Da Terra à Lua

Until the movie Apollo 13 came to the screen, many were unaware, or had forgotten of that event, or of the many facets, the visions, the energies that made up the American Space program in the 1960s. A program with a dictate set forth by President Kennedy: to get men to the moon, and return, safely, before the end of the decade.

This 12-hour (12 x one-hour segments) tribute is the personal mission of two-time Academy Award winner Tom Hanks, a man with a childhood love for the astronauts and the space program, and a man with enough clout to get this big-budget extravaganza made.

Each segment is in and of itself a story, each with a different point-of-view on the major aspects of the program. Certainly the main events-the first manned flight, the Apollo 1 fire, the lunar landing, the Apollo 13 emergency, are all there. But quite differently than what we've seen previously, here we have an opportunity to relive much of the day-to-day, aspects-the politics, the personalities, the emotions, of many, many of the key individuals. The astronauts, the engineers, the administrators, the news people, the wives-they all get wonderfully recognized.

Since I'm about the same age as Mr. Hanks, I admit to being a space freak myself as a youngster-at the time these events actually happened. At that time I waited every week, for Time, Newsweek and Life magazine to give me the pictures, and accounts of the activity at NASA.

It's oh so appropriate to have this wonderful tribute to this important piece of American history.

The best thing about this series is the fact that it will either teach or remind a great many people about the accomplishments of the race to the moon. Sadly I feel that this is one of the most misunderstood and under appreciated events in human history, thought of by many today as some sort of great patriotic publicity stunt by an insecure America. I feel I can almost read Tom Hank's mind and feel his desire to make people understand the difficulty and significance of the achievement. The series does a wonderful job of placing the entire series of events in context with the political and social climate of the day.

We now live in a world where most of us simply take it for granted that we will probably someday travel to, explore and perhaps even colonize other worlds in our solar system and even beyond. This is the only true because hundreds of thousands of people contributed to proving beyond doubt that it can be done. The race to the moon changed us, even if we don't quite realize it, and this series is a reminder of that.

HBO's 'From the Earth to the Moon' (E2M) is everything a good docu-drama mini-series should be. Tom Hanks has brought to life the true story of man's greatest adventure to 'land a man on the Moon and return him safely to Earth'. For those of us who were alive, E2M allows us to relive those incredible days. And for those who were born afterwards, it gives them a chance to understand exactly what it was they missed. If you have even the slightest interest in the space program, obtaining a copy of this DVD set is a must.

Coincidently, Apollo 11 landed exactly 35 years ago today. I was 13 years old at the time and living in Nova Scotia, Canada. The 'Eagle' touched down at 5:17 pm, much to the consternation of my mother who was busy trying to prepare supper. Just like Tom Hanks would later relate, I had my models of the Command Service Module, Lunar Module and Saturn V rocket close at hand while I had claimed the living room armchair for the occasion. My family gathered around our old B&W television which was tuned to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), one of only two stations which were available to us back then. Much of the CBC's coverage consisted of a feed from CBS, so we got to watch Walter Cronkite's famous 'Oh Boy!' commentary. My prized 3" reel-to-reel tape recorder (you could get all of 1 hour on a single reel) was busy taping a local radio station carrying NBC's coverage with Jay Barbree.

The entire family congregated again a few hours later for the moonwalk, just before midnight, and watched Neil & Buzz's first steps. I stayed up for the entire 30 hour televised stretch, from lunar landing to liftoff, stealing a moment every now and then to go outside and gaze up in wonder at the moon, filled with awe that two human beings were actually there, living and working on its surface. In this day of CNN and other all-news networks, it should be remembered that the coverage of this event was in itself history in-the-making - TV's longest continuous coverage of a planned event.

My interest in space began with the flight of Apollo 8. When I heard that this was the first manned launch of the world's biggest rocket, the Saturn V, I was sure that one of its million parts would go wrong with disastrous results. Thank God it didn't. I watched and I was forever hooked. A real space junkie, religiously watching each mission after that, coaxing my Mom to let me stay home from school (recurrent cases of 'moon sickness', no doubt), clipping out every newspaper, Life, Time or Newsweek article I could find (now faded yellow with age) and trying to tape as much of the audio coverage as I could (few private individuals could afford a video recorder back then). By Apollo 14, I had earned enough money working at a grocery store to buy a 4-track 7" reel-to-reel recorder (which allowed one to put up to 12 hours on a single tape!) and had built a 15" Heathkit color TV. For Apollo 16, I had added a new-generation 'cassette' recorder to my arsenal (don't forget that the venerable 8-track was still popular at the time). And, of course, I had acquired a VCR by the time the first Space Shuttle flew in 1981. It has always annoyed me that the more recording resources I could afford, the less TV & radio coverage there was available to tape.

But the effect of the Apollo program on me was profound. Because of it, I entered into a career in radio astronomy, enjoying the technical challenge of building instruments to investigate deep space from the Earth, perhaps recognizing the likelihood that I would never have to opportunity to leave its surface (although I did make the first cut for the Canadian Astronaut Program nearly 20 years ago). In tribute to Project Apollo, we named our son (now 16) after astronaut David Scott who commanded Apollo 15, my favorite of all the lunar flights.

