Those who came of age during the 1970's will remember how strongly "Moon Fever" burned in some people. After John F. Kennedy made his ambitious commitment to putting a man on the Moon, NASA came up with a system to send two men to the lunar surface 8 years later.

"Stowaway to the Moon," a made-for-TV movie, is geared to the fantasies of anyone who desperately wanted to travel with the astronauts. Child actor Michael Link plays Eli Mackernutt, Jr., a bright kid that everyone simply calls E.J. Living in Florida, E.J. naturally develops a love for the space program, learning everything he can about the Moon.

E.J. then figures out a way to hitch a ride on the next Apollo mission. Disguising himself as a maintenance worker, young E.J. sneaks into Camelot, the Command Module, and hides out in one of the waste disposal units. At launch time, Mission Control detects E.J.'s extra weight, but the crew thinks it is just water that seeped in the spaceship and turned into ice.

When Ben Pelham (Jim McMullan), the baseball cap-wearing Command Module Pilot, gets violently sick in space, E.J. steps in and saves his life with a vacuum cleaner. The unofficial "fourth astronaut" then finds Little Dipper, the Lunar Module, when it goes off course. Obviously, it's handy to have a kid around on a Moon mission.

Based on the book by William R. Shelton, "Stowaway to the Moon" is a fun little movie that is highly unbelievable, but quite entertaining nonetheless. E.J. makes it through NASA's front gate and past all the security cameras with surprising ease. It's also hard to believe that a pre-teen could survive the incredible G-Forces that build up during a Moon launch, even if he is surrounded by blue garbage bags.

Lloyd Bridges is ultra-cool though as Charlie Englehardt, the flight controller, he is ready to abort the mission after the astronauts find their young stowaway. Veteran actor John Carradine and real-life astronaut Charles "Pete" Conrad also have small roles in this Made-For-TV adventure. "Stowaway to the Moon" definitely is worth a look when you come across it on television.

"Spelunking" refers to the outdoor activity of exploring caves and caverns, either for fun or research. In the 2003 adventure called The Core, however, a team of specialists take spelunking to the ultimate level by drilling down to the very center of the Earth.

A secret government experiment has caused the planet's molten core to stop its natural rotation, which affects the Earth's electromagnetic field. Without this protective energy layer, people with pacemakers start dropping dead, birds fly off-course and the Sun's rays start burning people and buildings to a crisp.

The quickest way to get the core moving again is by sending a submersible ship through the layers of rock and molten lava and then detonating a series of nuclear warheads. In order to survive the heat, Dr. Ed "Brazz" Brazzleton (*Delroy Lindo*) creates a substance that he calls "unobtanium," which resists extreme temperatures and pressure. The good doctor also has a laser drill capable of drilling through the toughest rock.

In a ship outfitted with Dr. Brazzleton's inventions, the team, led by Commander Robert Iverson (*Bruce Greenwood*), drills through the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. As the first humans to go deep below the surface of the Earth, they see amazing things, such as huge diamonds formed from the tremendous heat and pressure. The deeper they drill, however, the greater the danger becomes.

An entertaining scientific fantasy, The Core takes cave exploration to new depths. It also shows what could theoretically happen if the Earth's electromagnetic field did start to erode. In one early scene, for instance, Major Rebecca Childs (*Hilary Swank*) has to find a safe place to land a space shuttle when magnetic interference wipes out her guidance system.

The Core does get a little grisly at times, showing in graphic detail what happens when unfiltered solar radiation hits the Earth. Even the best sunscreens can't help you when nothing stands between your face and the rays of the Sun.

A fun, but sometimes unbelievable adventure, The Core is one way to heat up a night of movie watching at home.