How the UK followed Apollo 11 to the Moon on the BBC

As part of the BBC Moon season to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Apollo 11, I recently watched this Sky at Night special on BBC iPlayer, which is a 2 hour documentary of the BBC live coverage of the Apollo 11 mission to land the first men on the Moon. What makes this programme extra special is that it includes actual replay of live pictures and commentary from Astronomer Sir Patrick Moore and BBC Science Reporter James Burke of the key stages of the Apollo 11 Moon mission.

The footage we are all familiar with of the Saturn V launch, Lunar landing and first steps on the Moon are all there but they have been extended to include the moments after and leading up to these familiar clips, such as the build up to launch, interviewing the crowd at the Kennedy Space Center, launch up to 1st stage separation and escape rocket jettison, entering the Lunar Module (LEM) in lunar orbit for the first time, detaching from the Command/Service Module, Lunar descent & landing, first steps on the Moon for Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin plus sample collections, photographic tasks & scientific experiments and finally the ascent from the Lunar surface to re-dock with the Command/Service Module.

If you did not get the chance to watch the 1st Lunar landing first time around or you are feeling nostalgic, this will transport you back to July 1969 to experience the tension and excitement of each critical stage of the mission as it was watched live on BBC television in the UK.

This documentary also includes special reports from James Burke which were used as time fillers on the night and include explanations of what would happen if the Astronauts had to evacuate the Command Module prior to launch, dismantling/undressing of a complete Spacesuit and tour of the inside of the Command Module.

If you cannot find this programme on BBC iPlayer (UK locations only and for a limited time period following the date of broadcast) you can purchase the DVD in the UK or USA from Amazon via these links:

Click here to view UK Region 2, PAL version

Click here to view USA NTSC, Region 1 version

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