“I walked on the moon; what can’t you do?”
— Gene Cernan
Most know the name Neil Armstrong, but few recollect Gene Cernan. Now 82 years old, Mr. Cernan was the last of the Apollo astronauts — and the final human — to have walked the surface of the earth’s satellite in 1972. Over four decades later, Mr. Cernan opens up about his life, his career and the deeply competitive NASA environment of the 1960s in “The Last Man on the Moon,” opening Friday at the District’s Angelika Pop Up at Union Market.
Director Mark Craig follows Mr. Cernan as the astronaut recollects on his career and the arduous, often-secretive nature of his work for the space program — and how such confidential necessity impacted his family and home lives.
The doc weaves in new and vintage footage of the quiet, humble Mr. Cernan and his fellow cosmonauts along with interviews of some of the other players in the space race, such as Gene Kranz, Jim Lovell and Alan Bean.
In one particularly compelling scene, Mr. Cernan all but weeps recalling colleagues Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee, who all perished on the launchpad during the Apollo 1 disaster Jan. 21, 1967. Composer Lorne Balfe provides a hauntingly beautiful score beneath the proceedings.
Mr. Cernan, before taking off from the surface of our nearest celestial neighbor, carved his daughter’s initials into moon dust, a fitting final testament to a program that had fulfilled its purposes in America’s race to beat the Soviets. Nearly a half-century since humans first got there, and 44 years since we left, the debate of our next steps into the stars continues.
Not rated. Contains fleeting bad words. Now available on VOD.
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