Editing Explorers on the Moon (section)

==Synopsis==
:''The synopsis continues a plot begun in ''[[Destination Moon (comics)|Destination Moon]]''.''

[[Professor Calculus]], [[Tintin (character)|Tintin]], [[Snowy (character)|Snowy]], [[Captain Haddock]], and Calculus's assistant [[Frank Wolff (comics)|Frank Wolff]] are aboard an atomic rocket-powered [[spacecraft]] leaving the [[Earth]] bound for the [[Moon]]. Soon after takeoff they discover that the detectives [[Thomson and Thompson]] have accidentally stowed away on board, thinking the launch was set for 1:34 P.M., and not A.M., putting a strain on the oxygen supply. The detectives accidentally turn off the [[Nuclear thermal rocket|nuclear motor]], disrupting the [[artificial gravity]] and sending everyone [[Weightlessness#Weightlessness in a spacecraft|floating]] until Tintin corrects the problem. They then suffer a relapse of the Formula 14 drug (seen in ''[[Land of Black Gold]]''), resulting in their hair growing rapidly in multiple colours, until Calculus subsequently administers a cure. {{anchor|AnchorAlcohol}}Haddock, who has smuggled whisky aboard the rocket, [[Captain_Haddock#AnchorAlcohol|gets drunk]] and takes an impromptu [[Extra-vehicular activity|spacewalk]], during which he briefly becomes a [[satellite]] of the [[asteroid]] [[2101 Adonis|Adonis]], but Tintin is able to rescue him.{{sfn|Hergé|2003|pp=1-11}}

The rocket lands in the [[Hipparchus (lunar crater)|Hipparchus Crater]], with Tintin being the first human to step on the Moon. Next day, Calculus and Wolff set up optical instruments to begin observational work on the Moon while Tintin and Haddock build the Moon tank. Two days later, Haddock, Wolff and Tintin take the Moon tank to explore some [[stalactite]] caves in the direction of the [[Ptolemaeus (lunar crater)|Ptolemaeus Crater]]; inside a cave Snowy slips into an ice-covered chasm, but Tintin rescues him. Later aboard the ship, Tintin is ambushed and left bound in the hold by a third stowaway, [[Colonel Jorgen]], a spy who had been smuggled aboard by Wolff, who has been blackmailed by a foreign power for which Jorgen works and Snowy's leg gets injured while being ambushed by Jorgen. Tintin finally places the bandages around Snowy's injured leg to heal completely. With Wolff's help, Jorgen seeks to hijack the ship and return it to Earth, but Tintin escapes and foils him through emergency sabotage that cuts power to the engine.{{sfn|Hergé|2003|pp=12-48}}

Due to the strain on the oxygen supplies, the crew decides to abandon the Moon tank and the optical instruments and to cut short the lunar stay. The repair work is completed slightly ahead of schedule, and the rocket is cleared for lift-off. After launch, Jorgen escapes his bonds due to the detectives' bungling and tries to kill Tintin and the others with a gun; Wolff seeks to prevent him, and in their struggle over the gun, Jorgen is shot through his heart, killing him. When it is revealed that there will not be enough oxygen aboard for the crew to survive the journey, Wolff sacrifices himself by opening the [[airlock]] and [[space exposure|floating out into space]] to his death. Upon approaching Earth, the crew falls unconscious, but Tintin wakes long enough to set the rocket to auto-pilot and it arrives back in [[Syldavia]] safely. After landing, the crew is rescued in the nick of time. During the heroes' welcome home party, Calculus hopes they may return to the Moon someday, but Haddock refuses, revealing that the expedition has taught him that "Man's proper place is on dear old Earth".{{sfn|Hergé|2003|pp=49-62}}