"Chasing the Moon" reimagines the race to the moon for a new generation, upending much of the conventional mythology surrounding the effort. The series recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama. With no narration and using only archival footage — including a visual feast of previously lost or overlooked material — the film features a diverse cast of characters who played key roles in these historic events. Among those included are astronauts Buzz Aldrin, Frank Borman and Bill Anders; Sergei Khrushchev, son of the former Soviet premier and a leading Soviet rocket engineer; Poppy Northcutt, the 25-year old “mathematics whiz” who gained worldwide attention as the first woman to serve in the all-male bastion of NASA’s Mission Control; and Ed Dwight, the Air Force pilot selected by the Kennedy administration to train as America’s first black astronaut.

Major funding for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE provided by Liberty Mutual Insurance, Consumer Cellular and by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Major funding for "Chasing the Moon" provided by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Humanities: exploring the human endeavor, and by the Arthur Vining Davis Foundations: strengthening America’s future through education. Additional funding for AMERICAN EXPERIENCE provided by the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation, the Documentary Investment Group: Ira and Diana Riklis and public television viewers. AMERICAN EXPERIENCE is produced for PBS by WGBH Boston.