midnight
Again , I should share the motion of that particular spot of the Earth 's surface from which I rose around her axis , a motion varying with the latitude , greatest at the equator , nothing at the pole . This would whirl me round and round the Earth at the rate of a thousand miles an hour ; of this I must , of course , get rid as soon as possible . And when I should be rid of it , I meant to start at first right upward ; that is , straight away from the Sun and in the plane of the ecliptic , which is not very different from that in which Mars also moves . Therefore I should begin my effective ascent from a point of the Earth as far as possible from the Sun ; that is , on the midnight meridian . For the same reason which led me to start so long before the date of the opposition , I resolved , having regard to the action of the Earth 's rotation on her axis , to start some hours before midnight . Taking leave , then , of the two friends who had thus far assisted me , I entered the Astronaut on the 1st August , about 4.30 P.M. . After sealing up the entrance-window , and ascertaining carefully that everything was in order -- a task which occupied me about an hour -- I set the generator to work ; and when I had ascertained that the apergion was full , and that the force was supplied at the required rate , I directed the whole at first into the main conductor .