Editing Explorers on the Moon (section)

===Background===
Hergé first devised the idea of sending Tintin on a mission to the Moon while he was working on ''[[Prisoners of the Sun]]'' (1949).{{sfn|Farr|2001|p=135}} His decision to move into the field of [[science fiction]] might have been influenced by his friendly rivalry with his colleague [[Edgar P. Jacobs]], who had recently had success with his own science fiction comic, ''[[The Secret of the Swordfish]]'' (1950–53).{{sfn|Peeters|2012|p=218}} He decided that it would be a two-volume story arc, as had proved successful with his earlier arcs, ''[[Cigars of the Pharaoh]]'' (1934) and ''[[The Blue Lotus]]'' (1936), ''[[The Secret of the Unicorn]]'' (1943) and ''[[Red Rackham's Treasure]]'' (1944), and ''[[The Seven Crystal Balls]]'' (1948) and ''Prisoners of the Sun''.{{sfn|Farr|2001|p=135}} He had initially intended on beginning this story after the culmination of ''Prisoners of the Sun'', but both his wife Germaine Remi and his close friend Marcel Dehaye convinced him to proceed with ''[[Land of Black Gold]]'' (1950), a story that he had previously left unfinished, instead.{{sfn|Goddin|2009|p=189}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv RH8II Bild-B0788-42 BSM, Peenemünde, Startvorbereitungen V2.jpg|thumb|left|A German V-2 rocket being tested in 1942. The V-2 would serve as a major inspiration for Hergé in his work on both ''Destination Moon'' and ''Explorers on the Moon''.]]
Seeking advice on the story, Hergé consulted his friend [[Bernard Heuvelmans]], who had authored the non-fiction book ''L'Homme parmi les étoiles'' ("Man Among the Stars") (1944).{{sfn|Peeters|2012|p=218}} In autumn 1947, Heuvelmans and [[Jacques Van Melkebeke]] developed a script for the story, which they gave to Hergé. This version based Calculus' lunar expedition in a fictional location, Radio City, in the United States. It featured a return of Professor Decimus Phostle, a character who had previously appeared in ''[[The Shooting Star]]'' (1942), but this time as an antagonist; Phostle had sold the secrets of the mission in order to attain funds to buy a diamond for the actress [[Rita Hayworth]].{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1pp=138–139|2a1=Farr|2y=2001|2p=138|3a1=Lofficier|3a2=Lofficier|3y=2002|3p=65|4a1=Peeters|4y=2012|4p=218}} In early 1948, Hergé produced two black-and-white pages of this version of the story before abandoning it.{{sfnm|1a1=Peeters|1y=1989|1p=94|2a1=Thompson|2y=1991|2p=139|3a1=Peeters|3y=2012|3p=218}} Hergé retained some elements of this original script in his finished version, namely the scenes in which Haddock drinks whiskey in a gravity-free environment and that in which Haddock goes for a space walk and nearly becomes a satellite of Adonis, which appear on pages 5 and 8 of ''Explorers on the Moon''.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1p=139|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2pp=220–221}}
[[File:Tintin Moon Rocket 20180505 102451.jpg|thumb|left|A model of the rocket at Brussels Airport]]
Nevertheless, Heuvelmans thought his influence on the story to be more significant, stating that "in going through the two books we [he and Van Melkebeke] really had the impression that it was what we had originally done at the beginning. In broad outline, that was it".{{sfn|Assouline|2009|p=172}}

Hergé hoped for the story to be as realistic as possible, and sought to eschew fantastical elements.{{sfnm|1a1=Peeters|1y=1989|1p=94|2a1=Farr|2y=2001|2p=135}} In his own words, it contained "no moonmen, no monsters, no incredible surprises".{{sfn|Peeters|1989|p=94}} To ensure this realism, he collected a wide range of documents about [[rocket]]s and space travel with which to conduct research.{{Sfn|Farr|2001|p=136}} In this he was aided by Heuvelmans, who collected pictures of rockets and atomic research facilities for him.{{sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1p=172|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=222}} Hergé's research archive included [[Man Will Conquer Space Soon!|an article]] from the American magazine ''[[Collier's]]'' which discussed how humanity could reach the Moon,{{sfn|Farr|2001|p=136}} as well as books by [[Pierre Rousseau]] and [[Auguste Piccard]].{{sfn|Assouline|2009|p=170}} A further work that he used was ''L'Astronautique'' (1950), a book on putative space travel by the physicist [[Alexander Ananoff]],{{sfnm|1a1=Lofficier|1a2=Lofficier|1y=2002|1p=65|2a1=Goddin|2y=2011|2p=8}} with whom Hergé began a correspondence in April 1950.{{sfn|Peeters|2012|p=225}} He also visited the [[Ateliers de Constructions Electriques de Charleroi]]'s Center for Atomic Research, striking up a subsequent correspondence with its director, [[Max Hoyaux]].{{sfnm|1a1=Assouline|1y=2009|1pp=170–171|2a1=Peeters|2y=2012|2p=225}} Hergé incorporated much of this technical information into the story, but juxtaposed it with moments of humour to make it more accessible to his young readership.{{sfn|Thompson|1991|p=143}}

According to literary critics [[Jean-Marc Lofficier]] and Randy Lofficier, possible fictional influences on Hergé's story include [[Jules Verne]]'s 1870 novel ''[[Around the Moon]]'' and the 1950 American film ''[[Destination Moon (film)|Destination Moon]]''.{{sfn|Lofficier|Lofficier|2002|p=65}} Hergé was certainly inspired by a number of photographic stills from the ''Destination Moon'' film which had been published.{{sfn|Goddin|2011|p=10}} The computer system at the Sprodj space centre was visually based upon the [[UNIVAC I]], the first computer to be created for non-military purposes.{{sfn|Goddin|2011|p=22}} Hergé based his Moon rocket on the designs of the [[V-2 rocket]] which had been developed by German scientists during [[World War II]].{{sfn|Farr|2001|p=136}} The red-and-white checker pattern on Hergé's rocket was based upon an illustration of a V-2 which Hergé had come upon in [[Leslie Simon]]'s 1947 book ''German Research in World War II''.{{sfn|Lofficier|Lofficier|2002|p=65}} He commissioned the construction of a model rocket with detachable parts from his assistant Arthur Van Noeyen. He took the model to [[Paris]] where he showed it to Ananoff, asking him if it was a realistic representation of what a Moon rocket might look like. He and his assistants then used the model from which to accurately sketch when producing the comic.{{sfnm|1a1=Peeters|1y=1989|1p=95|2a1=Thompson|2y=1991|2pp=142–143|3a1=Farr|3y=2001|3p=136|4a1=Assouline|4y=2009|4p=171|5a1=Peeters|5y=2012|5p=227}}
Hergé introduced into the story the character of Boris Jorgen, who had previously appeared as an antagonist in ''[[King Ottokar's Sceptre]]'' (1939).{{sfn|Lofficier|Lofficier|2002|p=64}}
He added evidence for [[water on the Moon]] on the advice of Heuvelmans.{{sfnm|1a1=Thompson|1y=1991|1p=146|2a1=Farr|2y=2001|2p=138}}