Haha, thanks for bringing back this memory. I had to watch this for my film class...interesting to see how they got to the moon by blasting themselves in a huge cannon.
Instead of blasting the astronauts to the moon in a huge cannon, the following article in the website http://www.boston.com/news/world/articles/2003/10/15/china_puts_its_first_man_in_space/ reveals that a more modern method had been attempted long ago — literally rocketing to the moon! Excerpts follow:
(Begin excerpts)
.....President Hu Jintao was at the launch center to watch China’s bid to realize a dream that has a long history. A crater on the moon is named after a mythical Chinese explorer, Wan Hu, who, according to legend, died after strapping 47 rockets to a chair in an ill-fated attempt to reach the heavens. China’s program to reach the moon is code-named Chang’e, after a mythical fairy who traveled to the moon after mistakenly eating medicine that made her fly..... (End excerpts)