Documentary: A Look Back at the Apollo Missions

By Nancy Atkinson - December 14, 2011 at 10:24 PM UTC | Missions

If you've got a spare 45 minutes and want to take a look back at the Apollo missions to the Moon, this documentary, 'Journey To The Moon: The Apollo Story' is well worth it. The film chronicles the Apollo program from its inception in 1961 through Apollo 11's successful moon landing to the final mission, Apollo 17, which took place 39 years ago this week. You'll see original footage (and those simple 1960's era animations that showed how lunar orbit insertion and rendezvous and docking would work) and hear from the astronauts themselves.

Addendum

-- Sorry, everyone -- I didn't realize this film doesn't have any viewing rights outside the US when I posted it. I would recommend what Eric posted below,

"When We Left Earth"

as a good (and longer!) substitute as a great look back at the Apollo missions.

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com