Recovered audio and first-hand accounts rekindle the awe and wonder of space • by By Russ Carr • Film still, In the Shadow of the Moon
Posted On: 10/01/2007 E-mail This To A Friend!

I grew up with rockets in my back yard. They’d pop up from time to time just over the big tree that sat between our house and the Bumbys’ next door, a shiny bullet riding atop a dazzling yellow flame, etching a trail of smoke and steam across the central Florida sky. And if our house’s proximity to Kennedy Space Center wasn’t enough to establish some early emotional ties between me and the space program, there was always the fact my dad helped build rockets for NASA, and my grandfather built rockets for the Army.

Rockets! Everywhere, rockets!

Of course, I wasn’t born yet when Neil Armstrong took that first amazing stroll across the lunar dust. And by the time I was old enough to appreciate these marvels of engineering, the Apollo program was long over, Dad had traded NASA for the Navy and space was Star Wars, not astronauts. But still, the connection was there, and if there was no vibrant space program during those deeply inquisitive childhood years, it just meant that I had only to wait, because we were going back, right? Right?!

This December will mark 35 years since we left the moon, and I’ve been clinging to my deeply inquisitive childhood this whole time. Fortunately, movies like Apollo 13 and HBO’s richly detailed miniseries From the Earth to the Moon come along every few years to rekindle the sense of awe and wonder borne of man’s greatest achievement of science
and engineering.

In that same spirit is the new documentary In the Shadow of the Moon. But while Apollo 13 and From the Earth to the Moon presented fictionalized (if thoroughly researched) accounts of the Apollo program, In the Shadow of the Moon is entirely and breathtakingly real. No CGI, no special effects, no animation. And given some of the shots presented over the course of the movie, it’s nearly unbelievable. It only makes the work and the ingenuity and innovation of Apollo program more awesome to behold.

But then, just to make sure we don’t get too caught up in all of the hype and sensational footage, director David Sington grounds the documentary with a surprising source of humility: the men who actually made
the voyages.

Nine of the surviving Apollo astronauts provide a loose narration throughout the movie, from their early careers as test pilots jockeying for a piece of the fledgling space program to their contemporary perspectives on the space program, our spirit of exploration and our future as a people and a planet.

Along the way, the journey is punctuated by their recollections, sometimes poignant and often hilarious. Michael Collins, the seldom-interviewed command pilot of Apollo 11’s Columbia module, proves to be a charming raconteur, with a wry grin and a goofy willingness to poke fun at himself. Alan Bean (Apollo 12) shares an infectious giddiness, explaining that, after returning from the moon, everyday hassles like traffic and the weather aren’t worth complaining about.

But the one who stands out foremost for me is Charlie Duke, who flew aboard Apollo 16 and also served as capcom – the on-the-ground astronaut who maintained radio contact –
during the Apollo 11 mission. For this documentary, Sington dove deep into NASA archives and painstakingly matched old radio communication tapes with the heretofore silent films of mission operations. At long last, many of those famous scenes have their audio restored, and much of it focuses on Duke talking Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin down to the lunar surface.

In the Shadow of the Moon shows that nail-biting landing, with Duke informing the crew that they have less than 30 seconds to land – or they may not make it. We never get to see Armstrong’s steely performance in the cockpit before he coolly announces, “The Eagle has landed.” But now we get to see Duke slumping in relief against his console, moments before he thrusts his hands into the air in exultation. That moment, to me, encapsulates the sacrifice, the daring and the triumph of Apollo in a matter of only a few seconds.

“It was a time when we made bold moves,” said Apollo 8’s (and 13’s) Jim Lovell. Weighed against the intervening 35 years, it becomes abundantly clear that we dropped the ball somewhere around 1973. With a rediscovery of our spirit of ingenuity and exploration, we will make such bold moves again. Take your kids to see In the Shadow of the Moon – it could be an investment in our future.

The plaque left behind by the crew of Apollo 11 reads, “We came in peace for all mankind.” But the flag that was planted in the lunar soil was still the Stars and Stripes. Around here, no other restaurant gushes quite so American as Johnny Rockets. You can tip your hat to the rocket that lifted man to the moon – the three-stage Saturn V – with a three-patty burger and (if you’ve still got room) finish up with a slice of apple pie, patriotically crowned with a scoop of ice cream and an American flag. Sorry, though: Tang is not available.

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