From the Archives: After the Apollo Program Ended, NASA Settled on a New, Less Glamorous Mission
The shuttle age commences, becomes routine, and draws to a close, while Mars beckons.
Al Reinert was an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. He co-wrote the screenplays for the Ron Howard film Apollo 13 and Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, but is best known for directing and producing For All Mankind, an award-winning documentary about NASA’s Apollo program.
Articles by Al Reinert
From the Archives: During the Space Race’s Early Days, Americans Dared to Do the Impossible—and Did.
America finds inspiration and salvation on the moon—and then keeps going.
High-Heel Homicide
After Ana Trujillo was arrested in the bludgeoning death of her lover, she hired lawyer Jack Carroll to represent her in what became Houston’s splashiest trial of the spring. Did I mention that Carroll is my brother-in-law? And that the murder weapon was a cobalt-blue, five-and-a-half-inch stiletto?
The Best Little Checkpoint in Texas
A dramatic increase in border security over the past six years has made the Sierra Blanca inspection station one of the nation’s toughest. And I oughta know.
The Secret World of Walter Cronkite
Before you let this man into your living room, you should know that he drank with Clyde Barrow.
The Last Blast
Few things are as majestic as the launch of the space shuttle. But after nearly thirty years, NASA is sending up its final orbiters. Here's the view from up close.
The Texas 100: Revenge of the Nerd
He made his first million before many kids finish college. Less than a decade later, Michael Dell continues to confound conventional wisdom.
The Challengers
If anyone can keep Whitmire from being Houston’s mayor for life, it’s Sylvester Turner or Bob Lanier.
Texas Movies: Tender Foote
Oscar-winning screenwriter Horton Foote continues to capture ordinary people coping with life’s difficulties.
Lost in Space
Locked away in NASA’s storage vaults was some of the most glorious footage ever filmed. I thought turning it into a movie would be a snap. Ten years later I’ve revised my opinion.
Sax to the Max
A Houston bellhop by day, tenor saxman Grady Gaines has come out of retirement to bring back the trademark sound of a great rock and roll band.
This Water Is My Water
Cool, clear, and pure, it’s the bounty of the Edwards Aquifer, and if something isn’t done to limit pumping by Hill Country farmers and a thirsty San Antonio, it may also be dry.
The Inventive Mr. Chu
Heat + pressure + yttrium + a politically savvy University of Houston physicist = a formula to change the world.
Where NASA Went Wrong
The seeds of the Challenger disaster were sowed long ago, in the space agency’s conflict between its ideals and its politics.
Tiptoeing On the Ocean of Storms
What astronaut Alan Bean saw on the moon changed his life. Now, with paint and canvas, he’s trying to let the rest of us see it too.
Football Heroes
The best part of Texas high school football is that it’s the biggest thing in town—and still only a game.
Moon Struck
Ten years ago the Apollo astronauts, technicians and scientists all, landed on the Moon and touched what poets only dreamed. But that touch changed their lives.
The End of the Trail
At the Fort Worth stockyards, cattlemen buy and sell amid the last vestiges of the Old West.
Ah, Sweet Mystery of Death
The friendly folks at the morgue speak a body language all their own.
Greetings From the Eighth Wonder of the World
A candid celebration of ten years of the Astrodome and Astrothink.
Why Jack Valenti Still Sleeps Soundly
Beneath the phony outer schmaltz of Jack Valenti one finds the real schmaltz of a true believer.
Bob and George Go to Washington or The Post-Watergate Scramble
The GOP and Democratic chairmen are both from Texas. Right there the similarity ends, or begins, no, ends.
Briar Patch
TEXAS ON THE POTOMAC THE TOSTADAS WERE (LET’S BE honest now) kind of stale, and the chile con queso was soggy, but, well what the hell, it sure was good to find some real Tex-Mex food. Purists could grumble if they wanted to and point out that the frijoles…
Briar Patch
RETURN OF THE OLD PUCKER THE ASTRODOME HAS REALLY OUTDONE itself. They had the help, though, of Hollywood press agentry and one of the bigger mouths in professional sports, so the Dome can’t take all the credit. Irregardless of culpability, it was an impressive show, that King-Riggs tennis match, and…
Closing Down La Grange
An Aggie views the closing of the Chicken Ranch. George Washington didn't sleep there, but many famous and unfamous Texans did.
Inside the World Series of Poker
Big-time poker players don't worry about luck; they don't need it.
The Best Private Eye In Texas
High-speed chases, murder investigations, and window-peeping are all in a day's work.
The Big Thicket Tangle
Take 3 million acres, add politicians, lumber companies and Time, Inc., and what have you got? A very small park, or no park at all.
The Big Thicket Tangle
Take 3 million acres, add politicians, lumber companies and Time, Inc., and what have you got? A very small park, or no park at all.
