Jules Verne's Around the Moon: Survivors Rescued at Sea, 1870
This 1870 engraving predicted splashdown capsule recovery with eerie accuracy — NASA's Apollo astronauts would bob in the Pacific nearly 100 years later in nearly identical fashion. Verne's cylindrical projectile-spacecraft bobs in open ocean, an American flag planted triumphantly on its hull, as a crowded longboat of sailors rushes to recover the passengers. A steam-powered warship stands at anchor in the background, completing a scene of naval rescue that anticipates the USS Hornet recovering Apollo 12 with uncanny precision.
This is classic hard-SF proto-science fiction in the Vernian tradition — methodical, plausible, and grounded in real engineering speculation rather than lurid pulp excess. The drama is understated, conveying scientific adventure over sensationalism.
