six o'clock
It seemed impossible that , before long , the projectile would not strike her , if only at the north pole , the brilliant arch of which was so distinctly visible on the black sky . Michel Ardan wanted to open one of the scuttles and throw himself on to the moon 's surface ! A very useless attempt ; for if the projectile could not attain any point whatever of the satellite , Michel , carried along by its motion , could not attain it either . At that moment , at six o'clock , the lunar pole appeared . The disc only presented to the travelers ' gaze one half brilliantly lit up , while the other disappeared in the darkness . Suddenly the projectile passed the line of demarcation between intense light and absolute darkness , and was plunged in profound night ! At the moment when this phenomenon took place so rapidly , the projectile was skirting the moon 's north pole at less than twenty-five miles distance .