Music Welcome to Snuescast, the podcast is on to help you fall asleep. Find us on snuescast.com and follow us on Instagram at snuescast to find behind the scenes content. If you would like to get an email once a week with upcoming sleep stories and other news, subscribe to the snoozeletter at snoozecast.com. This episode is brought to you by our Patreon supporters and by floating on air. Tonight, we'll read A voyage to the moon written by Edgar Allan Poe. It was intended by the author as a hoax when it was originally published in 1835, titled The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hands Fall. The story is regarded as one of the early examples of the modern science fiction genre. Jewels for an acknowledged poem as the creator of the scientific novel. Let's get cozy.

Close your eyes.

Relax your body into the softness of your bed.

Now, take a few deep breaths. After a long devotion to the study of physics and astronomy, I, Hansvall of Rotterdam, at length, determined it to construct a balloon of my own along original lines and try a flight in it. Accordingly, I had made an enormous bag out of muslin, varnished for protection against the weather. I procured all the instruments needed for a prolonged descent and finally prepared for the inflation of the balloon. Herein lay my secret. My invention, the thing in which my balloon differed from all the balloons that had gone before, out of a peculiar metallic substance, and a vvvvv was able to manufacture a gas of a density about 37.4 less than that of hydrogen. And thus by far far the lightest substance ever known. It would serve to carry the balloon to heights greater than had been attained before, for hydrogen is the gas usually used. The hour for my experiment and ballooning finally arrived. I had chosen the night as the best time for the ascension, because I should thereby avoid annoyances caused by the curiosity of the ignorant and the idle. It was the first of April. The night was dark. It was not a star to be seen, and a drizzling rain falling at intervals made me very uncomfortable. But my chief concern was concerning the balloon, which, in spite of the varnish with which it was defended, began to grow rather heavy with the moisture.

I therefore set my assistance to working, and in about four hours and a half, I found the balloon sufficiently inflated. I attached the car and put all my implements in it, A telescope, a barometer, a thermometer, an electron-meter, a compass, a magnetic needle, a second's watch, a bell, and other things. I had further procured a globe of glass, exhaustive air, and carefully closed with a stopper, not forgetting a special apparatus for condensing air, a copious supply of water, and a large quantity of provisions, such as Pemaken, in which much nutriment is contained in comparatively little bulk. I also secured my cat in the car. It was now nearly daybreak, and I thought it high time to take my departure. I immediately cut the single cord, which held me to the earth, and was pleased to find that I shot upward with inconceivable rapidity. Carrying with all ease 175 pounds of lead and ballast and able to have carried as much more, scarcely, however, had I attained the height of fifty yards when roaring and rumbling up after me in the most tumultuous manner, came so dense a hurricane, a fire, and gravel, and burning wood, and blazing metal that I fell down in the car. Some of my chemical materials had exploded immediately beneath me almost at the moment of my leaving earth. The balloon at first collapsed, then furiously expanded, then whirled around and around. Hurled me over the rim of the car, and in the moment of my fall I lost consciousness. I had no knowledge of what had saved me. When I partially recovered the sense of existence I found the day breaking. balloon at a prodigious height over a wilderness of existence. I found the day breaking. The balloon at a prodigious height over a wilderness of ocean, and not a trace of land to be discovered far and wide within the limits of the vast horizon. There was much of madness in the calm survey which I began to take of my situation. I began to understand that my foot had caught in a rope and that I was hanging downward outside the car. But strange to say, if I felt any emotion at all, it was a sort of chuckling satisfaction at the cleverness I was about to display in getting myself out of this dilemma. With great caution and deliberation, I put my hands behind my back and unfassant a large iron buckle which belonged to the waistband of my pantaloons. This buckle had three teeth, which, being somewhat rusty, turned with great difficulty on their access. I brought them, however, after some trouble, at right angles to the body of the buckle, and was glad to find them remained firm in that position, holding my teeth, the instrument thus obtained. I proceeded to untie the knot, it was at length accomplished. To one end, I then made fast the buckle, and the other end I tied for greater security, drawing now my body upward with a prodigious exertion of muscular force. I succeeded at the very first trial in throwing the buckle over the car and entangling it as I had anticipated in the circular rim of the wicker work. My body was now inclined toward the side of the car at an angle of about 45 degrees, but it must not be understood that I was therefore only 45 degrees below the perpendicular. So far from it, I still lay nearly level with the plane of the horizon. For the change of position which I had acquired had forced the bottom of the car considerably outward from my position. It should be remembered, however, that when I fell from the car, if I had fallen with my face turned toward the balloon, instead of turned outwardly from it, as it actually was, or if, in the second place, the cord by which I was suspended had chanced to hang over the upper edge, instead of through a crevice near the bottom of the car. In either of these cases, it should have been unable to accomplish even as much as I had now accomplished. I had therefore every reason to be grateful. Although, in point of fact, I was still too stupid to be anything at all, and hung for perhaps a quarter of an hour in that extraordinary manner without making the slightest farther exertion. And in a singularly tranquil state of idiotic enjoyment, when I had recovered from being so long in that position, I found that all my implements were in place, and that neither ballast nor provisions had been lost. It is now high time that I should explain the object of my voyage. I had been harassed for long by creditors in the state of mind, wishing to live and yet wearyed with life. My deep studies in astronomy opened a resource to my imagination. I determined to depart, yet live, to leave the world, yet continue to exist. In short, to be plain, I resolved, let come what would, to force a passage, if possible, to the moon. This was not so mad as it seems. The moon's actual distance from the earth was the first thing to be attended to. The mean or average interval between the centers of the two planets is only about 237,000 miles. But at certain times, the moon and earth are much nearer than at others. And if I could contrive to meet the moon at the moment when it was nearest earth, the above mentioned distance, would be significantly lessened. But even taking the average distance and deducting the radius of the Earth and the

