Preview Chasing the Moon Part 3. Airs July 10 at 9/8c on PBS.

Watch Chapter 1 of Chasing the Moon, Part 2.

Preview Part 2 of Chasing the Moon. Airs July 9 at 9/8c on PBS.

Before the days of NASA, scientists and researchers at the U.S. Air Force were testing the limits of how high man could fly. Though largely forgotten today, balloonists were the first to venture into the frozen near-vacuum on the edge of our world, exploring the very limits of human physiology and human ingenuity in this lethal realm. "Space Men" premieres March 1 at 9/8c on PBS.

“Chasing the Moon” recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama, utilizing a feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material.

Join American Experience and PBS to countdown the journey that defined a generation. “Chasing the Moon” recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama, utilizing a feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material.

One giant leap that changed everything. Chasing the Moon premieres across three nights, beginning July 8, 2019 on PBS.

Join American Experience and PBS to relive the journey that defined a generation. “Chasing the Moon” recasts the Space Age as a fascinating stew of scientific innovation, political calculation, media spectacle, visionary impulses and personal drama, utilizing a feast of previously overlooked and lost archival material.

Get an inside look at the making of Chasing the Moon. Premieres July 8, 9/8c on PBS.

Michael Collins piloted the command module nicknamed the Columbia, while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the moon.

Watch chapter 1 of Chasing the Moon.

50 years ago, the moon became a symbol of human progress. Long before we could reach its surface, the moon held special meaning for humanity. Today, the moon continues to inspire—in the night sky and in contemporary works of art. Learn how—from sidewalk astronomer Jupiter Joe Martinez, contemporary artist Luke Jerram and author Alexandra Loske.

African American civil rights activists in Huntsville, Alabama formed a “psychological warfare committee” to outsmart white supremacists and force the Rocket City to desegregate.

Most remember the space race of the 1960s as a moment of rare national unity around the cause of scientific exploration. Public opinion polls from the 1960s show that the majority of Americans approved of Project Apollo, but the nation was deeply divided over the cost of the program. To win the space race, NASA would have to market the moon to the American public.

In 1967, the US, the UK and the Soviet Union signed a treaty that laid out the framework for law in space. Nearly fifty years later, as companies work towards commercial space travel and asteroid mining, those laws will be put to the test.

Watch Chapter 1 of Stonewall Uprising.

Watch Chapter 1 of Emma Goldman.

Ed Dwight Jr. was the first African American to be trained as an astronaut. In 1962, Dwight was selected for astronaut training at the urging of the Kennedy Administration.

She was the toast of Victorian London, New York, and Paris. She was "adopted" by Indian chief Sitting Bull, charmed the Prince of Prussia, and entertained the likes of Oscar Wilde and Queen Victoria. Annie Oakley excelled in a man's world by doing what she loved, and won fame and fortune as the little lady from Ohio who never missed a shot.

For nearly half a century, Russian emigrant Emma Goldman was the most controversial woman in America, taunting the mainstream with her fervent attacks on government, big business, and war.