5 a.m.
They could no longer seize the respective distances in perspective . A lunar landscape , which does not soften the phenomenon of the chiaro-oscuro , could not be painted by a landscape-painter of the earth . It would be nothing but blots of ink upon white paper . This aspect of things did not alter even when the projectile , then at the altitude of the 80th degree , was only separated from the moon by a distance of fifty miles , not even when , at 5 a.m. , it passed at less than twenty-five miles from the mountain of Gioja , a distance which the telescopes reduced to half-a-mile . It seemed as if they could have touched the moon . It appeared impossible that before long the projectile should not knock against it , if only at the North Pole , where the brilliant mountains were clearly outlined against the dark background of the sky . Michel Ardan wanted to open one of the port-lights and jump upon the lunar surface .