Plot

In 1868, American inventor Victor Barbicane develops a powerful military explosive that he also uses as fuel for a moon-bound rocket manned by himself and a motley crew.

Set just after the American civil war, businessman and inventor Victor Barbicane invents a new source of power called Power X. He plans to use it to power rockets, and to show its potential he plans to send a projectile to the moon. Joining him for the trip are his assistant Ben Sharpe, Barbicane's arch-rival Stuyvesant Nicholl, and Nicholl's daughter Virginia. Nicholl believes that Power X goes against the will of God and sabotages the projectile so that they cannot return to earth, setting up a suspenseful finale as they battle to repair the projectile.—Anonymous

Soon after the end of the American Civil War, arms manufacturer Victor Barbicane announces that he has produced a powerful new weapon. known as Power X. He asks Confederate supporter and steel manufacturer Stuyvesant Nicholl to make his best armor plate which Barbicane has no trouble destroying. After the President asks him not to pursue his new weapon, Barbicane decides on a new venture: a trip to the moon. He enlists Nicholl to invent a new covering for his rocket, one that will protect the ship when it reenters the Earth's atmosphere on the return voyage. Unknown to Barbicane however is Nicholl's hatred for the arms dealer and his intention to sabotage the journey.—garykmcd

Victor Barbicane and Stuyvesant Nicholl are widely regarded as the munitions wizards for the Union and the Confederacy, respectively, in the war between the states, Barbicane more of a chemist and Nicholl a metallurgist. The adjective "mad" is often added to wizard until what they proposed came to fruition in its practical use in the war. In the post-war era of supposed world peace in 1868, Barbicane has just developed Power X, the most powerful explosive ever produced. He intends for it to be used as a new source of energy rather than for weapons in war, although he realizes that its power makes it difficult to test in its possible mass destruction. As such, he proposes to the International Armament Club, a group largely comprised of allied industrialists, to rocket a warhead containing Power X to the wasteland of the moon in testing its capabilities, and thus requires funding from them, which they seem more than willing to provide in advancing the technology and ultimately filling their own pocketbooks. However, Barbicane learns directly from the US President in what is meant as private conversation solely between the two of them that many world powers will see the launching of such a rocket as provocation of war in there being no guarantee of fallout of the explosive on Earth. With the Club pulling its support, Barbicane gets an unexpected new associate in a modified venture: Nicholl. The modification, stemming from Nicholl's newly developed metal which was designed to withstand the blast of Power X but which was altered in a targeted hit, is that they themselves will fly to the moon and back in a rocket made of the new metal which could withstand the force of reentry into the Earth's atmosphere, with a third being Barbicane's assistant, Ben Sharpe. What Barbicane is unaware of is that Nicholl has an ulterior motive in joining forces with him with a different goal in mind. The thoughts of those aboard the rocket change when they discover a stowaway, namely Nicholl's young adult daughter Virginia Nicholl, who, having fallen in love with Sharpe, was afraid of never seeing Sharpe or her father ever again.—Huggo

Shortly after the end of the American Civil War, munitions producer Victor Barbicane announces that he has invented a new explosive, "Power X", which he claims is much more powerful than any previously devised. Metallurgist Stuyvesant Nicholl scoffs at Barbicane's claims and offers a wager of $100,000 ($2.2 million today) that it cannot destroy his invention, the hardest metal in existence. Barbicane stages a demonstration using a puny cannon and demolishes Nicholl's material (and a portion of the countryside).

President Ulysses S. Grant requests that Barbicane cease development of his invention after several nervous countries warn that continuing work on Power X could be considered an act of war. Barbicane agrees, but when he discovers that pieces of Nicholl's metal retrieved from the demonstration have somehow been converted into an extremely strong yet lightweight ceramic, he cannot resist the chance to construct a spaceship to travel to the Moon. He recruits Nicholl to help build the ship. Meanwhile, Nicholl's daughter Virginia and Barbicane's assistant Ben Sharpe are attracted to each other.

After completing the spaceship, Barbicane, Nicholl, and Sharpe board it and, amid much fanfare, take off. Once they are in outer space, the strongly religious Nicholl reveals that he has sabotaged the vessel, believing that Barbicane has flouted God's laws. When it is discovered that Virginia has stowed away, Nicholl cooperates with Barbicane in a desperate attempt to save her. Sharpe is knocked out, and he and Virginia are placed in the safest compartment of the ship. Barbicane and Nicholl then fire rockets that send the young couple on their way back to Earth, while the two scientists land on the Moon in another section, with no way off. They are able to signal to the young couple that they have reached the Moon safely.