One Of HBO's Best Miniseries Is An Emmy-Winning Drama About NASA's Moon Exploration

For as long as we could look up at the sky, it seems that humans have always dreamed of visiting the moon. In 1865, novelist Jules Verne wrote "From the Earth to the Moon," a fantastical science fiction novel about a group of men launching themselves to the moon out of a giant cannon. As impossible as such a thing seemed, the U.S. made fiction a reality in 1969 with the Apollo 11 landing. The Apollo program was truly one of the most monumental events in human history, and it was one of NASA's most expensive space missions ever. 

The Apollo 11 landing was also the subject of a particularly excellent HBO miniseries, which utilizes the same name as the aforementioned Jules Verne novel. "From the Earth to the Moon" is a miniseries that aired on HBO in April 1998, and it was produced by Tom Hanks, Ron Howard, and Brian Grazer — all of whom were involved with the hit 1995 movie "Apollo 13." This award-winning series dramatizes the NASA missions leading to Apollo 11, and it remains a favorite for drama fans and space dreamers alike, especially now, as NASA's Artemis II mission brings those lunar dreams back to life.

This 12-part miniseries aired on HBO from April to May in 1998, and rather than a traditional documentary, it is a dramatized portrayal of real-life events, with high-profile actors, like Nick Searcy and Lane Smith, surrounding the Apollo missions. It provides authentic context detailing the "Space Race" between the United States and Soviet Union, including events that prompted the missions' creation, the tragedy of the Apollo 1 fire, the first crewed flight in the Apollo 8 mission, and the landing of the Apollo 11 in the Sea of Tranquility.

Interestingly, the Apollo 11 landing occurs only halfway through the series' run; Subsequent episodes cover the additional Apollo missions that followed the landing, culminating in the final episode depicting Apollo 17 – mankind's most recent steps on the moon, which you can experience online thanks to the interactive Project Apollo 17. All of the events are presented through a variety of different viewpoints, such as a fictional television reporter following NASA's work through the mission or a documentary made many years after the fact.

"From the Earth to the Moon" was critically acclaimed upon its release, being well-liked by audiences and critics alike for its authentic representation of these important events. The miniseries won numerous awards and nominations, including Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Miniseries and Outstanding Casting for a Miniseries or Movie, a Critics Choice Award for Best Picture Made for Television, and a Golden Globe for Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television.

Even today, the miniseries still holds up quite well in the eyes of both critics and casual viewers. In a 2019 retrospective review for Vox, Emily St. James praised the miniseries because it "doesn't just bring Apollo to life; it brings a whole complicated world around the program to life, too." One user on Rotten Tomatoes had similar praise for the series calling it a "great record of the Apollo space program, especially with so many of the astronauts depicted having since passed away."