This is a repost from [/r/AskReddit/] (http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/)
Im doing a bit of research for a History of Film essay. Im trying to determine at what point we realised there was no breathable air on the moon. Just to give you some context for this question, Im comparing George Mieles Voyage Dans la Lune and Duncan Jones' Moon. Im looking at Costume, Set design and representation of the moon and space. So I thought I'd see at what point we realised you couldn't breathe on the moon, as for those that don't know, in Voyage Dans la Lune, the astronauts are able to breathe on the moons surface and even encounter some aliens.
In the previous post it was advised I come and speak to some experts to determine at what point we all were aware that we could not breathe on the moon.
The fact that the Moon had very little atmosphere to speak of was essentially known for centuries, since the invention of the telescope. Had the Moon an atmosphere significant enough to maintain breathable oxygen, it would be possible to detect it fairly easily from Earth given its proximity. As it is, the weak lunar atmosphere is so faint and indetectable that it took until the Apollo missions for it to be concretely measured. Source: S. Alan Stern, "The lunar atmosphere: History, status, current problems, and context," Reviews of Geophysics 37, no. 4 (November 1999), 453-491.
So I would not take Voyage Dans la Lune to be an accurate reflection of scientific understanding about the Moon for its time.