Regarding the _first_ question, "Is it possible to transmit a
projectile up to the moon?"

_Answer._-- Yes; provided it possess an initial velocity of
1,200 yards per second; calculations prove that to be sufficient.
In proportion as we recede from the earth the action of gravitation
diminishes in the inverse ratio of the square of the distance;
that is to say, _at three times a given distance the action is
nine times less._ Consequently, the weight of a shot will decrease,
and will become reduced to _zero_ at the instant that the attraction
of the moon exactly counterpoises that of the earth; that is to say
at 47/52 of its passage. At that instant the projectile will
have no weight whatever; and, if it passes that point, it will
fall into the moon by the sole effect of the lunar attraction.
The _theoretical possibility_ of the experiment is therefore
absolutely demonstrated; its _success_ must depend upon the power
of the engine employed.

As to the _second_ question, "What is the exact distance which
separates the earth from its satellite?"

_Answer._-- The moon does not describe a _circle_ round the
earth, but rather an _ellipse_, of which our earth occupies one
of the _foci_; the consequence, therefore, is, that at certain
times it approaches nearer to, and at others it recedes farther
from, the earth; in astronomical language, it is at one time in
_apogee_, at another in _perigee_. Now the difference between
its greatest and its least distance is too considerable to be
left out of consideration. In point of fact, in its apogee the