If memory serves well, Frenchmen solved the problem of going up in two ways, and the one you quote seems like a lot of hot air to me. I mean, if you follow that line of thought, the literature says an American would get to the Moon in 19 days or so.
The other French method included two dogs, a bunch of chicken, and a very large cannon, which had quite a bit more showmanship.
Eh. Going up is easy. A Frenchman, a sheep, duck, and rooster solved the whole ‘up’ thing over two centuries ago.
But going DOWN? That’s far more difficult. What wonders may lie beneath our feet: vast caverns, ore, underground oceans… hard to get to though.