Christmas Eve 2008 marks the 40th anniversary of the first manned voyage to a celestial body. The Apollo 8 crew – Commander Frank Borman, Command Module Pilot James Lovell and Lunar Module Pilot William Anders – became the first humans to escape Earth’s gravity and see the far side of the moon. APOLLO 8: CHRISTMAS AT THE MOON tells the story of that historic journey and how the successful mission paved the way for Apollo 11 to fulfill U.S. President John F. Kennedy’s goal of landing a man on the moon before the end of that decade.
JOHN GLENN: A LIFE OF SERVICE chronicles the extraordinary life and career of an American legend. The documentary surveys Glenn's distinguished military, NASA and political careers through archival footage and interviews with lawmakers, journalists, historians and NASA colleagues, including Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Carl Levin (D-MI) and PBS News Hour's Mark Shields. JOHN GLENN: A LIFE OF SERVICE captures the pivotal events in John Glenn's life: his humble beginnings in Depression-era Ohio, his life-changing ride-along with a barnstormer, his enlistment following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, his 122 combat missions during World War II and the Korean War, his envelope-pushing exploits as a Naval test pilot, and his transition to astronaut during the Cold War. Thrilling archival footage of NASA lift-offs and transmissions help chronicle Glenn's historic orbits around the Earth on February 20, 1962. In interviews, Glenn describes the importance of the Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, the risky nature of the launch and Friendship 7's treacherous re-entry five hours later. As a fitting coda to a life spent dedicated to serving his country, JOHN GLENN: A LIFE OF SERVICE concludes with Glenn's record-setting space flight in 1998 at age 77.
Regardless of one’s religious beliefs, there is no denying the impact Jesus of Nazareth has had on world history, particularly the events surrounding his death. Hugh Bonneville, actor and also a Cambridge theology graduate, travels to Jerusalem in search of answers. Meeting with academic experts and spiritual leaders, Bonneville deconstructs the week leading up to Jesus’s death and untangles the complex factors that resulted in his crucifixion. Exploring questions that have provided more than 2000 years of debate, the documentary offers fascinating insight from both religious and historical angles.