the Centre.
An unmanned subscale prototype of the rocket -- the V-2 rocket like "X-FLR6" -- is launched on a circumlunar mission to photograph the far side of the moon as well as test Professor Calculus's revolutionary nuclear propulsion engine. The rocket successfully orbits the moon but is then intercepted by the foreign power and the research team has no other option than to destroy the rocket. As the compound is heavily secured, there must have been a spy who leaked information, but no suspects are found.
Despite this set-back preparations are made and the equipment is tested. While testing of the space suits, Captain Haddock gets frustrated in the situation and claims that Calculus is "acting the goat", (a line which would end up becoming a famous line in the Tintin series), leading to a well-known comic scene causing Calculus to go into a fit of anger. He leads them out of the complex and to the site of the Moon Rocket, where he falls down a ladder and suffers temporary memory loss, from which Haddock caringly - and unwittingly - helps him recover.
Preparations are made for an actual moon flight and a full scale manned rocket is built. Finally, on June 3, 1952 at 1:34 in the morning, the rocket takes off with Tintin, Haddock, Calculus and Wolff on board.
The story continues in Explorers on the Moon, picking up where Destination Moon left off.
[edit] Origin
A first version of the script was written by Bernard Heuvelmans, advisor to Hergé during the creation of the moon exploration albums. Heuvelmans' script took place in the USA and included Professor Phostle from The Shooting Star, this time as a villain. Phostle steals the plans for Calculus' rocket and sells them in order to buy a diamond for the actress Rita Hayworth. After drawing two pages of this story, in which a radio interview with Calculus goes wrong because of his deafness, Hergé dropped the script in favour of his own storyline.[1]
[edit] Representation of space travel
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This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please improve the article by adding references. See the talk page for details. (June 2008) |
- See also: Explorers on the Moon
Destination Moon was written well over a decade before the 1969 moon landings and several years before manned space flight. Hergé was keen to ensure that the books were scientifically accurate, based on ideas about space flight then available (see above). Professor Calculus explains that his nuclear rocket engine essentially works like a slowly exploding nuclear fission bomb. The engine is able to withstand the extreme heat and radiation since it is made of "calculon", an silicon based extremely heat resistant material also invented by the professor. However, the deadly nuclear radiation produced by the engine would pollute the launch and landing area, hence the rocket is equipped with an ordinary chemical rocket motor (the X-FLR6 is said to use aniline and nitric acid propellants). The full scale nuclear rocket motor is only used above 800 km altitude in space and produces a constant acceleration of one Earth gravity.
The pace of development is represented as far swifter than reality: the first manned lunar landing apparently is attempted only four years after the Atomic Research Centre was created, and construction work on the full scale manned rocket only begins after the unmanned subscale test flight, which takes place only a few months before the first manned lunar landing.
Another oddity is that Tintin and Haddock, although designated as part of the moon project for several months, only get to see the rocket itself when it is near completion — and after Calculus has broken every security rule in the book. Also, there does not appear to be any native Syldavians among the crew (when you consider that the 1969 and other subsequent landings were an all-American affair).
Some of the details are very accurate, however: the June 3 1:34 AM launch takes place while the Moon's phase (first moon) is the same as it was in 1952 when the comic strip depicting the launch was written.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ Tintin The Complete Companion by Michael Farr, ISBN-10: 0719555221, ISBN-13: 978-0719555220
[edit] External links
- Destination Moon at Tintinologist.org
