Discovery celebrates 50th Anniversary of Apollo 11 moon landing with the premiere of Apollo: The Forgotten Films

Showcases a special series ‘Moon 50’ featuring programs on NASA’s missions to Moon every weekend during the month of July

Mumbai, July 17, 2019 – On July 20th, 1969, the world watched Neil Armstrong’s giant leap for mankind, but behind these iconic images is an unseen story. Now, 50 years later, Discovery and Science Channel will celebrate the Apollo 11 moon landing with a two-hour television event, APOLLO: THE FORGOTTEN FILMS (9 PM IST), that will tell the complete story of this most audacious of missions, with footage not seen anywhere else. The archives reveal the incredible lengths an army of engineers, scientists and astronauts went to, to achieve America’s greatest technological feat. Further, Discovery channel is showcasing a special programming ‘Moon 50’ every Saturday and Sunday at 8 PM to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of the moon landing. This special stunt features programs on NASA’s missions to the moon like Above and Beyond: NASA's Journey to Tomorrow, NASA's Unexplained Files and Mysteries of Moonlanding.

APOLLO: THE FORGOTTEN FILMS, premiering July 20 at 9 PM on Discovery, employs footage from a number of different resources including NASA Research Centers, The National Archives, and news reports of the time. Having sifted through thousands of reels of film, this amazing trove is a remarkable behind the scenes look at the exhaustive preparation that went into sending the first humans to our moon.

“The approach to this commemorative special is to celebrate and honor everyone who made this most incredible of missions possible,” said Howard Swartz, Senior Vice President of Production and Development, Discovery. “With only the use of archival footage from the time, this will be is an immersive experience for the viewer, transporting them back to a time of hope, fear, and ultimately, triumph.”

America’s race to the moon was no simple mission. The 400,000 scientists and engineers who devoted their lives to realize the dream of a nation faced one obstacle after another. They overcame enormous challenges to build a rocket powerful enough to break free of earth’s gravity with a fearless group of astronauts, who risked their lives to fly a spaceship that would land on a precise spot on the moon, 250,000 miles away. 

APOLLO: THE FORGOTTEN FILMS is produced for Discovery and Science Channel by Arrow Media. Executive Producers for Arrow are Tom Brisley and Sam Starbuck. Howard Swartz serves as Executive Producer for Discovery and Science Channel.