From the Earth to the Moon characters

Appears from the start

The respected president of Baltimore's Gun Club, an association of engineers and artillery specialists left without a common project after the American Civil War. Methodical, persuasive, and ambitious, he proposes applying the club's knowledge to sending a projectile to the Moon.

Also known as J. T. Maston

Appears from the start

The Gun Club's energetic secretary, a mathematician and artillery enthusiast who lost a hand in war and uses a metal hook. Fiercely loyal to Barbicane and the lunar project, he approaches every technical challenge with absolute confidence.

Appears from the start

A senior member of the Gun Club and veteran artillery officer. He contributes practical experience to the debates over the enormous cannon, its projectile, and the powder required for the proposed lunar shot.

First appears in chapter 8

A major and Gun Club member with expertise in explosives. He helps Barbicane's committees calculate how much propellant the lunar projectile will require and how its force can be controlled.

First appears in chapter 10

A Philadelphia engineer known for developing armor plate and for a long professional rivalry with Barbicane's artillery. He subjects the lunar cannon to skeptical calculations and public wagers, becoming the project's most prominent opponent.

First appears in chapter 14

The engineer placed in charge of excavating the immense shaft at Stones Hill. He organizes the workforce and machinery needed to turn Barbicane's plans for the Columbiad into a physical structure.

Also known as Michel Ardan

First appears in chapter 17

A celebrated French adventurer who sends the Gun Club a startling request: replace the solid lunar shell with a hollow projectile and let him travel inside it. Charismatic, imaginative, and impatient with objections, he transforms a remote experiment into a proposed human voyage.