moon

Project Hail Mary and Artemis II

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Three weeks ago, I saw the movie Project Hail Mary in an IMAX theater. I started rereading the book by Andy Weir before watching the movie, and finished the book last week. During that time, I also spent many hours watching the Artemis II launch, voyage around the moon, and splashdown, with the NASA YouTube channel on my television.

It’s been a challenging month for news in general, but the news about Artemis II was awesome. Sometimes we need something big to watch, to hope, to cheer for. In a different way, and on a much smaller scale, Project Hail Mary, in both book and movie formats, has had a bit of the same effect on movie fans and science fiction readers. I was rereading the book to see what I remembered and what was changed in the movie. There have been many movie reviews and I won’t detail the differences from the book; but my experience was that both are thrilling, entertaining, moving, and inspiring. The lack of violence is also refreshing, and I wish more movies were like that. I have recently heard that Andy Weir’s second book, Artemis, set on a moon colony, is being adapted for film, as was the hugely popular The Martian. Project Hail Mary is the improbable story about Ryland Grace, a science teacher turned astronaut on an interstellar voyage to save the Earth when the Sun and all but one other star in our area start dimming.

I don’t have memories of earlier voyages to the moon, but I have watched movies and documentaries, and read memoirs and other books about the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions. It was wonderful to be able to track the four astronauts in real time on their journey, and I look forward to seeing many more of their photos and videos.

Brenda

When the Moon Hits Your Eye

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When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi

Another entertaining book in the category of highly improbable plots. If you enjoyed Scalzi’s recent Kaiju Preservation Society or Starter Villain, as did I, this near future novel may be right up your alley. I was lucky enough to hear the author read from Chapter 2 at an author event last fall, which thoroughly entertained the audience.

The premise is that the Moon has suddenly turned to cheese, but is the same mass as our familiar cratered, rocky satellite. Moon rocks in museums have also transformed. At first, it just seems like a great opportunity for silly jokes. Then it gets a little more serious. A moon landing is planned, and how will that go? The Moon is now brighter, and a few other aspects are different; and so…? How did this happen, and how will the people of Earth react? And just what kind of cheese is it??

Told from several points of view, including a museum director, an astronaut, and a government staffer, this is a fast-paced read that has some science, a little bit of philosophy, but is mostly very funny. Enjoy.

Brenda

Our Moon, The Lost Moon, plus the Solar Eclipse

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Our Moon: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are by Rebecca Boyle

This thought-provoking book is about the Moon and our connections to over millennia. The theories about how the Moon probably came to be are described, and there is lots of focus on how it helped us keep track of the seasons, tell calendar time, with descriptions of a number of monuments highlighting the Moon. Lighting the night sky was important, then learning the effect of the Moon on tides, mythology, Moon worship, early Moon viewing, lunar and solar eclipses are all covered. Moon exploration and possible near future exploitation are also topics. This book was a leisurely and engaging read for me. Part of it was read while looking forward to the total solar eclipse on April 8, in which the Moon gave us an opportunity to view the Sun’s corona. Here are a couple of photos from the eclipse, taken in Putnam County, Indiana, where you could also see Jupiter and Venus.

April 8, 2024 Solar Eclipse

Lost Moon

Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13 by Jim Lovell & Jeffrey Kluger

Published in 1994, this is the true story of the Apollo 13 Moon mission that almost resulted in tragedy; a compelling read by Astronaut Jim Lovell. It was interesting to see how different challenges and solutions were presented differently in the popular 1995 film Apollo 13. Readalikes include Failure is Not an Option by Gene Kranz and Rocket Men by Robert Kurson about Apollo 8, Lovell’s first mission to the Moon.

Brenda