In many ways, I feel sorry for the children of today - they will never experience the monumental awe and global celebration that we were privileged to witness back in 1969. Strange, isn't it, that although Apollo - the pinnacle of mankind's technical achievement - which occurred only 35 years ago is now looked on as though it was something out of our deep past rather than a part of our future. It's almost treated like it was a chapter out of ancient history, similar to other great accomplishments like the building of the Pyramids or the Great Wall. Although it might not seem so today, 500 years from now the moon landings will undoubtedly be remembered as the most significant event to have occurred in the 20th century.

It's hard to choose my favorite E2M episode since they were all so good. As an engineer, 'Spider' resonated well with me, portraying the passion and dedication which many of us put into our work, albeit for projects with a much lower profile. 'That's All There Is' brought back fond memories of the Apollo 12 mission. I distinctly remember there was talk at the time that astronauts Conrad and Bean may have been on an accidental oxygen high. It's good to know that there effervescent behavior on the surface was just a manifestation of their normal high spirits and comradely. I was delighted at how 'Galileo Was Right' was able to present the training of the astronauts to be field-geologists in such an entertaining and informative manner. And finally, the bittersweet "Le Voyage Dans La Lune" brought a tear to my eye, just as happened back in 1972 when I watched Apollo 17 and the last lunar module lift-off from the moon. It's even sadder still, that we have not returned, nor will we for perhaps another 20 years.

This is one hell of a production!

It starts out with the Mercury missions, but not just the glossy scenes we know and have seen already, it goes beyond the norm. This 12 part series explains the absolute minutia of the space effort and the lives of the people behind it. It progresses through the Gemini and finally the Apollo missions all the way to the last Apollo 17 lunar landing.

I learned quite a few things about the space race that I never knew before, such as: The surly nature of Alan Shepard, the fate of the astronauts wives, the fun nature of the Apollo 12 crew and the internal politics within the ranks of the astronauts themselves. I was also surprised on how much a bastard that Walter Mondale was in his attempts on derailing the space program. (I'm glad his bid for the White House was a failed one... Ignorance favors all political parties.)

A lot of familiar faces starred in this production, the one that knocked me for a loop was Malcolm in the Middle's father as Buzz Aldrin. The acting is great and shows the versatility of the actors in both comedic and serious roles. I knew that Pete Conrad was cocky, but it shows more of his personality here. Armstrong has been known to be rather sullen and quiet, and is clearly demonstrated here as well. To this day, he doesn't talk much about his adventure. The decision determining who will be the first man on the moon is blunt and anti-climatic, but it tells it as it is. It tells of the astronauts secret activities and agendas, as well as particular small moments that they experienced.

In the Apollo 13 segment, the production did not go into the details of the incident like we all seen before, but rather focused on the reporters angle on the event. And I rather enjoyed the insight sweat details on the building of the L.E.M. I wish they did a segment on the rover. I thought that they labored too long over the Apollo 16 mission - training much...learning geology with a trained eye, but I appreciate the effort that they went through. The Apollo 1 tragedy was produced well, with the political aftermath fallout.

I hope that all what was filmed is true, and I do understand creative license, but I would feel better if I knew they kept it faithful to actual events. I need to view this again to catch more, but I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the space program.

Joe

Chicago Astronomer

http://astronomer.proboards23.com

From the Earth to the Moon is a stunning masterpiece that captures the triumph of a defining moment in the history of the world: Humankind's arrival to, short exploration of, and return from, it's planetary neighbor the Moon.

Tom Hanks brought together actors, writers, directors, producers, and composers of the highest caliber to deliver an accurate, outstanding, hard hitting film.

From the Earth to the Moon is a 12 hour movie spanning the United States involvement in the space race from the first man in space in 1961 to the last lunar landing in 1972. The movie teaches, gives insights, paints portraits of real people, and is simply fascinating.

The stories told in From the Earth to the Moon are inspiring, captivating, funny, thrilling, and heartbreaking. The true stories are absolutely unforgettable, stories of the men, women, and machines of the Apollo era.

All the stories presented in the film are special, and one that touched me was the story of Apollo 7. With the tragedy of Apollo 1, the movie reveals how Apollo 7 and its crew were America's last chance to make it happen. The movie beautifully presents the pressure Wally Shirra, his crew, and NASA were under before the lift-off of Apollo 7. Had Apollo 7 failed, the space program certainly would have stopped and the world would have never experienced Apollo 11's lunar landing.

The live footage shown from the Apollo 7 lift-off is awesome and spectacular. Generations from now will watch Apollo 7's lift-off to be amazed that humans could achieve such an engineering and technical marvel and scholars will debate in awe how the political, social, and economic environments of the time made such an event possible.

After viewing the entire movie, I was struck with sense of sadness. The Apollo program seemed to allow people's ideas to flourish and pull together around one common goal. That goal, of landing a man on the moon, was noble and exciting. It drew on man's positive strengths to explore, learn, move forward, and better the human condition. Someday, mankind must again reach for the stars.

From the Earth to the Moon will stay with you for a long, long time.