Innovation & Tech Today – May 2019

SUMMER 2019 | INNOVATION & TECH TODAY 69

Jennings needed no sweeping soundtrack, silk-
voiced narrator, or script for Apollo. The
breakneck pace of getting missions up and back,
all while trying to beat the Soviet Union to the
moon – and fulfill President Kennedy’s
admonition – set both the tone and the stakes.
You can feel all the emotions and qualities that
swirled in the 1960s – excitement, adventure,
purpose, urgency, fear, bravery, commitment,
and, most of all, pride in pulling off the
seemingly impossible.

“It’s no accident, the way our film plays out.
It’s literally a hero’s journey on multiple layers,”
Jennings said. “Not just the astronauts, but the
ships themselves, the work of Mission Control,
the families, the American and worldwide
audience at the time – how they experienced it.

We also focus on the three days that, in my

opinion, the world stopped: The Christmas Eve

1968 broadcast of Apollo 8 from lunar orbit,

showing the Earth; at the time, the largest

worldwide broadcast ever. The day the Apollo

11 moon landing happened, July 20, 1969. And

the day the Apollo 13 astronauts returned home

alive, April 17, 1970.

“The no-narration, no-interview format, I feel,

is a really effective way to tell an immersive story

about an iconic moment in time. I kind of joke

that when someone watches Apollo, and it

begins, they’re waiting for the narrator to come

and save the day – but the narrator never shows.

So you have to engage with the film, pay

attention. The people in it – from Walt Disney

to Bob Hope to the astronauts to Poppy, to the

impact on culture – they’re narrating the story

for us, at the time it happened. It’s as immediate

as you can possibly be. Since it’s such a big

anniversary year, everyone will focus on 11,

rightly so – it’s the 50th anniversary of man’s

first steps on the moon – but we put the

moment on broader shoulders. How did they

get there? And what happened?”

The day that time stood still for Jennings

remains the Apollo 8 mission. “I remember that

more vividly than Apollo 11, though I do

remember watching Apollo 11 on TV,” he said.

It seems an odd response when the world is

getting ready to pop the champagne cork on 50

years of Apollo 11.

However, Jennings’ reasons are far more

personal – and poignant. “During 11, my mom

Photo:OtisImboden/NationalGeographicCreative Photo:OtisImboden/NationalGeographicCreative

Photo: NASA Photo: NASA

Photo:NASA

Apollo flight engineers direct a mission-in-progress from Mission Control. Aerial view of spectators around their campsites awaiting the Apollo 11 launch.

Flurry of handshakes erupts after successful launch of Apollo 11.

Astronauts on Moon for Apollo 15. Apollo 11 Launch.