I saw Apollo 11 last week at aperture, our local art house cinema. Apollo 11 is a documentary tracing man’s mission to the moon from launch to its lunar landing and then back to Earth. I was four years old when this successful mission took place, so my memories are only of the footage I have seen previously, primarily Neil Armstrong’s initial steps on the moon and his famous words, “That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” This award-winning film, however, contains never-before-seen footage, and I believe that it is important viewing for you and your children.
The film documents what my husband claims is “indisputably” the most significant historical event of the twentieth century. For its historical weight alone, it is worthy of your time; however, from an academic coaching standpoint, I deem the film important because it celebrates goal setting and risk taking.
On September 12, 1962, President John F. Kennedy set the goal for our country to put a man on the moon before the end of the decade. The United States was spurred on by competition from the Soviets, but the success of the mission was celebrated by all mankind, because it was indeed an achievement of many, an estimated 400,000 men and women who helped to accomplish the feat.
The lunar mission was fraught with peril. Three men, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins, and Neil Armstrong, literally went “where no man has gone before.” They could have run out of air, run out of fuel, or even locked themselves out of the module. They could have mistimed the reconnection with Michael Collins for the return trip to Earth. About a million things could have gone awry, yet the mission was close to seamless. The mission cost nearly two billion dollars in today’s money, so, no question, there was a lot at stake: lives, money, pride, and the future of the space program, to name a few.
The mission, therefore, required unbelievable planning, a consideration of every conceivable miscalculation and problem, and a lot of faith. Even still, the risks were huge.
I am not generally a risk-taker. Ask my children. I have the uncanny ability to identify in seconds all possible disasters that could occur with any of my children’s grand ideas for fun. I recognize, however, that our society has failed to produce enough risk takers, and risk takers become our entrepreneurs, our inventors, our change-makers.
Please watch this film and discuss it with your children, and then encourage your children to step beyond the box, even if it is only to explore a new hobby or to take an unexpected class, and teach them to believe in themselves. The fact that we put a man on the moon within seventy years of the Wright Brothers’ Kitty Hawk flight proves that with strong goal setting, planning, faith, and courage, we can accomplish the incredible.