Two handwritten Jules Verne manuscripts were chosen to fly on the inaugural ATV mission for their spaceflight spirit and astronomy-related contents. The third manuscript (lower part on the poster) flown on board is a faithful replica.
Manuscripts lent by the Amiens Métropole libraries (Amiens, France) launched on board 'Jules Verne'. The two manuscripts, on which the astronomical distances and a celestial chart appear, are part of a collection entirely devoted to Jules Verne, acquired by Amiens Métropole in 2000 and preserved in its libraries.
The 'Celestial Chart' (top left) describes the Vault of Heaven in direction of the Pole star. In 'Distances in astronomy' (top right) Jules Verne makes the synthesis of a certain number of distances in astronomy and informs us about the time it would take in each case to cover this distance on foot, by train and at the speed of light.
The third handwritten document (lower half of page), which is a dedication Jules Verne wrote in one of his books, did not travel to space; it has been reproduced on a poster with the other two documents, of which the originals were also carried into space on board Jules Verne ATV.