Looking Back (23)

I'm sure most of us are glad to be living in the 21st century. All the modern conveniences that we have make other periods of history seem unappealing. We don't have to talk to each other in "thee's" and "methinks". We also have running water and flushing toilets. But some pretty exciting things happened in the past and sometimes I wish I could have been around to see the events of history take place.

Probably my favorite aspect of history is exploration. The thought of sailing forth to the unknown and discovering things no person had ever seen before - or at least no one in your country - sends shivers down my spine. Perhaps the greatest voyage of exploration in the history of mankind was the flight of Apollo 11 to the moon. If I could witness any event in history, I would probably liked to see the moon landing first-hand. Actually, I would have liked to be one of the astronauts themselves!

On my 17th birthday I went to the Imax to see a 3D film I'd been wanting to see for months. It's called Magnificent Desolation and it is produced by Tom Hanks, the main actor of Apollo 13 who happens to be obsessed with spaceflight. I knew it was going to be good, but I wasn't expecting the experience that came when the theater lights dimmed and I lowered my 3D glasses. For the next 45 minutes I was right there on the moon with the astronauts. Amazing computer generated imagery combined with shots of actors moving around in spacesuits made it look extremely real. It was truly the best film/documentary I had ever seen. So in one respect, I did really experience the moon landings. And I'm planning on going back to see the movie again.