Movies about the Space Program

There are many wonderful movies that you can watch that are based on the theme of space.  Of course, there's lots of Science Fiction films like Aliens, Star Wars, or Men in Black but today I want to recommend 3 dramas that are based on true stories.


The first movie is called The Right Stuff.  This movie is about the men who were chosen to be the first US astronauts in the newly formed Project Mercury.  It is based on a history book written by Tom Wolfe with the same name.  The movie shows the beginnings of the US Space Program through the lives and personalities of the men who lived it. These men were the top test pilots in the country and they were all trying to prove they had "The Right Stuff" to be selected for this program.

 

Movie number 2 is Apollo 13.  The Apollo 13 mission was suppose to be the 3rd moon landing but it turned into a rescue mission when an accident occurred. One of the ships oxygen tanks exploded reducing the amount of oxygen available to the crew.  This movie dramatically shows what happened and how the crew on the ground at mission control in Houston, Texas worked with the astronauts in space to bring them back to Earth safely. The events shown in the movie really highlights the dangers of being an astronaut and it also gave us a phrase that people commonly use in the US "Houston we have a problem."   This phrase is now used in a funny way to report any kind of problem.  


My last recommendation is a movie called October Sky.  This movie is not about astronauts but about the passions inspired by the space program. Homer Hickam was just a teenager when he became interested in rocketry after seeing the launch of Sputnik by the USSR.  He spent all of his free time designing and launching model rockets with his friends.  His father thought he was wasting his time because in the small West Virginia town where Homer lived most kids didn't go to college after high school, they went to work in the coal mines.  But Homer continued to follow his passion for rockets and won a gold and silver medal at the 1960 National Science Fair. Homer eventually went on to become an engineer at NASA.