Series Description:

From the Earth to the moon was an HBO 12-part miniseries that cost $68 million to produce! Executive producer Tom Hanks introduced each episode of the miniseries which alltogether covered the United States' space program from its inception in 1961 to the last mission from the Earth to the Moon in 1972! This was the perfect mix of factual information and entertaining drama. The realism was unbelievable due to extensive special effects and elaborate sets. Helium balloons were used to enhance the appearance of the astronauts walking on the moon. Weightless scenes were filmed in Nasa's "zero gravity" trainer aircraft. Actual Nasa spacecraft were used in the filming of From the Earth to the Moon.

Episode Descriptions:

Episodes Aired on 6 consecutive Sundays:

April 5, 1998

Part 1: Can We Do This? - The Russians put the first man into space. The American government decides that they need to get ahead of the Russians in the "space race" and that being first to send a man from the Earth to the Moon is the way to do it! We see step by step how the job would be done and ends with the last Gemini flight.
Part 2: Apollo 1 - On January 27, 1967 at 6:31 pm, the Apollo 1 spacecraft caught fire during a routine test. Astronauts Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chaffee were killed. The politics of who was at fault and who might want to use the tradgedy as a way to destroy Nasa are covered.

April 12, 1998

Part 3: We Have Cleared The Tower - Recovery from the wounds of the Apollo 1 disaster and the testing and launch of Apollo 7 - the first flight of the program. Would the over 2 million components of the spacecraft all work on their way from the Earth to the Moon?
Part 4: 1968 - The Vietnam war escalates. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. are assassinated. The worst riots in political history take place at the Democratic National Convention. Yes, 1968 was destined to be a horrendous year! That is ... until Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders took us on mankind's first trip from the Earth to the Moon!

April 19, 1998

Part 5: Spider - Sending 3 men into orbit around the Moon was a great achievement, but landing them onto the surface was the real goal. They actually had to take a second spacecraft along with them in order to do that! This is the story of the design, testing and first successful flight of the Lunar Module.
Part 6: Mare Tranquilitatis - Michael Collins, Buz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong take off from the Earth to the Moon on Apollo 11. Buz and Neil take the Lunar Module to the surface for mankind's first landing on another heavenly body!

April 26, 1998

Part 7: That's All There Is - The Apollo 12 flight told by Astronaut Alan Bean. Alan didn't expect to go to the Moon. He was a late addition to the crew and his relating of his experiences makes you feel as if it's happening to you!
Part 8: We Interrupt This Program - While the nearly disastrous flight of Apollo 13 from the Earth to the Moon has been dramatized many times before, HBO presented a unique perspective by concentrating on how the press covered it and the inter-relationship of the press with Nasa.

May 3, 1998

Part 9: For Miles And Miles - Alan Shepard was the first American in Space. Before he could fly again, however, he developed symptoms of nausea, vertigo and a ringing in an ear. This is the story of his struggle for his chance to travel From the Earth to the Moon!
Part 10: Galileo Was Right - We went to the Moon basically for political reasons, but wouldn't it be nice to bring back some new knowledge about the evolution of the Earth and our Solar System? But how do you get a bunch of test pilots interested in Geology so they know which Moon rocks to bring back for study?

May 10, 1998

Part 11: The Original Wives' Club - There were many sacrifices made to get the astronauts From the Earth to the Moon. The wives of the astronauts made more than their fair share of them. This is their story.
Part 12: Le Voyage Dans La Lune - The final episode draws an interesting contrast between the first film about a moonshot and the final Apollo flight.

Main Cast

Tom Hanks .... Jean-Luc Despont
Mark Harmon .... Wally Schirra
Adam Baldwin .... Fred Haise
Peter Scolari .... Pete Conrad
Stephen Root .... Chris Kraft
Lane Smith .... Emmett Seaborn
Jack Gilpin .... Ted Sorenson
Tim Daly .... Jim Lovell
David Andrews .... Frank Borman
Robert John Burke .... Bill Anders
Zeljko Ivanek .... Ken Mattingly
Clint Howard .... Paul Lucas
Chris Isaak .... Ed White
Lyndon Johnson .... Himself
Nikita Khrushchev .... Himself
Ted Levine .... Alan Shepard
John F. Kennedy .... Himself
Ben Marley .... Roger Chaffee
Paul McCrane .... Pete Conrad
Edwin Newman .... Himself
Mark Rolston .... Gus Grissom
Nick Searcy .... Deke Slayton
John Slattery .... Walter Mondale
Robert C. Treveiler ... Gordon Cooper
Norbert Weisser .... Werner Von Braun
Gareth Williams .... Jim Irwin
Max Wright .... Guenter Wendt
Tony Goldwyn .... Neil Armstrong
Alexei Leonov .... Himself (First Space Walker)
Conor O'Farrell .... James McDivitt
John Posey .... John Young