April 20, 2024

WOW! We just got an amazing review from NASA MANNED SPACE!!

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Here it is:

SCE-AUX!

I just finished enjoying the new Bill Muench film entitled “The Artist and The Astronaut”.

It is at once a delightful love story, and a wonderful historical retrospective of American life through the 1950s and beyond.

The story juxtaposes the lives of a Cold War warrior serving his nation as a carrier jet pilot in the United States Marine Corps, against a woman, who, in addition to being the wife of an Ivy League football coach, was an artist of acclaim in her own right, as well as a peace activist.

In this case, the artist/activist is Pat Musick and the astronaut/warrior is Gerry Carr - Skylab 4 Commander.

Through the use of archival news footage and first hand interviews of space icons - including Frank Borman, Alan Bean, Ed Gibson and Gene Kranz - the film details the personal lives of Pat and Gerry as they were coming of age as young adults - each raising a family and pursuing careers, all told in the context of the history of the time.

As a fan of Apollo, I was impressed to discover how close Gerry Carr came to many of the momentous events during America’s Apollo program. As Capcom during Apollo 8, he cleared the crew for Lunar Orbit Insertion. It was he who famously instructed the crew of Apollo 12 to switch “SCE-AUX” after a power failure following a lightning strike to the Saturn V launch vehicle they were riding to space aboard. He held Joan Aldrin’s hand while her husband, Buzz, walked on the moon.

The film is chock full of facts about the manned space program that I had never heard before. It is always a plus when a film can provide never-before known details.

Art lovers will enjoy the story of Pat Musick and the evolution of her art, as well as the many examples of her art shown throughout the film. Pat’s story includes a friendship with Apollo 12 Lunar Module Pilot and space artist, Alan Bean she developed after meeting Gerry, and the influence he had on her art and her life.

You won't want to miss that portion of the film highlighting the Skylab 4 mission which features NASA and news footage of the mission, and which expounds on the infamous "mutiny" by the Skylab 4 crew. Spoiler alert! Gene Kranz absolves the crew of any wrongdoing in connection with the media-inspired claim of mutiny.

Also featured in the film are Beth Williams - widow of NASA Group 3 C.C. Williams, and Jeff Carr - son of Gerald Carr and NASA Public Affairs employee during the space shuttle Challenger explosion.

This film is a must-see for any enthusiast of the Golden Age of the American manned space program. Well done Bill Muench!