I finally had a chance to watch the 2007 film " In the Shadow of the Moon", which came out on DVD this month. I had hoped to see it in the theaters last Fall, but being a documentary, it had a very short run in my area. Directed by David Sington, the film presents some of the remaining 24 Americans who traveled to, or walked on, the Moon during the Apollo space program reminiscing about their missions and the impact it had on their lives.  Interspersed among the interviews is historical footage of the astronauts, along with other events occurring throughout the world during the late 1960s and early '70s. Some of the Apollo astronauts featured in the film include Buzz Aldrin, the second man to walk on the moon, Michael Collins, who orbited the moon while Aldrin and Neil Armstrong landed, and Eugene Cernan, the last person to walk on the moon. I've seen all three of these astronauts interviewed before, so I found it more interesting to hear from some of the other guys that were never quite as famous. This includes Alan Bean (Apollo 12), Charles Duke (Apollo 16 and Capsule Communicator for Apollo 11) and John Young (Apollo 16, who also went on to make the first flight in the Space Shuttle). However, I found the most insightful to be Michael Collins, who seemed to be most impressed not by the technical feat of sending man to the moon, but how it brought the whole world together.  (An even better understanding of Collins is in his book Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey", the best written book by an astronaut I've ever read.) Also, if you have seen any of the previous documentaries or TV shows about the space program, you won't really see any new footage of the Apollo missions in this documentary. I guess there was only so much film taken of the space program, and I'm sure most of the really dramatic stuff has already been shown. 

As an aerospace engineer, I was a little disappointed that the movie focused on the astronauts, and didn't cover the amazing exploits of the thousands of engineers behind the scenes who made the Apollo program so successful. Maybe that's because a smart, but bland-talking engineer is not as interesting to the general public as the courageous astronaut. If you want to see some good coverage of the engineers of Apollo, I'd recommend a DVD and a book. The DVD is the HBO mini-series " From the Earth to the Moon", especially the episode titled "Spider" which highlights the Grumman Aerospace engineering team that developed the Lunar Excursion Module (LEM) that took the astronauts to and from the lunar surface. The book to read would be XIII: The Apollo Flight That Failed" which was originally published in the 70s, well before the Ron Howard directed movie "Apollo 13" came out in 1995. This book focuses almost entirely on the heroic efforts of the engineers and scientists on the ground who worked together to get the three stranded astronauts back safely to earth.

One interesting aspect of "In the Shadow of the Moon" I noted comes from the the "tag line" when it was released: "Remember when the whole world looked up". With the reputation of the U.S. taking some pretty good hits the last few years, the tag line could have just as easily been "Remember when the whole world respected and admired the U.S. for our accomplishments, including one of the greatest technological feats of all time, placing a man on the moon". This sentiment is implied throughout the film as the astronauts talk about being greeted as heroes throughout the world, and footage showing peoples of all races and faiths anxiously following the landing of Apollo 11. It's a feeling I'm sure many of us long for again.

To summarize, if you are already a historian of the Apollo program, "In the Shadow of the Moon" is an enjoyable watch, but I don't think you will learn anything new. I already had a great appreciation of the accomplishments of the astronauts, having grown up during the space race. (In fact the U.S. space program of the 1960s is what inspired me to become an aerospace engineer.) It may be more appropriate to recommend it to someone who wasn't born until after the moon landings ended. For them it would give a good understanding how this monumental engineering effort brought respect and honor to the U.S., and made the whole world feel as one, even if only for a brief moment.

Final Note: Conspicuous by his absence in this film is Neil Armstrong, who declined to participate. Armstrong has always tried to shun the spotlight that has followed him ever since he took that "Giant leap for mankind" on July 20, 1969. Many people have even referred to him as a recluse, but if you read more about Armstrong, you realize that he really felt he  didn't deserve all the attention. Armstrong's view was that he was in the right place at the right time in history, and he was just the tip of the pyramid that was supported by the thousands of engineers and other workers at NASA and the contractors. I have always admired Armstrong for NOT seeking fame and fortune, which he easily could have done. Instead, he has continued to live a satisfying life under the radar since he left the space program. He is still active in giving back to society, and he recently donated money to his (and mine) Alma Mater, Purdue University, for the construction of a new Aerospace Engineering building. If you really want to understand the man who is Neil Armstrong, I highly recommend you read the biography "First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong" the only authorized book about his life.