Fortunately, Verne had been dead for 64 years by the time of the Apollo 11 mission in 1969 and was thus spared the embarrassment of knowing the actual launch speed of the aluminum
craft that would carry the three men would be 11,424 yards
per second, and that
part of the rocket would be named «Columbia,» not his own ludicrously off - base suggestion, «Columbiad.»