Film Preview: PBS American Experience "Chasing the Moon"

Please join us for an exclusive screening of Chasing the Moon, Part 1: A Place Beyond the Sky, before its official release on PBS. It’s 1961, and the space race is gaining momentum. While the rivalry with the Soviet Union intensifies, President Kennedy publicly champions America’s space program but privately has concerns about the astronomical cost.

The screening includes a talk by NASA ambassador Andy Poniros. His presentation will include a discussion of the infancy of the space race with the Soviet Union through to the Apollo program that sent 24 humans to the moon. NASA is planning on sending humans to the moon again in 2024. Images and audio of these historical events, including personal audio recorded by Andy with Apollo astronauts, will also be shown.

Andy Poniros is a Stratford, CT resident, NASA/JPL Public Outreach Volunteer, amateur astronomer, and radio host.

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.