The Herald-News from Passaic, New Jersey • 19

Friday, June 30, 1995 The North Jersey Herald News 5 APOLLO 137 Continued from Page B1 ApoIlD 2LS IrSDomi reaiODSB Actornaut Hanks outdid astronauts in zero-G plane ing which the bone-tired astronauts nearly freeze in the 38 degree temperatures of their lunar module lifeboat and Haise runs a 102 degree temperature as the result of a urinary infection. With the lunar module still attached to the command module, Lovell equates the situation to flying with a dead elephant in your face. While the outcome has been documented, there are moments in Apollo 13 when its easy to be lost in the suspense and to ponder whether the mission can be successfully completed. The facts, with its twists and turns, prove as interesting and imaginative as fiction, but director Howard deserves accolades for supplying the physical backdrop that duplicates the original components right down to nuts-and-bolts replicas of the space modules. The backdrop was convincing enough to fool even Hanks on occasion.

Entertaining a boyhood dream of becoming an astronaut, the Oscar-winner noted, When we did the launch sequence, in our pressure suits, with the helmets on and the air being pumped into us, and I could only hear the other two guys breathing through their microphones, and then with the capsule being shaken I tell you, I felt like I was there. I definitely felt as though I was on my way. It was truly exhilarating. It was (amazing, he says of getting to experience zero gravity, raising his voice ever so slightly to punctuate the enthusiasm. We were all looking at each other thinking, Can you believe we get to do this? It was hard work, but filmmaking at its guerrilla best.

We werent questioning ourselves about the job. It was the greatest job in the world. Hey, Id do it for nothing. To achieve the effect of the During a planned telecast from space, the astronauts light-heartedly exchange some down-home humor. Theres only one problem not a single network has interrupted its prime-time schedule to listen in.

Within moments of signing off, however, disaster strikes with a loud, dull thump. Warning lights light up like a Christmas tree, and Lovell announces, Houston, we have a problem. DIRECT AND void of emotion, these five words send shock waves through Mission Control as all eyes rivet to the consoles, searching for clues as to what has happened. The diagnosis one of the spacecrafts oxygen tanks has exploded. The tanks supply super-cold liquid oxygen to fuel cells that produce electricity for all the command modules systems, and as a byproduct, the crews drinking water.

More pointedly, it means the astronauts face three potentially disastrous fates. They can suffocate if the oxygen runs out, freeze to death because of insufficient power to heat the spacecraft, or be poisoned by their own arbon dioxide exhalations because of an unusable filtering system. The only feasible solution is for the trio to squeeze into the lunar module, built for two people, turn off the lights and heaters and, after looping the moon, fire, the lunar modules rocket to get them on an Earthward trajectory. Its a situation not covered in any flight manual. For three days and 15 hours, a single watt of power can mean the difference between being incinerated when re-entering Earths atmosphere or a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean.

And what unfolds is a dramatization of those days dur astronauts floating in zero gravity, Howard took to the skies aboard a KC-135 jet, dubbed the Vomit Comet, which was used to acquaint astronauts with the sensation of weightlessness. Director of photography Dean Cundey would have exactly 25 seconds to roll the cameras when the jilane headed into a deep plunge and rendered the actors weightless. Former astronaut David Scott, who commanded Apollo 15 served as consultant. Under his tutelage, the actors mastered the lingo and how to operate the cockpit controls. And keep an eye out for the real Jim Lovell, who portrays the captain of the ship that greets the returning crew.

HOWARD MADE a conscious decision not to employ any National Aeronautics and Space Administration documentary film. Both technically and esthetically, it proveda sound decision that has resulted in a film of seamless quality. Coming from journalism backgrounds, screenwriters William Broyles Jr. and A1 Reinert manage to infuse the script with technical information. Yet in their defense, its doubtful whether Lovell, a confirmed military man, would have elaborated on the disappointment he felt when the lunar landing exercise was aborted.

The fate of the movie Apollo 13 isnt as precarious at its namesake, since Hanks presence guarantees a box-office windfall. Bacon breathes a certain cockiness into his role of Swigert, while Paxton is saddled with being physically ill. Apollo 13 is a situation where the various components together add up to something thats bigger than life. The Associated Press contributed to this story. less time in a zero-G airplane than any astronaut who ever flew, Apollo 15 commander David Scott, a technical adviser the film, said during a visit to Cape Canaveral this spring.

Good for him, interrupted Haise. Yeah, good for him, Scott said, laughing. At last count, he had over four hours at 20-second clips. Thats a lot of ups and downs. Besides flying on the KC-135 out of Johnson Space Center in Houston last year, the ac-tornauts spent a few days at U.S.

Space Camp in Huntsville, training in a shuttle mock-' up and learning how to handle planes. They visited Kennedy Space Center and studied NASA films of the mission. To further ensure accuracy, Lovell took Hanks up in his plane and invited him to his Horseshoe Bay, Texas, home. Haise strained to remember for the sound-effects crew what pumps and master alarms sounded like in space. Scott, the seventh man to walk on the moon, dug out his old flight checklists and Apollo operations handbook.

(Swigert died of cancer in 1982.) By the middle of the movie, they (actors) were carrying these checklists around like theyd been doing it all their lives, Scott said. At the same time, Space Works a subsidiary of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center in Hutchinson, created replicas of the command module and lunar module. The replicas included some original Apollo 13 parts. It was absolutely exact down to every last rivet and piece of Velcro, said Max Ary, president and chief executive officer of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Works. Each module had to come apart like a giant jigsaw puzzle to allow for a multitude of camera angles, Ary said.

Whats more, the modules that flew on the KC-135 had to be able to withstand up to 9-g in case of an emergency landing. All told. Space Works provided about 8,000 parts for the movie, including pens, flashlights, checklists, hoses and spacesuits identical in appearance to the actual item used. Similar care was taken in the actual filming. Space Works discovered original, large-frame format films of Saturn 5 launches and offered it to Howard for his launch scenes.

