The Brick Moon by Edward Everett Hale
"The Brick Moon" is a science fiction narrative set in the early 1840s that explores the concept of launching an artificial satellite to assist sailors in calculating longitude, an essential navigational challenge of the time. The story begins with a group of Harvard students who, during a discussion on astronomy, half-jokingly consider the idea of a "brick moon" as a solution. Years later, one of the students, George Orcutt, becomes a wealthy railroad magnate and revives the idea, securing funding from his peers for the satellite project.
The construction site is chosen for its natural resources, and eventually, a brick structure is completed. However, a geological shift sends the moon hurtling into space with residents aboard, including families who had taken refuge inside for the winter. Once in orbit, the inhabitants adapt to their new environment, thriving with the moon's retained atmosphere and resources. They establish communication with those on Earth, but despite attempts, no feasible method is found to bring them back. Ultimately, the story culminates in a striking contrast between the contentment of the moon's residents and the struggles faced by those left behind on Earth, prompting reflections on isolation and societal values.
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The Brick Moon
First published: 1971 (in His Level Best and Other Stories, 1872; serial form, The Atlantic, 1869-1870)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—technocratic
Time of work: 1842-1872
Locale: Naguadavick, Tamworth, and other imaginary places in New England
The Plot
One day in the early 1840’s, several Harvard students are discussing astronomy. Someone notes that the North Star makes it easy for sailors to calculate latitude (distance from the equator) but that no corresponding heavenly body assists in the calculation of longitude. As a consequence, many lives have been lost at sea. One of the students, identified only as Q., half-seriously suggests launching an artificial satellite—a brick moon—to correct this heavenly deficiency.
The subject is dropped, and the students go their separate ways. Seventeen years later, one of them, George Orcutt, calls the group back together. He has become a wealthy railroad magnate and proposes to put some of his money into the satellite experiment. Another member of the original group, Ben Brannan, is a noted orator who raises more funds for the project. The story’s narrator, Captain Frederic Ingham, a minister, finds the area best suited for carrying out the project. An unsettled forest has the clay for brick and streams to provide the power for the giant flywheels that will send the sphere into the sky.
By late fall a few years after the Civil War, construction is almost complete. Orcutt and a number of families decide to winter at the isolated construction site and, for warmth, move into the moon, which contains a number of braced chambers. One night when all aboard are asleep, a shifting of the ground causes the moon to slide down the rails to the flywheels, which hurtle it into space.
Ingham and the other partners left on the ground spend a futile year scanning the skies for the orb, which has not gone into the orbit that was prescribed for it. By chance, the moon is rediscovered, and Ingham, who has obtained the job of caretaker of a disused observatory, trains his telescope on the satellite. He can detect thirty-seven people standing in a line, making alternating short and long leaps in order to communicate in Morse code.
The moon had retained its atmosphere when sent aloft. It was stocked with food supplies, including poultry and plants, for the work crew that was to return in spring. The moon’s nearness to the Sun and relatively large size (two hundred feet in diameter) have made it suitable for farming.
Those on the ground are able to communicate with those in space, but they can devise no way to return the moon dwellers to Earth. This turns out to be far from a drawback to those on the satellite; they grow contented with their withdrawal from the cares of the world. The story ends with those above feeling decidedly better off than those below.