The Apollo 11 mission got underway on this day, fifty years ago. That’s when a Saturn V rocket carrying three astronauts blasted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space center. Four days later, on July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin stepped onto the moon for the first time while pilot Michael Collins orbited in the command module.
To honor Apollo 11 this week, in the nation’s capital, an image of a 363 foot Saturn V will be illuminated on the Washington monument. TV networks are also rolling out specials, miniseries and movies. Here are just a few:
Discovery Channel has “Apollo: The Forgotten Films” at 7:00 pm. It includes footage from the National Archives, NASA Research Centers and news footage from the landing. “Confessions From Space: Apollo” will follow at 9:00 pm with interviews from astronauts Aldrin, Collins, Apollo 16’s Charlie Duke and more.
CNN will airs the documentary “Apollo 11” at 8:00 pm which includes new archival footage and audio to tell the story of the moon landing.
HBO2 also has a set of the 12-part miniseries “From the Earth to the Moon” starting at 7:45 am about the American space program from the Mercury Seven astronauts to the final Apollo lunar landing in 1972. The 1998 series was co-produced by Ron Howard and Tom Hanks.
The 2018 biopic “First Man,” makes its HBO debut at 7:00 pm, starring Ryan Gosling as Armstrong.