But he wasnt satisfied with the quality and opted for one-tenth scale models of the rocket and pad, enhancing these scenes by computer. Howard also wanted to recreate the coldness and dampness inside the crippled spaceship. So for two months, the temperature inside the Apollo 13 stages at Universal Studios in Los Angeles hovered around 38 degrees Fahrenheit. As for Mission Control, the room was re-created right down to the vents in the ceiling and the drinking fountain on the wall. The result, as Scott sees it, is a tribute not just to Apollo 13 but the entire Apollo program.

I dont think NASA itself could ever have put together anything that would portray the space program as well as this film, Scott said. This is, if you want to call it, a good human interest story, Haise added. It had a good ending, Im here, and I think in that sense I hope it helps the space program. By MARCIA DUNN Associated Press CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. The closest Tom Hanks has ever been to space is Space Camp and on a plane.

The star of the movie Apollo 13 has more than four hours of zero-gravity under his spacesuit belt, all of it aboard NASAs KC-135 aircraft, also known as the Vomit Comet. The KC-135 zooms up and down, alternating between 2-G, or twice the gravity on Earth, and brief spurts of weightlessness. This goes on and on and on until, well, you can imagine. Director Ron Howard wanted realism and he got it. 1 Ron Howard really followed it down the line, said Apollo 13s Jim Lovell, commander of the aborted moon mission.

Some directors would have put this thing on Mars with David Bowie or something like that. Apollo 13, which opens June 30, is based on Lovells 1994 book, Lost Moon: The Perilous Voyage of Apollo 13. A quarter-century later, Apollo 13 remains NASAs only in-space disaster. An oxygen tank in the spaceship ruptured en route to the moon on April 13, 1970, and canceled what would have been the third manned lunar landing. Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert swung around the moon without stopping and made it back to Earth barely.

Two-time Academy Award-winner Hanks stars as Lovell, with Bill Paxton as Haise and Kevin Bacon as Swigert. The other actornaut the astronauts name for the actors is Gary Sinise, who portrays Thomas Ken Mattingly. Mattingly was bumped off the flight after being exposed to measles. Tom Hanks has more weight a SO 39 Harding Ave. Clifton, NJ (201)471-1460 Milor Credit Ctrto 1FRI: D.J.

Fim uppy M-'n-Fi 4 Drinks I The, tt in lisF- to To place rm' etveuctc. (H. Ci Reservations Accepted For Lunch EimjlU3iI LUNCH 1 1 AM-3 PM DINNER 3 PM-1 1 PM CLOSED MONDAYS SAT: LIVE ACCAFELLA'N lemokt at fcJuced Price- FREE Kibfaiea HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! Our Summer Hours are Lunch Dinner Tuesday to Saturday Major Credit Card Welcome 460 McBride Ave. Paterson, N.J. 278-6610 dmft TieetingPlace your free personal ad, call: 1-800-989-DATE 3 2 8 3 San Remo Pizzeria Italian Restaurant HAPPY 4th of JULY For Fast Pick Up Or Delivery CaU 779-5885 Or Fax Your Order 779-4526 1102 MAIN CLIFTON, NJ.

VISA MASTERCARD AMERICAN EXPRESS OPEN 7 DAYS kirk Chef-Owner Branco Welcomes you to enjoy Lunch or Dinner in a Casual yet Elegant Atmosphere Tuesday to Sunday Private Party Room Cocktails Major Credit Cards Welcome 1014 Main Ave. Clifton, NJ 472-4422 fact qotc ovetcatKC to- Fine Italian Cuisine (Formerly Alberto's) jJ Fine Italian Cuisine jiayoli Who can help you sell your motorcycle? rr' Portuguese Tavern Restaurant You are Cordially Invited to Advertise Your Restaurant call 1-800-368-0055 Carmela Giardina ext. 50 15. i Your Mario 200 Broadacres Drive Bloomfield, N.J. (Located Behind Brookdale ShopRite) (201) 338-3001 FINE ITALIAN CUISINE Specializing in Portuguese Spanish Cuisine Featuring Daily Lunch Dinner Specials Private Parties Sit Down Dinners or Buffets i For Any Special Occasions 507 Crooks Clifton, NJ 772-9703 Plenty of Parking Major Credit Cards Welcome 3etla he Santis! Restaurant Family would like to take this opportunity to thank all their loyal and new customers tor their patronage over 1 5 years.

Bella Napoli is our only endeavor. This is why we will continue to provide the same quality, service and dedication you have grown accustomed to. A La Carte Italian Cuisine Cocktails Reasonable Prices Attentive Service Lunch Dinner Daily Open 7 Days 1131 Bloomfield Clifton (off Rt. 3 overpass) 365-8087 LUNCH DINNER COCKTAIL LOUNGE HAPPY HOUR LUNCH 4.50 9.95 DINNER $8.95 $16.95 LIVE ENTERTAINMENT IN OUR LOUNGE EVERY FRI. 6-11 PM BANQUETS PARTIES (ANY SIZE) OFF-PREMISE CATERING Open 11 AM 11 PM Major Credit Cards Owned Operated by Fernicola Gencarelli Family Sing with the Rabbi, schmooze with the family, or just sit back and Enjoy! The Festivities are Hysterical!" -Pia Ltndstrom.

WSBC -TV SoHo Playhouse (212) 691-1555 Thurs 7:30, Fri. 8, Sat. 7, Sun 1 5 Gr0l(ps 974-2060 In SoHo, just off 6th Ave. (bcL Houston A Caml Sts.) A'lllPtm 111!) IKtlHUillM1 ft A.