Apollo: Missions to the Moon revives the emotions of space racing thanks to rare images

Our trip to the moon is one of the best-known stories in the history of mankind. It is therefore almost impossible to try to tell the story of the lunar exploration program of NASA in a new and exciting way.

But Apollo: Missions on the MoonThis is precisely what a new National Geographic documentary does: it traces the entire history of the space race in a unique format, with only archive images, photos and sound – much of what the audience had never seen before.

The project, developed for National Geographic to mark the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 on July 20th, provides a unique behind-the-scenes look at what it took to bring astronauts to the moon. He delves into the history of Apollo space missions using rare images of Mission Control, NASA and various television networks around the world.

I have discussed with the director of Apollo: Missions on the Moon Tom Jennings and legendary Apollo mission engineer Frances "Poppy" Northcutt about their unique perspectives on documentary, and what it was to be part of the history of space.

Q: Why is it important to tell the story of Apollo using sequences taken at the time?
Jennings: This year marks the 50th anniversary of the moon landing. When National Geographic asked us to shoot a movie, I really wanted to do something that would stand out from the rest of the documentaries and specials that would come out. the same time.

In our film, we went from Sputnik to the first messages of the Space Shuttle – you get the history of the space program as a whole. Of course, the big victory is Apollo 11. But there were so many other great stories along the way.

It's really a classic tale that was designed very deliberately, and that you would not notice unless you study how we broke down the stories.

There are the Apollo missions themselves; we have somehow transformed the spaceship into a character; astronauts are characters; The people at Mission Control are characters – there's that type of character arcade we're going in and out of the movie.

Most viewers are not going to pay attention to this type of achievement, but it is what has been necessary for us to give it life and give it the impression of being immediate and immediate.

We took all the aspects that we knew could tell with the images available – find a lot of things that give a cool air to those moments, then apply this story as a sort of hero's journey, and Apollo is perfect. It's as good as any Star Wars movie, because everything is real.

How long did you have to film to decide what to use for the movie?
Jennings: We have traveled thousands of hours of filming. We have all extracted from the main television networks, but we have also visited smaller markets, where we knew that they kept their images of space missions. We also had the choice among many radio interviews, national and international.

But one of the more special aspects of our research is that we have accumulated hours and hours of NASA communications audio cassettes between the Apollo 8, 11 and 13 astronauts and mission control that did not never been heard before.

What do you hope people will see in a documentary about Apollo missions via TV shows, interviews and Mission Control audio tapes?
Jennings: I think people will understand much better what a trip to space really looked like with the technology available at the time. It's one thing to watch a movie about astronauts with Tom Hanks, but in this documentary you see the real guys. It's the real deal. After making this documentary, I am even more impressed by what they accomplished.

I want this film to serve as a gateway to a time machine to relive those incredible moments as if you were really there. Even if you are sitting in your living room as an observer, I hope that, to a small extent, people will have the feeling of experiencing this for the first time.

As a person who actually worked at NASA Mission Control, what was your role in the Apollo 8, 10, 11, 12 and 13 missions?
Northcutt: I had a degree in mathematics from the University of Texas, but I had never thought that I was going to work on the space program. But I graduated and I ended up getting a job as a "computrix" (a woman used to perform calculations) for NASA's subcontractor, TRW Systems.

I worked very hard and I was promoted to the rank of technical staff member, which was their way of calling you engineer. I was a specialist back on Earth. This means that I have helped to understand how to optimize the trajectory. I've worked on how to minimize fuel requirements and flight time requirements for Apollo missions.

Since working at NASA for these missions, is it strange to see everything unfold in a documentary loaded with rare footage?
Northcutt: It's interesting to see that everything is going in a different light. The most memorable mission for me was Apollo 8 because it was the first time the man had left this planet to go to another celestial body.

But what people may not realize, is that there were many more players involved than everyone else saw on television at the time. A camera could have been in a room. But there were hundreds of cinemas – some were in the space center, but there were surveillance rooms around the world.

It is very difficult to imagine the extent of sending people into space. I think this documentary does a great job presenting some of the tapestry, but I do not know how you can really present it all.

How do you hope this film encourages girls to turn to NASA?
Northcutt: I hope that girls understand with this incredible technology that they do not need to think small. They can have big dreams. They can apply this technology to something meaningful.

The Apollo: Missions on the Moon documentary is currently available on National Geographic television and online.