In the Shadow of the Moon

There have been many documentaries about the technical issues of getting to the Moon, but this one focuses more on how the astronauts felt about it all. At turns funny (Buzz Aldrin admits he relieved himself right before stepping on the Moon because it was about the only spare time he was going to have for the next two hours), inspiring (Jim Lovell talking about reading from Genesis while orbiting the Moon), and poignant (several of the astronauts talk about the Apollo 1 fire), it's a riveting piece of film-making.

The footage itself switches between the "talking heads" of the astronauts and imagery depicting what they're talking about, loosely following the chronology of the space age, from Kennedy's declaration of the ambition to go to the Moon to the later Apollo missions with the lunar rover. There aren't any revelations in the mission footage, but then all that's been combed over many times. However, it's well put together and everything is tied in.

I got to see this film at a special showing at the Goddard Space Flight Center. When the film was over, the auditorium full of space geeks gave the director a standing ovation. I think it was well-deserved. While he humbly noted "It's you rocket scientists who really did this - I just put a film together," perhaps - as he also noted - this film will help inspire another generation as we take the next great leap into space, this time to Mars.