05484 of the major
semi-axis of the ellipse itself, and the earth's centre being situated
in its focus, if I could, in any manner, contrive to meet the moon, as
it were, in its perigee, the above mentioned distance would be
materially diminished. But, to say nothing at present of this
possibility, it was very certain that, at all events, from the 237,000
miles I would have to deduct the radius of the earth, say 4,000, and
the radius of the moon, say 1080, in all 5,080, leaving an actual
interval to be traversed, under average circumstances, of 231,920
miles. Now this, I reflected, was no very extraordinary distance.
Travelling on land has been repeatedly accomplished at the rate of
thirty miles per hour, and indeed a much greater speed may be
anticipated. But even at this velocity, it would take me no more
than 322 days to reach the surface of the moon. There were, however,
many particulars inducing me to believe that my average rate of
travelling might possibly very much exceed that of thirty miles per
hour, and, as these considerations did not fail to make a deep
impression upon my mind, I will mention them more fully hereafter.
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