This Cannon Launched Our Love of Space | How Sci-fi Inspired Science

Humans love exploring the unknown. Once we scoured land, sea, and air. It only made sense that we turned our eyes to the stars. Today, with private companies going to space almost regularly, it's easy to lose sight that this incredible human achievement was once just science fiction.

Let's find out how science fiction inspired science reality. In French sci-fi pioneer Jules Verne's 1865 novel "From the Earth to the Moon," members of a gun club launched themselves in a projectile from a cannon to the moon, because why not?

Verne attempted to do the actual math and work out what it would take to launch a vehicle to the moon. As it turned out, he was surprisingly accurate, with striking similarities to NASA's Apollo 11 command module. Vern's fictional shell was hollow and made mostly of aluminum, and was crewed by three people. It launched from Florida and splashed down in the Pacific Ocean, like the Apollo 11 command module would just over 100 years later, in July 1969.

After Verne's novel came H.G. Wells, who wrote "The First Men in the Moon" at the turn of the century, and French filmmaker Georges Méliès, whose 1902 silent film "A Trip to the Moon" is often called the first sci-fi film. These stories inspired real-life rocket scientists to continue working on the problems of space travel.

By the 1950s, the U.S. and the Soviet Union were in a space race. The Soviet Union launched the first Earth satellite, Sputnik One, which flashed its radio signals from space. Three months after Sputnik, the U.S. launched Explorer One, the first American space satellite.

Man, that takes real teamwork! And here's a team of junior spacemen with an out-of-this-world breakfast. With the development of space flight, public interest in space science reached new heights. By the 1960s, it inspired future engineers and sci-fi creators alike.

This was a time when Ursula Le Guin, Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, Robert Heinlein, and Arthur C. Clarke were writing some of their most prolific work. During the 1960s, space appeared everywhere in pop culture: in fashion, for the 21st century home design, in toys, even in our cereal bowls. "New Post Countoff, a new way to help keep you in shape for the Space Age."

So why is this idea of space travel capturing people's imaginations all the way to the breakfast table? Sugar Crisp, honey of a snack, you know! Because the idea of limitless space leads to limitless possibilities. It's a sentiment reflected by rocket pioneer Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.

Hold on, let's rewind a little bit. Yeah, him! Remember him from earlier in the episode? He said, "The Earth is the cradle of humanity, but humankind cannot stay in the cradle forever."