in 1979 I heard astronaut Rusty Schweikerts incredible speech to a group of Jesuit priests after he returned from his Apollo 9 space flight experience. I felt that it was pure poetry and decided to make a short subject film to honor the speech and what he said he experienced using stock footage from NASA with the exception of the last image, a tree in a rural part of Maine. I reworked the speech just a bit and contacted my dear friend and colleague Peter Thomas, the great narrator of Forensic Files (done long after this film) and asked him to spend the day with me to read what Rusty had written and spoken. having worked on several lengthy documentaries with the Apollo astronauts, I came to the conclusion that Rusty Schweikert was the most poetic of them so it was no surprise that he said what he said after he floated in space outside of the capsule for only a few minutes.

This film presents that speech. It was presented at the Air & Space Museum in Washington DC where it played for quite a while. It is used by schools and churches as a meditation or prayer. That was my desire when I made it. The music was done at a time when midi sounded kind of tinny but I love what the composer did and feel that it adds to the experience Rusty articulated so powerfully.

If this has meaning for you, I would appreciate your clicking the super thanks button below the video screen on the right side. It will allow me to continue to present work like this.