Moon, the actual interval to be traversed under average circumstances would be 231,920 miles. I'm going to start with the

first one.

I'm going to start with the

first one.

I'm going to start with the

first one.

I'm going to start with the

first one.

I'm going to start with the first one. to be traversed under average circumstances would be 231,920 miles. Now this, I reflected, was no very extraordinary distance. Traveling on the land has been repeatedly accomplished at the rate of 60 miles an hour, and indeed a much greater speed may be anticipated. But even at this velocity, it would take me no more than 161 days to reach the surface of the moon. There were, however, many particulars inducing me to believe that my average rate of traveling might possibly very much exceed that of 60 miles an hour. The next point will be regarded was one of far greater importance. We know that at 18,000 feet above the surface of the earth we have passed one half the material or at all events one half the ponderable body of air upon the globe. It is also calculated that at a height of 80 miles the rare affection of air is so great that animal life can be sustained in no manner. But I did not fail to perceive that these calculations are founded on our experimental knowledge of the air in the immediate vicinity of the Earth, and that it is taken for granted that animal life is incapable of modification. I thought that no matter how high we may ascend, we cannot arrive at a limit beyond which no atmosphere is to be found. It must exist, I argued, although it may exist in a state of infinite, rare faction. Having adopted this view of the subject, I had little farther hesitation. Granting that on my passage I should meet with atmosphere essentially the same as at the surface of the earth. I thought that, by means of my very ingenious apparatus for that purpose, I should readily be able to condense it in sufficient quantity for breathing. This would remove the chief obstacle in a journey to the moon. I now turned to view the prospect beneath me. At 20 minutes past 6 o'clock, the barometer showed an elevation of 26,000 feet, or five miles to a fraction. The outlook seemed unbounded. I beheld as much as a sixteen-hundredth part of the whole surface of the globe. The sea appeared as unruffled as a mirror, although by means of the globe. This sea appeared as unruffled as a mirror. Although, by means of the telescope, I could perceive it to be in a state of agitation. I was rising rapidly. And by seven o'clock, the barometer indicated an altitude of no less than nine miles and a half. By 8 o'clock, I had actually attained an elevation of 17 miles above the surface of the Earth. Thus it seemed to me evident that my rate of ascent was not only on the increase, but that the progress would have been apparent to a slight extent even had I not discharged the ballast which I did. I now unpacked the condensing apparatus and got it ready for immediate use. The view of the earth at this period of my ascension was beautiful indeed. To the westward, the northward, and the southward, as far as I could see, lay a boundless sheet of apparently unruffled ocean, which every moment gained a deeper and deeper tint of blue. At a vast distance to the eastward, although perfectly discernible extended the islands of Great Britain, the entire Atlantic coasts of France and Spain with a small portion of the northern part of the continent of Africa. Of individual edifices, not a trace could be found, and the proudest cities of mankind had utterly faded away from the surface of the earth. In the sides of this covering had been inserted three circular pains of thick but clear glass, through which I could see without difficulty around me in every horizontal direction. In that portion of the cloth forming the bottom was a fourth window corresponding with a small aperture in the floor of the card itself. This enabled me to see straight down, but I had been unable to fix a similar window above me so I could expect to see no objects directly overhead. The condensing apparatus was connected with the outer air by a tube to admit air at one end and by a valve at the bottom of the car to eject foul air. By the time I had completed these arrangements and filled the chamber with condensed air by means of the apparatus, it wanted only ten minutes of nine o'clock. Once again I breathed with perfect freedom and ease. And indeed, why should I not? At 20 minutes before nine o'clock, the mercury attained its limit or ran down in the barometer. The instrument then indicated an altitude of twenty-five miles, and I consequently surveyed at that time, an extent of the Earth's area, amounting to no less than one-three hundredth and twentyth part of the entire surface. At half past nine, I tried the experiment of throwing out a handful of feathers through the valve. They did not float as I had expected, but dropped down like a bullet and with the greatest velocity being out of sight in a very few seconds. It occurred to me that the atmosphere was now far too rare to sustain even feathers, that they actually fell as they appeared to do with great speed, and that I had been surprised by the United Velocities of their descent and my own rise. At 6 o'clock PM, I perceived a great portion of the Earth's visible area to the eastward, involved in thick shadow, which continued to advance with great rapidity until at five minutes before seven the whole surface and sight in the darkness of night. It was not, however, until long after this time that the rays of the setting sun ceased to illuminate the balloon. And this fact, although, of course, expected, did not fail to give me great pleasure. In the morning I should behold the rising luminary, many hours before the citizens of Rotterdam, in spite of their situation so much farther to the eastward and thus, day after day, in proportion to the height ascended, I should enjoy the light of the sun for a longer and longer period. I now resolved to keep a journal of my passage, reckoning the days by 24 hours instead of by day at night. At 10 o'clock, feeling sleepy, I determined to lie down for the rest of the night, but here a difficulty presented itself, which obvious as it may appear had escaped my attention up to the very moment of which I am now speaking, if I went to sleep, as I proposed. How could the air in the chamber be renewed in the meanwhile? To breathe it more than an hour at the farthest would be impossible, or even if this term could be extended to an hour and a quarter, the most ruinous consequences might ensue. This dilemma will hardly be believed that I should look upon this business in so serious a light as to give up all hope of accomplishing my ultimate design.

