In the movie Apollo 13, staring Tom Hanks, as Jim Lovell; and Bill Paxton, as Fred Hayes; it entertainingly documents the Apollo 13 moon mission. Some of the factual science portrayed in the movie is blended into the nonfactual science that makes the movie more entertaining. The names of the characters match the names of the real life astronauts. Also the complications that the Apollo 13 crew faced were among other examples of true science. The amount of time that the left over oxygen would take to breath in I believe was built up for the suspense. The size of the Earth compared to the moon, considering the distance, seemed to be accurate. A small thing that was in the movie was when Tom Hanks was in his back yard and then in space using him thumb to cover up the moon then the Earth, this is an example of parallax. One of NASA's most famous quote, " Huston we have a problem," was also alluded to in Apollo 13. .
My feelings toward the real life stars of the Apollo 13 mission are mixed, I feel that the way the characters were portrayed were partly for entertainment. I also think that the men on this mission were good men and very brave. What they went through to further the American and world knowledge about space will always remember.
The space program today I believe needs to be more public support. I think that it is important to expand our frontier just like we have done since the beginning of time.