The Century of Flight — Season 1, Episode 24: To the Moon and Beyond
Documentary • 50 min • 1 season, 26 episodes
Episode synopsis
The means to get there - rocketry developments in the 1920s and 1930s, German rocket research and use during World War II. The spur of the Cold War - US and Soviet rocketry developments during the post 1945 decade. First into space, man goes into space. Race to the moon - Russian and US space programmes in 1960s culminating in Neil Armstrong stepping on the moon in July 1969. Beyond the moon - subsequent moon shots, unmanned Soviet Venera, and US Pioneer and Voyager flights inspect other planets, with diagrams to explain how information transmitted back to earth. The future - where space exploration is going.
About The Century of Flight
This definitive history of manned flight has been compiled into 26 hour episodes, with access to some of the rarest archive film ever taken. Unprecedented co-operation has been extended by the world's leading aircraft manufacturers and leading archive libraries. Included in the footage are shots of rare prototype accidents and failures which contributed to the inevitable achievement and success of man in the air. Since Charles Lindbergh became the first lone aviator to cross the Atlantic in 1927, air transport has greatly accelerated , revolutionised by the giant Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet - and what might we see in the 21st century?