And finally, make up my mind to the necessity of a descent. But this hesitation was only momentary. I reflected that many things are deemed essential, which are only the results of habit. It was certain that I could not do without sleep, but I might easily bring myself to feel no inconvenience from being awakened at intervals of an hour during the whole period of my repose. It would require but five minutes to renew the air, and the only difficulty was to contrive a method of arousing myself at the proper moment for so doing. This question caused me no little trouble to solve, I at length hit upon the following plan. My supply of water had been put on board in kegs of five gallons each and ranged securely around the interior of the car. I unfastened one of these and taking two ropes tied them tightly across the rim of their wicker work from one side to the other.

Place... and taking two ropes, tied them tightly across the rim of their wicker work, from one side to the other, placing them about a foot apart and parallel so as to form a kind of shelf upon which I placed the keg and steadied it. 8 inches below these ropes, I fastened another shelf made of thin plank, on which shelf, and beneath one of the rims of the keg, a small pitcher was placed. I bore a hole in the end of the keg over the pitcher and fitted in a plug of softwood, which I pushed in or pulled out until, after a few experiments, it arrived at that exact degree of tightness at which the water, oozing from the hole and falling into the pitcher below, would fill the ladder to the brim in the period of 60 minutes. Having arranged all this, the rest of the plan was simple. My bed was so contrived upon the floor of the car as to bring my head in lying down immediately below the mouth of the pitcher. It was evident that at the expiration of an hour the pitcher, getting full, would be forced to run over and to run over at the mouth, which was somewhat lower than the rim. It was also evident that the water, falling from a height, could not do otherwise and fall on my face and awaken me even from the soundest slumber in the world. It was fully 11 by the time I had completed these arrangements, and I had a once, but took myself to bed with full confidence in my invention. Nor in this matter was I disappointed. Bunchually every 60 minutes I was aroused by my trusty clock when having emptied the pitcher into the hole of the keg, and filled the chamber with condensed air, I retired again to bed. These regular interruptions to my slumber caused me less discomfort than I had anticipated. And when I finally arose for the day, it was seven o'clock, and the sun was high above the horizon. I found the balloon at an immense height indeed, and the earth's roundness had now become strikingly manifest. Below me in the ocean lay a cluster of black specks, which undoubtedly were islands. Overhead, the sky was of a jetty black, and the stars were brilliantly visible. they had been so constantly since the first day of a set. Far away to the northward, I saw a thin, white, an exceedingly brilliant line, or streak on the edge of the horizon, and I had no hesitation in supposing it to be the southern disc of the Isis of the Polar Sea. My curiosity was greatly excited, for I had hopes of passing on much farther to the north, and might possibly, at some period, find myself directly above the pole itself. I now lamented that my great elevation would, in this case, prevent me from taking as accurate a survey as I could wish. My condensing apparatus continued in good order and the balloon still ascended without any perceptible change. The cold was intense, and obliged me to wrap up closely in an overcoat. When darkness came over the earth, I went to bed. Although it was for many hours afterward broad daylight all around me. The water clock was punctual in its duty, and I slept until next morning soundly, with the exception of the periodical interruptions. April 4. I arose in good health and spirits and was astonished at the singular change which had taken place in the appearance of the sea. It had lost, in a great measure, the deep tint of blue it had hitherto worn, being now of a grayish white and of a luster dazzling to the eye. The curve of the ocean had become so evident that the entire mass of water seemed to be tumbling headlong over the abyss of their horizon. And I found myself listening on tiptoe for the echoes of the mighty Cataract. The islands were no longer visible, whether they had passed down the horizon to the southeast, or whether my increasing elevation had left them out of sight, it is impossible to say. I was inclined, however, to the latter opinion. The rim of ice to the northward was growing more and more apparent. The cold was by no means so intense, April 5th. I beheld the singular sight of the sun rising while nearly the whole visible surface of the earth continued to be involved in darkness. In time, however, the light spread itself over all, and I again saw the line of ice to the northward. It was now very distinct and appeared of a much darker hue than the waters of the ocean. I was evidently approaching it and with great rapidity. I fancied, I could again distinguish a strip of land to the eastward, and one also to the westward, but could not be certain. April 6th. I was surprised at finding the rim of ice at a very moderate distance, and an immense field of the same material stretching away off to the horizon in the north. It was evident that if the balloon held its present course, it would soon arrive above the frozen ocean. And I had now little doubt of ultimately seeing the pole. During the whole of the day, I continued to near the ice.

