Stargazing: Moon Landing Special - BBC2

(Image credit: BBC)

Professor Brian Cox and Dara Ó Briain are at Cape Canaveral to give us the lowdown on the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon

In Stargazing: Moon Landing Special, Professor Brian Cox and Dara Ó Briain mark the 50th anniversary of the Moon landings by broadcasting from where it all started, the very windy launch pads at Cape Canaveral in Florida.

NASA has spent a fortune in recent years restoring the original control room to its former glory, scouring the country for fixtures and fittings with the right 1960s look, and that includes everything from the original consoles right down to the Coke machine in the corridor.

Brian and Dara, along with Dr Hannah Fry, get to explore both the past and future of Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center, meeting astronauts who have sat atop a Saturn V rocket as it blasts into space, getting up close to launch towers, and talking to astronauts of the future.

On the eve of 16 July, the actual 50th anniversary of the launch of Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins onto the greatest adventure ever undertaken by humanity, this is a great look back at history, as well as a glimpse at the future of space exploration.

TV Times rating: ****