Hollywood’s latest space film, “First Man,” stars Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong in an intense battle between earthly priorities and the sublime possibilities of the Apollo mission, much like his nation. Naturally, its most glorious scene is the moon landing: the moment he takes that final, hesitant leap and we see his white boot press into the fine lunar soil before we gently pan over Earth, suspended in the vast blackness of space.

As majestic cinematography brings the feat back to life, frame by frame, a sense of nostalgia is almost unavoidable, even for viewers who weren’t on Earth when it happened. We tend to collectively look back at that moment, that era, as the height of success not only for NASA but for all of humanity. That was when we did great things. That was when we took risks. That is when America was at its boldest and best. But that’s not entirely true.

The romance associated with the Apollo program, and Apollo 11 in particular, is warranted. For one evening in July 1969 everyone paused and watched a human leave the confines of a ship and set foot on not a distant shore but an alien world. Line cooks flicked off their stoves and turned on the radio, families and friends gathered in front of TVs, and the faint sounds of Mr. Armstrong’s disembodied voice danced through the corridors of buildings around the world.

Going back to the moon or landing humans on Mars, some think, is the only way to surpass that pinnacle. However, there is so much more to the success of the space program than having boots on extraterrestrial ground.