FLY ME TO THE MOON…
AND INTO HISTORY
A song, a wish, a dream, a childhood astronaut fantasy in a family kiddie pool—Tom Hanks taps into all of it in The Moonwalkers, an amazing, enlightening, educational, and downright thrilling immersive experience about the NASA Space Program. Co-written and narrated by Hanks himself, it’s now showing at The Saunders Castle at the Boston Park Plaza.
Projected film, video, and archival images completely surround you as you’re transported into Mission Control at NASA, where you experience the excitement, uncertainty, fear, and hope that pulsed through the astronauts—and everyone working behind the scenes.
You wait, heart pounding and breath bated, as you travel alongside NASA’s first-ever mission to the moon. An alarm blares—tension spikes, panic sets in—and even though we know how the story ends, the immersive visuals and sound design pull you into the uncertainty of the moment. I could still feel the tension in the room.
The world watched as Eagle—the Lunar Module carrying Commander Neil Armstrong and Pilot Edwin E. “Buzz” Aldrin—finally touched down on the moon’s surface. Viewers were glued to their televisions, cheering wildly as the hatch opened and Armstrong descended the ladder.
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind,” he declared—words that instantly became world history and etched themselves into our collective memory.
Between 1964 and 1972, there were six successful Apollo missions to the moon (and one famously aborted attempt). Each mission pushed further than the last—traveling greater distances, making more discoveries. If you ask me, it started to feel like a bit of a cosmic pissing contest. (“Oh, you brought back moon rocks? Watch this—I’m driving the rover!”)
In 2025, the space program began anew—with a difference. This time, both male and female astronauts are onboard. The new mission is called Artemis II, named after Apollo’s twin sister. They’re continuing to study the moon—but also setting their sights on exploring planets even farther away.
This entire experience—the immersive exhibit, the film, the history—took my breath away. And no, not just because there’s no oxygen on the moon.
photos by Justin Sutcliffe
THE MOONWALKERS: A Journey with Tom Hanks
Lightroom Experiences and Paquin Entertainment Group
The Saunders Castle at Park Plaza, 130 Columbus Ave. in Boston
60-75 minutes (you can stay for longer than one show)
entrances on the hour
ends on August 31, 2025
for tickets ($26.50-$66.50), visit Lightroom