The new romantic comedy "Fly me to the Moon" tells the story of how, in the run up to the Apollo 11 mission, NASA hired a high-flying marketing specialist to bolster public support.

The history books tell us this isn't quite what happened, but I believe modern science communicators could still learn from this irreverent revision of NASA's history.

In the opening scenes of "Fly Me To the Moon," Kelly Jones (Scarlett Johansson), is recruited by shady government officials to sell one of the biggest thing one can sell: the moon. The premise may seem far-fetched.

After all, who doesn't already love the moon? Why would we even need to sell the exciting prospect of a man landing on it? In 2024, we look back on the 1969 moon mission with rose-tinted glasses.

In reality though, throughout the 1960s, the majority of US citizens felt that the huge cost of the Apollo missions was not worth their money. "Americans are over their long and very expensive honeymoon in space," Jones chirpily tells a skeptical NASA employee. "I'm here to remind them why they fell in love in the first place."

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