The Mouse on the Moon (novel)

In it, the people of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick, a tiny isolated country in the Alps, attempt a space flight using wine as a propellant.

[2] In 1961, a year before The Mouse On the Moon was published, the Soviet Union launched the first crewed spaceship to orbit the Earth.

[4] The Duchy of Grand Fenwick, a tiny country in the Alps covering 15 square miles,[5] is in financial trouble.

The government hopes to bring tourism to the country, but that would require installing modern plumbing in its castle, and repairing its 12 miles of highways.

[5] With such a large gift the country is able to not only install indoor plumbing, but also purchase a second-hand Saturn rocket and some used space suits.