James May on the Moon

Jun 21, 2009

1h 0m

★ 6.8

Overview

Top Gear presenter James May presents this informative program that examines the historic moon missions. Traveling to America, May meets three of the men who walked on the surface of the moon, learning how it felt and how the now antiquated technology was used to achieve such an historic feat.

Genres

Documentary

Production Companies

BBC

James May on the Moon Trailers

No Trailers found.

Cast

Himself - Presenter

James May

In the year 1957 the cold war expands to space. The Soviet-Union sends Sputnik as the first manmade object into earth-orbit. 3 years later Yuri Gagarin enters space as the first man in space. The so called "Space Race" seems to be decided. But in 1961 President Kennedy promised to send American Astronauts to the Moon. The Apollo Project was born. A space ship had to be built that is strong enough to escape earth's gravitation, land on the moon and bring the crew safely back to earth. Motion Designer Christian worked with his brother and Composer Wolfgang for 18 months on this shortfilm. The foundation were thousands original NASA photographies, taken from the Astronauts during the Apollo Missions, which were released in September 2015. It is an animated collage using different techniques to bring the stills to life.

7.0

Dark Side of the Moon

Oct 16, 2002

A French documentary or, one might say more accurately, a mockumentary, by director William Karel which originally aired on Arte in 2002 with the title Opération Lune. The basic premise for the film is the theory that the television footage from the Apollo 11 Moon landing was faked and actually recorded in a studio by the CIA with help from director Stanley Kubrick.

0.0

Gravitation - Urkraft des Universums

Aug 4, 2003

No overview available.

7.0

Edge of Darkness

Nov 1, 2015

The film features amazing scenes of places never before seen gathered by key space missions that culminated with groundbreaking discoveries in 2015. It features a spectacular flight though the great cliffs on comet 67P, a close look at the fascinating bright "lights" on Ceres, and the first ever close ups of dwarf binary planet Pluto/Charon and its moons.

6.6

The Last Man on the Moon

Feb 26, 2016

The 1960s was an extraordinary time for the United States. Unburdened by post-war reparations, Americans were preoccupied with other developments like NASA, the game-changing space programme that put Neil Armstrong on the moon. Yet it was astronauts like Eugene Cernan who paved the uneven, perilous path to lunar exploration. A test pilot who lived to court danger, he was recruited along with 14 other men in a secretive process that saw them become the closest of friends and adversaries. In this intensely competitive environment, Cernan was one of only three men who was sent twice to the moon, with his second trip also being NASA’s final lunar mission. As he looks back at what he loved and lost during the eight years in Houston, an incomparably eventful life emerges into view. Director Mark Craig crafts a quietly epic biography that combines the rare insight of the surviving former astronauts with archival footage and otherworldly moonscapes.

7.5

Space: The Longest Goodbye

Mar 8, 2024

Social isolation affects millions of people, even Mars-bound astronauts. A savvy NASA psychologist is tasked with protecting these daring explorers.

9.5

The Weirdest Weather in the Universe

Oct 22, 2016

Horizon visits state-of-the-art laboratories and uses CGI to recreate the science-fiction-worthy weather experienced on other planets.

7.2

Destiny in Space

Jan 17, 1994

Travel alongside the astronauts as they deploy and repair the Hubble Space Telescope, soar above Venus and Mars, and find proof of new planets and the possibility of other life forming around distant stars.

6.5

Mission to Mir

Oct 17, 1997

This film shows how far we have come since the cold-war days of the 50s and 60s. Back then the Russians were our "enemies". And to them the Americans were their "enemies" who couldn't be trusted. Somewhere in all this a young girl in Oklahoma named Shannon set her sights on becoming one of those space explorers, even though she was told "girls can't do that." But she did.

7.3

The 21st Century Race For Space

Sep 5, 2017

A new age of space exploration, and exploitation, is dawning. But surprisingly, some of the boldest efforts at putting humans into space are now those of private companies started by a handful of maverick billionaire businessmen. Beyond mass space travel, and even space mining and manufacturing, the dream of Elon Musk and others is true space exploration. His company, SpaceX, already delivers supplies to the International Space Station, and their next step is delivering astronauts too. But their true ambition is to ensure the survival of the human race by crossing our solar system and colonizing Mars in the next decade. Could commercial spaceflight companies eventually make us a space-faring civilization?

8.0

The Moonwalkers: A Journey with Tom Hanks

Dec 6, 2023

An immersive documentary focusing on the story of the Apollo space program

10.0

Destination: Pluto Beyond the Flyby

Sep 23, 2016

The New Horizons team examines the latest findings and imagery from Pluto and the fringes of our solar system revealing a world unlike any other we've seen before.

4.0

Live from Space

Mar 14, 2014

National Geographic and NASA are sending you into space - live! For the first time ever, board the International Space Station and take a complete orbit of Earth in real time.

7.7

National Geographic: Journey to the Edge of the Universe

Dec 6, 2008

In one single, epic camera move we journey from Earth's surface to the outermost reaches of the universe on a grand tour of the cosmos, to explore newborn stars, distant planets, black holes and beyond.

6.7

Mars: One Day on the Red Planet

Jan 5, 2020

An epic journey around Mars — built from real satellite and rover data — revealing the red planet as you’ve never seen it before.

6.1

How William Shatner Changed The World

Nov 13, 2005

William Shatner presents a light-hearted look at how the "Star Trek" TV series have influenced and inspired today's technologies, including: cell phones, medical imaging, computers and software, SETI, MP3 players and iPods, virtual reality, and spaceship propulsion.

0.0

Neil Armstrong and the Langholmites

Jun 9, 2025

Everyone knows Neil Armstrong came back from the Moon in 1969 – but it wasn’t until three years later, when the people of a tiny Scottish town stepped in, that he finally got home. Neil Armstrong and the Langholmites is a film about the day one of the world’s most famous men visited the small ‘burgh’ of Langholm and the profound emotional effect the place, and its people, had on the normally stoic astronaut. From Industria Studios and Duncan Cowles, director of acclaimed 2024 feature Silent Men, comes a wry and beautiful slice of Scottish life and a unique, lesser-known tale about one of America’s most famous sons.

5.6

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Moon

Jul 7, 2001

Are the manned moon landings of Apollo one of the greatest hoaxes ever devised - perhaps even the greatest government conspiracy of all time? Were the moon walks filmed in a secret studio? Do you believe in the Moon Landing Hoax? The evidence will surprise you!

6.1

God, the Universe and Everything Else

Jan 1, 1988

In a studio setting, Stephen Hawking, Arthur C. Clarke and Carl Sagan (who joins them via satellite) discuss the Big Bang theory, God, our existence as well as the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

10.0

Cosmic Dawn

Jun 11, 2025

For over three decades, NASA and an international team of scientists and engineers pushed the limits of technology, innovation, and perseverance to build and launch the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful space observatory ever created. Cosmic Dawn brings audiences behind the scenes with the Webb film crew, and never-before-heard testimonies revealing the real story of how this telescope overcame all odds.

James May on the Moon

Overview

Genres

Production Companies

James May on the Moon Trailers