| "The Brick Moon" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Edward Everett Hale |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Published in | The Atlantic Monthly |
| Publication type | magazine |
| Media type | Print (Paperback) |
| Publication date | 1869 |
"The Brick Moon" is a short story by Edward Everett Hale, published serially in The Atlantic Monthly starting in 1869.[1][2] It is a work of speculative fiction containing the first known depiction of an artificial satellite.
"The Brick Moon" is written as if it were a journal. It describes the construction and launch into orbit of a sphere, 200 ft. in diameter, built of bricks. It is intended as a navigational aid, but is accidentally launched with people aboard. They survive, and so the story also provides the first known fictional description of a space station.
In 1865 Jules Verne had published his novel, From the Earth to the Moon, which includes the notion of human spaceflight, but not the idea of an artificial satellite.
In 1979 the Wagner College Planetarium presented a public show which incorporated an adaptation by planetarium director Thomas Wm. Hamilton of The Brick Moon.