Moon Machines

October 4th 1957, and the Russians take a huge leap forward in rocketry when they successfully launch Sputnik 1 - the world's first artificial satellite. Over the years the Soviets would with their space achievements, and it was America's turn to respond.

We recount the story of the engineers who built the Apollo Command Module, a fully pressurised living space that would need to provide three men with food, water, air, power, communication, navigation and above all protection, to the moon and back.

We tell the story of how a group of computer scientists grappled with the challenge of navigation of a round trip to the Moon back in the days when computer code and software hadn't been invented and computing power was a fraction of what it is today.

The story of the engineers challenged with building what became affectionately called the Lunar Bug. A constant battle to meet the seemingly impossible demands of weight restrictions, the Lunar Module was one of the greatest engineering feats in history.

To survive outside of a spacecraft, an new space vehicle would be required - the spacesuit. Flexible enough to allow man to function, yet provide protection from the hostility of space. Two unlikely companies from the east coast took the challenge.

We reveal the untold story of how that small team convinces NASA to build what ultimately became the Lunar Rover. As with all the engineering challenges during the Apollo program, the Lunar Rover represents a formidable task.