It is fascinating. While modern rocket science and space travel feel like recent milestones—especially with the Artemis II crew just returning home from the Moon last week—the link between the two actually dates back to a 1657 novel.

In his posthumously published 1657 novel, “Other World: Comical History of the States and Empires of the Moon”, Cyrano’s protagonist, also named Cyrano, is finally able to make it to the moon after soldiers attach fireworks to his flying machine.

Read more: This 17th-Century Novel Was The First To Predict Rocket Technology