The rodeo spirit of American endeavour is still bucking, even if Nasa lacks it; so says director Mark Craig in his documentary about astronaut Eugene Cernan. A pilot on Apollos 10 and 17, Cernan became the last person to set foot on the lunar surface in 1972. Craig introduces us to him at a steer-wrestling show, then leaves us to draw the parallel: that it was the red, white and blue-fuelled pluck of cowboys like Cernan that took the US to the stars. Craig’s film deals with the fallout of the era – and how the returning heroes kept their feet on the ground – but he can’t help but get swept up in the romance of the effort. That’s no terrible crime – the Apollo missions were the science experiment that rocketed into majesty. Nasa’s funding has plateaued since, but selling the dream of our future in space? That’s still a bull market.
