Moonshot

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Apollo moon landings on 20 July 1969, the Apollo 11 crew come together by chance. As one of the three, Michael Collins, later remarked the Apollo 11 crew were “amiable strangers”. Neil Armstrong, as commander, will fly the lunar module down to the surface of the Moon. The descent does not go smoothly. Armstrong spends about 15 minutes alone before Buzz Aldrin emerges to join him. But when they try to lift off to return to the command module, a circuit breaker connected to the ascent engine breaks.With everyone on tenterhooks (President Nixon has a speech prepared in case the mission goes fatally wrong), the astronauts manage to throw the switch by jamming the nib of a pen in it. Joyfully reunited – Collins even kisses them – the ‘amiable strangers' make the long journey home. The world has watched their mission in awe. Appreciating the story for the first time from the perspective of a TV audience, Buzz Aldrin remarks poignantly to Neil Armstrong, “We missed the whole thing”.阿波羅11號太空船於1969年7月實現了人類登上月球的夢想。當年的太空船發射現場吸引了超過一百萬的人群，全世界觀看發射現場直播的觀眾人數也達到了創紀錄的六億人。今年將會是人類第一次登月四十周年，本片以戲劇紀錄片形式，披露這劃時代的創舉中不為人知的內幕，其中有些秘辛幾乎足以毀破這趟偉大任務。一枝筆竟然救了首次登上月球的太空人的命！岩士唐等太空人完成登月任務準備返回地球時，發現登月小艇啟動電源的開關被他們意外弄斷了，無法起飛。危急中，太空人拿出一枝原子筆塞進開關的洞裡，才順利啟動登月小艇，免除了一場悲劇。此外，紀錄片更披露，當年美國急欲成為第一個登上月球的國家，阿波羅11號在還沒完全準備好的狀態下就出發，當年的美國總統尼克遜甚至已經準備好宣佈哀悼三位太空人壯烈犧牲的講稿；而美國政府也事先下令NASA，萬一任務失敗就即時切斷連線，以免世人親眼目睹太空人飄進太空的場面。