"In The Shadow of the Moon" is the best space documentary film I've ever seen. The former Apollo astronauts launch down memory lane, telling stories about a Texan lady who tried to sue them for reciting lines from the Bible on Christmas Eve while they were orbiting the Moon (on charges of their insensitivity of the separation between Church and State), laughing about how their lives changed after they got "the right stuff", etc. Buzz Aldrin, being a frank and funny guy, even admits that the noticeable pause he took in stepping from the Apollo latter to the moon's surface was because he was thought it would be a good time to take a leak (and indeed it was).
It was fascinating to hear each astronaut tell the same tale from a slightly different perspective, and they really are a bunch of characters. Michael Collins, my favorite, says he grabbed Neil Armstrong by the ears and was going to give him a big kiss on the forehead after he walked on the moon...but then, at the last minute, changed his mind about the big fat smooch, released his ears, and gave him an awkward-but-manly pat on the back instead.

Ultimately, the adventures in outer space resulted in the astronauts' concern for Earth.
Alan Bean, the Apollo 12 Lunar Module Pilot notes: "We live in the Garden of Eden...I'll never complain about the weather again." Jim Lovell agrees, adding that "Just from the distance of the moon, you can hide the Earth behind your thumb, everything that you have ever known; your loved ones, your business, the problems of the Earth itself, all behind your thumb....so insignificant."

The movie closes with six-time astronaut John Young warning us that "There's a lot of things like urban pollution, and you can see that when you hit orbit now. You can see that big cities all have their own set of unique atmospheres. We ought to be looking out for our kids and our grandkids. What are we worried about? The price of a gallon of gasoline."

Thanks to Alexis Gambis for organizing this screening at Rockefeller University, and for founding the Imagine Science Film Festival, a 10 day spree of fabulous (and free) movies all over New York City from October 16-25.

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