A Trip to the Moon
SEP 01, 2016
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.031299
On this day in 1902, the world’s first science fiction movie, “Le Voyage dans la Lune” (“A Trip to the Moon”), was released in France. Directed by and starring French filmmaker Georges Méliès, the 12-minute silent film follows astronomers who travel to the Moon and have comical adventures with some lunar inhabitants. The movie is considered pivotal in cinematic history for its science fiction subject and clever use of special effects, including the scene below in which a space capsule lands in the Moon’s eye.
Date in History: 1 September 1902
© 2016 American Institute of Physics
