Chasing the Moon, Part 1

Ed Dwight Jr. was the first African American to be trained as an astronaut. In 1962, Dwight was selected for astronaut training at the urging of the Kennedy Administration.

In 1967, the US, the UK and the Soviet Union signed a treaty that laid out the framework for law in space. Nearly fifty years later, as companies work towards commercial space travel and asteroid mining, those laws will be put to the test.

Most remember the space race of the 1960s as a moment of rare national unity around the cause of scientific exploration. Public opinion polls from the 1960s show that the majority of Americans approved of Project Apollo, but the nation was deeply divided over the cost of the program. To win the space race, NASA would have to market the moon to the American public.

African American civil rights activists in Huntsville, Alabama formed a “psychological warfare committee” to outsmart white supremacists and force the Rocket City to desegregate.

50 years ago, the moon became a symbol of human progress. Long before we could reach its surface, the moon held special meaning for humanity. Today, the moon continues to inspire—in the night sky and in contemporary works of art. Learn how—from sidewalk astronomer Jupiter Joe Martinez, contemporary artist Luke Jerram and author Alexandra Loske.

Watch chapter 1 of Chasing the Moon.

Join American Experience and PBS to relive the journey that defined a generation. “Chasing the Moon” recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama, utilizing a feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material.

Join American Experience and PBS to countdown the journey that defined a generation. “Chasing the Moon” recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama, utilizing a feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material.

“Chasing the Moon” recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama, utilizing a feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material.

With other engineers, Frances “Poppy” Northcutt plotted return-to-Earth trajectories for Apollo 8. Northcutt’s team also troubleshot the Apollo 13 oxygen tank explosion emergency. She worked in the Space Program for five years.

In the 1930s, Wernher Von Braun’s rocket work was supported by the Nazi regime. At the end of WWII, the United States government enlisted von Braun’s expertise.. During the Cold War, his rocket work became valuable to America’s new space program.

Valerie Hoard married William Anders in 1955. In 1968, Bill Anders was one of three astronauts aboard the Apollo 8.