Smithsonian Channel to Celebrate Anniversary of the Moon Landing

The Smithsonian Channel is set to air specials celebrating the 50th anniversary of the lunar landing and is also debuting a companion augmented reality app.

The six-week celebration kicks off with the premiere of the six-part series Apollo’s Moon Shot on Sunday, June 16, at 8 p.m. The series explores the Moon landing program with unique access to relics from the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. From John Glenn’s camera to Apollo 11’s command module to the last space boots on the Moon still covered in lunar dust, the series uses rare artifacts to complement archival footage and oral histories taken directly from the astronauts as they returned to Earth to tell the story of the history-making mission.

A companion augmented reality app lets users participate in the mission. Created in partnership with AR/VR studio Immersion, the Apollo’s Moon Shot app allows viewers to trace the timeline of the lunar landing, shoot a Saturn V rocket, take a selfie under extreme G-forces, pilot the Apollo Lander and much more. The app will be available for free on Android and iOS platforms in June.

The Day We Walked on the Moon relives the 24 hours that saw the lunar landing through the revelations of the people who were there, including Michael Collins, the third member of the Apollo 11 mission, members of Mission Control and the children of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. It bows on Sunday, July 7, at 9 p.m. and will be available to stream on the Smithsonian Channel app beginning Sunday, June 30.

“The scale of Project Apollo was unprecedented, costing $25 billion at the time—more than either the Manhattan Project or the Panama Canal,” said Teasel Muir-Harmony, curator at the National Air and Space Museum. “Through the use of key artifacts, this series demonstrates the breadth of a venture which drew on the combined effort of over 400,000 people.”

“Smithsonian Channel is uniquely placed to relive and examine these momentous historic events,” said David Royle, chief programming officer at Smithsonian Networks. “We have drawn on the expertise of Smithsonian Institution and our unique resources to relive and reexamine events that were the result of scientific brilliance, as well as human endeavor, and forever changed our perception of our place in the universe.”