First Man – Was Neil Armstrong’s epic lunar mission an adventure, expedition or stunt?

Last night I went to see the much anticipated and highly acclaimed film, First Man, the biopic of Neil Armstrong. I had several reasons for going – apart from Ryan Gosling in the title role – for me, astronauts are the modern counterparts of Magellan and Marco Polo and space exploration is an exciting context to think about what drives humankind to explore.

The film is a masterpiece to be seen on a big screen and in its telling a number of key scenes resonated with my current research into the characteristics, benefits and opportunities revealed by adopting an explorer’s mindset. It also prompted some questions as to the differences between an adventure, an expedition and what might be regarded as a "stunt". 

Early in the film Armstrong got the call to tell him he’d be joining NASA’s Project Gemini. Gemini’s objective was the development of manned space travel techniques - extra-vehicular activity, docking procedures and orbital manoeuvers necessary to achieve space rendezvous to support the Apollo mission to land astronauts on the Moon. Armstrong tells his wife the news – and her cinematic response is “it will be an adventure”. (By the way, I’m writing this on the assumption a “spoiler alert” is wholly superfluous?)

So let’s pause briefly to consider what we mean by the term adventure. Common sense suggests adventure comprises a bold or unusual experience. The Oxford English Dictionary adds a sense of risk and danger, more specifically, a course of action which invites risk; a perilous or audacious undertaking the outcome of which is unknown. In other words, to undertake an adventure means to put oneself at risk in an experience with an unknown outcome. Danger is the quality many adventurers, such as Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Ed Stafford actively seek. In Sir Ranulph’s foreward to Ed’s latest book, Adventures for a Lifetime he writes “it is impossible to derive the fullest satisfaction from any adventure if it is devoid of the element of danger”.

The next part of the film covers the extraordinary efforts of NASA to complete Project Gemini objectives. There are scenes with blackboards and chalk, lectures and equations and it is clear the astronauts studied hard to personally acquire knowledge that could mitigate and reduce risk. There’s a scene of the Gemini 8 mission in which Armstrong, having overshot, must work out the options for himself and his fellow astronaut with a pencil and paper (and thank goodness he did). So I don’t agree with the script allotted to Armstrong’s wife Janet. I don’t believe the Gemini Project was an adventure. 

After Gemini came Apollo, the continuation of the US’s attempt to win the space race. In this part of the film, Armstrong’s extraordinary resilience and determination is movingly portrayed. It serves to emphasise his deep sense of purpose. Earlier Armstrong had described his motivation to pursue a career in space exploration resulting from his “change of perspective” acquired during his experience as a test pilot where he first saw the earth from a high altitude- among other things I won't disclose. The human story of the sacrifices made by fellow astronauts in the pursuit of their goals is moving and inspiring. 

In contrast to an adventure, it's a sense of purpose not danger that defines an expedition. Again, according to the OED, an expedition is a journey, voyage, or excursion made for some definite purpose. Danger is not part of the definition and therefore must be rendered at least secondary, although it undoubtedly might need to be faced. For hundreds, maybe thousands of years, the search for resources, or economic, political or religious goals have all been used by explorers as compelling purposes to justify an expedition. 

To pursue the point, there is another important difference between adventurers and explorers, and that is explorers return to their place of embarkation – (admittedly not always in person but always in their reputation or writing). And they bring news. News of what they saw, of what they experienced, of what they learned and often what they would do differently next time. The incredible news of the Apollo 11 lunar landing captured the attention of the whole world and was watched by an estimated 600 million people. The first lunar astronauts were explorers who completed their remarkable and daring expedition.

So to the last question - as to whether the First Man mission could be regarded as a stunt. A stunt is defined as a "an unusual or difficult feat requiring great skill or daring especially one performed or undertaken chiefly to gain attention or publicity".  It is certainly true some would argue the lunar landing would qualify, but what's even more interesting is the question was raised by another member of the Project Gemini team. A man whose doctoral thesis was Line-of-Sight Guidance Techniques for Manned Orbital Rendezvous and who, in one of his first NASA missions, proved extravehicular activity (EVA) could be performed by astronauts, spending over 5 hours outside the craft. Nicknamed Dr. Rendezvous during Gemini 12, he became the second man to walk on the moon, Buzz Aldrin. Buzz is known to speak his mind....  “Sending a couple of guys to the Moon and bringing them back safely? That’s not historic. That's a stunt!”

But of course, at the time, safe return was not guaranteed and a contingency speech was prepared for President Nixon, if the worst had happened. I find it incredibly moving:

In their exploration, they stirred the people of the world to feel as one; in their sacrifice, they bind more tightly the brotherhood of man.

In ancient days, men looked at stars and saw their heroes in the constellations.

In modern times, we do much the same, but our heroes are epic men of flesh and blood.

Others will follow, and surely find their way home. Man's search will not be denied. But these men were the first, and they will remain the foremost in our hearts.

Since Apollo, manned space flight has been limited to the earth’s orbit and in recent years Buzz Aldrin has become a vociferous supporter of returning to manned space exploration focusing on Mars. He refers to exploration as not merely our destiny but our duty to future generations. Buzz is seeking to inspire young explorers and in doing so has redefined purpose from his own extraordinary mission in 1969 to something much, much more…

“The pilgrims on the Mayflower landed at Plymouth Rock. To my knowledge, they didn't wait around for a return trip to Europe. You settle some place with a purpose. If you don't want to do that, stay home. You avoid an awful lot of risks by not venturing outward”.

And with deep respect to the second man on the moon, a final quotation,

"I still say, "Shoot for the moon, you might get there".