Adam's Moon Landing 45th Anniversary Celebration Megapost

45 years ago today, mankind set its first steps onto another celestial body.  It remains to this day one of the riskiest and most awe-inspiring technical achievements ever successfully performed by human beings.  A feat we have only been able to perform 6 times.  To my profound disappointment,  I was not alive to see these incredible historical milestones firsthand. (second only to my disappointment that we still have not been able to repeat this in my lifetime.)  For now, all I can do is dream and hope that someday soon humanity will remember how to dream again and have the audacity to believe that we can accomplish anything.

In celebration of the anniversary of this historical event, I've decided to waste my entire day engaging in various moon-themed shenanigans and writing an article about it for your enjoyment.

Preparations complete

First up on today's itinerary is the 1989 Wallace & Gromit animated short film "A Grand Day Out".  Bumbling inventor Wallace and his hyper-intelligent dog Gromit blast off to the Moon in a homemade rocket in search for cheese only to find a bizarre "washing machine"-like robot with aspirations of alpine skiing.

Let's start our morning right with some TANG powdered breakfast drink.  TANG was originally created in the late 1950s as an instant, low-cost alternative to orange juice and became popular during the 60s due to its association with the US space program for use as an astronaut food.  

Although it may not actually contain anything resembling a real orange, it is "inspired by true events"  and has a taste somewhat resembling a cross between orange Kool-aid and Sunny D.  

A neon abyss so opaque you can see your soul reflecting into it

Next up, we have the classic Tintin lunar adventure comics from Belgian author HERGE.  My earliest memories of these stories stem not from the books, but from the animated series "The Adventures of Tintin" on HBO during the early 90s.  Despite being written nearly a decade before Humans actually started traveling to space, the books depict a surprisingly accurate portrayal of space travel and moving around on the moon in reduced gravity, predicting an "Apollo 13"-like emergency involving deficiency of on-board oxygen and scientific espionage by competing foreign powers in a type of "space race" for lunar mineral resources.

Snack Time!  Maybe it's just a side effect of spending most of my childhood vacation time driving through the south, but I was under the impression that Moon pie's were pretty common and easy to find.  You have no idea how much of a pain in the ass it was to find some of these.  I had to go to over 8 stores before I finally found some in the back corner of a gas station.  Two of store managers I asked had never even HEARD of them before.  I've never actually had a Moon pie before so I figured today would be an appropriate a time as any.  I'm not usually a fan of anything with marshmallow in it, but these are pretty good.  Arguably better than most Hostess products.

Now we get to the real "meat and potatoes" of my day.  "From the Earth to the Moon" was a 12-part miniseries produced by Tom Hanks for HBO in 1998.  It serves as a dramatization of the early US space program from the events of Russia sending the first man into space in 1961 to the final Apollo 17 lunar mission in 1972.  I remember watching every episode live as it premiered back in 1998 and having it firmly solidify my lifelong obsession with space.  Each episode stands on its own and explores different aspects of the Apollo program from a wide variety of perspectives.  The writing and acting is excellent overall with a stellar cast of familiar character actors like Kevin Pollak, Dave Foley and Cary Elwes.  One of my favorite standout performances is from Stephen Root (better known as Milton from Office Space and Bill from King of the Hill) as NASA director Christopher Kraft.

Though unconnected, the individual episodes tell the story of the Apollo program in roughly chronological order not only from the perspectives of the astronauts, but from their families, various NASA employees, the engineers who designed the spacecraft and even the press.  Although some of the CGI effects are now awkwardly dated, you'd be hard pressed to find a better representation of the Apollo program.  

Snack Time number 2!  I'm sure that anyone who has ever been inside a museum gift-shop is familiar with the (in)famous freeze-dried "Astronaut" ice cream: the strange, chalky styrofoam-like treat that melts in your mouth and tastes like ice cream if it were body temperature.  The mint-chocolate chip variety I was able to find was a refreshing change from the typical "Neapolitan" style you typically see.  

 I choose to cap my evening with Al Reinert's 1989 documentary "For All Mankind".  Made to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the first moon-landing, "For All Mankind" documents the voyages of the only 24 men to ever escape the orbit of the Earth using only the actual footage recorded during the missions and the words of the men themselves explaining their feelings and experiences.  Highlights include explaining how they went to the bathroom in space, driving around in the lunar rovers, the remote-controlled recording of Apollo 17 leaving the moon for the last time and David Scott using a hammer and feather to prove Galileo was correct in theorizing that all objects drop at the same speed in a vacuum.  

This concludes my day of celebration for the 45th anniversary of the first moon landing.  Humanity has proven that it can escape the bounds of Earth and explore other worlds.  Hopefully within our lifetimes, we can do it again.

 Adam Young, July 20th 2014