The Man in the Moon

I'm sorry, but I can't remember where I was on the day man first set foot on the moon. I was five years old so I would have been at school, but I couldn't honestly tell you (unlike many of my contemporaries) if little Tauhoa School had a television on for the big event or not. Even if it did, I was probably outside climbing a tree or jumping through the flax bushes (back in my day we were allowed to climb trees, but jumping through the flax bushes was frowned on).

It's only been on reaching something resembling adulthood that I have come to understand what an achievement putting a man on the moon actually was. There have been some excellent films and documentaries on the subject (some of which we have here at Rodney) and of course books for everyone from children through to adults.

A general subject search in our catalogue for Moon brings up a variety of subject headings to narrow things down for you. Under the subject heading Moon Exploration, you will find a new book Moonshot: The inside story of Mankind's greatest adventure (Dan Parry). Described as "an engaging account of a mission that could easily have gone terribly wrong, but instead turned into an American triumph" the book looks at the historical background and leadup to the space race, as well as the personalities involved.

To introduce the subject to children, Rodney Libraries carries both non-fiction (Journey to the Moon by Wendy and David Clemson) and picture books (The Sea of Tranquility by Mark Haddon).

The DVD documentary In the Shadow of the Moon can be rented from Rodney Libraries for just $2.00. This presents over two hours including background on the Apollo missions and interviews with the astronauts. There are also a range of web links you can gain access to using your library card through Rodney Libraries e-resources. I would suggest Encyclopaedia Brittanica as a good place to start.

I haven't forgotton that a signigicant percentage of the world's population think the whole moon landing was a complete hoax. Wikipedia has the history of the Apollo consipracy theories in all their different forms and there are links there to other sites with more information. Personally I find it difficult to believe that a secret as large as this must have been could be kept for 40 years. But then I can't say I have never been wrong.

I probably should leave the last word to NASA. If you never have before, then the NASA website is a great place to visit as is the NASA Kids Club. Don't forget NASA TV if you get a chance.