Explorers on the Moon (originally On a marché sur la Lune) is one of a series of classic comic-strip albums, written and illustrated by Belgian writer and illustrator Hergé, featuring young reporter Tintin as a hero.

Explorers on the Moon is the seventeenth in the series.

The storyline

The story continues from Destination Moon. Calculus is taking Tintin, Captain Haddock and his assistant Wolf to the Moon in his rocket.

But, what a surprise they receive when the Thompson Twins arrive up from the hold, saying casually that they are glad they have time to rest before the launch. After Haddock realizes they had forgot the launch was not 3 PM in the afternoon, but 3 AM in the morning, he criticizes their mistake extremely.

When they arrive on the Moon, Tintin sets foot on the hard rocky ground, being the first human on the Moon. But danger is looming. A Bordurian secret agent has been hiding in the rocket, and with the aid of Wolf, he makes an attempt to take over the rocket and leave our heroes marooned on the Moon. He was planning to land it back in his own country, so its technology could be plundered by his government. Tintin succeeds in defeating the plot, and eventually locks him up in the hold, against protests by other characters that they won't have enough oxygen to last the way home unless they leave him on the Moon.

Part of the way back to the Earth, the agent escapes and is accidentally shot by Wolf while they are grappling for the agent's gun. However, even without the agent they still have the unforeseen Thompsons, and not enough oxygen. Later, Tintin wakes up to find that Wolf has committed suicide by leaving the ship, leaving a goodbye note near some wires that he cut to get out without sounding the alarm. The rest of the group continues towards the Earth, as their oxygen runs low. Everyone is falling unconscious. Tintin barely stays awake just long enough to get the ship set up to land. After the ship lands, firemen break the door open, finding everyone unconscious. They are worried about Captain Haddock until he is roused by the sound of the word "whiskey". And with that the book ends.