Toward night, the limits of my horizon very suddenly increased, owing undoubtedly to the earth's form, which is around but flattened near the poles. Darkness at length overtook me, I went to bed, fearing to pass over the object of so much curiosity when I should have no opportunity of observing it. April 7th. I arose early and to migrate joy at length.

Beth. April 7th. I arose early, and to migrate joy, at length, beheld what there could be no hesitation in supposing the northern pole itself. It was there beyond a doubt, and immediately beneath my feet. But alas, I had now ascended to so vast a distance that nothing could with accuracy be made out. Indeed, I estimated that at four o'clock in the morning of April the 7th, the balloon had reached a height of not less than 7,254 miles above the surface of the sea. At all events, I undoubtedly beheld the whole of the Earth's diameter.

The entire northern hemisphere lay beneath me like a chart. And the great circle of the equator itself formed the boundary line of my horizon, April 8th. I found a sensible diminution in the Earth's size.

Besides a material alteration

in its general color and appearance. The whole area partook in different degrees of a tint of pale yellow, and in some portions, how to acquired a brilliancy to the eye.

My view was somewhat impeded by clouds near the earth, but nevertheless I could easily perceive that the balloon now hovered above the Great Lakes in North America and was holding a course due south, which would soon bring me to the tropics. This circumstance did not fail to give me the most heartfelt satisfaction, and I hailed it as a happy omen of ultimate success, indeed, the direction I had hitherto taken had filled me with uneasiness, for it was evident that had I continued it much longer. There would have been no possibility of my arriving at the moon at all, which revol around the Earth in the plane of the equator. April 9th. Today the Earth's diameter was greatly diminished, and the color of the surface assumed hourly a deeper tint of yellow. The balloon kept on our course to the southward and arrived at 9 p.m. over the Mexican Gulf. April 12th, a singular alteration took place in regard to the direction of the balloon. And, although fully anticipated, afforded me the very greatest delight. Having reached in its former course, about the 20th parallel of southern latitude, it turned off suddenly at an acute angle to the eastward and thus proceeded throughout the day, keeping nearly if not altogether in the exact plane of the Moon's path around the Earth. April 13th, Great Decrease in the Earth's apparent size. The moon could not be seen at all, being nearly above me. I still continued in the plane of the moon's path, but made little progress eastward, April 14th. Extremely rapid decrease in the size of the Earth. Today I became strongly impressed with the idea that the balloon was holding the direct course which would bring it immediately to the moon, where it comes nearest the Earth. The moon was directly overhead and consequently hidden from my view. Great and long continued labor was necessary for the condensation of the atmosphere, April 16th. Today looking upward as well as I could through each of the side windows alternately, I beheld to my great delight, a very small portion of the moon's disc protruding as it were on all sides beyond the huge bulk of the balloon. My agitation was extreme. For I had now little doubt of soon reaching the end of my perilous voyage. Indeed, the labor required by the condenser had increased to such a degree that I had scarcely any respite from exertion. Sleep was a matter nearly out of question. I became quite ill and my frame trembled with exhaustion. It was impossible that human nature could endure this state much longer. April 17th, this morning proved an epic in my voyage. It will be remembered that on the 13th, the earth had diminished. On the 14th, it had still further dwindled. On the 15th, a still more rapid decrease was observable, and on retiring for the night of the sixteenth, the earth had shrunk to small size. What, therefore, must have been my amazement, on awakening, from a brief and disturbed slumber on the morning of this day, the seventeenth had finding

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