In the shadow of the moon.....

Ron Howard's new documentary "In the Shadow of the Moon" has just been released in limited theaters, thankfully one of them was in Tampa. Unfortunately, as there were no takers to go along...I went by myself, but it was a great film.

The best way I can describe it would be that it was like having a cup of coffee with those men who went to the moon. Since it happened recently, I think many of us miss the gravity of that event: the landing on the moon was one of the most historically significantly moments in human history. To put this film in perspective, it's like having a conversation with Magellan, Columbus, Marco Polo or da Gama.

I really enjoyed how the film captured the astronaut's personalities so well. You see a side of them that you don't get just watching mission footage. It was also interesting to see Charlie Duke, I had the chance to hear him speak when I was in Junior High.

The entire documentary was taken from real footage, too. No CGI, animation or artists impressions. All footage was from the real missions.

A quite memorable part was discussing Apollo 8, the first flight around the moon. As the astronauts were orbiting the moon on Christmas Eve, they read Genesis chapter 1. If you look at my blog's main page, you'll see the stamp that commemorated that event.

Visit the Film's website at: http://www.intheshadowofthemoon.com/ to see if it is showing at a theater near you. If not, be sure to rent the DVD.

Hopefully we go back to the moon, and beyond in my lifetime. I missed Apollo by a few years and hope that Constellation can get us there again.