I just received the DVD of In the Shadow of the Moon, a movie that I saw and really enjoyed last fall when it was in limited theatrical release. I'm looking forward to seeing it again this weekend. It's so good that even some of my non-space-freak family members might enjoy "meeting" some of the Apollo astronauts as real people looking back at the achievements and emotions of their younger days.And speaking of Moon shadows, imagery released by NASA today of of the Moon's south pole region is pretty impressive. That is some really rugged terrain, and Shackleton is one humongous crater. The animation of a spacecraft landing on the edge of Shackleton is great, and really gives a sense of scale, but I think the coolest one is the lunar illumination movie (1.6 MB QuickTime). There are some areas there that stay very, very dark and cold. And icy, we hope. Landing anything there will require careful planning and preparation, and this is a good start. Bill Stone, take note.
3 comments:
What a coincidence (not so in fact)! I got that DVD last week my-self. I didn't see it in theater since its release in Canada was somewhat limited (or so it seems). It's a pretty good movie. Too bad Neil Armstrong didn't participate.
Yeah, I was lucky last fall, though I had to drive an hour to a place near Boston to see it, a small "art theater" - it wasn't in any of the big multi-screen theaters. It would normally be a very special interest movie, but the astronauts are so engaging, I think a lot of people who don't care about space will like it anyway. I will test the theory this weekend!
Thanks for the compliment... I did the animations for that press conference, and wished I'd had more time. They only gave me a week and a half to do all that you see there, and much more. The HD version I originally turned in was 11 minutes or so. I'll try to release the rest of it via my company's website ( http://studio-orb.com ) if the PAO folks don't throw a fit.
We were lucky as well to have the director come to JPL and screen the film for us last summer. It's a great movie. Even though we sometimes get accused of manned-mission bashing, there wasn't a dry eye on the Lab. It's impossible to not respect the effort and accomplishment of the Apollo Program.
I read your site all the time, its on my daily space links, and I attended your talk in Dallas at ISDC. Just thought I'd give a shout back and say thanks!
-rob
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