Humanity must rise above the Earth, to the top of the atmosphere and beyond, for only then will we fully understand the world in which we live.

- Socrates

Producer and narrator Tom Hanks opens this IMAX presentation with a question, “Given the chance, would you take a journey to the moon?”

Space exploration is a dream that spans many centuries and cultures, and continues to persuade today. As Hanks points out, the very unattainability of the goal may be the root cause of our curiosity toward it. According to NASA’s Solar System Exploration web page, Earth’s moon is approximately 384,400 kilometers (238,855 miles) away. More than 70 spacecraft have been sent to the moon, yet only 12 astronauts have walked on its surface: Pete Conrad, Gene Cernan, Alan Shepard, John Young, Alan Bean, Jim Irwin, Harrison “Jack” Schmitt, Charlie Duke, Dave Scott, Edgar Mitchell, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong.

In “Magnificent Desolation,” the IMAX 3D feature primarily consists of a dramatization of a lunar landing. In the opening scenes, there’s an astonishing pullback of the “camera” that reveals the vast, barren landscape to be enormous and without many reference points—a complication for visual navigation as illustrated later in the film.

We’re informed that each crew spent two years training together before their respective flights. The earlier missions had no mechanical transports/rovers. All missions were tight on resources, especially the oxygen used to breathe, and thus the astronauts had little to no time for a break. Because of the monochromatic landscape and lack of distinct landmarks, we learn that it was rather easy for an astronaut to get lost.

Despite all the risks, and 299 total hours of time on the moon, none of the astronauts had to execute the rehearsed emergency plans. That is a testament to the planning of the astronauts and the NASA engineers who got them there.

Hanks acknowledges that there are some people who still believe the landings were a hoax. They poke fun at this with a sequence that resembles a “gag reel.” I would like to add that astronomer and teacher Phil Plait has provided an excellent deconstruction of numerous Moon “hoax” arguments that were presented some time ago in a poorly-researched TV special which aired on Fox in 2001. Plait’s well-researched, scientific rebuttal can be found on his web site, badastronomy.com.

It’s unfortunate that the IMAX format lends itself to rather short running times, due to cost and the sheer size of the film format (65mm run sideways—each frame is about 10 times the size of 35mm motion picture frames). There’s so much more to tell. It’s no coincidence that a much longer Tom Hanks-backed production, “From the Earth to the Moon,” was released on DVD this week. I haven’t seen it, but for those like myself who cherish the effort that scientists have made to improve our understanding of the universe, and therefore ourselves, I would also recommend “The Race to the Moon” DVD set. This set includes the History Channel feature, “Failure is Not an Option,” based on the book of the same title, by former NASA Flight Director Eugene Kranz. It goes into much further detail about, specifically, the Apollo 13 mission and the specifics of how the engineers applied their skills to save the astronauts from certain death.

Still, as with any IMAX feature, the visuals are the driving reason to see this film. The latest 3D process is fantastic. Not everything in the program is in 3D, of course, because it requires filming the original elements with a stereoscopic camera. Hence the original footage of the Apollo lunar missions is superimposed over the main picture in small frames, accompanied by narration from Hanks and other actors who fill in when quoting some of the Apollo astronauts.

At the end of the film, there is a special thanks to all the astronauts who dedicated their lives to the exploration of space. I must say I greatly respect the film makers for taking that moment to acknowledge all participants—not just Americans. We often forget that it was not an American, but Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, who was the first in space. Whatever the political motivations for the space race, and whoever the assumed “victors” are… as long as we continue, as human beings all, to reach for the stars, we will preserve a legacy of ever-expanding knowledge that began many centuries ago.