16. Destination Moon (1950–1953)
Destination Moon (French: Objectif Lune) is the
sixteenth of The Adventures of Tintin. Destination Moon is the first
part of one of the four multi-book stories in the Tintin series, the
other part being Explorers on the Moon (On a marché sur la Lune).
It
is one of two latter-day Tintin albums (the other being The Castafiore
Emerald) that is not structured as a straightforward adventure story;
instead, it is an episodic sequence of events surrounding the
development of a moon rocket. There is, however, a subplot involving
espionage to hold the episodes together.
Tintin's friend Professor Calculus has been secretly commissioned by the Syldavian government to build a rocket ship
which will fly to the moon. Tintin and Captain Haddock agree to join
the expedition (even though Captain Haddock didn't want to, as usual).
Upon arriving in Syldavia, they are taken to the Sprodj Atomic Research
Centre (referred to simply as the Centre in the story), headed by the
scientist Mr. Baxter. They are escorted by the "ZEPO", a special
security force designed to protect the Centre from outsider threats.
While working for Syldavia Calculus is flanked by the engineer Frank
Wolff who works in the Centre and accompanies Tintin and Haddock around
the facility. Prof. Calculus reveals that the Syldavian government
invited nuclear physics scientists from other countries to work for the
Centre, which was created four years earlier when large uranium deposits
were discovered in the area. The Centre is entirely dedicated to
peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Calculus heads the Centre's
astronautics department since this is his primary area of expertise.
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