The Brick Moon, and Other Stories

"The Brick Moon" is a novella by American writer Edward Everett Hale, published serially in The Atlantic Monthly starting in 1869. It is a work of speculative fiction containing the first known depiction of an artificial satellite.

"The Brick Moon" is presented as a journal. It describes the construction and launch into orbit of a sphere, 200 feet in diameter, built of bricks. The device 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.

Contents

The brick moon -- Crusoe in New York -- Bread on the waters -- The lost palace -- 99 Linwood Street -- Ideals -- Thanksgiving at the polls -- The survivor's story