Even 40-something Americans -- at least those who haven't ever taken a more than average interest in the space program -- don't know much about the history of man on the moon.
Sure, we know the basics. We Americans were there first, beating out the Russians -- it was a race, you know! -- Neil Armstrong was was the first man to put boot to surface. The whole world watched on TV. Etc. etc.
So, British director David Sington has done us a service with his documentary "In the Shadow of the Moon," which was voted best documentary at Sundance.
In addition to giving us a lot of context (the moon program was a passion of JFK's) and a lot of insider information, we get to know the astronauts ... or at least most of them.
While Armstrong has gone missing and, oddly, there's no mention of why he's not included (presumably because of his somewhat reclusive nature), we hear some, like Charles Duke, who was part of the 1972 Apollo 16 crew, say some simple things that really put the moon missions into context.
As the film opens, Duke points out that his father was a contemporary of the Wright brothers. So, to him, it was amazing that his son would fly to the moon. Yet, Duke says, his own son was 5 years old and, "he didn't think it was any big deal."
And so went the 20th century.
What those of us born in the '60s knew of the moon missions was that we got there. We didn't know about the astronauts killed in pre-moon testing or the failed missions or the fears and difficulties faced by the engineers, planners and above all by the astronauts themselves, who were risking their lives on equipment that often appeared unreliable.
Of course, Sington has packed this 100-minute film with stellar footage of rocket launches, celestial film, pictures of the bright Earth sitting alone out there in darkness, images of the desolate lunar landscape.
There are also lots of sequences showing original footage of astronauts shaving without gravity, reading letters from home while 250,000 miles up and best of all, the men on the moon bouncing along, picking up samples, cruising in the rover and generally looking like gleeful kids in their first sandbox.
Most moving and insightful are the interviews with astronauts like Buzz Aldrin, who got to experience what few ever have and maybe ever will, and like Milwaukee's James Lovell who came so close only to turn around and come home without stepping foot on the moon, but thankful to still be alive.
Get an interesting, enlightening and fun tutorial on the NASA space program (at least as it relates to moon missions) ... see this film.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
