Just also putting things into context, the Moon was reached for the first time at the very end of 1968 (by humans) and the landing was 1969.
One of the great science fiction films of all time, possibly one of the great films of all time, was released the year before ie before we had even landed on the Moon. I speak of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Now, you can look back on this film and highlight mistakes (the colour of the Earth seems a bit pale, for example, and the walking on the Moon seems wrong – a bunny hop seems more approriate), but we know director Kubrick was a stickler for detail and believeability.
I am never sure what the title has to do with anything. It is not clear what part of the film, if any, takes place in 2001. The only indication of a time is one caption, for 18 months later. I have always suspected that the date was chosen not as part of a realistic prediction of where space exploration would be, but simply as the first year of a new millennium, a fresh start to history.
Space travel is nowhere near that depiction in the film. Easy shuttle flights to a space station, bases on the Moon, suspended animation and missions to Jupiter are just as far off now as they were then, disappointingly.
It was a truly exciting time. They went to the Moon in peace for all mankind. Everyone around the world watched it if they could.
We look back now after 50 years of technological progress, and find we couldn’t do it now. We don’t have the expertise, plain and simple. Despite iPhones, the Internet, Lady Gaga and heart transplants, no suitable technology is there.
In those days, it was a time for optimism. It’s hard to believe, given the way the USA is these days under the current President.
So, let’s give a big credit to the many science/space films there are, especially In The Shadow Of The Moon, which is astronauts talking about their experiences, and Apollo 11.
I saw this at the IMAX in London just recently. In 90 minutes or so, with no talking heads, no commentary, a few graphics and some appropriate music, it captures that optimism.
Most of the footage from space has been seen before (there is relatively little of it around of course, but it all looks as good as it can be), but the shots of the crowds at take off and of the control rooms is just great. Even though you know what happens, it’s hard not to get totally involved in it all. At my screening, there was a huge round of appluase at the end.
Don’t miss it. The bigger screen, the better.
My interest in space lead me to joing the British Interplanetary Society. I was a member and a fellow for 30 odd years.
