Also a title in the enormously popular children's book series Tintin by French author/illustrator Hergé. Destination Moon features the lead characters Tintin, Snowy, Captain Haddock, Professor Calculus, Thomson and Thompson, and others. It comprises the first half of a story continued by Explorers On the Moon. Destination Moon covers the preparation of the rocket, introduction of the characters, and the liftoff, but ends before the group actually does a moonwalk. One of the more famous books in the Tintin series, Destination Moon was published in 1950. It was referenced in several later Tintin titles. The most interesting aspect of this book is that it was written 19 years before the moon landing, well before the concept was even considered feasable. Reading the book, one notices some outlandish differences as well as startling similarities to the actual Apollo Program.