Reykjavík Grapevine - sept 2019, Qupperneq 38

Finding Earth On
The Moon
‘A New Documentary Examines The Human Side Of
One Of Mankind’s Greatest Endeavours
Words: Felix Robertson Photos: Still from movie
Documentary
The documentary is shown at the
Exploration Museum in Húsavík.
In commemoration of the 50th
anniversary of the moon land-
ings, a new documentary enti-
tled ‘Cosmic Birth,’ produced
by Rafnar Orri Gunnarsson and
Örlygur (Örly) Hnefill Örlygs-
son, considers the spiritual, hu-
man side of this extraordinary
achievement, as well as the role
Iceland played in the story.
Down to Earth
The documentary is a charm-
ingly eccentric work. Anima-
tion is interwoven with poetry
and an original soundtrack; in
one scene memorably depicted
by a fully suited astronaut play-
ing the squeezebox. In contrast
to the often technical telling
of the moon landings, ‘Cosmic
Birth’ provides a more spiritual
account, considering the reli-
gious and cultural significance
of the moon, most strikingly by
opening with a passage from a
children’s book. It’s an unusual
approach, and renders the doc-
umentary a little incohesive, but
it’s still a welcome change from
the historical narrative that of-
ten dominates accounts of the
moon landings.
This looser, more reflective
approach is displayed most viv-
idly in the brilliant segments
with NASA moonwalkers such
as Bill Anders and Charles Duke.
In a wonderfully varied series of
conversations, the astronauts
discuss how they first heard
about NASA recruiting, expound
on the beauty of the ‘Earth Ris-
ing’ photo, and discuss their
families.
“W hat surprised me about
meeting these men was how
down to earth they
were,” says Örly.
It was a lso clear
even from the rel-
at ively shor t i n-
terview segments
that they were still
filled with stories
and recollections.
“We had over twen-
t y four hours of
col le c t ive i nt er-
views. The biggest chal lenge
was choosing which stories to
include.”
A deeply human story
Perhaps the most touching and
intriguing moment, however,
comes when the documentary
turns to Iceland’s small but sig-
nificant role in the lead-up to the
moon landing. In 1965 and 1967,
NASA sent several groups of as-
tronauts to Iceland for geologi-
cal field trips, frequently based
around Husavik, due to a sus-
pected similarity between the
basalt based Icelandic landscape
and the lunar surface, a similar-
ity that would be confirmed in
the eventual 1969 moon-landing.
Örly credits his discovery of this
research as a key aspect in his
fascination with the Apollo mis-
sions.
But the most stri k ing as-
pect of this section of the film
was, in stark contrast to the
scientific purpose of the trip, a
deeply human story. Mark Arm-
strong, son of Neil Armstrong,
describes how he was able to
spend a few weeks in Iceland on
a fishing trip with his father, a
time he still treasures greatly.
“Neil Armstrong was trained
for ten years to go to the moon,
and for all the possible scenari-
os,” explains Örly. “But what he
wasn’t trained for was the fame
that came with it. People were
always approaching him asking
for photos or auto-
graphs, but here in
Iceland he could be
himself. I’m glad
Iceland could give
him that.”
U l t i m a t e l y ,
however, it ’s the
f i l m ’s e c o l o g i -
cal message that
sh i n e s t h ro u g h .
The slogan of the
film, itself a quote from astro-
naut Bi l l Anders, reads, ‘We
went to the moon, but we discov-
ered the earth.’ Similar senti-
ments are repeated throughout
the documentary.
“We asked all the astronauts
about this experience of viewing
the earth,” says Örly. “And this
was a common theme for all of
them, it was more powerful, for
them, to view the earth from the
moon, than the fact that they
were standing on the moon it-
self. That tells us something
about the value of our world.”
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Flat earthers beware
“In Iceland,
Neil Armstrong
could be him-
self. I’m glad
we could give
him that.”
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