Exploration of the Moon invention of the telescope, an increasing number of people began to recognise the Moon as a sphere, though many believed that it was "perfectly smooth". In 1609, Galileo Galilei drew one of the first telescopic drawings of the Moon in his book and noted that it was not smooth but had mountains and craters. Later in the 17th century, Giovanni Battista Riccioli and Francesco Maria Grimaldi drew a map of the Moon and gave many craters the names they still have today. On maps, the dark parts of the Moon's surface were called "maria" (singular "mare") or seas, and the
First Men to the Moon investigating the interior of the moon using seismograph-equipped solid propellant rockets. According to WorldCat, the book is in 413 libraries. Floyd C. Gale said that the fictional moon trip was "highly detailed and absorbing", and praised the "exceptional" illustrations. He concluded that "Even the best grounded SF buff will find new and astonishing material over which to dream". First Men to the Moon First Men to the Moon is a novel by rocketry expert Wernher von Braun, published in 1960. It tells the story of John Mason and Larry Carter, fictional astronauts traveling to the moon. Von Braun's book is