Apollo 13 is one of my most watched movies. This should be no surprise if you known me, as I love space, and everything Apollo. So, when I heard that Apollo 13 was getting rereleased in theaters for its 30th anniversary¹, well I had to see it on the big screen.

The movie is only in IMAX. Not an issue, as I have a baby IMAX near me. But, why not, go bigger. Some of the biggest IMAX screens in the DC area are operated by the Smithsonian. And a quick search showed that the Airbus IMAX at the Air and Space museum in Virginia is showing it. So that’s where I bought my tickets.

Planes

After parking and heading in, I was greeted by one of the greatest planes ever made. The SR-71 Black Bird.

I love this plane. Made from Titanium bought form the USSR, to spy on the USSR. The film used by this spy plane later became the IMAX format (at a smaller size). It’s true top speed is still classified, to this day. I love this thing.

Walking back to the restoration hanger, they had some Apollo stuff!

These are some of the projection hoods used in the Apollo simulators.

After walking around (and taking a lot of photos), I went out to my car. I wanted to grab the big lens.

Heading back in, I went straight for the Shuttle Discovery.

If I pull the shadows out in Lightroom, you can see the head up display. Used during landing.

I also went around back, and got some of the ground support connections.

I always love coming to this museum.

Movie Time

Pretty soon, my ticket time for Apollo 13 was coming up. So I made my way over to the Airbus IMAX.

If you’ve never seen Apollo 13, it covers the events of the Apollo 13 mission. Where the space craft suffered an explosion of one of the oxygen tanks, on their way to the moon. The movie depicts what NASA had to do to get Jim, Fred, and Jack home, alive. Culminating in what many say, is NASA’s finest hour.

I was practically quoting the movie as it went. If you want a gripping space movie. That actually happened, and is accurate. This is it. Go watch it.