In the Shadow of the Moon

In the Shadow of the Moon (all living Apollo astronauts who traveled to the moon) – It’ll be 40 years in 2008 since the first Apollo missions headed to the moon to meet the pledge that President John F. Kennedy made to walk on the moon by the end of the 1960s.  Starting with the launching pad deaths of Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chafee, this documentary follows the flights, the recollections, and the reminiscences of the nine living Apollo astronauts who ventured to and/or walked on the moon.  The “stars” among the astronauts are Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11, the first mission to land on the moon; Alan Bean of Apollo 12; Gene Cernan of Apollo 10 and 17; and the most famous of the group, Jim Lovell of Apollo 8 and 13.  Collins and Bean show true personality, something not always associated with astronauts.  Aldrin displays insights into being one of the two to step on the moon for the first time.  Lovell is the most cerebral and the survivor of the Apollo 13 explosion. The other astronauts – Edgar Mitchell, Harrison Schmitt, Dave Scott and John Young — share human insights into the wonder of being in an even more exclusive group than U.S. Presidents because they are the only humans to step on a celestial body other than Mother Earth.  The only dialogue of this retrospective is that of the astronauts.  Director David Sington uses only actual footage (no computer animation) to tell the poignant story not only of the technological genius necessary to make these voyages to the moon possible but also the splendor of the earth as a speck of an oasis in the blackness of space.  Whether you were a space buff like me, a student of modern history, or just someone who enjoys a first-person account of one of sentinel events of our times, please see this film.

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