Theres a certain irony to the observation that Tom Hanks today may be better known for flying to the moon than Alan Bean, who actually went there. The actor and director, who starred as an astronaut in the feature film Apollo 13 and helmed the miniseries From the Earth to the Moon, celebrates Bean and laments the real astronauts relative anonymity in the current issue of The New Yorker, now on magazine stands. In addition to taking part in an interview, Hanks contributes an original, fictional short story, titled Alan Bean Plus Four. I named the capsule the Alan Bean, in honor of the lunar module pilot of Apollo 12, the fourth man to walk on the moon and the only one I ever met, the narrator in Hanks story explains of his and his three friends-cum-crewmates moon-bound spacecraft. He was paying the cashier, as anonymous as a balding orthopedist, when I yelled out, Holy cow! Youre Al Bean! He gave me his autograph and drew a tiny astronaut above his name.
Posted on: Thu, 23 Oct 2014 11:55:01 +0000
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